Chapter 219: Front Left? Front Right!
The next day, before the race, the F1 Drivers' Parade proceeded as usual. The sun was out, though there were some gusts of wind.
Reporters were still constantly seeking out F1 drivers for interviews. Though they called them interviews, most of the time it was more like casual chatting, as the parade was a way to showcase F1 drivers to the fans.
Wu Shi didn't particularly enjoy being interviewed, so he leaned against the barrier, enjoying the sun.
"Want one?" Verstappen walked over, holding a silver can.
"You're really thoughtful."
Wu Shi took it. It was clearly a Red Bull drink without printed packaging. If it had packaging, he really couldn't just drink it directly.
"Special formula, tastes good." Verstappen himself drank from a silver-blue canned Red Bull.
Click!
Wu Shi also opened it and took a sip. The taste was indeed different from the commercially available ones, with a more pronounced sweet and sour flavor.
"Everyone is still discussing whether or not to change the F1 rules," Verstappen said.
"You're starting to care about this too?"
"It's just that I think this season's races are quite exciting. Everyone says Mercedes has a dominant position, but the one leading the overall points standings is a Williams driver," Verstappen said with a simple smile.
"No, no, no, that's purely good luck on my part." Wu Shi waved his hand.
"Are you afraid I'll jinx you? Hey, I wouldn't do that. I just think this year's races are definitely worth watching." Verstappen took another sip of Red Bull.
"Yes, they are indeed very exciting."
Wu Shi nodded. If he hadn't disrupted things, Hamilton and Rosberg's lead would be unshakeable by now.
Such races were indeed boring.
After all, when people talked about the Mercedes dynasty in later generations, most would find it tedious, even if some exciting races were interspersed.
But the world champion's ownership was decided early, which really didn't offer much to watch.
"There won't be much change. You know the risks of refueling, don't you?" Wu Shi looked at Verstappen.
"Yeah, yeah, of course I know." Verstappen laughed. In 1994, his father was burned.
"I also don't think any changes are needed. Just let the races continue," Verstappen said. He wasn't as concerned about this matter as one might imagine.
If he couldn't race in F1, he could always race in GT. He was quite keen on it.
Wu Shi also didn't dwell on the issue. That was a problem for Bernie Ecclestone, the helmsman of F1's commercial operations, to consider.
Reporters were almost certainly not going to let Wu Shi off the hook, but they didn't ask too many difficult questions, which was good.
After the parade, Wu Shi returned to the Williams pit box.
Jonathan was already prepared and reiterated:
"Holding second place is our priority goal, but not the absolute top priority. Based on practice sessions, we still have a very large gap with Mercedes over long distances.
"If the actual speed difference is indeed very large, maintain third place.
"Your current gap with Lewis is 17 points. As long as you secure a podium finish, the worst-case scenario is that it will take him at least two races to overtake you.
"So, you absolutely, absolutely must stay calm!"
Jonathan knew that for a young driver, let alone a world champion, even a Grand Prix win right in front of them would cause them to lose their composure.
Like Norris, at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, when his first Grand Prix win was within reach, he wasn't thinking clearly enough—
Rain started to fall at the end of the race, and the race crew asked Lando to pit for intermediate tyres. Lando refused, wanting to finish the race on dry tyres, maintain his leading position, and bet that the rain wouldn't get heavy.
The race crew wasn't firm enough, and Lando stayed on track.
When the rain intensified to the point where dry tyres were almost undrivable, Lando slid off the track, and his dream of a Grand Prix win was completely shattered.
Looking back, the race crew's consideration was correct. According to the cloud and rain map at the time, the probability of intensified rain was very high.
So, he should have pitted, even if it meant losing the leading position, at least to ensure a good position.
But Lando himself was unwilling. He held the leading advantage, and he had already lost too much reason in the face of a Grand Prix win. He only wanted to lead until the end of the race.
This shift in emotion is very difficult to change with a few words.
Anyone facing an exciting situation will, more or less, be affected by bodily hormones and be unable to remain completely calm.
Wu Shi strongly agreed with this statement. Although he appeared calm and collected now, his heart would suddenly pound whenever he thought about the WDC.
An uncontrollable excitement and joy seemed to be brewing.
So he was trying to avoid thinking about it, otherwise, it would only affect him.
"I understand. I'm relaxed enough now. Although we're not as fast as Mercedes, we're already holding our own against Ferrari, which is good news. At least I can focus on dealing with the Mercedes drivers at the front."
Wu Shi spoke frankly, not wanting Jonathan to have to constantly do psychological work with him, as this would disrupt the race crew's work.
"Very good! You don't have much to do; just secure a podium finish."
Jonathan happily patted his shoulder.
As he sat back in the monocoque, Wu Shi's heart still stubbornly started to pound. His mind, however, was clear, knowing that this was just normal nervousness.
Beep beep!!
The reconnaissance lap bell rang, and the cars were released.
The top ten drivers on the starting grid all used supersoft tyres. From 15th place onwards, everyone except Vettel used soft tyres.
This strategy is also quite understandable. Vettel definitely wanted to escape the slow car train as soon as possible and return to the front to contend for a better position.
It's worth noting that his current total points are 92, not far from Wu Shi's 119 and Hamilton's 102. The opportunity is still there.
During the reconnaissance lap, Wu Shi figured out the grip conditions of the track, which were similar to yesterday's qualifying, so the situation was normal.
After all the cars completed the reconnaissance lap, and after the final situation check, two bells rang, and the pit crew exited the track.
The formation lap then began.
Hamilton's Mercedes was weaving back and forth in front, sometimes slow, sometimes fast.
"Why is his formation lap rhythm different from before?" Wu Shi said over the team radio (TR).
"Be aware that your brakes are still a bit cold." Jonathan didn't answer this sudden, nonsensical question.
"Copy."
Wu Shi continued to follow Hamilton. He didn't intentionally hold up the car train, as it wouldn't help him much.
Instead, Rosberg in third place held back, and Räikkönen followed suit.
Hamilton, being an old hand in the paddock, immediately slowed down after noticing the situation, waiting for the cars behind to catch up.
The cunning formation lap didn't attract extra attention from the broadcast. The camera cut to Toto Wolff, then to Sir Frank Williams.
Clearly, the highlight of this race was the two Mercedes cars against one Williams.
"Looking at Toto's eyes, I always feel like he wants Wu Shi," Brother Bing said with a chuckle.
"What nonsense are you talking about again?" Brother Fei said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
There were no rumors of Wu Shi and Mercedes in the paddock at the moment, which indicated that the current driver lineup was stable.
Hamilton's car was positioned very strategically, with its nose pointed to the right, aiming to block Wu Shi in second place.
Wu Shi naturally noticed Hamilton's move and said again over the TR: "Hamilton wouldn't have treated me like this at the start of the season."
"Yeah, pay attention, the race is about to start." Jonathan sighed. He knew Wu Shi was still nervous, otherwise, he wouldn't be talking so much.
In fact, every time he stopped on the starting grid, Wu Shi's heart rate would already start to accelerate rapidly.
He closed his mouth, staring intently at the indicator lights.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
All the red lights lit up, then instantly extinguished.
The lights went out very suddenly, and Wu Shi instinctively completed all his starting actions again.
The RPM perfectly matched, and after the clutch engaged, the car instantly started to move.
He glanced over, Car 44 had a slow start!
Da da buzz buzz!!!
The car's gears constantly shifted up, and speed picked up.
"Hamilton had a slow start! He wanted to squeeze Wu Shi to the inside, but he didn't have enough speed, and they're side by side!
"Wu Shi's acceleration is still strong, pulling away from Mercedes.
"Turn 1! Can this advantage help Wu Shi complete the overtake at Turn 1?!"
"Ah! Here it comes!"
Relying on the overall smoothness of his start, Wu Shi gained a nose-length lead before the braking zone of Turn 1.
He didn't know why Mercedes' acceleration was so slow today, but this was definitely an opportunity.
Once he overtook Hamilton, the vacated position would be filled by Rosberg and Räikkönen.
He had already noticed that Rosberg, disliking Hamilton's slow start, had already changed lanes to get behind him.
Entering the corner, although Wu Shi was on the outside, he had a faster speed due to the wider angle.
Screech!
Hamilton locked up slightly, tucking his car into the corner. However, by this time, Wu Shi had already completed the overtake.
The next corner was a right-hander, and Wu Shi would go from outside to inside.
To prevent Hamilton from using Mercedes' strong cornering stability to re-overtake, he unhesitatingly veered to the left.
This would secure enough wide inside space for corner entry, unlike what happened with Hamilton at Turn 1.
However, after he turned the car, Hamilton's steering remained motionless, heading straight for him.
Wu Shi had no idea what Hamilton was doing! At this point, the race car should definitely be turning to the left!
Hamilton not turning, was he trying to cut Turn 2 directly?!
There was no more time to think. Mercedes' front right had already directly jabbed into Williams' rear left.
Car 59 instantly went sideways. At this moment, Hamilton began to turn his steering wheel to the left, trying to avoid the spinning Wu Shi.
But the Williams' rear wheels, still turning while sideways, were already kicking up white smoke.
Bang!
Hamilton, who had just accelerated, trying to pass on the left, collided head-on with Wu Shi, and both crashed into the left side of the track.
"What is he doing?! Hey, a top driver, under dry conditions, understeered at Turn 1!!!"
Wu Shi swore loudly.
On the other side, Hamilton's emotions were stable, but he also said over the TR:
"Sorry, I understeered! Why was Wu Shi still on the throttle after the accident?!"
Both of their TR messages played consecutively, and the Safety Car was deployed simultaneously.
"Oh my! What's going on?! How did they crash?!" Brother Bing slapped his thigh.
"Wait for the replay, we'll know what happened after the replay." Brother Fei was a bit calmer.
Before the replay, Wu Shi climbed out of the car, and marshals had already run over.
If it were Rosberg, he would probably be throwing his steering wheel, but Wu Shi wouldn't.
On the other side, Hamilton had already climbed out and was walking towards Wu Shi.
Seeing this, the broadcast had no intention of replaying and kept the camera fixed on the two of them.
"They're not going to fight, are they?! This looks like Wu Shi hit Lewis." Some audience members thought.
However, Hamilton came over, but didn't curse, only saying: "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, nothing serious. Are you okay too?" Wu Shi asked.
"Hmm, I'm fine." Hamilton nodded and asked: "I'm very sorry about the collision just now. I was too eager, and I understeered a bit."
"Oh, this collision was too sudden." Wu Shi nodded, saying nothing.
Hamilton continued: "Were you still on the throttle at the end?"
"Huh? I'm not too sure about the situation at the time." Wu Shi thought for a moment, then shook his head and said:
"I rarely have collisions. At the time, I was completely confused about the situation. Now that I recall, I just felt a sudden spin, and then I crashed into you."
Hamilton patted Wu Shi's back, and the two of them stepped over the track barrier together, taking a marshal's scooter back to the pit lane.
The extremely restrained scene between the two surprised many people.
"It's rare to see championship contenders maintain this level of respect for each other after an accident," David said.
The broadcast camera cut to the Mercedes pit box. Toto Wolff, who was expected to be furious, had a serious expression but showed no signs of anger.
He was talking to Niki Lauda about something, constantly waving one hand.
Meanwhile, in the Williams pit box, everyone's disappointed expressions were clearly etched on their faces.
Verstappen TR: "Is Wu Shi okay?"
Toro Rosso TR: "YES, IT'S OK."
Rosberg TR: "How did they crash?"
With the two front-row starters retiring, everyone on the track had varied expressions.
Wu Shi returned to the pit box and saw Sir Frank Williams being pushed in his wheelchair.
The aged team founder, still stern-faced, said:
"Accidents happen frequently. It's an unavoidable part of a professional career. I know you rarely encountered such situations in previous races, but you cannot be scared or defeated by an accident."
Wu Shi didn't resent the lecture; he just nodded and said: "Sir, I haven't cowered because of this. I just think this collision—"
Before he finished speaking, Jonathan interjected: "We are already communicating with race control. There will be an investigation into this matter."
Dry track, Turn 1, understeer—it's natural for an ordinary person to experience this, but this is Hamilton! A two-time world champion!
Wu Shi noticed that cameras had already followed him, clearly everyone wanted to know what was happening.
He sighed, took off his helmet and balaclava, and returned to the back area to change his clothes before coming out.
By this time, some people already wanted to interview him prematurely, but they were stopped by the race crew.
Interviews during the race were not part of the procedure, so they could naturally be refused.
Sitting with the race crew, continuing to watch the race, a mechanic immediately said: "Wu Shi, after the crash, you should have immediately engaged the clutch and released the throttle."
"Sorry, I didn't consider that much at the time."
Wu Shi said. Are you kidding? Release the throttle? Even if the clutch broke, he wouldn't do that!
If he had released the throttle, Hamilton would have easily driven past him through the open space on the left.