Chapter 220: The Black Box
On the large screen, the accident footage was being replayed from multiple angles.
First, a fixed camera shot of Turn 1 showed Wu Shi in the leading position on the outside line, beginning to close the door upon entering the corner.
He didn't close the door aggressively; he merely intended to slightly squeeze Hamilton to create better space for Turn 2.
However, Hamilton's car understeered, directly colliding with Wu Shi.
Wu Shi's left rear wheel received an external impact, immediately losing balance, and the car's front shifted to the left.
Since everyone had already entered the corner, the speed wasn't particularly high.
But somehow, Wu Shi maneuvered the car, and as soon as the front pointed directly left, the wheels spun, smoking, and then with a slight movement, he collided with Hamilton again.
"Hamilton made a mistake and understeered, and Wu Shi subsequently overcorrected. It seems he still lacks experience," the commentator remarked.
The next shot was Wu Shi's onboard camera, which showed that there was ample space left when he closed the door on Hamilton.
It then switched to Hamilton's onboard camera. When Wu Shi turned in, Hamilton's car seemed to lose control; he made two left steering inputs, but the car remained uncontrolled.
Following that were the onboard cameras of Rosberg and Räikkönen, perfectly illustrating the two collisions.
Wu Shi saw very clearly that Hamilton genuinely understeered. How could he not understeer with such late braking?
"I didn't expect Lewis to make such a basic mistake," a nearby mechanic said.
Wu Shi nodded. Any thoughts he had could only be kept to himself; he couldn't voice them.
"Wu Shi, the race stewards want you and Hamilton to come over," Jonathan said.
'Am I going into the stewards' office?'
Wu Shi didn't know what this was for.
"Don't be nervous. They just want to ask about the situation at the time. The team has already submitted your data, and everything is logical and normal," Jonathan reminded him.
Wu Shi nodded. On the other side, Hamilton also came over with his race engineer Peter Bonnington (Bono).
The two didn't say anything extra on the way. Inside the stewards' office, three FIA officials sat in front, and the two drivers sat on their respective chairs.
'It seems they're just asking questions.'
Wu Shi saw that there was no separate questioning, realizing it wasn't a major issue.
"Lewis, I've analyzed the data your team provided us. Can you tell us about your situation at the time?"
"Yeah, my start wasn't great. I released the clutch late, and I saw Wu Shi approaching me very quickly on my right."
Hamilton gestured as he spoke, indicating the positions of the two cars.
"He had a very good start and overtook me on the starting straight. I was a bit anxious at the time, thinking I needed to brake later to make up the difference."
"But I misjudged. When I went to brake, the distance wasn't enough, and the speed was too high. The front tyres' grip couldn't change direction, and I ultimately had a slight collision with Wu Shi."
The officials listened and nodded. From Hamilton's perspective, the initial collision was very slight, at most costing his front tyres some rubber.
For Wu Shi, however, it was more serious. The compromised rear wheel balance caused the car to spin, and the rear suspension also sustained some damage, possibly preventing him from finishing the entire race.
"Alright, Wu Shi, can you also tell us about the situation at the time?" an official gestured.
"Of course, as Lewis said, I had a very good start, and then I entered the corner normally from the outside line."
"The next corner was in the opposite direction, and I wanted more space to enter from the inside line, so I turned the steering wheel a bit to the left. At that time, I should have left at least 1.5 car widths of track space."
"In my opinion, any driver should be able to take that corner with that much space."
"Before I could react, a collision occurred. At that moment, the car veered off, and I was a bit dazed, probably subconsciously trying to control the car."
"But after losing balance, the car completely lost grip. Then, I don't know what happened, but we collided again."
The officials nodded after hearing Wu Shi's statement and looked at Hamilton, saying:
"Your braking point was very late. If the track were clear, you could still have taken a wider line through the corner."
Hamilton pursed his lips and nodded, remaining silent.
The official continued, "In other words, when you prepared to brake late, there was always a possibility of colliding with Wu Shi, regardless. Is that correct?"
Hamilton remained silent.
Wu Shi understood, though. This was implying that Hamilton had caused a collision. Would there be a grid penalty for the next race?
Before he could inwardly smile, the official turned to him and said:
"After the collision, your throttle eased up, but then the force increased again. Was that due to nervousness?"
Wu Shi nodded, also remaining silent.
"When your car was spinning, more throttle input increased the rear wheel torque, restoring some grip."
"You might have realized this problem when the car started to move again, so you released the throttle, but your distance to Lewis was very close, too close for him to react."
"Ultimately, you two collided. There's another key point here: your gear should have started to increase before the collision, but it downshifted instead."
Wu Shi pondered for a moment and said, "I believe the RPM was too low at the time, and the exit torque might not have been enough, especially since it wasn't on the racing line and differed from normal driving."
"Can you prove that this would be faster?" the official pressed.
"I can't prove it, but I can recreate the scenario for you. It might be faster," Wu Shi said.
The official recorded while glancing at Wu Shi.
Once they finished recording, both drivers were released from the stewards' office.
As they walked out of the room, Hamilton asked, "When an accident occurs, you should immediately press the clutch and not touch the throttle again."
"Of course, I know, but I haven't experienced these things, so I couldn't handle the situation optimally," Wu Shi nodded.
"Lewis, at Turn 1, when you were being pushed wide, you shouldn't have risked it. You understeered, and on the track, that's your responsibility."
Jonathan immediately spoke firmly.
Neither Hamilton nor Bono refuted this.
Generally, according to the rules, the trailing driver must yield to the leading driver to avoid collisions, and the leading driver only needs to ensure sufficient racing space for the car behind.
This rule has specific provisions for different corners on different tracks.
This year, regarding Turn 1 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the stewards did not emphasize the latter, so Wu Shi closing the door more aggressively would have been reasonable.
Hamilton glanced at Jonathan, then left with Bono without saying anything further.
"What did you say in there?" Jonathan asked.
Wu Shi informed him of the situation.
"Hmm, the data is consistent, everything is correct. Would it really be faster?" Jonathan nodded.
"The speed difference wouldn't be too significant," Wu Shi saw no need to hide anything from Jonathan and spoke truthfully.
"Did you think there would be a crash at that moment?"
"I had a feeling."
Wu Shi nodded. He had felt a significant change in the airflow from his right rear wheel. At that moment, he couldn't avoid the collision, so he could only think of a way to counter Hamilton's golden right front.
Regardless of how the stewards ruled after Hamilton's similar collisions, most of the time, Hamilton himself benefited.
As Wu Shi, who was aware of many similar incidents, at that moment, he only wanted to ensure Hamilton would not benefit.
All subsequent maneuvers naturally followed.
It's worth noting that no one is afraid of Verstappen's aggressive driving except for two drivers, and one of them is Hamilton.
The most famous instance was at Silverstone in 2021, where Verstappen was hit with a 51G impact by Hamilton.
So, when Verstappen goes head-to-head with Hamilton, he has to consider whether he might be taken out again by Hamilton using the same tactic.
With this concern, Verstappen's assertiveness wanes slightly when facing Hamilton.
It's like this in the paddock: every driver needs to have their own style. If your style is strong enough, everyone will be wary of you.
Verstappen also relies on his assertiveness, even making Rosberg fear him on track, to the point that after the champion retired, he often focused on Verstappen.
Wu Shi possesses sufficient skill, and he can be as assertive as Verstappen, so he will certainly do so.
If you still have to yield on the track, you might as well give your seat to other drivers.
And to counter Hamilton's seemingly compliant tactics, you just have to ensure he gets no reward each time he uses them. Over time, he'll stop using them.
Wu Shi knew this well, and he succeeded this time.
He could tell that Hamilton was constantly testing him, trying to figure out if he did it on purpose.
Wu Shi didn't know what conclusion Hamilton ultimately reached, but if he dared to do it again next time, Wu Shi would take both of them out!
Jonathan, unaware that Wu Shi had a very clear understanding of the matter, was still offering comfort:
"After this incident, you also need to pay attention to your offense and defense against Hamilton. When we get back, I'll request Massa to talk to you about it."
"Hmm, thank you," Wu Shi nodded.
Of course, Rosberg was the happiest when the top two drivers in the overall standings withdrew from the race.
Although he didn't say anything in the team radio, compared to before, his suppressed tone had become relaxed.
On the fifth lap, after the race restarted, he quickly pulled away from Räikkönen.
Massa and Vettel behind were constantly chasing forward, and the cameras mostly focused on these two.
Just ten laps later, Rosberg had already opened up a 7-second gap to Räikkönen, and at this point, the first wave of pit stops began.
Vettel sped along, and after coming out of the pit stop, except for a slight delay when he encountered Alonso, he demonstrated the formidable strength of this four-time champion at all other times.
By lap 25, he had already reached 8th place.
Massa was in sixth place due to a better starting position.
Watching the race, Wu Shi also felt that it was indeed as boring as the audience said.
Ferrari and Williams were the strongest cars, second only to Mercedes, which is why they were able to catch up all the way.
Among the drivers behind, apart from Alonso, who had an extremely strong fighting will, the other drivers had no such thoughts at all.
After all, under the current rules, whether you are overtaken or not will not affect your points and ranking, so most back-row drivers will waste tyres blocking front-row drivers from returning to their positions.
Räikkönen pitted on lap 26, came out on soft tyres, and fell behind Bottas.
As a result, he made a driving error, spun at the hairpin, and wasted a lot of time.
On lap 34, Rosberg led Räikkönen by 22 seconds, Massa by 38 seconds, Grosjean by 38.3 seconds, Bottas by 38.6 seconds, Vettel by 38.8 seconds, Hülkenberg by 49 seconds, and Kvyat by 57.2 seconds.
It must be said that the Mercedes engine was still powerful in 2015, allowing Lotus, which was originally at the back, to maintain sufficient competitiveness.
Massa drove a 'mini-train' with his old tyres, dragging along.
The next lap, the mini-train encountered a groundhog crossing the road, almost sending the little fellow to another world.
On lap 36, Rosberg was warned by the team about overheating brakes and had to slow down.
"This is the gap between him and Hamilton," Wu Shi suddenly said.
"Hmm, he often has this problem," Jonathan nodded in agreement.
The most top-tier drivers often make people feel like they're 'coasting,' because it seems like they just win inexplicably with a good car.
In fact, this is because in a race, top-tier drivers have already solved most problems, making it difficult for people to see the situation.
If it weren't for 2024 and 2025, Verstappen would also be called a 'coasting champion' driving a 'Martian car' by many.
Massa pitted on lap 37, coming out behind Vettel, having been undercut.
For the next few laps, the camera focused on Vettel, the Ferrari driver constantly looking for an opportunity to overtake Bottas.
"The leader has no pressure," Jonathan said.
"Eh!"
Wu Shi exclaimed because as soon as Jonathan finished speaking, Rosberg spun out, rejoining the track after driving over the grass.
He looked at Jonathan strangely, thinking, 'Big brother, are you also a jinx?'
On lap 46, Fernando Alonso retired due to an exhaust issue with his car.
On lap 49, Grosjean collided with Stevens while lapping him, and the race stewards began an investigation.
At this time, the stewards announced the conclusion of the collision between Wu Shi and Hamilton: no further investigation would be conducted.
Wu Shi clicked his tongue, but didn't say much.
By lap 53, Rosberg was already leading Räikkönen by 37.8 seconds, which was terrifying.
Vettel moved into fourth, still blocked by Bottas.
On lap 57, Button retired due to an exhaust issue.
Both McLarens once again failed to finish the race.
It was truly regrettable to think that when Alonso left Ferrari, he considered McLaren a good place to go.
The rest of the race was uneventful; in the final few laps, the front-running drivers all began to slow down to conserve fuel, in order to pass the 100kg fuel limit inspection.
On lap 70, Rosberg crossed the finish line, securing a hard-won victory this season; he shouted loudly in the team radio, releasing his suppressed emotions.
After Wu Shi retired, everyone once again saw Mercedes' unparalleled competitiveness; Räikkönen, in second place, was trailing Rosberg by a full 41 seconds.
Vettel then continuously attacked Bottas, finally completing the overtake and securing third place, a remarkable feat from P18 to P3, and one of the few noteworthy points of this race.
Bottas was just that close to putting Lotus on the podium; the regret in the team radio after the race was indescribable.
Massa was a bit slower, ultimately finishing in fifth place.
After the race, at the award ceremony, Rosberg was very happy spraying champagne, and Vettel was not far behind.
The interviewer walked onto the stage and addressed the audience below: "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
"Today's race had some unexpected incidents, but the outcome is good, no one was injured, and now, let us first congratulate the third-place winner, Vettel;
"The second-place winner, Räikkönen; and the champion, Nico Rosberg!"
Oh oh oh!!! Cheers erupted from the audience.
The interviewer nodded, smiled, and looked at Rosberg, saying:
"Hi, Nico Rosberg, you won the champion, we saw you were very excited just now, this is your first Grand Prix victory of the season, congratulations!
"After the incident at the front, your leading task was very easy; there was one skid in the middle, but you ultimately maintained your position, and this victory was hard-won! Congratulations again."
Rosberg nodded, swaying his body slightly from side to side, unable to suppress the smile on his face:
"Yes, this victory was hard-won; since the start of this season, I've been encountering some problems and driving very difficultly; I've been waiting for this victory for a very long time.
"To be able to win today is crucial, and I am indeed very happy.
"Of course, I also saw the incident that occurred in front; I was there, and I was worried for them, but the team told me they were not injured, which is great."
The reporter listened with a smile, nodded, and continued: "Now your points have surpassed your teammate; how should you maintain this momentum in the upcoming races?"
Rosberg smiled, thought for a moment, and said:
"This is a difficult task; my car still has some different problems, the brakes tend to overheat, and I have to put a lot of effort into dealing with this in every race.
"I hope to improve this problem in the future, then I will be able to become more competitive."
The reporter nodded and said: "Okay, thank you."
Then he looked at Räikkönen; for the Iceman's interview, everyone was accustomed to it, ending with a few brief congratulations and objective statements.
When the interviewer looked at Vettel, cheers erupted in the stadium.
The interviewer made a surprised expression, pointed to the cheering crowd, and then turned to Vettel, saying:
"The fans are very enthusiastic! Third-place winner, do you know why this is?"
"Yes, of course I know," Vettel nodded.
The interviewer took over, saying: "You will earn 15 points, while the top two remain stagnant; after the settlement, you have 107 points, moving into second place, congratulations!"
"Thank you! I am very happy to have this achievement; this was unexpected for me; I started almost from the back, but ultimately managed to secure third place," Vettel was still quite excited.
The interviewer continued to elaborate on this topic: "Now you have overtaken both Mercedes drivers; in front of you is a Williams driver leading the standings; do you think you have a chance to win the world championship later on?"
Vettel was visibly startled upon hearing this, and the smile on his face became shy; this was a difficult question to answer.
Everyone knew that he was in this position purely because of the retirement of the top two.
But since the reporter asked, the four-time champion still had high spirits and considerable trust in the Prancing Horse, so he said:
"Yes, I am currently considering this; our car's competitiveness is somewhat weak this year, and I am relatively pessimistic, but I am indeed seriously considering this