Chapter 58
March 25th arrived quickly, and the second leg of the WSK Europa Series kicked off.
Wu Shi and Verstappen noticed driver number 363, the Thai man from the United Kingdom, as soon as they arrived at the track.
"I suspect the reporter from the previous stop took money from him," Wu Shi suddenly said.
"Why?" Pan Zi asked.
"Otherwise, with so many drivers, why would they single out him and emphasize how great he is?" Wu Shi said.
"Are you nervous?" Panzi asked.
"I don't think so. Why are you asking this?" Wu Shi asked back.
"Because if a reporter is paid to emphasize how good he is, it's only to make you more nervous during the match, to push you to your limit, and then wait for you to make a mistake and withdraw from the match," Pan Zi said seriously.
"There are such underhanded tactics?"
"My father."
"Ahem!" Joss's deep cough interrupted the two of them. He said, "The competition is about to start. What are you still saying? Hurry up and get ready!"
The two were forced onto a go-kart.
Wu Shi was also unsure of Albon's abilities, so he didn't leave the pits first, but instead stayed at the back of the line to see the true speed of this highly regarded driver.
But Verstappen didn't think that far ahead. He stuck to his old habit of lining up in the front row so he could have a clean track.
After warming up, he quickly started racing. He was very familiar with the track. After passing the last corner and entering the starting grid, he opened the throttle to the maximum and then the car slowly moved to the right. He arrived at the right line before the first false turn and passed the first turn with almost no need to release the throttle.
After the turn, you need to slow down slightly to enter the next turn. This large curve is not a continuous curve but has two inflection points that are not very clear. How you handle this part will affect your lap time on the short straight ahead.
Verstappen perfectly followed the lane markings, maintaining high speed as he entered the straightaway and easily navigated the next right-angle turn.
Rustling sound!
The entire driving process was smooth and effortless, as if a master calligrapher were wielding his brush on fine rice paper, creating a masterpiece.
Joss watched his son drive and nodded in approval. He didn't make many corrections to the steering wheel, which meant that he had perfect control over the race car and could minimize the loss of time.
Whoosh!
43.551.
After one lap, the results appeared on the display screen.
"So fast!"
"My God! How did he do that?"
Among the many lap times of 45, 46, and even 50 seconds to a minute on the lap time leaderboard, this lap time truly amazed everyone.
Wu Shi, who was lagging behind, had just turned the second-to-last hairpin bend. He glanced at the leaderboard, didn't see Albon, but spotted Panzi.
No, how did you get under 43?
Okay, now it doesn't matter how fast Alben runs or how much he runs, because you can't run faster if you don't give it your all. He gets into the zone almost instantly.
Rustling sound!
I pressed the accelerator almost to the floor, then braked suddenly as I entered the last hairpin bend. As the speed dropped to the maximum entry speed, I released the brakes almost immediately, glided slightly, and then accelerated into the bend.
A series of seemingly repetitive and redundant maneuvers are actually making the most of the wheels' grip to maximize speed when exiting the corner!
Buzz!
Once past the hairpin bend, the go-kart takes advantage of its slow entry and fast exit, accelerating very rapidly. By the time it reaches the checkered line, its top speed is already slightly faster than normal.
Although the car quickly reaches its top speed, those extra few kilometers per hour already give it a one-thousandth of a second advantage. And racing is about accumulating these advantages until you win.
This advantage is completely imperceptible to the naked eye; only detection equipment can calculate it.
Whoosh!
Wu Shi quickly arrived at Turn 1, entering the turn almost exactly the same way as Pan Zi—no, it was Pan Zi and Wu Shi who entered the turn almost exactly the same way.
This corner is designed for slow entry and fast exit, while Wu Shi's improvement makes the slow entry slightly faster, thus squeezing out lap times from each other.
Under extreme conditions, the go-kart endured tremendous pressure, and the screeching of the tires and the friction of the brake discs were extremely jarring. However, unlike the struggle of the sounds, the go-kart's overall cornering was smooth and fluid, as if it were gliding and overcoming the center of gravity shift.
sieve!
47.518. ①
This is Alben's result; it seems like a huge mess.
Rustling sound!
Several more cars crossed the line.
44.872.
58.120.
45.824.
Several cars crossed the finish line one after another, some fast and some slow.
But there were no lap times close to 44 heads.
"Verstappen, that kid Joss, he really knows how to drive cars. To be able to set this lap time in his first year is quite an achievement." A team leader remarked, then looked around in surprise when he noticed that no one next to him had spoken.
"There's another guy who's even faster than him."
How could that be?
"Didn't you come to the last stop?"
"Something hasn't happened yet. You mean the winner of the last race will be faster? Bro, one race victory doesn't mean anything. You've watched karting for so many years, you should know that almost no karting driver can dominate a race. Maybe that winner just made fewer mistakes in the last race."
sieve!
Wu Shi passed the line, and the results were announced.
41.081. ②
The speaker froze, speechless, his mouth agape for a long while before finally closing. After gathering his emotions, he said, "Is there something wrong with his car?"
"Some people thought so at the last stop as well." The team leader wanted to light a cigarette, but because it was a public place, he could only hold the cigarette between his index and ring fingers and rub it.
A brief silence fell over the stadium, followed by an explosion of noise that created a chaotic scene.
"That's incredible," murmured a spectator wearing sunglasses. Standing next to him was a woman with off-white hair, Martina.
"So? If he maintains this form, can we give him a 16-year term?" Martina raised an eyebrow.
"You mean, let him drive F1 when he's 18? That's insane." The man in sunglasses shook his head.
"If you can't reach an agreement, I will look for other teams, whether it's Red Bull or Mercedes, they would probably be more willing to include him in their youth training program."
Martina smiled. The larger and more established an organization is, the more conservative its decision-making tends to be. If she weren't one of LaFerrari's people, she would never have contacted the convoy in advance like this.
"Well, you know, this is karting, not Formula racing. Even the most talented karting driver might not be able to adapt to Formula racing. Secondly, I'm not the team leader or the boss. I can only report back the situation here truthfully. I can't guarantee an F1 seat, but I can guarantee the opportunity to enter the LaFerrari Racing Academy."
"Well, hopefully you can come up with an attractive solution when he moves on to lower-level formulas and continues to showcase his talent," Martina said before leaving the arena.
When Wu Shi stepped off the track, he was still a little dizzy. If it was so physically demanding to fully perceive the small size of a go-kart, what about a larger open-wheel race car? Would he die from mental exhaustion before he could even finish a lap?
"Wu Shi! How did you do that?!" Joss grabbed his arms.
"Wait, sir! He needs to be weighed first!" a staff member called out.
"I'm sorry, I got too excited." Joss apologized, acknowledging that it was indeed a very inappropriate behavior and might invalidate Wu Shi's results.