Chapter 74 Three Pole Positions
While everyone else was tense, Montezemolo spoke up and asked the engineer:
How did you think of those two runs?
The engineer took off his headphones, the data laid out before him, and could only say, "The second season's timing was excellent, demonstrating incredible control."
"Very good, continue watching." Montezemolo gestured for the engineer to put on the headphones.
Buzzing!
Slower cars appeared again in the third period, but the other engineers were observant and noticed that Montezemolo had come specifically to check on a driver. Regardless of the reason behind this, they still needed to do their job as team engineers.
So they all told the drivers in the cooling zone to give way in the TR, but there was no need to remind the drivers who were still speeding, since no matter how fast Wu Shi was, he could not exceed the physical limits of the race car and catch up with them who had started speeding earlier.
Swish!
Entering the third timing segment, Wu Shi did not brake at all, and passed through the straight section with several false bends at an extremely high speed. The engine of the race car roared, as if it wanted to tear open the chamber and burst out with even stronger horsepower.
Whew!
The wind howled like wildfire.
'Heaven is helping me!'
With the tailwind, the race car drove even more smoothly on the straightaway, allowing the tires to take a comfortable rest for a while.
When we got to the last few corners, the vehicle was in excellent condition.
Wu Shi scanned the track ahead and, combining the data provided in TR, deduced at which points he would encounter slower cars and how to get past them.
A new racing line emerged in his mind, and he quickly put it into practice.
Buzz! Tap tap!
After downshifting, the vehicle entered the curve and drove around two slower vehicles.
After passing them, the engine suddenly roared, and the gear shifted up rapidly with a clicking sound.
"It's not slower than the first lap." Joss took a deep breath; the rest of the laps were easy.
On the track where engines roared, race cars sped past, and many drivers opted to head into the pit lane to change tires, preparing to fight for pole position in the second race.
But just as some drivers finished changing their tires, a new result was posted, placing them second on the screen.
When everyone looked at the driver's name, they realized it was the same as the first place winner: Wu Shi!
On the second lap, he was only 1.3 points slower than on the first lap, still maintaining a 1.3-point lead over the other drivers.
All the drivers who saw this result fell silent. What's the point of fighting for pole position? Let's fight for second place on the grid!
"Yes!"
"Alas!!"
The moment Joss and Sid saw the results, they both excitedly pumped their fists.
"Antonio Foco's fastest lap was 0.254 seconds behind him, which means he not only won pole position in the first two races, but won it by a significant margin," concluded an executive who works with Montezemolo.
"How old is he?" Montezemolo asked Martina.
"16 years old," Martina said truthfully.
"Oh, so promising for his age," Montezemolo said suddenly after staring at the data on the screen for a long time. "How are the preparations for the F3 race going?"
"Mr. Montezemolo, hello, I am Wu Shi's agent. He will be participating in this year's F3 season, and we have already reached an agreement with Van Amersfoort Racing," Sid said as he stepped forward.
"Why not at the LaFerrari Youth Drivers Academy?" Montezemolo turned to look at Martina.
"We've discussed this before. If we follow the academy's requirements, he'll probably still be racing go-karts right now." Martina waved her hand, indicating a helpless situation.
Montezemolo stood quietly, thinking for a long time, and said, "If he can achieve excellent results in F3 this year, I wouldn't mind giving him a seat in F2 next year so he can showcase his talent."
After saying this, he didn't linger any longer. His schedule was tight today, and he couldn't afford to delay. Martina also left with him.
After everyone had left, Joss and Sid exchanged a glance.
"An F2 seat! That's quite impressive! It seems Wu Shi's performance has caught the eye of Mr. Montezemolo," Sid said.
Being able to promise an F2 seat based on F3 performance before F3 has even started is already quite an unexpected gain.
"Then work hard!"
Joss crossed his arms, not envious at all. He had witnessed the growth of this genius and knew that if this guy entered F1, he would definitely achieve brilliant results.
Even so, it's too early to talk about F1 now; it would be more realistic to wait two years.
The drivers were completely unaware of Chairman LaFerrari's hasty arrival and departure. After the twenty-minute qualifying session, everyone returned to the pit area.
"Unbelievable! How did you manage to achieve such a time?"
After seeing the results of the group, Storr was very surprised. Even though he had seen Wu Shi's terrifying dominance in go-karting, how come he was the same in Formula One?
"Just run around like that and it'll be done." Wu Shi chuckled and eagerly went to the engineer's side, saying, "Help me retrieve the record for the third lap."
The engineer didn't speak to him, but silently opened the data.
Wu Shi scanned the images, comparing them one by one with the memories in his brain, constantly revising his understanding.
When the difference in lap times is a few hundredths or a few thousandths of a second, it is completely impossible for a human to judge, since the limit of human neural reaction speed is only a little over one-tenth of a second.
He needs to know whether his choices at different times and in different states are correct, so he needs to constantly fit and compare.
Especially today, with so many unexpected events and no time to drive too many laps.
"I think it's better to tell him this news later." Joss didn't want Sid to interrupt Wu Shi's debriefing.
"I was planning to bring this up tonight, but unfortunately we don't have our own engineering team, otherwise we wouldn't have had to let him do the debriefing alone," Sid said.
"I wouldn't call myself one person."
Joss pointed to Verstappen as he walked past.
Verstappen's two valid scores were not outstanding, ranking only third and fourth, so he pouted and came to Wu Shi's side, already used to the exaggerated data.
"I feel this track is too wide, which makes it harder to drive," Verstappen said.
"Thinking about it the other way around, overtaking during the main race would be easier," Wu Shi said, shifting his perspective.
"That's true." Verstappen nodded in agreement.
After a short break, the second round of qualifying matches began.
Wu Shi's new set of tires proved effective; he didn't need to push hard at all to achieve the fastest lap in this qualifying session.
In this way, his tires can give him a significant advantage at the start of the race.
"You got three pole positions straight away, wow, you've practically swept all the victories at the Sebring circuit," Verstappen exclaimed in amazement.
"I don't think your pole position can completely translate into a victory. This is your first time participating in an open-wheel formula race, isn't it?" Nicolas Latifi and Tatiana Calderon walked over together.
Wu Shi wanted to refute directly, but seeing that the speaker was Latifi, he thought for a moment and said, "Yes, I think everything is subject to change, I will do my best."