Chapter 87 I Will Get an F1 Seat
The practice session ended amidst the commentators' enthusiastic praise of Wu Shi. After the drivers returned to the pit area, reporters wearing badges crowded in.
Many people were targeting Wu Shi, and they all rushed over in droves.
At this time, Wu Shi was still exchanging information with Pan Zi, and they needed to share some data.
"Hey! Wu, hello, we're old friends!" The media from Italy spoke first.
Upon seeing the familiar middle-aged man, Wu Shi smiled and replied, "Yes, it's great to see you here. I thought you would continue to interview young go-kart drivers in Tali."
"Haha, that's what I was thinking, but when I saw you participate in F3, I decided that I must continue to interview you! I told the editor-in-chief that if I can no longer interview you, my job as a reporter is meaningless."
Wu Shi raised an eyebrow, looking at him in surprise. "Uncle, it can't be that bad, can it?"
"Let's not waste any more time. First of all, what do you have to say about skipping Formula Reynolds and directly participating in F3?"
"Oh, I think this is a very simple question. When your strength is strong enough, there is no need to continue to stay in lower-level competitions to accumulate so-called experience. That kind of experience cannot help you grow better and faster. I think Max and I should have the same opinion." Wu Shi looked at Pan Zi.
Verstappen nodded and said, "That's true. Formula Renault isn't much harder than go-karting. I don't find any fun in racing against anyone except Wu."
"Wow! It seems both rookies are quite confident. So, Wu, how strong do you think you are? Can you win all the championship titles like you did in karting?" the reporter continued to ask.
"I hope I can do it, but you know, even the best F1 drivers can't win every championship title in F3. We encounter a lot of unexpected events in the race, and these are not always things that can be overcome by human effort," Wu Shi responded.
"So, what about the previous question? How do you assess your own level of ability?" the reporter pressed.
"I think I will try my best to win as many races as possible, at least twenty-one," Wu Shi said.
The reporter, clearly puzzled, immediately asked:
"Can you explain why it's 21 wins? Even if it's not a perfect record, no one in history has ever achieved that. Can I assume you have a particular fondness for the number 21, and that's why you set this goal?"
Wu Shi shook his head and said calmly, "Well, because I have a contract. If I win 21 races, I will get an F1 seat."
As soon as he finished speaking, the surroundings became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Even Verstappen stared at Wu Shi in shock.
Clearly, not everyone can accept this news all at once.
Wu Shi has only just started racing F3, has a team already set their sights on him?
Isn't this similar to Raikkonen, who skipped several intermediate levels of racing and went straight to F1?
The scene was eerily quiet, and Wu Shi knew that he had achieved the effect he wanted.
After signing the contract with Rafa, Sid was considering whether to disclose it, since there was no stipulation against revealing the contract. However, he was ultimately concerned about Rafa's attitude.
Initially, Montezemolo did not give a clear answer, so Sid abandoned the idea of using the announcement of the contract to promote Wu Shi and attract more sponsors.
But before the match began, Montezemolo stated that since there were no restrictions in the contract, they would decide for themselves.
Wu Shi and Xi De discussed it and decided that since the F3 race was about to start, they might as well take the opportunity of an interview to release this news.
Now, he felt the timing was right, so he said it.
However, he couldn't explain it too clearly; he needed to leave enough room for speculation to maintain the buzz. Therefore, he kept it from Rafa and planned to build up his popularity first.
Building momentum and promoting oneself are very important things. Russell, who was still running in F4 at the time, won his Mercedes seat in the future by virtue of his strong ability to promote himself.
After a full five seconds, the reporter finally spoke, stammering, "Oh, okay, I, yes, I think this information is a bit too explosive. Um, could you tell us more details?"
"Then I might as well just show you the contract directly," Wu Shi said with a smile, refusing the offer.
With this bombshell news dropped, the reporters had no time to ask any other questions; they were eager to get back and write their press releases.
After Verstappen finished his interview, he came over and asked, "Did you really get such a contract?"
"Of course." Wu Shi nodded.
"That's true. With your talent, F1 is your ultimate destination. Speed doesn't matter much." Verstappen nodded matter-of-factly.
Immediately afterwards, all the racers who knew Wu Shi rushed over to gossip about the news, which spread so quickly. Besides gossiping, they were also extremely envious of the situation!
Everyone who makes it to F3 dreams of going to F1, but there's still a long way to go before them.
GP3, GP2, F2 – each race presents a challenge, with countless obstacles awaiting them.
Each level of advancement will filter out some of the people, and in the end, very few will be able to reach F2.
Of course, the Van Amersford team crew was even more incredulous than their peers.
After confirming the matter with Wu Shi and receiving an affirmative reply, Ai Lan said, "We are under a lot of pressure."
Wu Shi was slightly taken aback and said, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just prepare for the competition as usual. You have to believe in me, and I will believe in you too."
Upon hearing this, Alan nodded emphatically and said, "We will do our best!"
The morning practice session ended. F3 racing doesn't usually attract much attention, and few people care about practice sessions like this. But when the interview with Wu Shi was released, the Formula racing community went wild.
The F1 season has only just begun, and news about next year's seats has already surfaced, instantly attracting a lot of attention.
Some people dug up all of Wu Shi's information, and his incredibly high karting win rate once dominated the headlines of the racing section.
Meanwhile, many domestic enthusiasts shared this information on internet platforms such as Dayan Media and a certain forum, which directly boosted Wu Shi's popularity in China.
Zhi Shiwei sat at her desk. Six years had passed, and she had risen from a newcomer to deputy editor-in-chief, mainly responsible for the arrangements of motorsports events.
Wu Shi.
She was taken aback when she saw the topics the reporters had submitted, and the long-unseen name struck her.
She immediately got up, took the report to the editor-in-chief's office, handed it over, and said:
"Wu Shi is a talented race car driver we've been in contact with since the early days of our racing division. He has now achieved remarkable success in Europe."
"I think we should seize this opportunity!"
The editor-in-chief pushed up his glasses, finished reading, looked up, and said, "I have some recollection. Didn't we sponsor him back then?"
"Yes." Zhi Shiwei nodded.
The editor-in-chief glanced at the report a few more times, then started typing on the computer, searching for information. Fifteen minutes later, he slowly said:
"Well, in that case, you'll need to take your business associates to meet with this race car driver. I'll suggest to the higher-ups that we can offer sponsorships in the millions or even tens of millions over the next two years."
"What?" Zhi Shiwei was shocked. This couldn't be a joke, could it?!
The editor-in-chief did not reply. Tens of millions of RMB in sponsorship is indeed a lot, but is it really a return of 10% of the driver's future income?
He knows a lot about F1; the top drivers earn very high salaries.
He just concluded that if Wu Shi is as good as reported by foreign media, then he has the potential to become a top driver.
Furthermore, the first Chinese driver, sponsored by Big Eye Media, will also reap extraordinary rewards in terms of reputation and profits. This is a matter that needs to be discussed at the highest levels.