Chapter 260: The Naive Verstappen
Vettel, waving the Ferrari flag, walked into the lounge surrounded by a crowd.
Wu Shi was watching the indoor TV screen with Ricciardo.
"Oh, I don't know why it took so long to change tyres," Ricciardo said, speechless, as he watched the replay.
Wu Shi rubbed his nose and didn't speak; anything he said now would be awkward.
Fortunately, he and Ricciardo had a good relationship, so the silence didn't last long, and they started discussing the offensive and defensive manoeuvres of the final stint.
Ultimately, Ricciardo had put considerable pressure on him, but the inherent difficulty of overtaking on a street circuit was unavoidable.
After a while, Vettel came in, and both of them looked over.
"Hey! Congratulations! Woohoo!"
Vettel continued to cheer in Italian, and his excitement infected both of them.
Seeing this, the commentators chuckled, "This might be the most harmonious moment in the paddock lounge this season."
Vettel's excitement was understandable.
Every victory he achieved with Ferrari was hard-won, and each win seemed to herald a better year for Ferrari next year—
As for why not this year? This year's outcome was almost obvious: it would be Wu Shi and Mercedes vying for the final championship.
Soon, the host's voice rang out from outside, and Ricciardo watched the video alone for a while, shook his head, and walked out of the lounge.
Once outside, the cheering was incredibly loud.
After all, nearly 80% of the Caucasians who came to Singapore to watch the Grand Prix were Australians.
And Ricciardo standing there was akin to standing on home ground.
Reaching the podium at home would naturally be met with immense cheers.
Then Wu Shi walked out, prompting enthusiastic cheers from many Chinese fans.
Sports competitions are like this: people watch for the competition itself, and for the athletes or teams they support.
So when Vettel walked out, he received the most fervent cheers.
Ferrari fans celebrated in unison, their voices powerful.
Wu Shi watched from the side; winning in a red uniform always seemed to garner more applause than for other drivers.
After the national anthem concluded, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean presented the trophy to the champion.
Vettel took the trophy, tossed it gently upwards, and caught it.
Subsequently, Singapore's Minister of Transport presented the trophy to Wu Shi.
Although this official also had a Chinese name, he was not ethnically Chinese.
Wu Shi accepted the trophy and raised it to display to the entire circuit.
Finally, it was Ricciardo, the Australian, who also hoisted his trophy high, showing his characteristic wide grin.
Even without securing second place, he was very happy, after all, he was pulling further and further away from his teammate, wasn't he?
In the subsequent interviews, the focus was entirely on Vettel.
However, today's Grand Prix, despite its dramatic flair, smoothed out the usual intense battles among the front-running drivers.
Both crucial Safety Car periods occurred precisely during the pit stop window, allowing almost all front-running drivers to make pit stops effectively for free.
This meant there was no strategic intrigue in pit stops, nor any intense battles after exiting the pits.
Furthermore, Wu Shi's car, in second place, simply didn't have the performance to challenge Ferrari, so the championship was already firmly secured.
As for the fight for second and third, only Ricciardo's several late braking attempts to snatch a corner were captured on camera; after that, there were no more significant moments between the two.
But Vettel still spoke extensively about the recent difficulties.
At the beginning of the season, Ferrari was full of confidence, fantasising that the Vettel + Ferrari combination could revive the Prancing Horse.
However, as the Grand Prix progressed, they realised that this year's narrative was Wu Shi + Williams reviving a private team.
Consequently, internal pressure grew, making Vettel unusually agitated.
It could be said that every victory was a stress reliever for Vettel.
Such is the reality: when you want to revive the Prancing Horse, driving skill is not the most crucial link.
After the interview, Wu Shi walked back and saw Verstappen also being interviewed.
He started a lap behind today and finished in eighth place, which caught the attention of some media outlets.
After the interview, Verstappen saw Wu Shi and came over with a smile to say hello.
"Good Grand Prix, right?" He was beaming.
"Of course," Wu Shi nodded.
"You don't seem as happy," Verstappen said.
"Hmm, I'm often thinking about what I need to do in the next six Grand Prix to maintain my position in the standings," Wu Shi mused, stroking his chin.
"That's a difficult question to answer," Verstappen nodded, saying,
"How about looking on the bright side? Maybe Mercedes won't be as strong after an engine change?"
"Oh, then it's a good thing they didn't give us a new engine," Wu Shi chuckled.
"Hahahaha," Verstappen laughed along.
As soon as he returned to the garage, Wu Shi heard some Engineers discussing Ferrari being reprimanded by the race organisers.
"What happened?" Wu Shi became curious.
"During the awards ceremony, they were too excited and pushed a security guard, so the race organisers reprimanded them,"
The Engineer also found it amusing as he spoke.
"They were too excited; we've never been that excited before,"
Another Engineer said.
"But isn't the more important thing about their Team Principal?" the Engineer asked.
"What about him?"
Wu Shi was a bit surprised. Was Maurizio Arrivabene going to be fired by Ferrari?
It couldn't be that serious.
"Well, earlier, Maurizio made a promise that if Ferrari won four Grand Prix this year, he would run naked through the streets of Maranello."
"Hiss! How many Grand Prix is that now?"
"Three!" the Engineer exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh! Jones, do you really like watching an old man with a bare backside that much?" The nearby Engineer patted his colleague's shoulder.
"Hey, don't get me wrong! I just purely want to see the Team Principal with a bare backside."
"Cough cough."
Wu Shi coughed twice.
Claire walked over and first said to Wu Shi, "Congratulations, you've further extended your lead over Lewis in the standings."
Then she looked at the Engineers and asked, "What were you all discussing just now? So cheerfully."
"Uh, we were celebrating Wu Shi!"
"Yes, I think he's quite familiar with Singapore; why don't we let him suggest something for tonight's celebration?"
Several Engineers immediately tried to smooth things over.
Claire smiled, patted Wu Shi's shoulder, "They're right, you pick the place tonight! Too bad you can't drink yet."
The Singapore Grand Prix, with Hamilton's dramatic retirement, once again made everyone realise that it might not be as easy as imagined for Lewis to catch up to Wu Shi.
The post-race investigation into Hamilton's car malfunction by Mercedes also concluded: it was due to a turbocharger system failure.
Specifically, it was caused by a metal clamp between the intercooler and the plenum detaching, leading to a pressure leak and turbocharger failure.
This meant that even when Hamilton fully pressed the accelerator, the car's acceleration performance was affected.
Toto Wolff, after the problem was confirmed, also stated that he had never imagined such a small component could cause such catastrophic consequences.
When asked by reporters how he viewed the competition between Lewis and Wu Shi,
Toto Wolff, rubbing his nose, stated that there were still six Grand Prix left on the calendar, and they had plenty of opportunities to overtake in the standings, provided there were no more unexpected incidents.
And Niki Lauda also uncharacteristically commented on Wu Shi.
He said:
"I don't believe the FW37 that Wu Shi is driving this year has any advantage over us, but he still maintains a long-term lead over us in the standings."
"This isn't influenced by car performance or driver skill; rather, we've made too many unforgivable mistakes during the season."
"But on the other hand, Wu Shi and his team have never made a major error; they've secured every single point they could."
"And that's how it is when contending for the World Champion: the more you can secure every tiny point, the more likely you are to achieve ultimate victory."
"In the next six Grand Prix, we will ensure we don't make any more mistakes; only then can we win the Drivers' World Championship."
Clearly, the defeat in Singapore significantly increased internal pressure at Mercedes.
Having the Constructors' World Championship but not the Drivers' World Championship, what does that generally indicate?
It indicates that it's not the car that's the problem, but the people.
As the season drew closer to an end, discussions about the ongoing battle in the standings grew increasingly heated.
Many domestic media outlets began to declare that Wu Shi would achieve ultimate victory, statements that naturally sparked refutations from some.
"There are still six Grand Prix left, and given the performance gap between Williams and Mercedes right now, it will be very difficult for Wu Shi to win!"
"Mercedes' broken car in Singapore was so slow, and you're still talking about a performance gap!"
"Even if Wu Shi performs perfectly in every Grand Prix, he'll at most get second place!"
"Are you kidding? If Wu Shi wasn't lucky, could he have gotten so many points? Look at the Grand Prix he won: either Mercedes retired, or Mercedes had problems. Was there any Grand Prix he won purely on skill?"
"Idiot, those who say he's lucky, please go watch the replays of the Austrian and British Grand Prix! Those were genuinely snatched first-place finishes!"
Such intense discussions in domestic communities were merely a microcosm.
At the same time, information about the person who ran onto the track during the Grand Prix was also dug up.
Reportedly, this fan was drunk at the time and wanted to get a closer look at the race cars, which is why he entered the track.
Now, this British man faces a maximum fine of 360,000 and a six-month prison sentence.
In the short week between the end of the Singapore Grand Prix and the start of the Japanese Grand Prix, the paddock was also abuzz with news.
Red Bull still hadn't chosen an engine supplier for the 2016 season, though it was revealed that Christian Horner had been negotiating with people from the Volkswagen Group.
This brought the question back to Audi: would they join Formula 1 in some capacity?
At the same time, Red Bull was also discussing an engine supply agreement with Ferrari, but progress was very slow.
The reasoning here was quite simple: even with a subpar engine, Red Bull occasionally showed considerable competitiveness this year.
This was enough to indicate that they possessed excellent aerodynamics and a highly advantageous chassis.
Therefore, Ferrari had to consider whether supplying engines to Red Bull would turn Red Bull into a significant threat on the track.
Red Bull also boldly declared that if they didn't get a good engine, F1 would lose four cars in the 2016 season.
This time, not only Wu Shi, who completely disbelieved Red Bull would withdraw from F1, but most people also didn't believe Red Bull's nonsense.
On the other side, there were many revelations about whether Renault would return to F1 through the Lotus team.
Lotus was currently facing an extremely dangerous debt crisis.
Next Monday, they were summoned to appear before the High Court in London, which was their final deadline for debt repayment.
Therefore, many media outlets believed that Renault might step in at this time.
Renault also has a corresponding plan; it seems they want to acquire Lotus.
As for Lotus's two drivers, Romain Grosjean has almost certainly confirmed he will join the American team Haas next year.
On Wu Shi's side, Sid also called:
"We've been in touch with Mercedes a few times, and Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda are indeed quite interested in you."
Wu Shi smiled after hearing this and said, "But it seems there hasn't been any progress."
For Wu Shi, Williams is already very good, but if he could bring his talent to Mercedes, he would be willing.
"Yes, Nico Rosberg's seat cannot be replaced; they need a German."
"As for Lewis, his contract might be cancelled at that time."
"However, based on what I've recently learned, their board doesn't seem to think you're a good fit for them."
Sid's words immediately made Wu Shi realise that next year's Mercedes might still proceed according to a very controversial script.
So, given Wu Shi's performance this year, if he joined Mercedes next year, could Rosberg really defeat him?
Everyone would believe otherwise.
After all, driving a car superior to Williams's performance this year, Rosberg's win rate against Wu Shi wasn't high.
If both drove the same car, it would be even more so.
Wu Shi wouldn't be like Hamilton, drifting through the first half of the season and only starting to catch up in the second half.
Indeed, Lewis must once again catch up in the latter half of the season this year.
"Well, if there's a chance to join Mercedes, I'm very willing. Their engine advantage is unmatched by other teams."
"Until the next major technical regulation change, I believe Mercedes will be the most competitive car," Wu Shi said.
Sid agreed; no one in the paddock would now deny that Mercedes's engine is excellent enough.
And few would question Mercedes's engine for next year.
The day after Wu Shi and Sid's call, Force India confirmed that Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg would continue to drive for them next year.
At the same time, Carlos Sainz also criticised Verstappen in an interview for not letting him pass, even though he was clearly faster at the time.
Wu Shi couldn't help but laugh when he saw it.
If Verstappen were Wu Shi, Toro Rosso might indeed have a team order request.
But Verstappen isn't a grassroots driver without connections. You, Sainz, are a second-generation driver; isn't Verstappen also a second-generation driver?
The back-to-back races meant there was something happening almost every day in between, so time passed very quickly.
In fact, the teams had already packed up and sent all their materials to Japan as soon as the Singapore Grand Prix ended.
When Wu Shi arrived in Japan on Thursday, he was in a good mood.
At least there wasn't the heavy atmosphere of last year.
He arrived at the paddock with several other drivers.
He saw all of Lotus's race crew sitting outside the roller shutter door.
"What's going on?" Wu Shi was a bit surprised.
"I don't know, maybe their facilities haven't been delivered yet?" Verstappen shrugged.
"You don't know? They haven't paid enough fees, so they can't use this venue for now," Sainz said.
"Uh..."
Although he wanted to laugh, it wouldn't be polite to do so.
"When are you planning to do the Track Walk?" Sainz asked.
"I think it's better to stay home and look at Google Maps," Verstappen shrugged.
"Probably later, let's all go together," Wu Shi said.
For him, walking the track didn't have much significance; after all, inspecting the track layout and surface conditions by walking it once was far less effective than driving a lap on Friday.
However, for many drivers, this was a very important activity.
When chatting with Guanyu Zhou, Guanyu Zhou mentioned that he was accustomed to using this time to check braking point references and apex references for corner entry, among other things.
In short, currently, the only one in the paddock who openly stated that this Thursday activity was unnecessary was the veteran driver.
Verstappen only said it in private; in reality, once on the track, he was very serious. This year, he was just a rookie.
"It seems there's also an activity scheduled for today, experiencing the local unique culture?" Sainz asked.
"Oh?! Unique culture? Anime, adult entertainment?" Wu Shi said reflexively.
"Hehehe! What are you thinking about!" Verstappen laughed:
"We're going to experience sumo wrestling."
"Oh, that's not pleasant. I don't want to push and shove with a bunch of sweaty fat guys," Wu Shi shrugged.
No wonder Jonathan hadn't told him about this; it seemed he knew Wu Shi wouldn't want to go.
"It might rain tomorrow."
Back in the pit garage, Jonathan, who was already in work mode, said.
As the Engineer, he would need to accompany Wu Shi on the track walk later.
"What about the race?" Wu Shi asked.
"Sunny."
"That will delay our setup time," Wu Shi said.
"Yes, it requires medium downforce here, but the specific data still needs you to run at places like 130R (Turn 15) and Spoon (Turns 13-14)."
"My suggestion is that you need to find the lowest downforce driving style; we need to make adjustments based on that," Jonathan reminded him.
"Oh, I understand."
Wu Shi nodded. Suzuka Circuit is a track with many complex corners but also a fair number of straights.
It greatly tests the team's trade-offs in downforce during the setup process.
These trade-offs involve corner stability, exit acceleration, top speed performance, tyre wear, and many other aspects.
Although Wu Shi could better control the car and try to save the tyres, he also needed the Engineer team to help him find the theoretically best values.
After walking the track on Thursday, the team held a meeting.
Several Engineers successively analysed the historical conditions of Suzuka Circuit and provided various basic setup parameters.
Wu Shi and Massa also needed to speak on this.
Of course, Massa was the main speaker in this segment, as Wu Shi had never driven an F1 car on this track in a proper race.
At the end of the meeting, Claire said:
"Our goal is not to maintain a podium finish; our goal must be to go for victory! Only victory can keep us ahead! Otherwise, it's all castles in the air!"
"With every additional victory, our chances will increase significantly!"
Boosting morale and raising spirits, this was the most important thing Claire, as Deputy Team Principal, could do at the moment.
As expected, when Friday arrived, the sky was overcast, and then it rained.
For the first fifty minutes of the First Practice Session, there was basically no room to set times, and Wu Shi's idea of extreme car setup also fell through.
The rain only lessened in the last ten minutes.
Drivers successively set lap times, and in the end, Sainz surprisingly took first place with a time of 1 minute 49.434 seconds.
However, its reference value was limited. Some drivers who ran a lot in the First Practice Session did over ten laps, while those who ran less just took one lap around.
The Second Practice Session was at two in the afternoon. There was no rain at the start, but the track wasn't dry either.
Just as everyone was about to dry the track, it started raining again!
In the end, everyone could only use intermediate tyres for testing.
In the Second Practice Session, Kvyat led with a time of 1 minute 48.277 seconds, followed by Rosberg and Hamilton.
Ferrari was almost two seconds behind the leading drivers; the advantage from the previous race was completely gone.
This is F1 racing, where a brilliant performance one race and a dismal one the next is common.
Wu Shi was also a bit frustrated, having not had a real setup opportunity in two consecutive practice sessions.
But Massa was even worse off; he didn't even get to go out on track.
Williams's dismal performance in practice sessions had become a regular feature, so everyone treated it calmly.
Even reporters asked Wu Shi if he was preparing to give everyone another surprise in tomorrow's qualifying session.
Wu Shi found it difficult to answer; he was feeling overwhelmed.
Fortunately, the next day, Saturday, finally brought dry conditions.
This was the last setup opportunity.
A full day of rain meant that today's temperature was not high.
Wu Shi used three pit stops and seven laps to find the minimum downforce required for the two high-speed corner areas.
The Engineers immediately calculated the data and found that even higher downforce was needed.
Otherwise, Wu Shi would still face insufficient rear wheel downforce and lagging acceleration when exiting several slow corners.
With ten minutes remaining in the session, the final round of adjustments was completed.
After matching the car with its optimal attributes, Wu Shi put on the new medium tyres he had specifically saved and attempted a flying lap.
The effect was very good; he immediately achieved a time of 1 minute 34.297 seconds, placing him third.
He was only five thousandths of a second behind Hamilton.
And three tenths of a second behind Rosberg.
This was a very rare opportunity to get close to Mercedes in a practice session.
Coming to a low-temperature, high-speed track, with Mercedes's powerful engine, there was clearly much more room for car setup.
But currently, all teams were still facing a significant problem: insufficient tyre testing.
Pirelli had provided orange hard tyres and white medium tyres for this race.
The white tyres were definitely faster, but the long-run performance of both had not been fully proven.
This undoubtedly presented a huge strategic loophole.
"Oh, Wu Shi's speed in the Third Practice Session is really not slow. Judging by this situation, he has great potential in qualifying."
"Yes, we see that Mercedes's speed is back, while Ferrari is somewhat in trouble. They are not as good as Mercedes, Red Bull, or Williams in the Third Practice Session."
"Is this 'three not as good'? Hahaha!"
"Toro Rosso's speed is also good, with young Verstappen taking seventh place."
"Yes, remember last year, young Verstappen made his debut here. Although not as stunning as Wu Shi, he still made people admire his adaptability to F1."
An hour and a half after the Third Practice Session ended, qualifying was about to begin.
This race schedule was very tight, just like the two back-to-back Grand Prix.
Wu Shi also took a few deep breaths before getting into his car.
In qualifying for the Suzuka Grand Prix, he had a chance to challenge for pole position, so he naturally wouldn't give up such an opportunity.