Chapter 263: GP2 Engine! GP2!
Wu Shi, of course, didn't know that both Mercedes cars had already pushed themselves to the limit to cope with this race.
He only felt that after entering the fourth lap, Hamilton's closing speed became faster.
It was hard to create some distance after exiting a corner, but soon he would see the Mercedes swaying closer again.
This situation was too challenging for the heart: a competitor you are currently fighting head-on, versus a competitor who is always closing in and ready to fight you head-on at any moment.
Comparing the two, the latter was definitely more terrifying.
Wu Shi couldn't help but ask Jonathan on the radio:
"How far is he from me? How many more laps do my tyres have?"
He could push for speed, but his tyres would inevitably suffer enormous wear.
"We need these tyres to last at least twelve laps. The current time difference is 0.532 seconds, 0.52 seconds," Jonathan said.
Wu Shi stared at the track, the whooshing wind and engine sounds masking all other noises.
Fifth lap, DRS activated.
Once Turn 15 was passed, Hamilton gained DRS.
At this point, the time difference between them had already shrunk to 0.411 seconds!
In the following three corners, Turns 16-18, the distance was further reduced.
When the two F1 cars were within an inch of each other, everyone anticipated what was about to happen!
The director's camera followed the two cars onto the main straight.
After passing the DRS line, the rear wing endplate of car #44 Mercedes instantly dropped, and the drag immediately decreased.
Vroom!
The gear quickly shifted to 7, the engine RPM bounced around 10,000, and with all buffs active, the Mercedes' speedometer numbers rapidly soared.
Whoosh!
The immense downforce from the extremely high speed pressed the entire car to the ground.
The rear of the car trailed a series of sparks, dazzling and eye-catching.
Even in the small rearview mirror, Wu Shi could clearly see these sparks.
Hamilton rapidly closed the distance with Wu Shi, and when the gear reached its highest, 8, all conditions for an overtake were met.
Whoosh!
The Mercedes suddenly pulled to the right, ready to pull out and overtake.
But Wu Shi, as if he had X-ray vision, immediately followed Hamilton's move, quickly changing lines to defend.
Hamilton immediately realized that the inside space Wu Shi left was very narrow; it looked like a car could pass, but it carried a huge risk!
With his superior top speed, how could he be blocked like this?
He immediately turned the steering wheel back. At this point, Wu Shi couldn't, and didn't, follow him anymore.
Vroom!
In less than 100 meters, the two cars changed lines like two intertwined bullets, completing all their maneuvers in a breath.
By the time the Mercedes finally moved to the middle-to-outer line, its extremely high top speed had already pushed its front wing to the position of Williams's rear wheel.
The difference in top speed was huge; there was simply no chance to fight!
Wu Shi could only feel a car approaching, running alongside, and then overtaking him.
However, at this moment, the braking zone arrived!
Swoosh!
Clack clack clack ~
Before Turn 1, both drivers braked and downshifted, their speed instantly dropping from over 330 kph to over 220 kph.
The Mercedes in the middle had a better entry space for the corner.
Hamilton also took a wide, aggressive line, turning sharply right into the corner, forcefully pressuring Wu Shi.
Wu Shi was even less afraid! This trick worked on Rosberg, but not on him!
From the very beginning, he had no concern about a potential collision. He was leading in points; what was there to be afraid of?
So, he braked and turned into the corner according to his original line, not giving an inch!
Screech!
Evidently, Hamilton, who knew Wu Shi very well, had already prepared to stop forcing the issue.
The space he left was just like the inside space Wu Shi left on the straight!
The perfectly narrow width was Hamilton using the track to tell Wu Shi, 'You dare not yield!'
Wu Shi, of course, couldn't yield!
He had long figured out where on the track he could push the limits, controlling the car with extreme precision to race on the only available path!
In the narrow space, Wu Shi precisely controlled the car, racing along the inner line's only path.
The two F1 cars passed through Turn 1 almost glued together.
However, what followed was the wider Turn 2.
Hamilton, on the outside, needed to reduce more speed to maintain stability through the corner.
Wu Shi's opportune moment arrived. He took advantage of Hamilton not having reduced his speed and constantly drifting to the outside, allowing his car to occupy space due to centrifugal force.
"Oh! Wu Shi's signature wheel-to-wheel battle! He's eager to stick his car to his opponent! He's like a cunning loach; he can get through any gap!
"Lewis has no choice; his line looks terrible!"
Swoosh!
Exiting Turn 2, Wu Shi gained the leading position.
But Hamilton was not far behind.
On the short straight after Turn 2, both drivers engaged overtake mode, accelerating with maximum parameters, aiming to seize the initiative for corner entry.
Whoosh!
The left-hand Turn 3 arrived with both cars side-by-side, and Wu Shi, with a slight advantage, aggressively cut into the inside line!
But Hamilton wasn't someone to be intimidated. No matter how arrogant Wu Shi was, could he really leave no space?
If that were the case, he would definitely brake hard and veer slightly right.
He would directly use his front wing to take out your left rear wheel! Do you dare?!
Wu Shi was, of course, aware of the potential dirty tricks Hamilton might pull.
Therefore, he wouldn't act rashly, only trying as much as possible to stick his car to Hamilton's.
The ensuing series of 'S' bends, due to their very high cornering speed, would put immense stress on the tyres if not taken on the racing line!
If he couldn't take the racing line, he certainly wouldn't let Hamilton take it either!
The two of them, neither yielding, went through Turn 3 side-by-side and sped into the 'S' bends.
In the continuous 'S' bends, the inside and outside lines frequently swapped.
In the camera, sometimes Hamilton was leading, sometimes Wu Shi was.
The two cars, like intertwining giant snakes, battled on the track with incredibly fierce momentum!
The director's camera turned rapidly, but couldn't find a suitable angle to see the full picture!
Screech!
In the thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle, both their heart rates soared.
Just before Turn 7, Bono's voice suddenly came through Hamilton's earpiece:
"We need to switch to Strat 6, maintain for 5 laps, engine overheating."
Hamilton didn't reply after hearing this, because as Turn 7 arrived, he had completely gained the inside advantage.
Let this lap's battle end here!
Hamilton's bright eyes were fixed on the line, and then he dove in.
On a wide, sweeping corner like Turn 7, the outside line not only suffers from the dirty side but also travels a longer distance!
Even though Wu Shi had adjusted his differential parameters before entering Turn 7, he still couldn't keep up with the Mercedes.
He could only watch helplessly as the Mercedes' front left emerged, and then the silver-green car body gradually filled his forward vision.
Vroom Vroom!!!
When its rear engine was level with Wu Shi's cockpit, the roar was deafening.
Whoosh!
Hamilton completed the overtake!
Yesss!!!!
The Mercedes race crew in the pit garage instantly jumped up; overtaking a competitor directly on the track was undoubtedly thrilling!
This battle for first and second place was completely settled in the first sector.
After a long pause, Jonathan finally said on the radio:
"Lewis has adjusted his engine mode; you can try to follow."
"NO."
Wu Shi responded simply; he couldn't keep up.
In dirty air, this Williams was terribly weak.
Its aerodynamics were already poor, and it was a low-drag setup biased towards qualifying. Following another car's rear was like driving on ice!
Just at Turn 11, Wu Shi had almost completely lost downforce because he tried to follow.
Then he made a bigger mistake than Rosberg's in qualifying.
At that time, the tyres were rolling and rubbing so hard that white smoke came out, clearly pushing the brakes to their limit.
If he hadn't controlled it properly, he would have gone off track and hit the wall there.
And after that mistake, Hamilton immediately pulled away.
Even if Wu Shi still got DRS afterwards, being completely pulled away had already become a foregone conclusion.
Jonathan and others watched the screen, feeling somewhat powerless.
The battle for the top two was fierce, and the battles among the drivers behind were no less intense.
At this point, the race replay showed exciting moments from behind the first and second place battle.
Verstappen and Nasr were fighting for position, both activating DRS, and together they flanked Button on the main straight, passing the veteran.
When overtaking Button, Verstappen also showed astonishing courage, almost touching the veteran champion's car.
From the chassis perspective, it was heart-stopping.
Few rookies dared to get so close to another race car.
Alonso ahead was in tenth place, right in the points zone, so he faced a fierce attack from Ericsson behind him.
After several attempts, Ericsson finally overtook Alonso.
And in these few laps, Rosberg, using his engine advantage, had also closed in on Vettel.
Lap 8, Hamilton led Wu Shi by 1.9 seconds, Vettel by 4.7 seconds, and Rosberg by 10.1 seconds.
The track positions temporarily stabilized.
Lap 9, Kvyat, having been blocked by Button for a long time and unable to pass, had to pit to change to hard tyres.
Lap 10, Alonso also pitted for tyres. At this point, the time difference between Wu Shi and Hamilton had already widened to 4 seconds.
"The performance gap is quite large; after getting away from Wu Shi, Hamilton's speed in pulling away is very fast."
"What a shame for a pole position," Brother Fei shook his head.
"As long as it's not a pole position in Monaco, being overtaken like this is quite normal."
Having watched many races, there was already a psychological expectation of what would happen in the main race.
It's just that sometimes, watching the race, one still hopes for a miracle to happen.
"Then, if it continues like this, Wu Shi will quickly lose his points advantage," Brother Fei said.
"On the track, trying to beat a faster car with a slower car is almost impossible; at least we rarely see such situations now," Brother Bing said.
As the two spoke, Ericsson spun at Spoon Corner, but he didn't go into the gravel trap and was still able to drive the car.
At the same time, the first wave of pit stops arrived.
Lap 12, Grosjean pitted for medium tyres, taking 2.8 seconds.
Lap 13, the time difference between Wu Shi and Hamilton was 6.2 seconds.
"BOX BOX."
Jonathan called Wu Shi in.
Because the medium tyres were wearing out too quickly, Wu Shi's lap times had already slowed down.
"Wu Shi changed to hard tyres. Hmm, wasn't it supposed to be medium tyres?" Brother Bing was a bit confused.
"It looks like he's not planning to chase anymore," Brother Fei said.
"It's also possible that the medium tyres wore out too quickly. Wu Shi usually wouldn't pit this early."
After coming out, his time difference with Hamilton was 29 seconds.
Bono immediately told Hamilton:
"Lewis, Push, full Push, we need three more laps. Wu Shi just completed his tyre change, 3.1 seconds."
The next lap, Vettel also pitted for tyres, also switching to hard tyres, taking 2.2 seconds, unusually fast!
Fortunately, the time difference between Wu Shi and him was a full five or six seconds, so there wouldn't be a 'Pit Lane overtake' like in Singapore.
After coming out, Wu Shi dropped to third place.
As he raced, Rosberg found himself in second place.
At this great opportunity, the front of his car suddenly started to vibrate.
His heart skipped a beat. Was it his bad luck again?
Unable to tolerate such a thing, he immediately said on the radio: "Check right front vibration."
"Copy, copy, Nico, we can see this is not a reliability issue."
Rosberg breathed a sigh of relief.
Lap 15, Mercedes told Rosberg:
"So, BOX BOX, now you need to Push hard."
At the end of Lap 15, Rosberg pitted, 2.6 seconds, also changing to hard tyres.
After coming out, he still fell behind Vettel.
Lap 16, it was time for Hamilton to change tyres.
Bono shouted on the radio: "Lewis, BOX BOX BOX."
Subsequently, Hamilton pitted at the end of Lap 16.
"What tyres did Lewis choose?" Wu Shi asked.
"Hmm, it's white tyres, white tyres. It took 2.4 seconds."
"Yeah, I see him."
Wu Shi had just crossed the start/finish line on the main straight when he saw Hamilton exit the pit lane.
Hard tyres couldn't chase new white tyres.
Lap 20, Hamilton maintained the lead, Wu Shi was 5.3 seconds behind, Vettel was 9.58 seconds behind, and Rosberg was 11.9 seconds behind.
"Wu Shi holding onto second is also good; that way he'll only lose 7 points," Brother Bing said.
"That depends on Rosberg's situation. If he's completely blocked by Vettel, then it's stable," Brother Fei said.
"I don't think it will be that easy. Rosberg, facing Vettel's full defense, will have his pace constantly slowed down. By the time he actually overtakes Vettel, how many laps will he have left to chase Wu Shi?" Brother Bing said.
"Hmm, Rosberg is still too... how should I put it? Polite, or weak, in his attacking?"
"This is something he needs to overcome, not just in this race. In many previous races, when Wu Shi and Hamilton attacked him, he would always give up his position, only being aggressive in Spain."
Brother Bing recalled this year's races.
"Hahahaha! Is it possible that after being aggressive in Spain, he was reprimanded internally by Mercedes, so he doesn't dare to be aggressive anymore?" Brother Fei laughed loudly.
As the two commentators spoke, the race entered the end of Lap 21. Kvyat complained about brake issues and then pitted for tyres.
Stevens received a speeding penalty in the pit lane (overspeeding) and happily received a time penalty.
Lap 23, Hamilton's lead over Wu Shi widened to 9 seconds, and Rosberg closed within 2 seconds of Vettel.
Lap 26, Verstappen caught Alonso's DRS.
As soon as he entered the main straight, he opened DRS, then approached at high speed, completing the pull-out before the Turn 1 braking zone.
Then, like Hamilton overtaking Wu Shi, he launched an attack on Alonso from the outside.
Entering the corner, McLaren was utterly helpless, and Verstappen decisively overtook the World Champion!
A moment later, Alonso's slightly breathless voice came through the radio:
"GP2 engine! GP2!"
"AHHHHHH!!!"
Alonso's scream silenced the commentators for a moment, and then uncontrollable laughter erupted.