Chapter 264:
Before the veteran's tragic cries on the track had faded, Sainz started causing trouble.
He crashed into a barrier, bringing debris onto the track.
Pérez was the first to notice it on Lap 29, telling his Engineer Tim:
"There's a lot of debris on the main straight!"
Tim on radio: "Understood."
Sainz then reported over radio: "I hit a bollard, need to check the front wing."
The camera moved to the track, and although the clarity wasn't high, some shimmering fragments could still be seen.
A few fragments didn't trigger a yellow flag, so no one paid attention to the debris.
Also on Lap 29, Mercedes told Rosberg over radio:
"Strat 8, this lap is very important. Box, box, box, do the opposite of Vettel."
Immediately after, Hamilton told his race crew over radio:
"The vibration is too much, I'm really struggling!"
Bono waited a moment before saying: "Okay, Lewis, received, it won't be long."
After listening to the continuous translation from the simultaneous interpreter, Brother Bing explained:
"It seems Hamilton just discovered a tyre leak? Is he planning to pit now?"
"Hmm, Rosberg pitted first. Is he trying to undercut Vettel?" Brother Bing nodded.
Rosberg's first pit stop was later than Wu Shi's, but his second pit stop was earlier.
Most importantly, he still chose to switch to hard tyres!
"Still hard tyres! He should have a set of new medium tyres, right? Could it be that the hard tyres are performing better?"
Brother Bing looked at the orange tyres on the screen in surprise.
"There are still 23 laps left in the race; medium tyres won't last the entire race," Brother Fei reminded him.
"Oh! Right!"
Buzz buzz~
At this moment, the radio sounded again; it was communication between Williams and Wu Shi.
"Wu Shi, use your tyres, use them completely, Lewis is going to pit," Jonathan's voice rang out.
"Is he trying to close the gap?" Brother Fei asked.
"It's only Lap 30 now. If Wu Shi pits immediately after closing the gap, he wouldn't choose medium tyres, as they wouldn't last the race," Brother Bing said, applying Brother Fei's reminder.
"But there's a variable on the track now! Hamilton's tyres are leaking!" Brother Fei felt there was still something to it.
"Was it scratched by the debris earlier? Or is the medium tyre wear too severe?" Brother Bing asked.
"That's unclear," Brother Fei shook his head.
However, the situation on the track did not develop in a way that favored Wu Shi.
Although Hamilton's tyres were leaking, it didn't severely affect his lap times.
Wu Shi's hard tyres had only just caught up to Hamilton's speed for one or two laps. To reduce the gap, he would need to run several more laps.
But Hamilton could pit at any time, and after pitting, with new hard tyres, Hamilton's lap times would return.
And most crucially, the positions of third and fourth had changed.
After Rosberg pitted early, he put on a set of used hard tyres that had run three laps, and his lap times were quite good.
Before Lap 30 had even ended, he had erased Vettel's lead, forcing Vettel to pit at the end of Lap 30.
But it was already too late!
When Vettel came out, he encountered Rosberg speeding past.
The hard tyres fresh out of the pit lane were cold and hard, like stale steamed buns; a slightly heavier throttle would cause sliding.
Vettel had no way to do anything!
"A brilliant tactical overtake, Rosberg is back in third place!"
"No one expected Rosberg to pit so early!"
Rosberg's new hard tyres for his second stint had only run 14 laps!
What does that mean?
Among the top ten drivers who started on used medium tyres, as long as they changed tyres normally, plus a few laps in Q2, they had run at least 14 laps!
Rosberg changing this set of hard tyres so early was equivalent to using them as medium tyres!
Moreover, Mercedes' radio was also very misleading.
On one hand, telling Rosberg to make the opposite decision, and on the other hand, calling Rosberg into the pit lane.
So how should Ferrari interpret this radio message?
Presumably, Ferrari's strategy team only realized Mercedes' tactic when Rosberg pitted!
And Rosberg's tactical overtake not only took a podium spot away from Ferrari but also threatened Wu Shi.
At this time, the gap between Rosberg and Hamilton was still 36.8 seconds, but the gap with Wu Shi was only 28.6 seconds.
The Williams data center estimated that Rosberg's lap times would remain stable around 1 minute 37 seconds for at least five laps after this.
Wu Shi's hard tyre lap times were generally stable around the early 1 minute 38 seconds mark.
This basically meant he would lose about 0.7 seconds per lap.
It was imaginable that within a few laps, Rosberg would narrow the gap to an unacceptable level for Williams.
Realizing this, everyone in the Williams pit box looked very serious.
After a calculation meeting, Rodrigo said:
"Maintaining this state for five laps, Wu Shi will lose his safe pit stop window. We need to consider the timing of the pit stop in advance."
"Should we see how Wu Shi pushes this lap?"
Jonathan asked. Although Wu Shi's hard tyres had run more laps than Rosberg's, pitting now would still result in a total time loss.
"Hmm, Lap 31, we won't pit either," Rodrigo replied.
He stared at Hamilton's Lap 30 time of 1 minute 39 seconds 212, which was 0.6 seconds slower than Wu Shi's.
Midway through Lap 31, the gap between Wu Shi and Hamilton further narrowed, to only 7.3 seconds.
But suddenly, a sound came from the Mercedes pit box, and the race crew mechanics ran out with tyres.
It was initially thought to be a bluff, but at the end of Lap 31, Hamilton really pitted!
This move did not throw the Williams Team into disarray.
With Rosberg's lap times meeting expectations, Wu Shi certainly couldn't follow the other drivers' erratic moves.
"Jonathan, we want to pit later," Rodrigo said.
"I think so," Jonathan agreed.
Jonathan also thought they should take the risk, so he informed Wu Shi over radio:
"We need you to push hard, no matter how many laps these tyres have left. The gap between Rosberg and you is 28.01 seconds; we need to keep it outside 25 seconds."
The team repeatedly called for a full push, and Wu Shi immediately realized the criticality of these laps.
He started to increase his speed.
Wu Shi did push hard, setting the fastest lap on the track in Lap 31.
1 minute 37 seconds 687!
It was actually comparable to Rosberg's hard tyre lap time!
But this lap didn't last long; Rosberg, who crossed the finish line shortly after, updated the record.
1 minute 37 seconds 147!
0.5 seconds faster per lap!
The gap between the two narrowed to 27.7 seconds!
The Williams Team remained calm, as there was still at least 2 seconds of buffer space.
Now, the only thing to wait for was Hamilton's subsequent performance.
On Lap 32, Hamilton's out-lap, including some pit lane time, took 1 minute 58 seconds 123.
Wu Shi's lead increased, but it was only 17.3 seconds!
Once Wu Shi pitted, he would fall behind Hamilton by more than 6 seconds again.
The most important question now was whether medium tyres could complete the remaining 20 laps while maintaining speed.
But an even more shocking answer came earlier: on Lap 33, Hamilton set the fastest lap.
1 minute 36 seconds 145!
1.5 seconds!
He was 1.5 seconds faster than Wu Shi per lap!
Rodrigo was stunned seeing this, and then a decision that had to be made in less than a minute was thrown before him.
Did they dare to bet whether Hamilton would return to 1 minute 37 seconds on Lap 34?
The answer was no!
"Box, box, box, we're coming in this lap," Jonathan said.
"What tyres?" Wu Shi immediately asked.
This was everyone's question. It was only Lap 34, and the tyres they put on would have to run for a full 19 laps!
They could certainly run that many laps, but what about the speed?
Rodrigo didn't speak. In the last ten seconds or so, he finally told the race crew:
"Medium tyres."
The race crew, who had been waiting, immediately found the medium tyres and carried them to the work area outside.
Jonathan stared intently at these people, ensuring no wrong tyres were moved before turning to look at the data on the screen.
At the end of Lap 34, Wu Shi pitted and changed to medium tyres.
"Wu Shi has switched to medium tyres! This is a huge challenge!" David exclaimed.
After coming out, Wu Shi was still 7.6 seconds behind Hamilton.
Wu Shi drove onto the track, warming up his tyres only halfway on the out-lap. By the third sector, he was already pushing hard, completing it in just 18.3 seconds, 0.1 seconds faster than Hamilton's previous lap here.
"Be careful, we still have 18 laps to run, you need to manage your tyres well," Jonathan reminded him.
"I want to try," Wu Shi said.
Whoosh!
On lap 35, the old man's lap time remained at 1 minute 37.1 seconds, still very fast.
And Wu Shi also exerted himself, directly gaining back 1.4 seconds with a lap of 1 minute 35.7 seconds.
The gap between them was 6.2 seconds.
However, this fastest lap strategy was merely to put pressure on the opponent, just like Mercedes had done previously.
By lap 36, Wu Shi's lap time returned to a normal 1 minute 37 seconds.
The Williams Team believed in Wu Shi's tyre management ability, so when they saw this cruising lap time, they realized that it might really be impossible to catch up with Hamilton.
However, from other aspects, this result was still acceptable; at least Rosberg could not catch up with Wu Shi at all.
On lap 37, Rosberg's lap time went up to 1 minute 38.8 seconds.
Evidently, his previous efforts had excessively worn out this set of tyres, and Rosberg was unable to balance speed and tyre management anymore.
The only good news was that Hamilton's lap times were slowing down.
On lap 39, he even dropped to 1 minute 37.8 seconds.
While Wu Shi could still maintain a lap time of around 1 minute 37.3 seconds.
The gap between them had already narrowed to just over 4 seconds.
"Lewis, Wu Shi was 0.5 seconds faster than you on the last lap, you need to pay attention," Bono said.
"Isn't he using medium tyres?"
"Yes, but he's pushing flat out," Bono said.
"How many laps can he push?" Hamilton asked.
"We expect his lap times to drop by at least 0.1 seconds per lap, with an estimated lap time of 1 minute 38.7 seconds by lap 50."
"Oh! Is he God? Still uniformly dropping lap times!" Hamilton complained.
"He's not. If you maintain 37.8 seconds, he will be level with you around lap 44," Bono said.
Hamilton did not reply again; maintaining 1 minute 37.8 seconds was achievable with this hard tyre.
The Williams Team, having heard the entire conversation, had no other option.
Wu Shi had to manage tyre degradation, and this was the only way to do it.
But doing so meant that by lap 44, it would be over.
After this conversation ended, even the director shifted the camera away.
However, David was still analyzing the specific situation:
"The medium tyre trap, if I were to summarize this race.
"Lewis had already tried the medium tyres in the second stint.
"He maintained almost the same lap times as Wu Shi's hard tyre throughout; did Williams think Hamilton was deliberately controlling his speed?
"Clearly, Wu Shi was going to suffer a disadvantage. The medium tyres didn't provide enough time advantage, and its degradation was much faster than the hard tyre's. He had to work hard to find a balance.
"Even if he seemed to find that balance very easily, in this race, it no longer mattered."
After David finished speaking, the front of the race was completely ignored.
As Wu Shi's lap times continued to drop and finally stabilized in the 1 minute 38 seconds range, the champion was completely without suspense.
Because at this time, Hamilton's hard tyre could still maintain fluctuating lap times around 1 minute 38 seconds.
Its performance was far superior to the medium tyres!
For Williams, the only good news was that Rosberg's lap times had basically dropped to the high 1 minute 38 seconds, or even 1 minute 39 seconds.
Vettel seemed to see some hope of overtaking.
But whenever he caught up with Rosberg, he would quickly be pulled away again in the corners.
Evidently, in dirty air, Ferrari also struggled to gain effective downforce, basically losing the ability to attack in the corners.
So these two battled back and forth, but it didn't result in even a single position change.
Hamilton continued to lead, extending the gap to 7 seconds again, making it even less interesting to watch.
Among the back-markers, apart from Verstappen overtaking Sainz on lap 44 and Pérez overtaking Ericsson on lap 48, there were no other changes.
The race suddenly became like Monaco; apart from the flying cars and engine sounds, there was nothing worth paying attention to.
And after more than an hour of racing, these sounds had become tiresome for the audience.
"It looks like it's going to end like this," Brother Bing said.
This time there was no jinx, and the race ended smoothly.
Finally, Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line again, claiming the championship of the Japanese Grand Prix.
"Great race! Lewis, great race! Great result!" Bono sent his congratulations.
"You guys did a fantastic job! Guys, you were flawless all weekend, I'm so happy to be back here, thank you so much for all your hard work! Everyone back home (at headquarters) too! Phew! Thank you!"
Hamilton spoke for a long time; he was very excited, and the gloom of his retirement in Singapore seemed to have faded.
"Wu Shi, this was also a good race, you managed your tyres very well," Jonathan said.
"Nico, you recovered well, it's just a pity that we had to get this result."
The second and third place drivers remained silent when facing their race crew's radio.
"P4, Sebastian, we're very sorry! P4, what a pity," Ferrari radio said to Vettel.
"Yes, I tried everything.
"I fell behind, and the tyres were at their limit, so... I'm sorry.
"Ideally, we should have pitted one lap earlier.
"We didn't expect them to be so fast on the out-lap.
"I think we could have stayed ahead, and if we had stayed ahead, I think we could have managed to get third place."
Vettel had already begun to reflect on the decisions on the radio, trying to think of every possible way to win.
The drivers who scored points successively received blessings from their teams.
Wu Shi drove the in-lap quickly, parking his car behind the number two board, feeling a bit disappointed.
However, facing his colleagues' congratulations, he still went up and embraced them.
"He looks very dissatisfied," the guest commentator said.
"Of course, starting from pole position, with Rosberg making a mistake in the same row, one would naturally expect a huge advantage, but unexpectedly, he still lost the championship.
"However, this is racing. There's the champagne of victory, and there's the melancholic evening breeze of defeat.
"This young driver has the courage to challenge for the championship, so he will certainly not fall into despair because of one race. I look forward to his next few Grands Prix."
Hamilton once again won the race with an undisputed overtake.
If Rosberg had been in his state, he actually would have had a chance to challenge Wu Shi.
But he didn't. Overtaking Vettel and returning to third place was already a huge achievement.
The awards ceremony and post-race interviews quickly arrived.
When the camera focused on Hamilton, he fully expressed his confidence, believing that he would quickly catch up in points in the upcoming races.
"Yes, from now on, I need to be at least 7 points ahead of him in each race. If my teammate can perform better, then I can secure the championship before Brazil."
The old man rarely spoke such arrogant words in front of the media.
The interviewers were somewhat surprised, making astonished expressions.
As for Wu Shi, he was neither pessimistic nor overly confident, merely responding lightly:
"My points are still ahead, aren't they? No need to ask that question again."
The interviewer immediately switched to a gossipy question: "Your relationship with Lewis has always been good before, what about now?"
The interviewer seemed to be stirring up trouble.
Rosberg sat on the podium to the side, playing with his hat, completely unconcerned about the situation here.
Hamilton, however, was very interested in Wu Shi's answer.
"Of course, during a race, everyone is a desperate opponent. If it were still like that outside of the race, then I wouldn't be a driver, but a killer."
The interviewer raised his eyebrows, said "well," and looked at Rosberg.
Rosberg's disappointment was visible to everyone.
Before coming to the podium, he quietly watched Wu Shi and Hamilton's battle on TV in the lounge.
He drank water while watching, and after finishing, he picked up the towel on the table and handed it to Wu Shi, who was replaying strategies in his mind.
Then he said to Wu Shi: "He's sometimes just that strong. It's hard to understand how he kept up with you at Suzuka."
Wu Shi just smiled and replied to this comfort: "I know."
Rosberg was clearly a bit surprised; he thought Wu Shi would feel frustrated and swallowed the words he was about to say.
Immediately, his expression was filled with disappointment and anxiety.
He couldn't beat his teammate, nor could he beat Wu Shi.
Vettel, in his post-race interview, stated that Rosberg was too soft and lacked aggression, which was his big problem.
The Japanese Grand Prix ended, with five Grand Prix remaining.
After this battle, Hamilton gained back 7 points.
The points difference between him and Wu Shi was now only 22 points.