Chapter 187: Entering Q3
During the second practice session, all teams gradually lifted engine restrictions to conduct long-run stability tests.
However, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull all completely ignored the medium tires and continued running long stints on softs.
Wu Shi's program was closer to Mercedes' approach, but on his seventh lap, Massa made a braking error and crashed into the wall.
Jonathan's voice came over the radio:
"Wu Shi, we may need to test another set of tires."
"Understood."
Without a proper long run on the medium compound, the data would be meaningless. So after two short push laps, Wu Shi returned to the pits and switched to medium tires for a long-distance run.
Not long after, Kvyat also had an accident, ending his session.
In the end, Hamilton topped the timesheets with a 1:37.219, improving by nearly 1.8 seconds over FP1—almost effortlessly.
Second place went to Kimi with 1:37.662. The lap itself wasn't astonishing, but what truly stood out was that he completed 35 laps on soft tires.
Ferrari's tire management was clearly excellent. Vettel's strategic victory in the previous race had relied on this strength. One of the key purposes of practice was to provide benchmarks for race strategy.
Wu Shi's lap time wasn't ideal because he had switched to medium tires for long-run testing. After returning to the garage, he said directly to Jonathan:
"The medium tire is almost 0.8 seconds per lap slower than the soft. That's not good at all."
"We saw it," Jonathan replied. "We'll test the soft tire one last time in FP3. The race may have to rely entirely on it."
The biggest difference between Shanghai and Sepang was temperature. With cooler track conditions, even soft tires wouldn't degrade too quickly, while still being much faster than mediums.
Although mediums could last around seven laps longer, losing nearly a second per lap made the overall race time far worse.
After FP2, the Williams garage became extremely busy—Massa's car had to be fully repaired before FP3.
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At noon the next day, the third practice session began.
"You handle Turns 1 through 7, and then from Turn 13 to the finish line," Jonathan instructed Wu Shi.
Qualifying simulations in FP3 were never full flat-out laps. That would be equivalent to showing your cards, and even Mercedes wouldn't do that.
Instead, teams split sectors between their two drivers, then combined the data to estimate qualifying pace.
As a result, lap times in FP3 were worse than in FP2. The familiar top six—Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull—once again clustered at the front.
Williams had both Toro Rosso cars wedged between them, filling out the top ten.
McLaren continued struggling, trading places with Sauber.
Brother Tou once again proved his legendary talent for choosing teams. Last year he finished runner-up here, but now even scoring points looked difficult.
Even an F1 career had its highs and lows.
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At 3:00 PM, qualifying officially began.
Given the strong performance of the soft tire, front-running teams didn't touch the medium compound in Q1.
Backmarker teams like Sauber and Lotus used medium tires either to gather data or to save soft sets for the race—though at a circuit with two pit stops, the value of saving tires was questionable.
Hamilton set a 1:38.285 and immediately returned to the garage.
From practice data, it was nearly impossible for backmarker teams to break into the 1:38 range, so there was no need to push further.
After Wu Shi posted a 1:38.211, he stayed out for a second flying lap, continuing to search for balance.
When Q1 ended, both Manor cars were eliminated as expected, with times over 1:42—almost at F2 level. But this wasn't the fault of the engineers or drivers. For this fragile team, simply finishing races was already a victory.
Both McLarens were also eliminated with times around 1:39.2. If not for Manor, Button and Alonso would have had many chances to finish last this season.
The final eliminated driver was Hülkenberg in the Force India.
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After a ten-minute break, Q2 began.
"This set of soft tires will be used for the race. Please protect it as much as possible," Jonathan reminded him.
That meant only one attempt.
A second push lap would destroy the tire's performance and place them at a strategic disadvantage for the start.
Jonathan knew the pressure this put on a rookie, but this was Formula One. Avoiding pressure wouldn't make consequences disappear.
"I understand."
Wu Shi took one last look at the telemetry, replaying Q1 in his mind.
Shanghai required frequent brake-balance adjustments. Every instance of front or rear slip had to be remembered clearly.
He took a deep breath. His heart rate climbed as he waited for release.
Backmarker teams were sent out first to improve track conditions.
With five minutes left, Wu Shi was released.
One lap. Only one chance.
As he exited the pit lane, he saw a huge crowd waving flags in the grandstand opposite. Through helmet and earphones, he couldn't hear them at all.
The out-lap began. The soft tires' behavior was already well understood.
After one lap, he exited Turn 16 onto the main straight, shifting into eighth gear.
Shanghai's Turn 1 was a massive, tightening right-hander connected to Turns 2, 3, and 4, spiraling like fern leaves.
He entered in fifth gear, the car gradually bleeding speed as steering angle increased, touching the curb at Turn 2's apex.
Then came the downhill Turn 3, still stuck around third gear.
Only after spotting the apex of Turn 4 did he begin accelerating hard.
What time was needed for Q3?
The team's estimate: 1:37.
Not too difficult.
The real challenge was staying consistently in that range.
Full engine modes would guarantee it, but that could hurt Q3 later—so he held back.
He quickly adjusted brake balance to 58% while upshifting through seventh.
After Turn 5, he crossed the first sector timing beam.
Jonathan finally exhaled. The pace was still there. Pressure hadn't broken him.
Wu Shi kept driving exactly as in practice.
He crossed the line at 1:37.555.
A strong lap—more than enough for Q3.
After a cooldown lap, the order became clear.
When Q2 ended, the eliminated drivers were:
Ericsson (Sauber),
Kvyat (Red Bull),
Verstappen and Sainz (Toro Rosso),
and Pérez (Force India).
The ten remaining drivers returned to the pits.
In ten minutes, they would make their final assault on pole position.