Chapter 190: Is There Something Wrong With My Car?!
Fortunately, there were no real overtaking opportunities for a long stretch after Turn 6.
Through the long, sweeping "S" formed by Turns 7 and 8, Wu Shi held his line firmly and kept third place.
He kept checking his mirrors for Vettel's movements. The four-time world champion was not the type to be content with sitting behind anyone.
Vettel, of course, thought the same.
He had simply missed the chance at the start, so he adjusted his approach and chose to bide his time instead.
Any driver who had watched Wu Shi's wheel-to-wheel battles with Rosberg and Hamilton would not treat this young rookie as an easy target.
Moreover, Wu Shi's qualifying performance had already proven that, when paired with Williams, he had genuine pace.
In this situation, Vettel knew the youngster would not give up his position lightly. If he attacked now, Wu Shi would fight desperately, regardless of tire wear.
That was exactly what Vettel wanted to avoid—especially with his teammate still right behind him.
Wu Shi, however, had no idea that his on-track reputation had already bought him a temporary reprieve.
All he knew was that Vettel wasn't attacking, which meant his current priority was simple:
Preserve the tires as much as possible.
Accelerating, braking, turning—under the combined guidance of perception and absolute control, everything was perfectly measured, achieving tire management that exceeded theoretical expectations.
Jonathan stared at the telemetry.
Once again, Wu Shi's uncanny ability to drive beyond standard performance models was on full display.
He quietly made a note. After today's race, the collected data might finally allow them to build a theoretical model specifically for Wu Shi's driving.
Is this ability something he can consciously activate… or does it only appear when he enters a certain mental state?
Jonathan pondered this.
After all, Wu Shi did not always display such extreme efficiency.
But whenever this state appeared, it meant that all existing simulation parameters would need to be recalibrated.
A sudden thought crossed his mind.
If Wu Shi participated in tire testing, would Pirelli misjudge the tires' performance window, and end up producing compounds that only Wu Shi himself could fully exploit next year?
Jonathan shook his head.
He was clearly overthinking things.
Up front, the order remained completely stable. It was obvious that there would be little action until DRS was enabled.
At the start of Lap 2, Sainz spun at the tight, snail-shaped complex of Turns 1 to 4, running wide and rejoining at the back of the pack.
Aside from that, almost nothing happened this lap. Positions had largely settled, and any overtakes would need a new trigger.
Lap 3, however, brought the first changes.
"Rosberg has just set fastest lap: 1:44.518," Jonathan reported over the radio.
"What's the gap to Vettel?" Wu Shi asked.
"Seven-tenths. Zero point seven three."
"And ahead?"
"Hamilton still leads. Rosberg is one point one behind him. You're one point three behind Rosberg."
Jonathan repeated the gap to Rosberg to make it clear.
Hearing this, Wu Shi slipped back into his deep focus.
While the front group remained static, the midfield was in chaos.
Bottas and Ericsson were locked in a fierce fight for ninth and tenth.
Verstappen hovered just outside the points, only nine-tenths behind Ericsson.
Further back, from Kvyat in thirteenth to Ricciardo in sixteenth, four cars were packed within a single second.
The broadcast cameras kept switching to them, waiting for an overtake at any moment.
Near the end of Lap 3, Mercedes radioed Rosberg:
"Watch the fronts. Front tire degradation is increasing. Please manage front temperature and reduce scrub. Understeer will worsen as the stint goes on."
What Mercedes told Rosberg was exactly what many teams wanted to tell their drivers.
If there was one driver Jonathan didn't need to warn, it was Wu Shi.
Compared to other circuits, Wu Shi's tire wear here was slightly higher than average—but compared to his own teammate, it was unbelievably low.
The reason was simple.
Car No. 59 made almost no unnecessary micro-corrections. The basic setup had been nearly perfect from the first lap.
Second, his steering inputs were extremely smooth. This cost a little lap time, but it was well within acceptable limits, especially since Vettel was not pushing hard and the gap stayed around eight-tenths.
Finally, except when both hands were needed in heavy steering zones, Wu Shi was constantly adjusting car parameters on the straights and minor corners.
Jonathan watched in amazement.
In most races, setup changes were suggested by engineers and executed by drivers.
But Wu Shi adjusted proactively—and somehow, it actually worked better.
"Wu Shi, your adjustments are very effective. We think we can pass this information to Massa," Jonathan said cautiously.
"Yeah, go ahead," Wu Shi replied during a brief calm section.
Massa had always treated him well, and Wu Shi had no reason to hide something like this.
Besides, knowing the method didn't mean Massa could necessarily replicate the results.
After a quick analysis, Jonathan sent the data to Massa's race engineer, Dave.
"Try modifying toe and brake balance before and after corner entry. It should help protect the tires."
"In the corner as well?" Dave asked.
"If he has the bandwidth, yes. It helps quite a lot with degradation," Jonathan confirmed.
Lap 4.
Hamilton led, followed by Rosberg, Wu Shi, Vettel, Räikkönen, Massa, Grosjean, Nasr, Bottas, and Ericsson.
Verstappen ran in eleventh, still hunting the final points spot.
Behind him were Hülkenberg, Pérez, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Alonso, and Button.
Ricciardo had lost several places at the start, then suffered a small lock-up and contact, sending him even further down the order.
Meanwhile, Sainz had already caught the back of the pack and quickly dispatched the two underpowered Manor cars.
Overall, aside from the Red Bull Racing pair and one Toro Rosso, most drivers' positions had barely changed.
Fastest lap on Lap 3 still belonged to Rosberg: 1:44.297.
Clearly, with DRS about to be enabled, he was trying to close up to Hamilton.
Mercedes' earlier warning also hinted that he might already be pushing beyond the ideal window.
This was the difference in driving ability.
With the same machinery, some drivers could naturally balance pace and tire life better.
Hamilton was like that.
And so was Wu Shi in third.
As Massa entered the long straight, Dave spoke over the radio:
"If possible, adjust toe now—three clicks—then reset it mid-corner. Also shift brake balance."
"What?!" Massa shouted, startled. "Is there something wrong with my car?!"
"No, no problem with the car. Don't panic. These extra adjustments can save the tires. If you can manage it, you might be able to close the gap to Kimi."
Massa, who was about to question Dave's sanity, immediately changed tone when he heard Räikkönen's name.
"I'll try."
That short exchange was picked up and broadcast live.
Most commentators were confused, able only to guess based on experience.
"This should be an optimized setup from simulation data," Brother Bing speculated.
"But Massa is already one and a half seconds behind Kimi. That's not something you fix by twisting a few knobs," Brother Fei shook his head.
"Then is this some kind of team code?" Brother Bing asked.
"Possibly. Or they've changed strategy. DRS is coming next lap."
The Six Star Sports commentators couldn't quite figure it out.
Even official commentator David lacked context, since Jonathan's earlier discussion with Dave hadn't gone over open radio.
"I think Williams must be confident in this setup change. Why they didn't use it earlier—only the team knows.
"But this radio message may carry more meaning than we can see right now. Let's watch what happens over the next lap."
David concluded.