Chapter 191: Why Is Everyone Looking at Williams?
The Williams team had no idea that their earlier radio messages had already triggered waves of speculation—not only among commentators, but also on the Ferrari pit wall.
Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene covered his mouth, staring fixedly at the timing screens.
He had naturally heard the Williams radio call. If Massa really matched Wu Shi's pace and started closing in on Räikkönen, Ferrari's situation would become far less comfortable.
Though Arrivabene said nothing, Räikkönen's race engineer was already glued to Massa's telemetry.
If Massa's fourth-lap pace was genuinely faster, then…
There was nothing they could do except tell Kimi to defend.
"You're 1.1 behind Rosberg. Vettel is 0.9 behind you," Jonathan updated Wu Shi.
Wu Shi quickly calculated.
DRS would only be enabled after crossing the line at the end of Lap 5.
The detection point on Shanghai's main straight was after Turn 16, meaning Vettel would need to stay within one second through the entire lap to get DRS on the next straight.
There was also DRS after Turn 13, but its detection point was roughly one-third of the way down that straight.
As long as he could be more than one second ahead by that point, Vettel would lose DRS.
Conversely, if he couldn't pull away, he might have to burn some tire life to close in on Rosberg instead.
At this moment, it wasn't just Wu Shi and the Williams pit wall thinking about DRS.
Every driver with even the slightest overtaking chance was already preparing for it.
As Lap 5 began—
Pérez and Kvyat started swapping positions in a fierce fight.
Today, the midfield battle was far more intense than the fight at the front.
After Turn 6, Wu Shi clearly felt Vettel closing in.
His expression didn't change. He simply started pushing harder.
And the two cars ahead of him accelerated even more aggressively.
Earlier, Hamilton had allowed Rosberg to keep closing while setting fastest laps—not because he couldn't go faster, but because he was maintaining a controllable gap, forcing Rosberg to work his tires harder while protecting his own.
Now, when it was time to pull away, Hamilton showed his true pace.
Through the long "S" curves, he displayed extraordinary car control, carrying far more speed through the corners and immediately stretching the gap.
Rosberg was hurting.
He could still follow—but only at the cost of heavy tire wear.
"Watch your tires. Wu Shi is one second behind. One second," Mercedes warned.
Rosberg clenched his jaw and chose a slightly more conservative approach, genuinely afraid that Wu Shi might suddenly appear beside him if he left the slightest opening.
"Hamilton is pulling away from his teammate—his cornering speed is much higher now. He's clearly trying to keep Rosberg out of DRS range."
"At the same time, Wu Shi has also increased his pace. Look at the telemetry—his acceleration points are almost identical to Hamilton's. What incredible track intuition!"
"But Vettel isn't falling back either—wait, actually… Vettel isn't gaining on Wu Shi. Is he about to be pulled out of DRS range?"
In reality, Vettel had quietly turned a seemingly meaningless knob on his steering wheel.
It didn't change any setup.
It was simply a coded signal to the team: as the tires wore, something felt off.
Top drivers were extremely sensitive to balance. At these speeds, even a tiny change could mean the difference between grip and disaster.
On the Ferrari pit wall, strategists immediately gathered around Vettel's engineer.
But there was nothing they could do.
The car ahead showed no obvious tire drop-off. Was he really managing his tires that well?
"Massa's lap time has improved. But after just one lap, tire wear still needs more data," Dave said quietly, sharing information that wasn't on the broadcast.
Brother Bing and Brother Fei had already forgotten about that earlier radio call and were now focused on the Red Bull battle.
Red Bull told Kvyat not to fight.
The instruction was completely ignored.
If it had worked even a little, these two wouldn't still be swapping positions through several consecutive corners.
Their internal war allowed the two Force India cars ahead to breathe easily.
Behind them, Alonso and Button also took the chance to close the gap.
"This Red Bull pair, still the same as ever," Brother Bing slapped his thigh as the cars nearly touched.
Other teams might only fight fiercely when a championship was at stake.
Red Bull drivers?
They would fight to the death even for non-points positions.
"Very good. You're staying with Rosberg, but tire wear is increasing slightly. Keep managing it," Jonathan told Wu Shi.
Wu Shi understood what Jonathan meant: could he still stick to the planned pit window?
He turned the lower rotary switch to the position marked NIU.
Jonathan saw the indicator on the dashboard and immediately understood.
No problem at all.
After closing to within one second of Rosberg, Wu Shi made no further attempt.
With no real passing opportunities and nearly ten more laps before the planned stop, now was not the time to force anything.
Out of Turn 13 on Lap 5—
"Vettel is closing again," Jonathan warned.
Ferrari's engine mode had clearly increased. They were still trying.
"It's fine," Wu Shi replied calmly.
Any extra aggression now would only damage his own race.
Better to sit behind Rosberg and let things develop.
He crossed the DRS detection line at exactly 0.91 seconds.
DRS opened. A slight increase in power followed.
Behind him, Vettel also got DRS and deployed full battery.
Wu Shi didn't panic.
This DRS zone wasn't long. A nine-tenths gap couldn't be erased instantly—not unless you were driving a rocket.
Down into the braking zone—
Clack, clack, clack.
Rapid downshifts, the engine roaring sharply with each gear.
The sound always thrilled Wu Shi.
And he could see that Vettel still hadn't chosen an attacking line.
Turn 14, then the tight right-hander of Turn 15.
Here, touching the curb while applying throttle could easily send the car into a spin.
Most top drivers avoided the curb and relied on precision steering, which cost tires but allowed earlier throttle.
Wu Shi did the opposite.
He deliberately used more of the curb, widening the radius.
That reduced lateral scrub and saved the tires—but forced him to delay full throttle.
"Wu Shi is very wide there—he must not go full throttle or he'll lose the rear!" Dave blurted out, watching the live feed.
Vroom—whoosh!
Wu Shi fed in power while adjusting the differential.
From experience, he already knew: full throttle was impossible here, but about eighty percent was safe.
In race trim, that barely cost lap time—and saved huge amounts of tire.
The rear tires shuddered slightly.
Then stabilized.
In the blink of an eye, Car No. 59 cleared Turn 15 cleanly and charged toward Turn 16.
Dave blinked twice.
Too many drivers had crashed here by applying throttle when left-right grip was uneven.
Wu Shi had used that much curb… and nothing happened?
Vettel followed more conservatively, keeping his right tires on the inner part of the curb.
Down the main straight—
Sparks flew from the floor as downforce compressed the suspension at full speed.
Two red Ferraris chased one white Williams, engines screaming, grandstands erupting.
"Ohhh!!!"
The crowd roared as sparks flashed beneath all three cars.
Up to Turn 1, Vettel had only gained 0.16 seconds.
"Excellent. Vettel can't attack for now. Gap to Rosberg has opened to 1.03," Jonathan reported.
"No DRS for him, right?" Wu Shi asked, already focusing on the snail-shaped Turns 1 to 4.
"Correct. Mercedes is very strong in these conditions. Their car suits the cold track," Jonathan replied after Turn 4.
By Lap 6, the gap to Vettel again stretched to just over one second.
Behind them, Kvyat activated DRS and used full overtake mode, storming past Ricciardo around the outside in a bold move.
Completely ignoring team orders.
But at Turn 6, Ricciardo braked late and cut back underneath, immediately retaking the position.
The two Red Bulls stole the spotlight. Almost no one was watching the data-driven chess match at the front anymore.
"Massa's lap time is improving again, and tire wear control is also—"
Before the Ferrari engineer could finish, Massa's heavy breathing burst onto the radio.
"Yes! Faster! But damn, it's f***ing exhausting! Does that kid always drive like this?!"
His voice was filled with excitement even through the bleeped curse.
For a racing driver, going faster is pure exhilaration.
Going faster in the same car removes all doubt.
Dave didn't reply.
He rubbed his forehead and exchanged a glance with Claire.
They had tried to protect Wu Shi's secret.
But Massa had just said it out loud.
Now everyone knew where this had come from.
A strange scene unfolded in the paddock.
Broadcast cameras stayed on the Red Bull duel.
But across the pit lane, team after team quietly pulled up Wu Shi's onboard footage.
Even the TV director soon noticed and cut to shots of multiple garages.
"Hey—why is everyone looking at Williams?" Brother Bing exclaimed.
"Not Williams. They're looking at Wu Shi," Brother Fei corrected.
The Six Star commentators were confused. Earlier radio messages hadn't been translated in time, and they had missed the context.
Sometimes, their professionalism really did lag behind.
But what everyone in the paddock was feeling wasn't analysis.
It was excitement.
"Is this home-race buff?"
"That doesn't make sense. Do drivers suddenly get magical boosts at home? Something must have happened earlier—there should be a replay."
They waited.
No replay came.
But official commentator David understood perfectly.
"This can't really be copied. Massa can imitate Wu Shi because they're in identical cars. Same setup, similar techniques, same result."
"For other teams, the situation is completely different."
He paused, then said quietly:
"Today's race may not yet show spectacular overtakes for the audience, but within the paddock, Wu Shi has already attracted extraordinary attention."
By Laps 6 and 7, gaps among the top six became clear.
Hamilton gradually increased pace.
Rosberg stabilized but couldn't close.
Wu Shi dropped fully out of Rosberg's DRS range.
Vettel, after two heavy tire-wear laps, also gave up the chase, his lap times falling sharply.
Between the three leading teams—and the internal rivalries within each—an unspoken truce settled in.
To spectators, it looked boring.
To insiders, every lap was full of meaning.
In the Mercedes garage, Toto and Niki Lauda exchanged looks filled with regret.
But with championships not yet under threat, Mercedes' desire for Wu Shi remained restrained.
Arrivabene pursed his lips.
Montezemolo had invited this kid once—but he hadn't come.
Even if he had, that contract would probably have been torn up during Ferrari's later restructuring.
Everyone in the paddock had their own calculations.
And the race kept flowing, lap after lap.
In the midfield, Verstappen overtook Ericsson at the hairpin.
Ericsson reacted too late, his exit speed compromised, and the Toro Rosso pulled away cleanly.
The camera cut to Jos Verstappen in the garage.
He pursed his lips, shifted awkwardly, then finally smiled and applauded.
Lap 10.
Hülkenberg stopped on the grass with a gearbox failure, right after Turn 13 on the main straight.
Yellow flags waved in Sector 2.
Nasr pitted immediately.
Through Lap 11, the yellow remained.
Bottas and Pérez pitted.
Lap 12: Grosjean, Verstappen, and Alonso followed.
The first pit window had opened, and with a sector under yellow, many teams seized the opportunity.
End of Lap 13—
Ferrari radioed: "Box, box."
Jonathan's hand tightened.
This was sudden.
There was barely time to react.
In the end, he did not call Wu Shi in.
Dave, however, brought Massa in.
Vettel stopped. Tires changed in a flash.
"Two point three seconds!"
Ferrari's pit crew was unmatched.
Jonathan exhaled.
If he had pitted Wu Shi, position would almost certainly have been lost.
Massa's stop took three seconds—perfectly normal.
But in battles measured in tenths, even three-tenths could decide everything.
Early in Lap 14, the sector was still under yellow.
Jonathan hesitated, fingers tapping the console.
Then the yellow flag indicator disappeared.
No more waiting.
"Push. Push. Push!"
Three pushes.
Final attack lap before diving into the pits for fresh tires.