Chapter 138 - 62: No One

Chapter 138: Chapter 62: No One

On June 22nd, the Austrian Grand Prix concluded alongside the F3 Championship’s Hungary Station.

During this Grand Prix, the two drivers from the Mercedes Team performed poorly in the qualifying stage. Hamilton made a mistake and qualified ninth, while Rosberg failed to outpace the two Williams cars, managing only third place.

However, the long-run pace of the Mercedes-Benz cars was far beyond what any other vehicle could match. Hamilton climbed back to fourth place by the first lap, and by the end of the race, the Mercedes Team once again swept a one-two finish.

At this point, the points gap between the two Mercedes Team drivers had widened to 29 points: Rosberg with 165 points, and Hamilton with 136 points.

It was worth noting that before the Monaco Station, after retiring in the season opener, Hamilton had amassed 100 points through four consecutive victories—surpassing the 97 points Rosberg had accumulated over five completed races.

Of course, everyone knew what happened at the Monaco Station. Rosberg’s conveniently timed mistake triggered a yellow flag, forcing Hamilton to abort his flying lap, thereby ensuring his own pole position remained unbeaten. In the end, Rosberg took a pole-to-win, and Hamilton had to settle for second.

In the overall standings, Rosberg managed to overtake Hamilton, leading with 122 points to Hamilton’s 118 points.

This was exactly why Hamilton had been so furious afterward, even going so far as to give Wu Shi extra coaching with the intent of using him to push his rival out. Already holding a World Championship title, Hamilton naturally assumed that if Wu Shi was promoted to the Mercedes Team, he would definitely be replacing Rosberg—a driver who performed decently but lacked truly outstanding achievements.

But what happened next somewhat exceeded his expectations.

On June 8th, at the Canada Grand Prix on the Villeneuve circuit, Hamilton retired due to a brake failure. Although Rosberg’s car also suffered a malfunction, he managed to struggle through and finish the race. With this back-and-forth, Rosberg’s score had reached 140 points, putting him 22 points ahead of Hamilton.

And now, with the race at the Red Bull Ring concluded, Hamilton was falling even further behind.

Just looking at the leaderboard, it seemed Rosberg was the stronger driver. If the Mercedes Team really wanted to replace someone, who would it actually be?

Hamilton, whose mindset was already unsteady due to his car’s frequent issues, now found himself burdened with an extra layer of anxiety.

As Hamilton’s dedicated race engineer, Peter could naturally sense his partner’s shifting mindset. He said, "Your performance today was excellent. Starting from ninth and finishing second, you provided a lot of brilliant overtaking maneuvers."

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Hamilton nodded expressionlessly. "I shouldn’t have had to start from ninth in the first place."

"Everyone makes mistakes, don’t they? Don’t put too much pressure on yourself because of it," Peter consoled him.

Hearing this, Hamilton paused his hand and asked, "What about Wu? Has he ever made any obvious, major mistakes?"

"..."

Peter was struck speechless. He watched some F3 races in his spare time, and he really hadn’t heard of Wu Shi making any significant errors during a race. That guy’s retirements were always caused by other drivers.

"What do you think Toto is thinking?" Hamilton asked.

"Thinking about what?" Peter asked in return.

"That contractual agreement between Wu Shi and the team," Hamilton replied.

"That’s a rumor! It’s just some gutter journalism dug up by those damn reporters. Neither Toto nor the team has ever acknowledged it!" Peter said.

"But they haven’t come out to deny it either, have they?" Hamilton gave a faint smile.

Seeing Hamilton’s expression, Peter seemed to realize what the World Champion was thinking and couldn’t help but speak up. "I generally know his track record. He’s been racing in Europe since he was a kid and has never even been to Neon. That track is completely foreign to him! Do you really think he could secure a pole position based solely on those twenty laps from a single practice session?"

"I’ve seen his simulator records." Just as he said it, Hamilton realized he had spoken too much.

"What simulator records?" Peter couldn’t resist pressing him.

Hamilton shook his head, refusing to elaborate further on the topic. Instead, he said, "The next stop is my home turf. I’ll take back the victory that belongs to me."

Peter’s original goal in seeking out Hamilton had been to cheer him up. Now that Hamilton was indeed fired up, why did Peter feel an even heavier weight on his own chest?

He faintly sensed that whatever was going on between the team and Wu Shi was already affecting many of the staff. However, he could completely understand Toto’s perspective. One only needed to look at Wu Shi’s resume to know that no team could possibly turn away a driver like him.

With this in mind, he took out his phone and typed in the keyword "F3." Sure enough, the first results to pop up were always about Wu Shi. Today’s mega thread headline read: "Wu Shi secures three consecutive wins at the Belgium Station! He dominates the Spa Circuit!"

Scrolling further down, it was a barrage of sensational titles.

"Fifteen races, fourteen wins! The King of F3!"

"The strongest driver born after ’95, potentially fast-tracking to F1!"

It was fair to say that if it weren’t for the fierce internal rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg in this year’s F1 season, the sport’s popularity might not even match the buzz surrounding this young man from Hua Country.

After all, only those entrenched in the racing circle knew that such a win rate demonstrated not just Wu Shi’s driving skills, but his incredible consistency and adaptability! This guy had never stayed in any racing tier for more than a single season; if he ever did, it was simply because he had been too young to be promoted. And every time he stepped into the next level of competition, it seemed he required zero time to acclimatize.

Peter didn’t know how much time Wu Shi would need to adapt to F1, but he firmly believed that, no matter what, it was impossible for Wu Shi to familiarize himself with an F1 car in just a single practice session.

It was precisely because of this viewpoint that he had discussed the matter with Toto. The leadership’s consensus was unanimous: Wu Shi was immensely strong, and Mercedes-Benz needed to keep him firmly in their grasp. However, inducting him into the Mercedes Team right now was not the optimal time.

After browsing through a few more news articles and posts about Wu Shi, Peter decided he still needed to have a word with Toto. So, while everyone else was busy packing up equipment at the venue, he made his way to the back office.

Stepping inside, he casually shut the door behind him.

Toto, who was reviewing some documents, looked up and asked, "Is there something we need to discuss privately?"

"Absolutely." Peter nodded, walking over to the desk. "Regarding the situation with Wu Shi, I think you need to pay attention. It’s no longer just one or two people in the team being affected by this."

Toto set his documents aside, leaned back in his chair, turned toward Peter, and countered, "What exactly do you think I should do?"

"Clarify," Peter offered a single word.

Toto clapped his hands once, sat up straight, and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Clarify what? You should know better than anyone that not everything can be clarified."

"Clarify the rumor that Wu Shi might replace one of our two drivers next season," Peter said.

Toto stared at him for a long moment before finally speaking. "Haven’t we gone over this issue before? No one can jump into an F1 car with zero prior contact and set a pole-position time with just one practice session! Remember, absolutely no one! Does something like that even need clarifying?!"

Toto spoke with absolute conviction. He didn’t understand why Peter was so hung up on this issue.

"How do you rate Wu Shi’s adaptability?" Peter asked in return.

"Very strong, but it’s still impossible for him to fulfill his agreement with us." Toto relaxed his posture, knowing this was an indisputable fact.

"In other words, you’ve never even considered what we would need to do if he actually completes the agreement, have you?" Peter challenged.

"Of course I’ve considered it, but it’s just impossible," Toto emphasized repeatedly.

"What if he trained on the simulator ahead of time?" Peter’s voice grew slightly muffled.

Toto’s brows furrowed as his body slowly tensed up. He realized Peter might know something he didn’t. "Simulator? Who gave him access to a simulator?"

"Heh, looks like you’re starting to worry too." Instead of answering Toto’s question, Peter chuckled and said, "As a member of this team, I’m doing my absolute best to perform my job. And on this particular matter, I believe I’ve done everything I possibly can."

With that, Peter left the office.

Toto remained seated, his brows locked in a deep frown, completely lost in thought.