Chapter 140 - 64: Continuous Accidents

Chapter 140: Chapter 64: Continuous Accidents

The accident at Turn 2 immediately triggered the safety car. The retired drivers left the track through the access lane by the fences.

Wu Shi returned to the pit garage, still somewhat frustrated by the accident. He should have cut into the corner earlier to stay away from the pack of cars.

However, on the track, no one could predict what would happen next. Even the most experienced drivers couldn’t anticipate every possible situation that might arise.

Wu Shi spent the entire morning sitting in the pit lane. The Matthews brought the wrecked car back, and after an assessment, the mechanics concluded that the repairs wouldn’t be too difficult.

This was thanks to the fact that Turn 2 was a hairpin. All cars would slow down significantly upon entering this corner, meaning any collisions wouldn’t cause catastrophic damage—at least not to the core components.

Verstappen’s start hadn’t been smooth either. He dropped straight to fourth place after being blocked at Turn 2.

By the fourth lap, the track was cleared, and the engines of the front-row cars roared to life.

As soon as they dashed past the start-finish straight and the Turn 1 kink, Verstappen launched a relentless attack at Turn 2.

His dive down the inside was so aggressive that it affected all three cars ahead of him.

Bromquist was closest to him and had to swerve sideways to avoid a collision. O’connor, however, was even more ruthless, attempting to overtake Rosenqvist directly.

All of this happened simultaneously. The four cars tangled together in sheer chaos. It wasn’t until Rosenqvist finally managed to pull ahead and exit the corner that the knotted pack scattered.

O’connor followed closely behind, while Verstappen had somehow managed to snatch third place.

Bromquist lost his position, but things were about to get worse. His sudden change in trajectory caught the trailing drivers off guard, leading them to crash right into him.

BAM! CRACK!

His car was spun sideways, though the impact wasn’t severe. He tried to restart his engine, only to realize the other driver’s front wing was deeply wedged into his sidepod.

He was stuck!

He waved frantically, signaling for a Matthew to hurry over and push the other car away.

However, Matthew didn’t notice him at first. He banged desperately on his car, which finally caught Matthew’s attention.

Two Matthews ran over and tried to separate the vehicles, but nearly a minute of struggling yielded no results.

"Hey! Push him away! Push him! I’m stuck!"

Bromquist flipped up his visor, waving his arms and yelling, as if doing so would somehow give the Matthews more strength.

But it was all in vain. After another half a minute, his waving hands slowly dropped.

Finally, as if accepting his fate, he detached his steering wheel and climbed out of the cockpit. His race was over.

Due to the accident at Turn 2, the safety car came out again, leading the pack all the way to lap nine.

Racing officially resumed on lap ten with another rolling start.

Evidently, Verstappen’s rolling starts were exceptionally strong compared to his standing starts. He closed the gap on O’connor almost instantly.

Unfortunately, the straight was quickly coming to an end. Before Turn 2, the leading trio engaged in another fierce dogfight.

O’connor dove into the inside line ahead of Verstappen, aiming to both defend his position and launch an overtake.

He aggressively rode the kerb, sending his car bouncing high. Utilizing the shorter cornering distance, he aligned his nose toward the exit much faster.

However, the high kerb severely impacted his speed. Rosenqvist flew past on the outside line with greater momentum!

It was a failed attempt. Not only did O’connor fail to overtake his opponent, but he also nearly lost his own position.

Fortunately, Verstappen was blocked and couldn’t mount an effective attack, leaving him with no choice but to keep following right behind.

The three cars finally navigated Turn 2 without incident.

"Their racing is absolutely brutal," Wu Shi commented.

"And you think you’re gentle?" Alan couldn’t help but retort.

"I’m alright, aren’t I?" Wu Shi chuckled.

The next two laps were relatively calm. O’connor clearly had a better grasp of this track than Rosenqvist, and he was now breathing down his neck.

He launched another attack at Turn 2!

This time, O’connor didn’t ride the high kerb. Instead, he threw his nose into the gap from a closer distance, forcing Rosenqvist to yield.

Rosenqvist hugged the outside line, hoping to replicate his defense from the previous laps. However, he went slightly wide and lost a fraction of a second.

WHOOSH!

Upon entering the straight, O’connor gained the space to fully accelerate earlier. He managed to pull alongside Rosenqvist and cleanly complete the overtake.

The performance of the Prema car was on full display in this moment. Rosenqvist’s KFZT car simply couldn’t compete.

Rosenqvist thought he could breathe a sigh of relief once O’connor was gone, but instead, a chill ran down his spine. Looking in his rearview mirrors, he saw the number "30" printed on the nose cone of the trailing car.

He cursed inwardly, "Damn it! It’s this maniac!"

Groaning internally, he prepared himself for a life-and-death struggle at Turns 4 and 5. Suddenly, he saw an arm reaching out from behind the barriers.

A yellow flag was waving.

Uh-oh, another accident had occurred at Turn 2 behind them.

This time, Giovinazzi and Jordan King had collided.

The broadcast cameras immediately cut to Turn 2.

Giovinazzi climbed out of his car and sat down by the edge of the track, clutching his chest as if he were crying.

A nearby Matthew immediately ran up and patted his helmet. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, but my chest hurts a bit."

Seeing that it was nothing serious, Matthew left to help clear the cars.

Giovinazzi remained sitting on the ground in pain. He would lower his head, then rub his chest, leaving onlookers wondering whether he was in agony or simply heartbroken over his retirement.

"This Turn 2 is practically cursed," Wu Shi said, ruffling his hair into a messy state.

"That’s because everyone wants to overtake there," Alan said.

It was true. The track felt very straightforward with its horizontal and vertical lines, leaving the few hairpins as the only viable overtaking spots.

Sure enough, during the restart on lap nineteen, Verstappen launched yet another attack on O’connor at Turn 2.

Unlike previous times, no one else was close enough to follow, making this a pure head-to-head dogfight between the two of them.

Verstappen’s racing line was both clever and aggressive. After forcing O’connor into a defensive maneuver, he swiftly slipped toward the outside through a lateral gap.

It was a classic ’slow in, fast out’ approach. O’connor, on the other hand, had his corner exit compromised due to his earlier defense.

The two cars effectively traded time through the corner, and by the exit, they were side by side.

Wu Shi was just getting ready to see how Verstappen would handle the upcoming corners when his phone vibrated.

BUZZ BUZZ!

"When gratitude and grudges are split in half, how do I embrace them..."

He pulled out his phone, saw that Louise was calling, and immediately answered. "Hey, what’s up?"

"I saw you crashed! Are you okay?"

"I’m fine, I’m fine. Just a little bump. Don’t worry about it, and focus on your studies." Wu Shi knew this girl was sneaking peeks at the race during her tutoring classes again.

"It just happened to be my break! I saw it as soon as I opened Twitter," Louise explained with a pout, clearly aware that Wu Shi was accusing her of secretly watching the race.

"Alright, alright. After this race, my schedule will loosen up. It’ll be the perfect time to go out and relax for a bit," Wu Shi said.

"Yay!"

"But you have to study hard. Since you’re planning to go to school in Germany, you need to be well-prepared."

"Ugh! I know, I know. It’s not like I absolutely have to study in Germany," Louise muttered.

While chatting with Louise, Wu Shi happened to witness Verstappen’s brilliant overtake. However, since he was on the phone, he didn’t pump his fist and cheer like the rest of the team.