Chapter 171 - 92: Almost at the Limit

Chapter 171: Chapter 92: Almost at the Limit

Wu Shi was the first out of the pit lane; ahead of him were only the two Mercedes-Benz cars.

It seemed these two rivals were ready for a life-and-death struggle right from the get-go.

Wu Shi immersed his body and mind into the car. The soft tires provided significantly more grip than the medium ones. For the Williams car, this meant a larger margin of error when cornering.

His heartbeat gradually accelerated; he wanted to set a time fast enough to enter Q3 with just a single flying lap.

According to the tire regulations, the top ten drivers in qualifying—those who made it to Q3—had to start the race on the exact set of tires they used to set their fastest lap in Q2.

In other words, if he advanced to Q3, this set of tires would be his starting tires for the race, meaning the fresher they were, the better.

Like a slideshow, his mind replayed the key points of each corner. For Turns 1 and 2, he needed to set the gearbox to 3, adjusting it right in the middle of the corner exit to maximize his exit speed while avoiding wheelspin.

At Turns 6 and 7, he needed to readjust the gearbox and shift the brake bias to the rear.

After passing Turns 9 and 10, he had to adjust the engine power to capitalize on the car’s top speed advantage, aiming to make up for the time lost in the other two sectors during the second sector.

Despite the multitude of operations, his mind remained incredibly sharp. Just as his mental slideshow reached Turn 16, the car also arrived exactly at Turn 16.

ROAR!!!

Qualifying mode engaged. The car hugged the apex and surged onto the Great Straight.

The moment it crossed the DRS detection line, the DRS opened. The engine delivered maximum power output to combat the ever-increasing wind resistance.

The immense grip from the soft tires allowed the power to be unleashed more rapidly.

The time it took to shift and accelerate was faster than with the medium tires in Q1. As a result, after blasting past the starting grid, his speed reached 307 km/h—4 km/h faster than before—and his highest top speed hit 325 km/h, an improvement of 6 km/h!

On this straight alone, he could squeeze out an advantage of at least 0.2 seconds.

Of course, in the ensuing Turns 1 and 2, Wu Shi nailed the line in one smooth motion, driving straight into the apex of Turn 1. He maintained the steering angle until the car’s nose pointed three degrees further right of the Turn 2 apex before finally straightening out.

This was based on his experience from previous runs. If he didn’t offset his line from the apex, he would have to add another rightward steering input when hitting the apex of Turn 2 to avoid riding too much of the slippery curb.

CLICK!

Without any steering corrections, the entire car moved with the precision of a machine. Halfway through the corner exit, Wu Shi’s right hand pressed the gearbox adjustment button and immediately scrolled the dial.

After the adjustment, he rapidly accelerated.

"Much smoother than in Q1," Jonathan muttered to himself.

Over the past few days, Wu Shi’s most profound impression on him was that the guy’s learning speed was terrifyingly fast!

At this moment, Rosberg, who had started his hot lap first, was nearing the end of Sector 2. His Sector 1 time of 27.986 seconds instantly became the fastest overall, sweeping everyone else aside.

However, Hamilton, following closely behind, immediately eclipsed that time with a 27.916, pushing the limit even further!

The strength Mercedes-Benz displayed once again made the paddock realize that this year’s front row would likely be an internal battle between their own drivers, leaving everyone else utterly helpless.

On the track, Wu Shi breezed past Turn 5 in the blink of an eye. After accelerating down the short straight, his Sector 1 time appeared.

28.109 seconds.

This was enough to highlight the gap between the Williams and Mercedes-Benz, but Jonathan was still very satisfied. Although Wu Shi had been a bit too eager on the exit of Turn 5, he hadn’t lost much time because of it.

By then, Rosberg had already flown through Sector 2 early on, setting a time of 28.101 seconds.

But Hamilton remained relentless. He allowed that fastest sector time to stand for barely twenty seconds before reclaiming the fastest Sector 2 time with a blistering 28.012 seconds.

The battle between the two Mercedes-Benz drivers captured the attention of most people on the circuit. Aside from the Williams Team, hardly anyone was paying attention to Wu Shi.

Just over twenty seconds later, Wu Shi crossed the end of Sector 2 with a time of 28.122 seconds. He had only improved his own personal best, not interfering with the two competing Mercedes-Benz drivers ahead.

At this point, Rosberg crossed the finish line with a terrifying time of 1:27.097.

It was almost pushing into the 1:26 range.

Rosberg TR: "WOO-HOO! I feel like I drove pretty well."

TR: "Yes, quite good."

Rosberg TR: "How are my times compared to Hamilton’s?"

TR: "He’s faster than you in the first two sectors."

Rosberg TR: "..."

Amidst the silence, Hamilton also crossed the line. He spent only 30.966 seconds on the final sector, bringing his final time to 1:26.894.

The two-tenths gap made David exclaim:

"This is an absolutely perfect lap! Lewis’s one-lap pace remains immensely powerful. Even though he suffered a slight slide at the apex of Turn 15, he still broke into the 1:26s! He’s left us plenty of room for imagination!

"I can’t wait to see Lewis’s speed in Q3 now!"

A round of applause broke out in the Mercedes Pit Room, celebrating the excellent results achieved by their two drivers.

But their applause hadn’t faded for long before clapping also erupted in the Williams Pit Room. Only then did everyone notice Wu Shi, who had just crossed the line.

1:27.341!

Seeing this, the commentator David exclaimed once again over the two-tenths gap:

"Wu Shi has brought the Williams up to a 1:27.341! His astonishing lap time is only 0.244 seconds slower than Mercedes-Benz’s Rosberg! He’s brought us so many surprises!

"Before the race started, some people asked if I favored Wu Shi, questioning whether he could make it into Q3. Even though I thought highly of the young man, considering his age and experience, I didn’t give a definitive answer.

"But now! I think no amount of idle gossip can question this young driver’s abilities!

"He not only has the strength to drive an F1 car, but the strength to drive it exceptionally well!"

The commentator spared no words of praise, drawing all the audience’s attention toward Wu Shi.

At this moment, the camera panned to him, and the broadcast simultaneously tuned into his radio communication with the team.

Wu Shi TR: "This set of tires should be in the best condition for the start of the race."

Jonathan TR: "Yes, congratulations! You made it into Q3 in your very first race."

Wu Shi TR: "Thank you. It’s everyone’s credit. Without a good enough car, I wouldn’t have been able to show my strength."

After listening to the team’s TR, David analyzed for the viewers:

"It seems this young driver still has a lot of ambitions for the main race. As we know, Williams has purchased Mercedes engines. They might just be able to be the only team capable of threatening Mercedes-Benz, much like they did last year."

After David finished, the chief commentary analyst Martin Brundle, who didn’t speak often, chimed in:

"Judging from the current situation, Williams can still keep up with the pace of Mercedes-Benz in qualifying. However, based on the winter testing data, I’m afraid they still won’t be able to beat Mercedes-Benz on the long runs."

"That’s for certain. The strength Mercedes-Benz shows isn’t just in that power unit, but also in their aerodynamic package, which is so complex it’s hard to describe," David said.

Like the two Mercedes-Benz drivers, Wu Shi called it a day after completing a single flying lap.

Returning to the pit room, Jonathan came up and asked, "Is there still any room for improvement?"

Wu Shi shook his head. "I feel like this is pretty much the limit."

"Yeah," Jonathan nodded. Through the replays, he saw that the car had been struggling significantly, meaning its potential had been almost completely squeezed out.

Sitting in the cockpit, Wu Shi remained calm. It was perfectly normal for Williams to be outpaced by Mercedes-Benz.

He estimated that at the Australia Station, the gap between the two was around 1.4 seconds.

That meant the potential of Mercedes-Benz hadn’t been fully tapped yet. In Q3, they would only go faster.

He had deliberately plotted to save a three-lap set of soft tires for the start, just to see if there would be any opportunities on the track.

Of course, this opportunity certainly didn’t mean attacking the Mercedes-Benz duo, but rather aiming for the podium!

Vettel’s pit exit time was about the same as Wu Shi’s. To get better traffic conditions, he did two out-laps and only started his flying lap on the third circuit.

His operation was also extremely smooth, wrapping up immediately with a time of 1:27.742.

Soon, everyone’s results were out. Massa placed sixth with 1:27.895, and Kimi didn’t lag too far behind Vettel this time, placing fifth with 1:27.807.

Sainz ranked eighth with 1:28.601, pushing the Big Red Bull of Ricciardo down to ninth, while Verstappen ranked twelfth with 1:28.868, pushing the Big Red Bull of Kvyat down to thirteenth.

In the Red Bull Pit Room, the camera focused on Marco. The sternness in his mismatched eyes felt somewhat suffocating.

Eliminated in Q2 were Nasr (Sauber), Verstappen (Little Red Bull), Kvyat (Red Bull), Hulkenberg (Force India), and Perez (Force India).