Chapter 103 - 33: Drift, Rain, Grip

Chapter 103: Chapter 33: Drift, Rain, Grip

For professional drivers, free time was an extreme luxury.

After securing a three-race winning streak at Silverstone, Wu Shi only rested for a single day on Monday. By April 22nd, he had already returned to the team’s headquarters.

No genius achieved success purely through raw talent. Without sweat and tears, they were destined for the fate of a fallen prodigy whose gifts withered away.

On Tuesday, the Van Amersfoort Racing Team buzzed with activity once more. In ten days, they would head to Germany for the three races of the season’s second stop.

Early in the morning, the team principal called a meeting for all members. Skipping the usual pleasantries, he looked directly at Wu Shi and Verstappen and said,

"Hockenheimring is a remarkably high-speed circuit, so our setup will definitely lean toward low downforce and stiff suspension. You’re going to struggle a bit in the corners.

"Neither of you is very familiar with this track, but it’s somewhat similar to Monza, which you can use as a reference point.

"In last year’s first qualifying session, the Prema Team swept the top three, with a pole time of 1:33.623.

"The pole for the second qualifying session went to the Carlin Team’s Daniil Kvyat, clocking in at 1:33.367. Second place also went to a Carlin Team driver, Jordan King, with a time of 1:33.418.

"Judging by the conditions at Silverstone, this year’s lap times should be significantly faster than last year’s."

After outlining the overall situation, the team principal announced the schedule and immediately dismissed the meeting.

"The principal didn’t mention our team’s lap times from last year. Do you know what they were?" Wu Shi asked.

"Around 1:34.4," Jules answered.

"That’s nearly a full second slower," Wu Shi said, rubbing his chin. However, he knew that a one-second deficit didn’t necessarily mean the car itself was that much slower; the driver also played a major role.

"What are you worried about? You’re a driver who brings a whole second with you!"

After the three races at Silverstone, America’s Gustavo had completely stopped viewing Wu Shi as a rival. As a result, he felt absolutely no pressure joking around and teasing him.

"Ahem, don’t say that," Wu Shi said, shaking his head. He believed in staying low-key and humble.

The team’s morning schedule for the drivers was physical conditioning, meaning their necks were in for some pure torture.

Neck training came in many forms. One method involved leaning the head against a resistance band while keeping the torso leaning back, parallel to the ground, and holding the position to build the muscle groups. To train lateral strength, a coach would also pull the resistance band from various directions. During this process, the driver had to keep their head perfectly still without tilting.

Whenever they did this exercise, Wu Shi would grimace, exerting all his strength to fight the coach’s pull until his face flushed bright red.

"You’ve been growing lately, and your strength is increasing very quickly," the coach said as he slowly eased up and lowered the resistance band.

"I can feel it. These days, I could practically eat a whole cow every single day!" Wu Shi panted heavily.

"Just make sure your cheat meals don’t get too out of hand," the coach reminded him amicably.

"Of course. I’ve been very restrained."

Wu Shi sighed. He was a foodie at heart, so restricting his diet was absolute torture. Still, it was something he had to do. The path to success was never easy for anyone.

After the neck training concluded, it was immediately followed by upper body and core strength workouts. Following the torment of the morning conditioning, the afternoon transitioned into regular racing practice.

As official F3 competitors, they naturally weren’t allowed to drive F3 cars privately. Thus, the team wouldn’t risk providing actual cars for them to practice in. At this stage, practice was primarily conducted on simulators.

However, the effectiveness of a simulator depended heavily on the team. If the parameters were incorrect, the drivers might pick up bad habits or even come up with some downright terrible ideas. Such as a certain "genius" from the future who came up with the bright idea of cornering while closing the DRS late.

Therefore, Wu Shi’s attitude toward simulators had always been that they were fine for training, but he would never use them as an absolute blueprint for real-world driving. He mostly relied on the simulator to memorize track characteristics.

Verstappen, on the other hand, was entirely different. He preferred to communicate effectively with the engineers, gradually tweaking the simulator until it closely mirrored reality, and then he would drive on it day and night.

"It’s going to rain tomorrow."

At eleven o’clock that night, Wu Shi stepped out of his simulator. Seeing Verstappen still driving with intense concentration, he casually mentioned the forecast.

"Huh?" Verstappen suddenly counter-steered twice. After stabilizing his virtual car, he said, "Then let’s go out on the track and drive drift cars."

"What?"

"I feel like my sense for wet-weather grip still isn’t good enough. I want to train a bit."

"Sure." Wu Shi had heard rumors about Verstappen’s unorthodox training techniques.

The FIA only prohibited private F3 testing during the competitive season; they didn’t place any restrictions on other types of vehicles. Having made the agreement, Verstappen went to discuss the matter with the team principal.

The next day, two Nissan Silvia S14s were parked on the track.

Raindrops fell against the chassis. PITTER-PATTER.

"Classic! Where did you even get these?" Wu Shi asked in surprise.

"Heh." Verstappen just smiled without answering and pointed at the cars. "Let’s go!"

Up until this moment, Wu Shi had never driven a street car. After he put on his helmet and climbed into the cabin, Verstappen’s voice crackled through the radio, "Do you know how to drive it?"

"Are you kidding me?"

Wu Shi held the radio in one hand and shifted gears with the other while his feet danced across the pedals.

VROOM! SWISH!

The tires spun on the wet, slippery asphalt, kicking up a spray of rainwater. The S14 gave a lurch before taking off, its tail end sliding wildly from side to side. It looked incredibly unstable, as if it were going to crash at any second, yet it remained as steady as a rock under his control.

"GASP! Is this what pure racing talent looks like?" Watching the scene from the building above, the team principal shook his head and asked Alan, "Did he say he had never touched anything other than go-karts and formula cars before?"

"Yes."

"And nobody taught him how to drive that just now, either."

Although it was said that if you could drive one car, you could drive them all, the specific handling always differed. It was like someone who was used to a manual stick shift trying to drive a car with paddle shifters—they definitely wouldn’t be able to adapt instantly. Yet, Wu Shi completely defied that logic. The moment he got behind the wheel, he drove like a seasoned veteran.

This particular S14 didn’t have a modified engine and only pushed out around two hundred horsepower, but it was incredibly smooth to handle. Coupled with the rainy weather, he could drift and slide even on the straightaways.

"Woo-hoo! The thrill is completely different from driving a formula car!"

Wu Shi’s hands were a blur of motion. His left hand controlled the gear shifter and handbrake—the car they had procured was right-hand drive—while his right hand held the radio and constantly adjusted the steering wheel.

Hearing the CRACKLE of static over the radio, Verstappen couldn’t help but admire his friend, who had been on a relentless winning streak. Wu Shi’s innate feel for a vehicle was simply too powerful.

To find the limits of a formula car’s grip in the wet, Verstappen usually used drift cars or snowmobiles to experience how a vehicle behaved once traction was lost. Today’s rain made the slippery track even harder to read, but it also presented the perfect training opportunity. He fired up his own car.

"Are they going to be alright driving like that?" Alan asked, a hint of worry in his voice. After all, these weren’t purpose-built race cars. Even though they were equipped with six-point harnesses and roll cages, an accident could still easily injure the drivers.

"They’ll be fine. They were born to master machines."

A voice rang out. Jos walked in, rainwater still dripping from his clothes, accompanied by an equally soaked Sid.

"Whoa! Jos, you’re back." The team principal turned and shook his hand before addressing Sid. "Mr. Sid, it’s been a while."

"It’s been a while."

"I’ve already started mapping out Verstappen’s future with Red Bull," Jos said, cutting straight to the chase.

"That’s great news," the principal nodded.

"So we need to do everything we can to ensure the car remains competitive."

"Of course. We’ll all head to Germany together, and with your help, I’m confident our cars will reach the next level," the team principal told Jos.

Sid walked over to the edge of the awning, gazing out at Wu Shi, who was having the time of his life tearing it up in the rain.

His negotiations with Red Bull had completely collapsed. The old man’s exact words had been, "Since an F1 team has already taken an interest, there’s naturally no need for you to say anything more to me."

Sid naturally felt furious about it, but the rejection made him realize there was no point in negotiating with Red Bull for the time being. Going forward, he would need to focus his efforts on Mercedes-Benz and McLaren.

The three victories at Silverstone hadn’t given Sid the confidence that they could fulfill the Rafa contract. Recently, rumors had been swirling that the Rafa board of directors was fiercely dissatisfied with Montezemolo’s desire to localize the Rafa brand.

If Montezemolo left his position, would Rafa choose to breach the contract?