Chapter 115 - 42: Fantasize First

Chapter 115: Chapter 42: Fantasize First

Wu Shi remained blissfully unaware of the impact his victory at Hockenheimring had caused. After returning to Holland, he prepared to resume his dull, monotonous routine of physical training and running the simulator.

However, on Monday, Sid told him that Mercedes-Benz team principal Toto Wolf wanted to speak with him, and a meeting had been scheduled for Thursday.

The news instantly made him want to skip Tuesday and Wednesday and fast-forward straight to Thursday. But once the initial shock wore off, he quickly calmed down.

was the inaugural year of the new engine era. At this point, Mercedes-Benz had already displayed the potential to build a dynasty. Joining them would naturally be the best-case scenario. If that happened, he would have the chance to become the youngest F1 driver, the youngest pole-sitter, the youngest driver to secure the fastest lap, the youngest qualifying champion, and the youngest Grand Prix winner.

And, of course, the youngest WDC!

But that was just wishful thinking—nothing more than a self-indulgent fantasy.

Who were the two drivers for Mercedes-Benz in 2014?

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Lewis Hamilton went without saying. His talent and prowess were highly valued by Toto Wolf and Niki Lauda; taking his seat was completely out of the question.

As for Rosberg, he was Hamilton’s childhood friend and long-time rival. Having competed against each other since they were young, Rosberg also possessed top-tier skills and had just clinched the first victory of the season at the opening Australia Grand Prix. The Mercedes Team had no reason to replace Rosberg. The only way to take his seat was to wait for him to retire.

Others might not know, but Wu Shi did. After winning the WDC in 2016, this guy would immediately retire, leaving the entire world utterly dumbfounded. This bold move ultimately earned him the title of "Fifteen-Time Champion"—he defeated the Seven-Time Champion Schumacher while they were teammates, defeated the future Seven-Time Champion Hamilton while they were teammates, and won one championship himself. That totaled fifteen championships!

However, that was just one possible future timeline. Rosberg’s choice to quit while he was ahead after 2016 was largely due to the mental and physical exhaustion he suffered during his championship battle with Hamilton. He had spent countless sleepless nights, eventually reaching the point where he needed psychiatric medication. Aware of his deteriorating mental state, he retired the moment he fulfilled his dream of winning the WDC.

But what if Wu Shi’s early entry into the sport triggered a butterfly effect that relieved Rosberg of that intense mental pressure? If that happened, Wu Shi’s chances of getting that seat would drop to absolute zero.

Therefore, he could deduce that even if Mercedes-Benz was offering him a seat, it would definitely be with one of their engine customer teams. Currently, four teams in the paddock used Mercedes-Benz engines: Mercedes-Benz, McLaren, Force India, and Williams.

McLaren was out of the question because they would be switching to Honda engines next year.

As for Force India, they currently fielded Perez and Hulkenberg. Both drivers had achieved impressive results in the past four Grand Prix races, with Master Pei even securing a podium finish in Bahrain. Snatching a seat from them would be incredibly difficult. Hulkenberg had peaked right upon his debut, and some even considered him a future WDC contender. As for Perez, his performance aside, the massive sponsorship funds backing him were completely out of Wu Shi’s league.

That left Williams as the final target. Hmm, that didn’t seem quite right either; their two drivers this year were Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas.

Massa needed no introduction. As a seasoned veteran in the paddock, he had previously secured a third-place finish in the drivers’ championship. And Bottas, the driver from Finland, might have had a lackluster previous season, but he was in scorching hot form this year!

After mulling it over, Wu Shi suddenly realized that if he wanted to snatch a seat, his talent and current track record were merely a foot in the door. The deciding factor likely lay beyond just those two things.

Top-tier teams were never short of WDC-caliber drivers. In this talent-rich era, mid-tier teams weren’t lacking in mature, stable drivers either. The backmarker teams certainly needed drivers, but more than anything, they needed money!

"What’s wrong? You were looking super excited a second ago, then you suddenly froze, and now you look like your soul just left your body."

Verstappen had just finished a set of exercises. Seeing Wu Shi staring blankly at his phone, he couldn’t help but walk over and ask.

"I just remembered something depressing," Wu Shi replied.

"Don’t overthink it. Being happy is the most important thing in life," Verstappen comforted him bluntly before heading back to his training.

Wu Shi really didn’t want to dwell on depressing thoughts. Shortly after, his father called to inform him that apart from the Sky Eye Group, a few other companies in Hua Country were looking to sponsor him. However, negotiating the sponsorship fees was proving to be quite a headache.

If the sponsorship funds were substantial, everything would be easily sorted out. Money talked, and that rule applied to certain teams in the paddock just as much as anywhere else—the only exceptions being the teams that were already filthy rich themselves.

If the sponsorship offers were only mediocre, it remained to be seen whether those companies could even afford him at his current standing. Ultimately, sponsorships boiled down to an exchange of interests. Aside from the generous and overbearing sponsorship budgets of massive conglomerates like the Sky Eye Group, Peng Airline, Haihang, and Beiben, no other company was going to casually throw millions at a racing driver.

Most of these smaller companies reaching out to sponsor Wu Shi did so based on their bosses’ personal hobbies, or because their businesses were tangentially related to motorsport. They simply wanted Wu Shi to shoot a few commercials for them to aid their marketing efforts in Hua Country.

Because his manager, Sid, spoke five languages—English, German, and the native tongues of Spain, Italy, and Russia—but absolutely no Chinese, handling communications with these Hua Country enterprises was turning into a massive headache. Lately, Wu Shi had been seriously considering expanding his management team. As he grew older, he needed to gradually learn, intervene, and take matters like these into his own hands.

"Sigh!"

Wu Shi sighed, his head throbbing once again. A driver was only a pure driver when out on the track. Once off the track, there were simply far too many other things to consider. However, they would cross that bridge when they came to it. He decided to take Verstappen’s advice: stop overthinking and just focus on training!

On Thursday, Wu Shi and Sid flew to the United Kingdom and walked into the Mercedes-Benz headquarters.

When the two arrived at the meeting room, they both froze in surprise. Sitting across the table weren’t the usual Mercedes-Benz corporate executives, but Toto Wolf and Niki Lauda themselves.

"Every era produces exceptionally talented young individuals. And in this era, you are that young man." As soon as he spoke, Niki Lauda made absolutely no effort to hide his admiration for Wu Shi.

"Thank you for the compliment." Facing the legendary veteran, Wu Shi maintained a deep sense of respect.

"I see a lot of potential in you, just as I did in Hamilton back in the day. So, why don’t we discuss a potential partnership?" Niki Lauda’s straightforward, cut-to-the-chase style caught both Wu Shi and Sid off guard.

They wondered what he meant by Hamilton and what kind of partnership this was. Were they actually offering him an F1 seat at Mercedes-Benz? For a moment, their imaginations ran wild.

However, Wu Shi quickly regained his composure. After all, he had already fantasized about this on Monday and even dreamt about it twice since then. His threshold for excitement was much higher now, giving him better resistance against the shock. He calmly replied,

"I would love to! At the 2007 Hua Country Grand Prix, I actually took a photo with Hamilton. Back then, I declared that I wanted to become an F1 driver. I never expected to have the honor of sitting here today, discussing a partnership with one of the top F1 teams in the paddock."