Chapter 120 - 46: Paddock Politics

Chapter 120: Chapter 46: Paddock Politics

While the commentator recounted Wu Shi’s glorious history, Car No. 32 smoothly crossed the finish line.

"Whoa, the results are out! Wu Shi was extremely fast in all three sectors, but he still faced some traffic. His time is only 1:11.112.

"During the second free practice session, O’connor from Prema Team set the fastest lap at 1:10.688. Therefore, this time is far from pole position level."

The commentator quickly reported the situation. In reality, most drivers’ fastest laps typically emerged after nearly ten laps. Thus, the next phase would basically be the drivers pounding in lap after lap until they set their absolute best time. This was vastly different from F1. F1’s three qualifying sessions were densely packed, making tire selection and fuel management crucial. Combined with a very narrow window of opportunity, drivers had few chances for flying laps, thoroughly testing their ability to seize every moment to set a good time. In contrast, F3 races generally involved a single set of tires and enough fuel for ten to fifteen laps. The drivers took their time, which meant the best lap times were usually set toward the end of the session.

Boc City’s street circuit featured two Great Straights. Slipstreaming to improve lap times could yield substantial gains, but it severely tested the skills of both drivers involved. Therefore, teams rarely issued strict orders forcing a specific driver to provide a tow. After all, for many F3 drivers, just maintaining a clean, accident-free drive was already a difficult task. If they were further tasked with slipstreaming, it could easily result in a double retirement. In the previous race, Gustavo had made a mistake while providing a tow for Wu Shi, causing his car to spin out and sustain damage, which ruined his subsequent qualifying results.

After the morning’s acclimatization and targeted tuning, Car No. 32 had adapted perfectly to the track’s rhythm. Meanwhile, Wu Shi’s familiarity with the circuit was rapidly increasing. For many genius drivers, they could set astonishing lap times even on their very first run on a particular circuit. Sometimes, the crushing weight of pure talent was just that incredibly frustrating for everyone else. Geniuses possessed a highly unique understanding of racing lines. After just a few familiarization laps, they could devise driving styles perfectly suited to both themselves and their cars. Coupled with a level of precision in car control that far exceeded ordinary drivers, they could easily achieve such feats.

Wu Shi was playing exactly this role right now. As he continued his cruising laps, he constantly deepened the circuit’s imprint in his mind, memorizing every single detail of the track. By the ninth lap, he felt sufficiently prepared. If it weren’t for the fear of making a mistake, waiting until the eleventh or twelfth lap when the fuel load was lighter would definitely yield a better time.

He spoke over the team radio, "I’ll give it another try."

Alan TR replied, "OK, track conditions are clear."

Wu Shi took a deep breath, rousing his focus. On the final straight, he played through all sixteen corners of the entire lap in his mind, like a cinematic animation. He blinked twice for final focus as the car reached its maximum speed, then dashed across the starting straight with a SWOOSH, hurtling swiftly toward Turn 1.

During street races, because reference points were so close, the first-person perspective made the speed feel far faster than reality. As a result, many drivers would actually lift off the throttle earlier to prepare for braking. But Wu Shi did not. He had already memorized his braking point, so he would absolutely wait until that exact spot to brake. The rapidly receding afterimages of peripheral reference points could not affect his judgment!

SWOOSH!

"Wu has started another flying lap! His previous times have been hovering around the 1:11 mark, and he hasn’t yet broken into the 1:10 range. However, with that current time, he is already sixth in his group.

"A driver’s familiarity with a street circuit greatly affects their lap times, and flying around this track is an extraordinary test of courage. We saw Jack Dennis post a time of 1:10.570 earlier, temporarily taking the top spot.

"Currently, O’connor and Verstappen are on flying laps ahead of Wu Shi. They have already passed through the second sector, and looking at the times, they have broken their own records."

SWOOSH!

Soon, O’connor’s result came out.

1:10.072!

Seeing this time, the commentator couldn’t help but lavish praise, "O’connor ran a completely perfect lap! With this time, locking in pole position shouldn’t be a problem at all!"

Immediately after, Verstappen crossed the line.

As expected, he only managed a time of 1:10.432.

By now, most drivers on the track had run nine or ten laps and were on light fuel loads. Their results began trickling in one after another. However, let alone surpassing O’connor, these times couldn’t even beat Jack Dennis’s result. The street circuit, with its extreme demands for meticulous car control, instantly stretched out the gap between the drivers’ times. The highly skilled ones could reach the 1:10 mark, while those even slightly inferior directly dropped to the 1:13 level.

"Whoa! Wu’s speed is also incredibly fast. We can see that he is making quite a few corrections on the track, but that’s very normal. This is his first time at this circuit, so he is naturally a bit unfamiliar with it.

"Still, as expected of a six-time consecutive champion! His intuition is razor-sharp, and his car control is terrifying. Even under these circumstances, his first sector is faster than O’connor’s! However, they tied in the second sector. Now, it all comes down to the third sector!"

The scenery on both sides of the track blurred into afterimages as it rapidly sped backward, while the red-and-white barriers stretched all the way to the end of his vision. Suddenly, the barrier on the right began to curve outward. The next moment, a corner abruptly appeared. Car No. 32 followed the racing line into the turn, lightly brushing over the curb and shuddering twice.

CLACK CLACK!

Wu Shi hated this feeling, but it didn’t impact him much. His car nearly scraped against the right-side barrier. It was a pity that this section of the barrier didn’t have sensors, otherwise, the exact distance could have been measured—a mere three centimeters!

At such a high speed, this distance was practically zero. Once calculated poorly, there was absolutely no chance for correction. This meant that the moment a driver steered into a corner and the nose of the car shifted, the minimum distance between the vehicle and the retaining wall was essentially locked in. The more a section relied entirely on pure driving skill and feel for the car, the more terrifyingly precise Wu Shi became!

SWOOSH!

In the end, without a doubt, the No. 32 Van Amersfoort car secured pole position. The pole time was 1:10.001, narrowly edging out O’connor.

After this result came out, Wu Shi didn’t hesitate and returned directly to the pit lane.

"Beautifully done," Alan said to Wu Shi as he took off his helmet.

"Max isn’t back yet?"

"He plans to run a couple more laps."

Wu Shi then turned his head to check Verstappen’s data. He found that Verstappen’s eleventh lap time was still lacking, though his current twelfth lap was indeed looking good; his first sector had already tied O’connor’s time.

At this moment, Sid walked over, patted his shoulder, and signaled for them to speak in private. They found an empty meeting room. Once inside, Sid got straight to the point. "Martina just told me that our team needs to hire new personnel. You’ll need to look over these candidates later. If you have time, you can participate in the interview process."

"Alright, no problem," Wu Shi nodded.

"Also, I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay with you to finish this race weekend," Sid added.

"Is something else going on? Didn’t we say we’d discuss the sponsorship fees after this race?" Wu Shi asked, puzzled.

"I need to rush to Spain."

"If I remember correctly, this weekend happens to be the Spanish Grand Prix, right?" Wu Shi said thoughtfully, waiting for Sid’s answer.

"Yes, just as you’d expect. Our contract with Mercedes-Benz has been leaked, so I need to make a trip over there."

Sid helplessly spread his hands. He and Wu Shi certainly wouldn’t have leaked this contract out of boredom. After all, the confidentiality clauses were extremely strict, and any violation could even impact the fulfillment of the contract itself.

Wu Shi frowned. He hadn’t even entered the paddock yet, but he could already feel its deeply entrenched, convoluted network of relationships and brutal conflicts of interest.