Chapter 124 - 50: Slaughtering All Sides

Chapter 124: Chapter 50: Slaughtering All Sides

Wu Shi rarely logged into his officially verified social media accounts, so he had long forgotten the passwords. Since he never paid attention to his public profiles, he naturally remained oblivious to the situation online.

Right now, all sorts of rumors were flying around, and the comment sections had devolved into endless flame wars.

Those siding with Wu Shi had nothing but praise for him.

"The youngest karting Grand Slam winner in history! A six-time consecutive champion in the Formula 3 European Championship! How is he not qualified to be a Formula 1 driver?"

"Correction: It’s a seven-time winning streak now." This reply was posted just three minutes ago.

"Who in the paddock right now had a better record than him before entering F1? I bet that once Wu gets in, he’ll dominate Formula 1 just like he dominated karting and F3!"

Wu Shi rubbed his forehead, thinking, "Man, don’t put me on a pedestal just to watch me fall!"

However, the next reply was even more outrageous: "With Wu’s skills, he could win the championship even driving a Caterham!"

Wu Shi gasped sharply when he saw that. He thought, "Are you kidding me? A Caterham is worse than a Sauber. How the hell am I supposed to drive that piece of junk to a championship?!"

He hadn’t realized he had so many fanatical followers. The only reason these comments could be considered compliments was because it was currently 2014. If this were 2024, they would definitely be considered trolls! You could ban every single one of them, and not a single one would be innocent!

On the other hand, the negative comments were fairly standard. They were the typical attacks any driver might face—racial discrimination, accusations of having a specially modified car, or claims that he had bought his way into the sport.

"Do you really not read this stuff normally? You have more hype right now than all of us combined," Focca said with a hint of envy. He had always wanted to dabble in being an internet celebrity himself.

"There’s nothing worth reading. They either say I can do it or I can’t. I know exactly what I’m capable of; I don’t need their validation," Wu Shi replied.

"Exactly what I was thinking!" Verstappen said cheerfully. He was also someone who disliked being in the public eye and couldn’t care less about baseless rumors. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have delivered so many classic retorts to reporters over the years.

The three of them had lunch together.

At 4:30 PM, the second round of qualifying began.

Like the previous round, this qualifying session was divided into two groups. The fastest lap time would determine the starting grid for the second race, while the second-fastest lap would determine the grid for the third race.

This time, the odd-numbered sequence went first, allowing Wu Shi to sit in the pit lane and observe the other drivers.

"Didn’t get any rest at noon? I know people from your home country usually have a habit of taking a midday nap," Alan noted, noticing the dark circles under Wu Shi’s eyes.

"No, I’m not that tired now that the afternoon has rolled around," Wu Shi replied, shaking his head. He had originally planned to rest for half an hour, but thanks to the rumors, the other drivers had pestered him relentlessly, trying to squeeze out any gossip.

Well aware of the importance of the confidentiality clauses in his contract, he hadn’t revealed a single thing. He had even feigned ignorance, fishing for details he didn’t even know from a few drivers who were full of hot air.

This behavior thoroughly satisfied the vanity of those drivers—they might not be able to beat him on the track, but they could certainly triumph over him in bragging and gossiping.

"The overall pace is a lot faster today," Wu Shi remarked.

"The average lap times in the second qualifying session are almost always faster," Alan said.

"Why is that?"

"Probably because some drivers found their limits in the previous session. After all, not everyone is like you," Alan laughed.

In the first qualifying group, Rosenqvist secured the fastest lap with a time of 1:10.197, a significant improvement. Second place went to Bromquist with a time of 1:10.547.

"You’re up. Good luck! Go get that pole position," Alan encouraged.

"I appreciate the vote of confidence."

Wu Shi climbed into the cockpit. After completing twenty-nine laps in the morning’s main race, his understanding of the track had reached a whole new level. Matching yesterday’s time would be much easier now.

Brimming with confidence, he was the first to drive out of the pit lane. After two warm-up laps, he immediately started his flying lap.

"Wu is already pushing for a lap time!"

The broadcast feed immediately locked onto Wu Shi. Car No. 32 darted through the narrow streets like a slippery loach, weaving effortlessly through the corners.

"His familiarity with the track has improved tremendously. Yesterday, he had to make a lot of mid-corner corrections during qualifying, but today, he doesn’t need to perform nearly as many complex maneuvers."

"We can also see him adjusting his brake bias and differential much more frequently in the corners. It seems his driving style has evolved from his previous runs."

The commentator’s expertise was unquestionable. He pointed out the subtle details that the general audience might miss, helping everyone better understand Wu Shi’s current form.

Amidst the ongoing commentary, Wu Shi crossed the finish line with a time of 1:10.013.

It was slightly slower than his time yesterday, but it was absolutely enough to secure pole position.

"Wow, the time is a bit slower than yesterday. It looks like his new driving style didn’t yield a faster time, though his stability is definitely better," the commentator added.

After posting that lap time, Wu Shi drove straight back into the pit lane.

As expected, fifteen minutes passed, and no one managed to break his lap time. The fastest among the rest was O’connor, who only clocked a 1:10.192, which was slower than yesterday’s pace.

With that, Saturday’s races officially came to a close.

"The weather forecast says it’s going to rain tomorrow."

Once all the drivers had returned, the team principal called everyone for a meeting, emphasizing, "Bring the cars back safely. That is your only mission."

Shortly after the meeting adjourned, a few drops of rain fell from the gloomy sky, though it wasn’t much. By nightfall, however, the rain poured down for most of the night.

At eleven o’clock the next morning.

The rain had eased slightly. After completing the reconnaissance lap, all the cars lined up on the starting grid. However, five minutes before the race was set to begin, the rain suddenly intensified, forcing the teams to frantically adjust the tire pressures on their wet tires.