Chapter 125 - 50: Slaughtering All Sides

Chapter 125: Chapter 50: Slaughtering All Sides

Three minutes later, Alan spoke over the team radio. "There won’t be a standing start for the race."

Sure enough, when the race time arrived, the safety car remained at the front of the pack, slowly leading them away. Now, everyone just had to follow the safety car. They drove like this for six consecutive laps. In fact, the rain had stopped by the third lap, but Race Control prioritized safety and held off on green-flagging the race. The safety car continued to lead the pack until a clear racing line had formed on the track, only then pulling away.

On the slippery surface, Wu Shi could clearly feel the car was difficult to control. Even the wet tires didn’t provide enough grip. He had to hunt for the optimal line while driving to find better grip conditions.

VROOM!

Five seconds after the safety car returned to the pits, the race officially began. All the cars accelerated simultaneously. The engines sounded incredibly imposing, but their actual acceleration didn’t seem very fast. It felt like all bark and no bite.

In reality, for a group of F3 drivers, one could never be too cautious in the wet. On a slick street circuit, the slightest mistake was enough to cause a retirement. Wu Shi slowed his shifts as well to match the track’s grip. Glancing in his rearview mirror, he saw that O’connor hadn’t caught up. There was already a gap in their starts under dry conditions, and in the wet, this gap only widened. He figured this would be another race where he led from start to finish.

Approaching Turn 2 again, Wu Shi didn’t push the car to its absolute limits. He downshifted and braked a little early to enter the corner. The rubber marbles on the ground made the turn even more slippery; even his rear wheels slipped slightly when he accidentally ran over the debris. If he hadn’t reduced his throttle output in time, he probably would have oversteered into a spin.

What seemed to him like a rather slow corner entry was apparently still too fast for O’connor behind him. O’connor was even more cautious, braking much earlier. However, caution was a good thing, and O’connor’s No. 2 car naturally turned into the corner. Closely following was Verstappen’s No. 30 car. His racing line was completely different—he was actually preparing to dive down the inside to overtake. Diving down the inside meant running over the rubber marbles, which would inevitably lead to a lack of tire grip. Yet, Verstappen outrageously braked a moment late.

SCREECH!!!

Sure enough, the front and rear wheels of the No. 30 car locked up instantly. Carried by immense momentum, the entire car continued skidding forward and to the right. Relying on a speed of over 140 kilometers per hour, the No. 30 car closed the gap in the blink of an eye, arriving right at the flank of the No. 2 car. O’connor, who was halfway through the turn, suddenly heard the roar of an engine. He turned his head, only to see an out-of-control car hurtling toward him.

CRASH!

The massive impact instantly sent the No. 2 car careening wildly. By the time Wu Shi heard the crash, the two out-of-control cars were already smashing toward him.

He cursed in his mind, "Fuck!" With that, he immediately relinquished his sensory connection to the entire car.

BAM!

The three cars slammed brutally into the barrier, scattering shattered carbon fiber debris all over the track.

"Oh! NO! There’s a collision at the front! We see Verstappen spinning out—he’s crashed straight into Aohe and Wu! The cars behind are coming too... Focca managed to brake!" The commentator spoke at a rapid-fire pace. Mid-sentence, the cars from behind quickly caught up.

The first few cars were fine; seeing that things had gone wrong, they hurriedly braked. However, for the cars trailing them, the standing water kicked up by the tires formed a thin watery mist, completely obscuring the incident ahead. The drivers still braked at their usual braking points. As a result, in a moment of distraction, they rapidly closed in on the cars in front of them, having no idea why those cars were braking early!

BANG!

Two more cars collided directly due to a failure to evade, carrying their remaining momentum straight into the barrier. Just as Wu Shi and the other two recovered from the shock, there were two more damn brutal impacts.

BANG BANG!

The series of consecutive collisions left the track in utter chaos. Unsurprisingly, the safety car was immediately deployed. Yellow flags waved from every marshal post along the barriers. As the pack slowed down, the spray lessened, and the drivers’ visibility improved, finally preventing any further collisions.

The broadcast cameras cut to the accident site, revealing a total of six cars lying haphazardly across Turn 2. The remaining space was so narrow that only a single car could squeeze through. Wu Shi flipped up his visor, unbuckled his seatbelt, and climbed out. Fortunately, he had severed his sensory connection to the car quickly this time, otherwise he would have been in serious trouble. At the time, when he saw O’connor driving so conservatively in his rearview mirror, he hadn’t expected an accident to happen. He figured it just had to be Verstappen! Only he had the guts to drive like that in the wet.

He tossed his HANS device aside, propped himself up to sit on the chassis, and took a few deep breaths. Looking around, he quickly noticed a driver in a car to his rear flank lying motionless in their seat. His heart skipped a beat. He hoped no one was seriously hurt. Ignoring the cars still steadily passing by, Wu Shi immediately vaulted over the wreckage and ran over, prying open the driver’s visor.

After getting a clear look at her face, he shouted, "Hey! Tatiana, are you okay?"

"N-no, I’m fine, just a little dizzy." Tatiana’s eyes were half-closed, seemingly yet to process what had happened.

"Phew, as long as you’re okay." Wu Shi waved to the trackside workers, signaling them to call the medics immediately, before helping her unbuckle her seatbelt. O’connor and Goddard climbed out of their cars as well, hurrying over to help. Soon, the six drivers slipped through a gap in the barrier, finally reaching a safe area off the track.

"Max! Why did you have to be so reckless!" O’connor pulled off his helmet, his face flushed with anger, turning and shouting at Verstappen.

"I just couldn’t stop the car, that’s all," Verstappen said as he took off his gloves.

"Heh!" O’connor scoffed mockingly and walked away.

Wu Shi patted Verstappen on the shoulder and asked, "Are you physically okay?"

"I’m fine," Verstappen shook his head.

Thanks to the safety features of the cars, out of the six drivers, only Tatiana—whose physical constitution was slightly weaker—experienced some minor discomfort. None of them said much more. Accidents on the track were perfectly normal, and O’connor’s outburst was understandable; it was purely a matter of personal temperament. Motorsport was inherently a dangerous competition. If Verstappen had managed to control the car just now, no one would talk about the risks involved. They would only praise his bold attempt for completing a stunning overtake. Of course, in Wu Shi’s eyes, Verstappen’s move had been nothing short of a torpedo divebomb. Given the track conditions at the time, going through the inside line at that speed left absolutely zero chance of stopping the car.

He returned to the pit lane with the others. When Alan saw him, he immediately walked over and said, "Don’t be discouraged. It’s just one race."

"Why would I be discouraged?" Wu Shi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It wasn’t his mistake that cost him the championship, so he felt absolutely no burden of responsibility.

"Tsk, isn’t it rare to find an opportunity to comfort you?" Alan joked.

"Hahaha!" The team principal laughed heartily upon hearing this, taking it all in stride. Although this collision directly resulted in the retirement of three Van Amersfoort Ford cars, everyone was safe, and that was enough. Furthermore, on the current leaderboard, Wu Shi alone had 175 points. Combined with Verstappen’s points, Prema had absolutely no chance of catching up. He hadn’t expected they’d actually have a shot at winning the Constructors’ Championship this year.

The retirement of six cars did not trigger red flags; instead, the safety car paced the field to keep speeds low. The Matthews spent six laps clearing all the wrecked cars from the track before the race resumed. As a result, just four laps later, someone else ended up in the wall, bringing the safety car back out. The race resumed once more on the twentieth lap, but after just two more laps, the event concluded. United Kingdom driver Bromquist took first place, Jack Dennis took second, and Giovinazzi came in third. From the start of his racing career until now, Wu Shi finally had the chance to stand below the podium and watch others receive trophies.

"Queen Victoria~" Wu Shi hummed the little tune of the United Kingdom.

"I can almost hum your national anthem," Verstappen said.

"Hahaha, I know the Holland anthem too. Du, du, du, du~" Wu Shi switched tunes and started humming again.

"Wow, how did you learn that?" Verstappen asked in surprise.

At that moment, the United Kingdom national anthem began to play. Wu Shi and Verstappen stopped talking and maintained a solemn silence. Only after the anthem ended did Wu Shi reply, "I quite like the melody."

"Really? Haha," Verstappen chuckled.

The third race of the afternoon was scheduled for 3:40 p.m. The weather was incredibly unpredictable—the rain stopped at one o’clock, and ten minutes later, the sun was blazing bright. It was truly bizarre. Therefore, by the time the third race rolled around, the track surface was almost completely dry.