Chapter 156 - 78: NO POWER!

Chapter 156: Chapter 78: NO POWER!

Whether it was the staff in the pit lane or the audience in front of their televisions, everyone was consciously guessing what the pole position time for Singapore would be this year. Most people used the same method to guess the lap times as the two commentators from Six-Star Sports. After reaching a conclusion, they were all somewhat shocked. A thought even popped into their minds: "Could this guy really set a pole position time during a practice session?" After all, Wu Shi’s improvement was terrifying. From 1 minute and 51.625 seconds on his first lap to 1 minute and 49.201 seconds on his tenth lap, an improvement of about 2.4 seconds seemed far too abnormal.

"Is this guy really driving an F1 car for the first time?" Rosberg couldn’t help but say in the Mercedes Pit Room.

Hearing this, the crew members all looked at him. Everyone shared the same thought—this was just too fucking unbelievable.

Tony’s palms were sweating. Toto’s internal scales were swaying. Sir Williams’s eyes were shining.

As for Wu Shi, he found that he couldn’t push anymore. It was too fucking exhausting! After only ten laps, his neck, hands, and feet were incredibly sore. This was ultimately different from regular training. Throwing someone into the monocoque of an F1 car was the best form of exercise.

Fortunately, given the current level of tire wear, he wouldn’t be able to push out a better time even if he tried. He began to cruise, stabilizing his lap times around 1 minute and 51 seconds. Relying on his own experience, he judged that during the main race, the W05’s cruising speed would likely be around this mark, or perhaps even significantly slower depending on the actual conditions. Over the next ten laps, he repeatedly went over every detail of the track in his mind. He knew that after he went back to change into the super soft tires later, he wouldn’t have many chances. The degradation of those things was extremely fast.

Toto watched for a long time before taking off his headset and looking at Niki Lauda beside him. As if they shared a telepathic connection, the legendary veteran driver also took off his headset and said, "If he accomplishes this miracle, you should thank me for intervening in the agreement back then."

"Haha." Toto let out a short laugh, but then felt it wouldn’t be good to appear too happy, so he suppressed his smile. However, the corners of his mouth were indeed hard to keep down.

At this moment, everyone in the arena with rich F1 racing experience realized something: Wu Shi’s terrifying talent did not stop at F3. Just look at him. The very first time he touched an F1 car, he steadily set a new personal fastest time lap after lap. The very first time he touched an F1 car, he was able to hit main race cruising speeds and maintain that pace consistently. How the fuck was this a driver touching an F1 car for the first time!

Wu Zhenlin hurriedly wrapped up his meeting. Glancing at his watch, he realized it was already too late to rush to Singapore. He could only return to his office and use the company’s external network to find the live broadcast. He genuinely wasn’t very interested in racing, nor did he understand it. Fortunately, his English was good, so he could listen to the commentary.

"This is the fifteenth lap. Wu Shi has driven steadily for fifteen laps, and his times are also incredibly stable! This is simply unbelievable. His fastest lap hasn’t been broken up until now, and the two Sauber drivers have already switched to the red super soft tires.

"Oh! What a pity, Gutierrez left a time of 1 minute and 52.171 seconds before returning to the pit lane! Ah! We see Alonso pitting! He... he’s also changed to the super soft tires! Is he going to test his qualifying pace?

"It seems Wu Shi’s appearance has disrupted the plans of these teams. Because of the agreement with Mercedes-Benz, Wu Shi will definitely push desperately. We are now just waiting to see if this terrifyingly young driver from Hua Country will bring a surprise to the entire paddock!"

Martina held Louise in her arms, leaning back in the executive chair in her office.

"Mamu, can Wu Shi join Mercedes-Benz?"

Stroking her daughter’s hair, Martina said, "It will be very difficult. However, he has already displayed his stunning talent to everyone in the paddock, and his basic mission is complete. If there are still miracles... hehe! Then we’ll fly to Singapore later!"

On the seventeenth lap, Alonso, having finished warming up his tires, began his flying lap. On the eighteenth lap, Alonso easily set a time of 1 minute and 47.299 seconds before returning to the pit room. He wasn’t here to compete with Wu Shi, so he still kept some pace in reserve. He was merely showing the times that were supposed to be displayed in the third practice session ahead of schedule.

On the nineteenth lap, Hamilton returned to the pit lane to change to super soft tires.

Tony on the team radio: "Box, box."

On the twentieth lap, Wu Shi was called back for a tire change.

The crew members had clear divisions of labor, though the mechanic responsible for the front wing jack constantly felt his palms sweating. He was genuinely afraid of getting hit! After turning into the pit lane, Wu Shi pressed the speed limiter button to avoid getting fined before even officially entering F1. A single fine was two thousand euros, which would still hurt quite a bit!

SWISH! HISS!

The race car stopped steadily in its box.

"Hey!" a mechanic reminded the guy in charge of the jack.

"Oh!"

The jack mechanic woke up as if from a dream. He realized that Wu Shi’s car had parked so accurately that it had almost perfectly wedged right onto his jack.

VROOM! CLACK!

VROOM! CLACK!

After the tires were changed, the car landed with a THUD, and Wu Shi was released. When the crew returned to the pit room, the jack mechanic caught Toto’s sharp gaze and shuddered all over.

Tony on the team radio: "Get used to it first."

Wu Shi on the team radio: "Copy."

During the out lap, Hamilton’s new time came out: 1 minute and 47.729 seconds. And as Hamilton’s time came out, more and more fastest laps run on super soft tires were sequentially produced.

Vettel set a time of 1 minute and 47.711 seconds. Ricciardo set a time of 1 minute and 47.350 seconds. Massa set a time of 1 minute and 47.909 seconds.

Apart from them, none of the other drivers managed to break into the 1-minute and 47-second mark. After all, this was only the first practice session. If they revealed their true pace right away, it would be far too easy for others to target them!