Chapter 157 - 78: NO POWER!

Chapter 157: Chapter 78: NO POWER!

Besides, Free Practice 1 was mostly for initial car adjustments. No driver would risk their life to set a fast lap time! They would all set a decent time and then head back to tweak the car. Therefore, the track was somewhat empty at this moment. The other drivers were either tuning their cars in their garages or calling it a day like Alonso.

Wu Shi sensed his opportunity. After the warm-up lap ended, his race car sprinted forward.

Wu Shi spoke over the TR: "I’ve turned on qualifying mode. I’ll manage the battery myself."

He gave a heads-up before the car zipped into the starting straight with a WHOOSH. Relying on the grip of the supersoft tires and the extra power from the qualifying mode, his top speed at the end of the Great Straight surged to 310 km/h, 4 km/h faster than before.

However, almost exactly as the speed hit 310, the car decelerated sharply. The left tire started smoking. After a slight lock-up, the vehicle dove flawlessly into the corner.

"A mistake!" Brother Bing shouted without thinking.

In the Pit Room, Sid sighed, while Toto remained unfazed.

Tony on the TR: "Watch out for the left tire lock-up. A flat spot has already appeared."

Wu Shi didn’t even listen. Locking up here wouldn’t lose him much time at all! After all, the lock-up was caused by pushing for top speed, and it didn’t affect his corner entry. Thanks to setting reasonable differential dials and brake bias, the front wheels still provided substantial grip. About three meters from the corner, Wu Shi smoothly released the brakes. The front left wheel resumed spinning as the car seamlessly carved into the apex.

Transitioning from the left apex to the right track edge, the car’s tires completely crossed the white line, yet stubbornly pressed against the edge of the red-and-white curbs. By taking a wider arc through the corner, the car gained a faster exit speed and an earlier opportunity to accelerate.

ROAR! After the engine bellowed, before it could fully unleash its fury, it downshifted and backfired, decelerating into Turn 3. The entry angle was incredibly wide, allowing the car to maintain a very high speed. After clipping the apex, the excessive momentum flung the car toward the right-side barrier. It looked like a guaranteed crash, but in the end, the car’s right tire only brushed lightly against the barrier.

"That’s pushing it to the absolute limit!" Brother Bing exclaimed.

From the T-cam perspective, this instantaneous touch-and-go left viewers feeling completely dazzled. Similarly, exiting Turn 5, the car’s front left wheel almost kissed the left barrier, but it was just for a split second before the car accelerated and sprinted toward the Great Straight ahead.

SWOOSH! Sector 1 time: 27.678 seconds!

As soon as the time popped up, everyone couldn’t help but clench their fists. Even Alonso, who had just returned to the Pit Room and taken off his helmet, stood motionless in front of the screen. Wu Shi’s time here on his first lap had been 29.645 seconds. Meanwhile, Alonso’s fastest lap time in this sector was 28.712 seconds. This meant that Wu Shi was over a second faster than Alonso in the first sector alone!

If everything else matched Alonso’s pace, his final time would be 1:46.299. And what was the estimated pole position time for qualifying? Right around 1 minute and 45 seconds! In other words, if Wu Shi could just shave off one more second across the next two sectors, it would be a pole-worthy lap!

"Incredible! Unbelievable!" The race commentator was at a loss for words. It was rare for this famous pundit to be speechless, but right now, he simply didn’t know how to describe it.

Wu Shi’s car continued to race forward. With his previous experience, he naturally knew that his racing line through many corners wasn’t perfect, but he could push that imperfect line to the absolute limit! Why was he frantically testing the limits to the point of risking a crash? Because the current car setup and racing line choices were bound to be inferior to a true qualifying run. He had to do this to seize even a sliver of a chance! If he crashed, he was ready to accept the consequences!

On the Great Straight, with the DRS and battery fully deployed, his top speed rocketed to 316 km/h!

Approaching Turn 7, he downshifted and braked, entering the corner in third gear at around 120 km/h. Shortly after the exit came the right-angled Turn 8. There was no need to aggressively hug the apex here, but upon exiting, he could let the car drift toward the left barrier, slam on the gas to immediately switch to the right barrier, and prepare for Turn 9.

Exiting Turn 9, the right side of the car practically glued itself to the barrier once again. The tire even slightly rubbed against the advertising banner on the wall, dragging out a puff of white smoke!

"Whoa! Almost crashed there! That was way too close!"

Wu Shi felt like he was dancing on the edge of a blade. His heart rate had already climbed to 196, and his entire body seemed to throb in rhythm with his heartbeat. Between Turns 10 and 13 was a series of continuous corners, where the G-force changes would be the most violent. He had already clenched his teeth and braced his neck muscles in advance.

VROOM! CLACK! The jolt of riding over the curbs brought tremendous lateral force. Driving out of Turn 12, the car once again crept dangerously close to the right barrier, practically scraping along it all the way to Turn 13. This approach of not making any steering corrections allowed his speed to reach 214 km/h, far exceeding his previous 207 km/h.

Turn 13 was yet another corner that demanded pushing to the absolute limit. Wu Shi didn’t even entertain the thought of crashing. He simply let the exit momentum carry the car toward the right barrier, brushing past it in a flawless arc.

VROOM! ROAR! Entering the straight, the engine roared and the tires spun wildly. The barriers beside him whipped backward like afterimages from a time warp.

SWOOSH! The Sector 2 time appeared. 40.096 seconds! He had set the fastest lap of the session once again! Now, the combined time for Sectors 1 and 2 was 1:07.741.

"He’s going to get it." Alonso stood half-frozen for a moment, before suddenly snapping out of it and raking his hands through his hair.

In the Mercedes Pit Room, Toto still had his arms crossed over his chest, but his hidden fists were clenched tight. To start challenging the absolute limits of a track after merely twenty laps—what kind of prodigy was this?! He was even more outrageous than Kimi!

The wind howled wildly as light and shadows flashed by like a shuttle. Entering the third sector, the upcoming succession of sharp technical corners would test cornering ability and racing line choices.

As the No. 6 Silver Arrow flew through Turn 21 and directly hugged the right barrier, Wu Shi finally let out a sigh of relief. He felt he had driven pretty well, and the remaining section...

"Ah! He’s got it! The remaining section is completely effortless!" Brother Bing yelled.

The car began to accelerate. The right side was the outside line; Wu Shi didn’t even need to adjust his entry angle on the short straight and could dive directly into Turns 22 and 23.

WHOOSH! The car’s speed quickly reached 223 km/h, but Wu Shi sharply noticed something. He immediately roared over the TR: "NO POWER! NO POWER!"

His previous top speed here had reached 248 km/h! But now, there was a difference of a full 20 km/h! No one knew how Wu Shi had the bandwidth to notice this speed drop amidst such intense cornering.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! The final five seconds felt agonizingly long for Wu Shi. The car crossed the finish line. Sector 3 time: 38.138 seconds. Final lap time: 1:45.879.

"OHHHH!!!!" The mechanics in the other teams couldn’t help but yell when they saw this. What the hell was this?!

In the Ferrari Pit Room, Alonso kept pinching his prominent chin as he watched the cheering crew members. He knew there were many Italians here, and quite a few of them had a very favorable impression of Wu Shi. So, he could openly cheer along with them! This sixteen-year-old boy had just pulled off an absolutely outstanding time! He couldn’t wait to chat with the guy; he must be an interesting kid!

In the Red Bull Pit Room, Vettel shifted his jaw, residual astonishment lingering in his eyes, while Ricciardo next to him grinned widely.

In the Williams Pit Room, the elderly Sir wanted nothing more than to stand up from his wheelchair and celebrate. He said to his daughter behind him, "This will be the rise of another legend in the paddock."

The Sauber team principal beat his chest and stomped his feet in regret. What was Ferrari doing demanding 21 victories? If he had known, he would have modified the contract right after Wu Shi’s three consecutive wins in the F3 season! Then this kid would have definitely been theirs!

The Lotus team principal was calculating. They also planned to use Mercedes-Benz engines next year. If Wu Shi couldn’t make it into the Mercedes Team, could they perhaps...

Unlike the lively atmosphere in the other teams, the mood over at the Mercedes Team was quite oppressive. Everyone had heard Wu Shi’s yell after Turn 21, those two panting, incredibly hoarse shouts of "NO POWER."

Toto’s face was terrifyingly gloomy. Other teams might think there was a problem with the Mercedes-Benz car, which would be normal. The Mercedes Team had retired from quite a few races this year due to the instability of their hybrid engines. But looking at the telemetry data, anyone who had ever worked as an engineer would understand that the situation here wasn’t simple at all.

During the cool-down lap, Wu Shi rested his hands on the steering wheel and spoke over the TR again: "I need another flying lap."

"Agreed. Once the battery is fully charged, come back, change tires, and do another flying lap," Toto responded directly.

Rosberg opened his mouth. He thought, "He’s using my damn tires!" However, considering the issue that just occurred, he felt it was best to remain silent for now. Barring any accidents, there would still be enough tires.