Chapter 158 - 79: It’s Already in the Past

Chapter 158: Chapter 79: It’s Already in the Past

"Wow! Fantastic! He really broke 1:45! That time has to be good enough!" Brother Bing shouted excitedly in the broadcast booth.

Clapping, Brother Fei said, "Absolutely incredible! That speed is just unbelievable! I don’t know if it’s a top-three contender, but that time is definitely getting him into the third qualifying session (Q3)!"

As the two celebrated wildly, the broadcast cut to a replay, playing Wu Shi’s final team radio message.

The simultaneous interpreter spoke up. "Uh, Wu Shi said, ’no energy.’ That should mean the car has lost some of its power."

In truth, those simple words didn’t need translating by an interpreter.

After the replay, the broadcast cut to the Mercedes Pit Room. Compared to the other teams’ pits, the atmosphere here seemed incredibly somber.

Brother Bing quickly noticed something was off. "Why isn’t the Mercedes Team celebrating? It looks like the other teams are pretty happy."

"Could it be that Toto is considering who to replace?" Brother Fei chimed in.

"Hahaha, that’s probably it. Hamilton and Rosberg are both incredibly strong. That’s a tough decision to make," Brother Bing laughed.

Just then, a second team radio clip was played.

The interpreter spoke again: "Uh, Wu Shi says he wants another flying lap. The team told him that’s fine, and to pit for new tires after a full recharge before going out again."

"Whoa! Now that’s what you call special treatment!"

Brother Bing was stunned. Wasting a set of tires in FP1 to give Wu Shi another chance? If he didn’t know Wu Shi’s background, he’d be starting to suspect some kind of hidden relationship between him and Toto.

"Something’s not right," Brother Fei said, also confused. "No matter how talented a driver is, a team wouldn’t go so far as to waste another set of tires in FP1 just to verify his skill."

Confused or not, they kept their eyes glued to the screen. Wu Shi was going for another run. Would he set an even faster time?!

「Marina Bay Street Circuit」

The Mercedes Team called in car number 44, Hamilton. Once the vehicle was secure in the garage, Toto spoke. "Peter, bring your crew over and replace Tony."

His cold words seemed to drop the temperature in the Mercedes Pit Room by several degrees. Tony, however, seemed unfazed. He took off his headset and placed it on the desk.

Rosberg reached out to stop him, but Tony avoided his hand.

Peter took a deep breath and sat down in the engineer’s seat as the rest of the crew members were swapped out.

A short while later, Hamilton, having changed, walked out. One look told him something was wrong. "What’s with all the long faces?" he said, half-joking. "Did the kid crash?"

He had been on a cool-down lap back to the pits while Wu Shi was setting his time, so he had no idea what had happened.

"No, he needs to do another run," Peter replied.

"Hey, why the change of seats? Where’s Tony? Is he not feeling well?" Hamilton pressed.

Of course, he had already sensed the strange atmosphere in the team, but he didn’t want to seem overly sensitive. That is, until he stood behind Peter and glanced up at the previous lap time for car number 6.

And then he saw it: 1:45.879.

"..."

After a moment of silence, he asked, "Why does he need another run?"

"He’s fighting for a seat at Mercedes," Rosberg said bluntly.

The atmosphere immediately turned icy.

Wu Shi’s team radio crackled: "Box, box!"

Having recharged the battery, Wu Shi was now pitting.

The crew immediately wheeled another set of supersoft tires into position.

Hamilton and Rosberg stood side-by-side in the Pit Room, watching the familiar silver car enter the pit lane. It stopped flawlessly before being lifted by the jacks.

The tire change took 3.6s.

VROOOM!

The car sped out of the pits.

"He... I’m afraid..."

Rosberg looked slightly anxious. He was a man exceptionally prone to anxiety. He couldn’t imagine the pressure he would face if he drove the same car and ended up being slower than Wu Shi.

Hamilton said nothing, a dazed look on his face. The kid he’d known since 2007 was now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

Everyone on the team was lost in their own thoughts. Seeing that Toto had given Wu Shi yet another chance, Sid didn’t make a scene.

But just as he finished his warm-up lap, before he’d even completed the first sector, Wu Shi’s voice came over the team radio. "The gearbox. I think there’s a problem with the gearbox. The shifts feel really stiff."

Toto inhaled sharply, held it for a moment, then let out a long, slow breath. He wanted to rip off his headset and slam it on the desk, but he ultimately restrained the impulse.

Peter replied over the radio: "We see the issue. We can’t fix it remotely. Bring the car back."

"Copy."

Wu Shi’s voice was devoid of emotion, only hoarse.

He was truly exhausted, and his pace was slow as he brought the car back.

After stopping the car in the pit box and removing the steering wheel and headrest, he rested in the cockpit for a moment before finally climbing out.

At that moment, all the nearby cameras were trained on him.

Sid walked over to Toto and said sternly, "Mr. Toto, I believe this requires a reasonable explanation to us."

"You’ll have one," Toto nodded, his expression more serious than ever before.

BRRRING~

Sid’s phone rang. It was a call from Martina.

"Looks like there was some kind of unexpected issue?" Martina asked.

"Yes. It seems there was an abnormal fluctuation in the engine’s power output near the end of the lap," said Sid.

"Understood. I just asked about their projected data. They estimate the pole position time will be around 1:45.8. With his time, Wu Shi has a very high probability of finishing in the top three."

The "they" Martina referred to were, of course, the people at Ferrari.

"But the Ferrari car is supposed to be quite a bit slower than the Mercedes," Sid said, a single sentence that silenced Martina completely.

...

Wu Shi took off his helmet. His black hair was soaked with sweat, and he looked somewhat weak.

"You need to work on your physical conditioning, kid," Hamilton said, walking up and extending a hand.

Wu Shi shook his hand, nodded, and said with a smile, "I’m already training as hard as I can."

"Isn’t it a shame?" Hamilton suddenly asked. The restricted engine power at the end had cost him at least a tenth of a second, by a conservative estimate.

"Of course. But that’s racing, isn’t it? It’s just like what happened at the 2007 Shanghai Station, right?" Wu Shi replied.

If Hamilton hadn’t slid into the gravel trap at the 2007 Shanghai Station, if he had just scored two more points, the black driver would have made F1 history by winning the world championship in his rookie season (a feat not achieved since 1950).

"Yeah. It was a shame, no matter how you look at it. But it’s all in the past, isn’t it?" Hamilton offered a polite smile.

"Right. It’s in the past. And FP1 is over now."

Wu Shi looked back at the W05. He had given it his all, pushing an incredibly aggressive line without having a complete feel for the car yet.

In his pursuit of speed, he had not only put his life on the line, but had also gambled his future—a crash would have undoubtedly had a massive impact on his career.

In truth, when he’d told Toto he wanted another lap, his right eyelid had been twitching. He’d had a feeling that one more aggressive lap would have likely ended with him in the wall.

’Was it a shame to lose time because of the engine problem? Of course it was.’

But being able to post that lap time tonight, he felt he had no regrets.

Hamilton didn’t say anything more, just patted Wu Shi on the shoulder.

After Wu Shi had walked away, Hamilton turned to Rosberg and said, "I think he’s mentally stronger than you."

Rosberg shot him a look but didn’t argue.