Chapter 176 - 96: Give Me a Chance to Push for 2 Laps!

Chapter 176: Chapter 96: Give Me a Chance to Push for 2 Laps!

Yes, Wu Shi was executing an extreme late-braking maneuver once again. After the Mercedes-Benz ahead slowed down slightly, the Williams took the lead in the blink of an eye, followed by a few wisps of white smoke billowing from its front tires.

Because his inside line was blocked, Rosberg had to take a wider trajectory. Even with a Mercedes-Benz, he was bound to lose some time. But once they exited the corner, it would be a completely different story.

Rosberg practically hugged Wu Shi’s car as they navigated the turn. Although he was half a car length behind, this positioned him to accelerate earlier.

"I can’t afford to save the tires anymore!"

Wu Shi gritted his teeth, pushing his senses to the absolute limit. The feedback from every square centimeter of tire contact with the asphalt was vividly mapped out in his mind.

He accelerated early.

As the torque to the rear wheels increased, they began to slip and spin. The front wheels barely withstood the shock of the acceleration, guiding the chassis straight while teetering on the edge of losing control.

On the broadcast, just as it looked like the Mercedes-Benz was about to out-accelerate and overtake the Williams, the Williams suddenly surged forward with even greater ferocity, leaving everyone watching in awe!

After the safety car phase, order had effectively been restored to the entire track. Only the drivers in second and third place were engaged in a desperate, tooth-and-nail dogfight! Naturally, the majority of the camera angles focused on these two cars.

They made it through Turn 13, but an endless succession of corners still lay ahead!

Having gained a third of a car length’s advantage, Wu Shi once again showcased his penchant for psychological warfare. He mercilessly squeezed to the left, slotting his left rear tire into the minuscule gap just ahead of the Mercedes-Benz’s right rear tire.

Rosberg felt the deafening roar of the engine was closer to his ears than ever before. He thought this guy was absolutely insane! Was he really risking a catastrophic, race-ending crash?!

Of course not. As long as Rosberg didn’t steer to the right, there would be no collision between them whatsoever!

WHOOSH!

In mere seconds, the two cars roared past the short straight between Turns 13 and 14.

Because they were running half-abreast, Wu Shi still occupied the right side of the track. And since Turn 14 was a right-hander, the right side meant the inside line. His squeezing maneuver on the straight wasn’t entirely fruitless; human instinct naturally leans toward self-preservation, so every time Rosberg edged a millimeter toward the outside, Wu Shi matched his movement.

These minuscule deviations in distance, nearly imperceptible to the naked eye, were flawlessly bridged by the immense control he exerted over his car. Thus, the Williams maintained its advantage through Turn 14.

However, the rapidly approaching Turn 15 was a left-hander. Rosberg, who hadn’t fallen a full car length behind, naturally capitalized on this opportunity to block Wu Shi’s inside line.

Faced with this situation, even Wu Shi was completely powerless. All the advantage he had built up over the previous two corners was handed right back at Turn 15. Even though Turn 16 was a right-hander, he couldn’t claw that advantage back.

But this was actually perfect.

After Turn 16 lay the Great Straight for the starting grid, which featured a DRS zone! Because of this, Wu Shi even had to take defensive precautions during Turn 16. If Rosberg braked, Wu Shi would absolutely brake even harder!

Evidently, Rosberg was neither Hamilton nor Verstappen; he wouldn’t think to employ such a tactic on the track.

SWISH!

The Mercedes-Benz shot past the DRS detection line, keeping its lead over Wu Shi. The Williams gained the DRS advantage, unleashing superior acceleration and top speed down the Great Straight.

As they approached Turn 1, Wu Shi successfully pulled out of the slipstream once again. The sheer difference in top speed left Rosberg feeling utterly helpless.

"Lap eight," Wu Shi noted silently. There were still a full fifty laps to go. How many more laps could he keep defending?

This driving style was extremely hard on the tires. The softs were originally supposed to last until lap fifteen—the predicted lifespan was twelve laps, plus the three laps spent behind the safety car—but under these conditions, he’d probably have to pit by lap twelve.

Today’s track temperatures were relatively low, and with the impact of the safety car, the initially recommended two-stop strategy was no longer as viable as a one-stop.

Jonathan TR: "You just set the fastest lap."

Wu Shi: "?"

What the hell?! Hadn’t Hamilton pulled away in the clean air ahead?

Wait! Could it be?!

Only then did Wu Shi shift his attention to Hamilton, who was leading the pack. The gap was likely less than a second! Hamilton had absolutely lifted off the throttle on the Great Straight just now!

Naturally, he couldn’t hear the questioning and swearing currently flooding the internal Mercedes-Benz team radio, but he realized this was an opportunity. So, he aggressively blocked Rosberg through Turn 2, right after Turn 1, as they arrived at the next DRS detection line.

DRS detection passed. It was available to use!

He and Rosberg activated their DRS almost simultaneously. Because of this, he managed to reach Turn 3 over this short distance with only a marginal gap. At that moment, he looked ahead at Hamilton again and noticed that the other driver had quickly pulled away.

It seemed this was Hamilton’s final gift. If he let Wu Shi hitch a ride on his DRS any longer, he’d probably face an inquisition from his team.

The ensuing Turns 3 to 5 featured a right-left-right layout. The middle left-hander at Turn 4 was the longest, which undoubtedly afforded Rosberg more convenience.

"There’s no other way." Wu Shi’s breathing grew heavy. He knew that if he wanted to keep fighting Rosberg, he had to maintain the gap between them to under a second before they reached Turn 12.

Jonathan TR: "Tire degradation is very severe. We need to save the tires and secure third place."

"Yeah," Wu Shi replied, yet he stubbornly continued doing as he pleased, clinging dead close to Rosberg’s rear.

Play it safe? Settle for third?

That just wasn’t in his nature. Since he could fight for second, why on earth should he give up? If he could give up on second place this time, didn’t that mean next time he could give up on first, or even give up on the World Championship?!

He used his increasingly extreme driving style to tell the team that he still wanted second place.

Inside the Williams Pit Room, Claire’s smile had vanished, her expression turning cold, while Jonathan would occasionally glance back at the team principal.