Chapter 88 - 18: 2014 F3 Silverstone Station

Chapter 88: Chapter 18: 2014 F3 Silverstone Station

The 2014 F3 season finally kicked off at the Silverstone Circuit, with race days scheduled for April 18th, 19th, and 20th.

On Friday the 18th, four sessions would be held: the first and second free practice sessions, and the first and second qualifying sessions.

Unlike the Florida Winter Series that Rafa had participated in in America, the starting grid for the first main race would be determined by the first qualifying session, while the starting grids for the second and third main races were determined by the fastest and second-fastest lap times from the second qualifying session.

Compared to the global series after 2019, F3 at this time was still a regional competition. Less consideration was given to spectator entertainment, so it didn’t include more thrilling formats like sprint races or reverse-grid starts for the top ten.

Even so, a considerable number of spectators came to watch, not only because they enjoyed the more dramatic F3 races, but also because F3 was bundled with other racing events, and combination tickets were discounted.

A total of 11 teams and 26 drivers were participating in this Silverstone round.

The chassis was universally the Dallara F314, with three engine suppliers: Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and NBE from Japan.

Many familiar faces were registered to compete. Besides Verstappen, Antonio, Latifi, and O’connor, there were also old rivals from his karting days like Alexander and Giovinazzi.

At 9:00 AM, the first practice session began, set to last for thirty to forty minutes.

The teams back then were still relatively straightforward; they didn’t hide much during practice sessions.

After all, there were many rookies in F3 this season, and practice was for genuine testing and benchmarking. Even the second and third-year drivers who were familiar with the track had to post real times—losing to rookies would be embarrassing.

Shortly after Wu Shi took to the track, Alan was constantly on the TR, feeding him information about track conditions. This was necessary during a practice session, but also a bit excessive, as it could affect the driver’s focus.

Many drivers didn’t even have the attention to spare for the TR in the corners, waiting until the straights to ask their teams to repeat the message.

Because Wu Shi was highly familiar with the track, he could spare some attention to listen to the TR, but that was all. He wouldn’t expend energy replying, instead focusing on his practice and strengthening his feel for the car.

WHOOSH!!

The first few drivers on track set their lap times.

Alan came on the TR: "Jack Dennis from the Carlin Team just set the fastest lap, a 1:53.922."

Wu Shi’s TR: "Don’t report anyone slower than me."

The TR went silent. Car after car crossed the finish line, but their times were all average. Clearly, no one wanted to show their hand this early on.

Around the twenty-minute mark, a team entered the pits to switch to another set of used tires.

It was as if a switch had been flipped. The fastest lap time finally changed.

Gustavo Meneses, also from the Van Amersfoort Racing Team, shot across the finish line with a WHOOSH, setting a new fastest lap.

1:53.550.

Alan’s TR: "Gustavo set the fastest lap, but he’s on a new set of tires."

Wu Shi was just entering Turn 16. While maintaining his cornering speed, he pressed the TR button on his steering wheel and said, "COPY."

After that, drivers kept setting fastest laps, but they all hovered around the 1:53 mark. Then, with ten minutes remaining, Verstappen flew across the finish line like the wind.

1:52.396!

The fastest lap was suddenly a second quicker, breaking into the 1:52s. Now, the stronger teams like Prema Team, Carlin Team, and Jagonya Ayam with Carlin could no longer sit back and watch. They immediately instructed their drivers to go all out for a few laps.

VROOOM!

Two minutes later, Carlin Team’s Jordan King and Ed Jones posted times of 1:52.722 and 1:52.777 respectively, neither of which could beat Verstappen.

"Wow! Max’s pace remains in the lead. The two drivers from the Carlin Team tried to challenge him, but both came up short!" the commentator exclaimed.

"Max set his fastest lap on old tires, while his teammate Gustavo, using new tires, only managed a 1:53.550.

"Right now, we have no idea if Max is just that fast, or if the car provided by the Van Amersfoort Racing Team is simply uncompetitive!"

"Oh! Just as I said that, Max’s other teammate has given us an answer. Jules only managed a time of 1:53.762!"

"It seems Max is just incredibly fast!"

There was only one F3 commentator. His voice would roar at times and become gentle at others. When things got exciting, he would only describe the action on track; during lulls, he would calmly recount the drivers’ histories.

"The Van Amersfoort Racing Team has four drivers competing this year. One of them is a young prodigy from Hua Country. He’s won nearly every championship in the world of karting and is the undisputed champion of both the KF and KZ categories!"

"Like Max, he skipped the Renault Formula series and jumped straight to F3. But can he display the same dominance he had in his karting days? We’ll have to wait and see!"

Alan’s TR: "Wu, push for one lap. Let’s see what we’ve got."

The broadcast played the TR message. After hearing it, the commentator immediately raised his voice: "The team has given Wu the command to go for a flying lap! We’re about to see if this driver from Hua Country has the talent for open-wheel formula racing!"

VROOOM!

Wu Shi’s old tires were in very poor condition at this point. The team’s strategy for him in this first free practice session was to test the limits of the tires, so he had been steadily controlling the car without pushing for a fast lap.

He replied on the TR, "Roger that. My tires only have enough for this one lap, and I can’t push them to the absolute limit."

Alan replied, "Understood. The practice session is almost over. After your push lap, return directly to the pits."

And so, Wu Shi focused his concentration completely. He had an extremely high degree of feel for this car, having already driven it for nearly two hundred laps.

VROOSH!

Just like in his karting days, when he started pushing for a fast lap, it meant pushing to the limit, and then beyond. This time, however, he had to manage his tires. He had to hold back in many places, or he’d completely lose grip and spin out on the track.

"Oh! Wu’s driving is incredibly smooth! You can see that even behind the wheel of an F3 car, his technique is remarkably polished. His mastery of every corner is frighteningly good!"

The commentator, getting more and more excited, continued to describe the situation with Wu Shi’s car.

"The time for the first sector is in! He’s set a personal best, and he’s on par with Max! Now we can be sure that the Van Amersfoort car’s performance is decent, but it seems hard to extract that performance!"

"Oh! In the meantime, Antonio Focca from Prema Team has set a new fastest lap, a 1:52.323! That’s 0.073 seconds faster than Max!"

Just as Antonio crossed the finish line, O’connor followed right behind him!

"O’connor, also with Prema Team, is incredibly strong as well! He’s only fifty-one thousandths of a second slower than his teammate! And twenty-two thousandths faster than Max!"

"It looks like the Prema Team’s car is still ahead this year. But Antonio and O’connor are both very experienced drivers with many victories under their belts. With them behind the wheel of that car, they’re going to be extremely competitive!"

As the commentator spoke, Wu Shi was already navigating the final few corners. ’I’m running slow. Can’t be helped, the tires are gone. There were a few times I lost grip, which forced me to brake earlier and get on the throttle later. I must have lost a lot of time.’

VROOOM!

"Wu is about to cross the line! Let’s see what his final time is!"

"Whoa! 1:52.400! That’s four-thousandths of a second slower than his teammate Max! But that pace is still faster than Latifi, who’s also with Prema Team!"

"We also have to note that Wu’s tires were in very bad shape. For him to get that time under these conditions, I’m really looking forward to his performance in the next practice session!"

After that exclamation, the commentator glanced at the clock. Seeing that time was almost up, he summarized the practice session and said:

"We’ll now have a ten-minute break. At 9:45, we’ll begin the second free practice session!"