Chapter 90 - 20: I Will Get an F1 Seat

Chapter 90: Chapter 20: I Will Get an F1 Seat

The practice session ended amidst the commentators’ impassioned praises for Wu Shi. Once the drivers returned to the pit lane, credentialed reporters swarmed in.

Most of them had their sights set on Wu Shi, rushing toward him in a massive drove. At that moment, Wu Shi was still talking with Verstappen. They were exchanging some telemetry data.

"Hey! Wu, hello! We’re old friends by now!" a reporter from Italy spoke up first.

Recognizing the familiar middle-aged man, Wu Shi smiled in response. "Yes, it’s great to see you here. I thought you’d stay in Italy to continue interviewing young karting drivers."

"Haha, that was my original plan! But when I saw you entering F3, I decided I absolutely had to keep interviewing you! I told my chief editor that if I couldn’t come cover you anymore, there would be no point to my job as a reporter."

Wu Shi raised an eyebrow and looked at him in surprise, thinking that it surely wasn’t that serious.

"Let’s not waste any time," the reporter said. "First, do you have anything to say about skipping Renault Formula and participating directly in F3?"

"Oh, I think that’s a very simple question. When your abilities are strong enough, there’s no need to stay in lower-level series just to accumulate so-called experience. That kind of experience won’t help you grow better or faster. I think Max shares my view." Wu Shi looked over at Verstappen.

Verstappen nodded. "That’s exactly right. Renault Formula isn’t much harder than karting. I don’t find any joy in competing against anyone other than Wu."

"Wow! It seems both rookies are quite confident," the reporter continued. "So, Wu, what level do you think your abilities have reached? Can you win every championship title like you did in your karting days?"

"I hope I can achieve that, but you know how it is. Even if the best F1 driver came to an F3 circuit, they couldn’t win every single title. We encounter countless accidents and surprises in racing, and they can’t always be overcome by sheer human effort," Wu Shi replied.

"What about the first part of my question? How do you assess your own skill level?" the reporter pressed.

"I suppose I’ll try to win as many race stages as possible. I need to get at least twenty-one," Wu Shi stated.

The reporter was visibly puzzled and immediately asked, "Could you explain why exactly twenty-one victories? Even though that isn’t a total clean sweep, no one in history has ever achieved such a feat. Should I assume you have a special fondness for the number twenty-one and set this goal because of it?"

Wu Shi shook his head and calmly said, "Well, it’s because I have a contract. If I win twenty-one races, I’ll secure an F1 seat."

As soon as those words fell, you could hear a pin drop in the surrounding area. Even Verstappen looked at Wu Shi in sheer shock. Clearly, this was not news that everyone could digest all at once.

Wu Shi had only just started racing in F3. Did an F1 team really have their eyes on him already? Wouldn’t this make him just like Raikkonen—skipping several intermediate tiers and ascending directly to F1?

The silence was almost terrifying. Wu Shi knew he had achieved his desired effect.

In truth, ever since signing the contract with Rafa, Sid had been debating whether or not to make it public. After all, there was no non-disclosure clause, but he was still concerned about Rafa’s attitude toward the matter. Initially, Montezemolo hadn’t given a clear answer, so Sid had scrapped the idea of using the contract to build hype and attract more sponsors for Wu Shi. However, right before the competition started, Montezemolo stated that since the contract had no restrictions, it was entirely up to them to decide.

Wu Shi and Sid discussed it and figured that since the F3 races were about to begin, they might as well find a good interview opportunity to leak the news. Right now felt like an adequate time, so he simply blurted it out.

However, he couldn’t be too explicit. He needed to leave enough room for speculation to maintain sustained buzz. Therefore, he kept Rafa’s name out of it, aiming to drum up popularity first. Building hype and marketing oneself were crucial elements in the racing world. Wasn’t that exactly how Russell, who was currently still racing in F4, would eventually secure a seat with Mercedes-Benz through his formidable self-promotion skills?

After a full five seconds, the reporter tried to speak several times, stuttering incoherently, "Oh, okay, I... yes... ah, I think this information is a bit too explosive. Um, could you give us some more detailed information?"

"If I did that, I might as well just show you the contract," Wu Shi rejected the request with a smile.

With this bombshell dropped, the reporters had no desire to ask any further questions. They couldn’t wait to rush back and draft their press releases.

Once Verstappen finished his own interviews, he walked over. "Did you really get a contract like that?"

"Of course." Wu Shi nodded.

"Makes sense. With your talent, reaching F1 is your ultimate destiny anyway. Whether it happens sooner or later doesn’t make much of a difference." Verstappen nodded, taking it as a matter of course.

Soon after, the drivers who knew Wu Shi flocked over to gossip about the rapidly spreading news. Amidst the chatter, they harbored extreme envy toward the whole affair! Everyone racing in F3 dreamt of making it to F1, but they all still had a very long road ahead of them. GP3, GP2, F2—every single series was a massive hurdle. Countless bumps and hardships lay in wait. Every step up the ladder would filter out a portion of drivers, leaving very few who could actually make it to F2 in the end.

Of course, compared to the shock of his peers, the crew members of the Van Amersfoort Racing Team were in even greater disbelief.

Alan approached Wu Shi to verify the matter. Upon receiving a positive confirmation, he said, "We’re under a lot of pressure now."

Wu Shi was slightly taken aback. "Don’t put too much pressure on yourselves. Just prepare for the races normally. You have to believe in me, and in return, I will believe in you."

Hearing this, Alan gave a firm nod. "We’ll give it our all!"

The morning practice session concluded. F3 events typically didn’t draw high viewership, and even fewer people cared about practice runs. However, the moment Wu Shi’s interview was broadcast, the entire formula racing circle exploded. This year’s F1 season had only just begun, yet news of next year’s seats was already leaking out. This instantly captured a lot of attention.

Some people completely dug up all of Wu Shi’s background information. His absurdly heaven-defying karting win rate immediately dominated the headlines of the racing columns. At the same time, many domestic racing enthusiasts reposted the news onto internet platforms like Big Eye Sports Media and various forums, directly skyrocketing Wu Shi’s popularity back home.

Zhi Shiwei sat at her desk. Over the past six years, she had worked her way up from a rookie to a deputy chief editor, primarily in charge of scheduling and arranging coverage for motorsport events.

"Wu Shi..."

As she reviewed the topics submitted by the reporters, that long-lost name sent a tremor through her. She immediately stood up, took the report to the chief editor’s office, and handed it over, saying:

"Wu Shi was a genius race car driver we had contact with when our racing section was just starting to develop. Now, he’s achieved something truly extraordinary over in Europe.

"I think we need to seize this opportunity!"

The chief editor adjusted his glasses. After reading the report, he looked up and said, "I have some impression of him. Didn’t we also give him a sponsorship back then?"

"Yes," Zhi Shiwei nodded.

The chief editor looked back down at the report for a few seconds before independently typing on his computer to run a search. It wasn’t until fifteen minutes later that he slowly spoke up.

"Hmm, looking at this, you’ll need to bring the business team along to meet this driver. I will suggest to the higher-ups that over this year and the next, we could provide sponsorships in the millions, or even tens of millions."

"What?" Zhi Shiwei was utterly shocked. Was he joking?!

The chief editor did not reply. A ten million RMB sponsorship was indeed a massive sum, but what if it was in exchange for a ten percent return on the driver’s future income? He knew quite a bit about F1. Those top-tier drivers had incredibly high annual salaries. Based on his recent assessment, if Wu Shi was truly as phenomenal as the foreign media reported, then he definitely had the potential to become a top-tier driver.

Moreover, if Big Eye Sports Media sponsored the very first Hua Country driver, it would yield extraordinary returns in both reputation and profit. This was a matter that required discussion among the upper management.