Chapter 95 - 25: First Victory

Chapter 95: Chapter 25: First Victory

Soon, on the sixth lap after the safety car restart, Wu Shi, facing almost no resistance, clocked the fastest lap at 1:52.232, nearly a full second faster than Blomqvist behind him.

Alan (via team radio): "You have a two-second lead on Blomqvist. Manage your tires and engine."

Wu Shi (via team radio): "Copy."

He glanced in his rearview mirror at Blomqvist’s yellow car. It looked to be about two or three car lengths behind him, which was undoubtedly a very safe distance.

However, he didn’t get complacent. He kept cruising at a pace of around 1:53 per lap while asking Alan to keep him updated on Blomqvist.

The race was eighteen laps in total. After the initial battles and the restart, the leading positions had stabilized, leaving little drama at the front.

The commentators’ focus naturally shifted from Wu Shi, who had pulled away by a large margin, and turned to the drivers further down the pack.

Although Blomqvist couldn’t catch Wu Shi, he was maintaining a gap of about 0.4 seconds to O’connor.

But O’connor was under heavy pressure from King and didn’t dare attack Blomqvist, so Blomqvist was gradually pulling away.

Further back, Antonio Focca, followed by Oil and Latifi, had formed a three-car train. Félix, who had collided with Max, was holding on to eighth place, which was no small feat.

After briefly running down the on-track situation, the commentator realized the race order was likely to remain unchanged until the end and began to discuss other topics.

"Wu, who’s in the lead, has a brilliant record in karting. As I’ve said before, this is his first year in F3, and it’s clear his talent in open-wheel formulas is just as exceptional.

"According to Wu Shi himself, if he can rack up twenty-one wins this year, he’ll secure an F1 seat for next year. That still seems incredibly audacious to me, but judging by his performance today, it might not be impossible after all.

"You see, in the world of karting, President Wu could always secure a victory. He’s won at almost every level of the European and World Karting Championships.

"To date, he is the only karting driver to have won world championships in both the KF and KZ categories."

The commentator paused as the camera cut to the yellow car in second place. He then continued speaking:

"Tom Blomqvist, in second place, is also an exceptional driver. Born in 1993, he’s been competing in F3 since 2010, making him a seasoned veteran.

"He joined the Red Bull Junior Team in 2012, racing for the EuroInternational Team in several competitions.

"In last year’s European Formula 3 Championship, he single-handedly carried the EuroInternational Team to fifth place in the standings."

After discussing the second-place driver, he moved on to O’connor, King, and the others. When he got to the final driver on his list, he paused for a moment before speaking:

"It’s worth noting that Tatiana Calderon is competing again this year, though she’s switched from the Signature Team to Jo Zeller Racing. This move was on the advice of Anthony Hamilton, father of F1 driver Hamilton."

The commentator paused because Tatiana Calderon was the only female driver on the track.

Female drivers who make it to this level have often had to overcome far more obstacles than their male counterparts.

Last year, she also competed in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and the United Kingdom Formula Three International Series.

She also became the first woman to reach the podium in the history of the United Kingdom Formula Three International Series.

While the driving difficulty of F3 doesn’t compare to F1, anyone who can achieve success at this level is truly the cream of the crop.

By the time the commentator had finished discussing the twenty-two drivers still in the race (two had retired), there were only five laps to go. The positions of the front-runners hadn’t changed since the safety car restart.

There was some fighting among the drivers further back, but it usually ended with one driver making a major mistake and being overtaken instantly. Proper wheel-to-wheel battles had yet to be seen.

Once he was in cruise mode, Wu Shi controlled his pace, carefully maintaining a two-second gap to Blomqvist.

For the first few laps, Blomqvist tried to close in. He’d push hard and gain three-tenths of a second in one sector, only for Wu Shi to pull away again in the next.

Eventually, he gave up.

Thirty-six minutes into the race, Wu Shi was already navigating the final corners of the last lap.

Another twenty-odd seconds later, as he rounded Turn 18, he could already see the waving checkered flag.

He crossed the finish line under the checkered flag, looking almost relaxed.

"Wu crosses the line first! He takes the win! Second place is Blomqvist! Third is O’connor! Fourth is King..."

The commentator spoke rapidly, needing to announce each driver as they crossed the finish line.

As Wu Shi crossed the finish line, a section of the stands erupted in cheers, loud enough to draw the attention of the cameras.

Wu Shi slowed down, oblivious to the commotion in the stands. He flipped open his visor, letting the air rush in to cool him down.

"Great job! That’s one of twenty-one done!" came from Alan’s TR.

"Yes!" Wu Shi replied, his voice a little louder.

’Although this race didn’t involve any intense battles, just a simple pole-to-win, it was still my first-ever F3 victory. And that’s pretty damn good, isn’t it?’

After a cool-down lap, the cars were driven back to their designated positions in the pits. Next up was the weigh-in.

When Wu Shi climbed out of the car, the team members were cheering from behind the barrier. He didn’t really like rushing over to hug people, because he always felt like he was just headbutting them with his helmet.

But tradition dictated it, so he launched his headbutt attack anyway and hugged Alan and a few of the others.

After the weigh-in, a reporter immediately came over for an interview.

"Hey, Wu, congratulations on your first race win. This is your debut victory in F3. How does it feel?"

"It feels fantastic, but as we all know, this is just the beginning. I’m still a long way from my goal."

"Oh? Are you talking about the twenty-one wins?"

"Yes."

"Wow, excellent. We’ll be keeping a tally along with you. We hope you reach your goal. You’re on pole for the races this afternoon and tomorrow as well. Are you planning to keep the pole-to-win streak going?"

"Uh, I think it’s possible. The car felt great today, so I don’t see any major problems."

"Excellent. Well, congratulations again on winning the first race and taking the victory!"

"Thank you."

After the interview, Wu Shi walked to the back of the paddock and saw Verstappen standing there in a team T-shirt.

"You’re not hurt, are you?" he asked.

"No, it was just a small collision. I wasted an opportunity." Verstappen sounded a little disappointed, but not dejected.

Wu Shi knew that Verstappen didn’t need comfort from anyone but his father, so he didn’t dwell on the race. Instead, he asked, "So, what’s for lunch?"

"Oh, the food in the United Kingdom is pretty mediocre," Verstappen shrugged. "It’s a tragic situation, really."