Chapter 144: Four Seconds to Go
"No, you've done very well. Now let's move on to the long-run test," Toto said over the radio.
"Copy."
The Silver Arrow crossed the timing line and continued without stopping for cooling fans. At a lap time of around one minute fifty-one, there was no risk of overheating the power unit or brake systems.
After the out-lap, Wu Shi began to understand the car's behavior through the corners.
The W05 was exceptionally stable on turn-in, giving the driver a strong sense of confidence. That stability, however, came with a hidden trap: it encouraged the driver to carry too much speed into the corner. When that happened, the driver would be forced to make mid-corner corrections with the throttle, brakes, or steering.
So in Wu Shi's view, the mistakes he had made were not the car's fault — they were his.
If a driver could fully adapt to this car and complete every corner cleanly in a single motion, the resulting pace would be terrifying.
Unfortunately, Wu Shi didn't have the luxury of time.
Right now, he not only had to follow the team's run plan — collecting long-run data on soft-compound tyre performance and degradation curves — but also had to memorize every detail of the circuit's cornering characteristics.
Over the next two laps, his pace gradually improved.
On his third flying lap, the timing screens lit up:
1:51.011
He was on the verge of breaking into the 1:50s.
As he started his fourth lap, the radio crackled again.
"Tony," Wu Shi said calmly, "I'd like to try adjusting some car settings myself."
Tony instinctively wanted to shut it down.
From an engineer's perspective, setup changes should always be backed by data. A rookie — especially one on his first proper F1 outing — had no business experimenting on his own.
Who does he think he is?
He's barely had seat time in this car.
But before Tony could respond, Toto cut in.
"I'll give you three laps," Toto said over the radio. "Try your ideas."
The garage stirred immediately.
Everyone understood what that meant. Toto Wolff did not hand out trust lightly — and he certainly wouldn't allow an inexperienced driver to adjust the car freely unless he truly believed in him. At the very least, he would normally add: Bring the car back safely.
This time, he didn't.
Wu Shi felt a wave of gratitude — and pressure — wash over him. For a rookie to be allowed to manage in-car setup adjustments during a run was a clear sign of the team's confidence.
At the same time, it raised the stakes. He would now be relying on instinct alone. On a street circuit, that margin for error was razor thin.
From that moment on, Tony spoke far less.
---
To extract maximum performance from an F1 car, certain parameters must be adjusted depending on corner type. Among them, two are especially critical.
The first was brake bias — the distribution of braking force between the front and rear axles.
Adjusting brake bias changes how weight transfers under braking. By shifting bias forward or rearward, a driver can trade outright braking performance for stability and corner entry grip.
For Wu Shi, front-end grip was paramount. He needed the front tyres to bite cleanly so he could place the car precisely on entry.
The second parameter was differential settings, which were significantly more complex.
When a car turns, the inside wheels travel a shorter distance than the outside wheels. If both wheels were forced to rotate at the same speed, one would inevitably slip.
The differential solves this by allowing the wheels to rotate at different speeds.
But that creates another problem: if one wheel loses grip, power flows to the wheel with the least resistance — the one already slipping — leaving the wheel with grip starved of torque.
To counter this, differentials use locking mechanisms.
In road cars and off-road vehicles, this may involve a full locking differential. In Formula 1, however, a limited-slip differential is used.
By adjusting the locking percentage, engineers can tune how much torque is transferred across the axle under different conditions — corner entry, mid-corner, and corner exit.
In modern F1 cars, this is all controlled by a pre-programmed electro-hydraulic system.
The driver doesn't directly "lock" the differential. Instead, the rotary switches on the steering wheel adjust the response thresholds of the differential maps, changing how aggressively the system reacts to grip differences.
Learning how to manage these settings is one of the key tasks for drivers during practice sessions.
Wu Shi had already identified several low-grip sections of the circuit in the earlier laps. Now, he began fine-tuning the differential settings corner by corner.
---
From the onboard T-camera, the broadcast clearly captured what was happening.
As the No. 6 Mercedes tore through the circuit, Wu Shi was constantly reaching for the rotary dials on the steering wheel. Sometimes, immediately after turn-in, he would steady the wheel with one hand and adjust multiple settings with the other.
The television director immediately isolated his onboard feed.
The commentary booths erupted.
"Is this really his first time in a Formula One car?" one commentator exclaimed. "Leaving aside adjusting settings mid-corner — he's taking one hand off the wheel!"
Many veteran drivers only make adjustments on the straights. In high-speed corners, both hands usually stay locked on the wheel.
At these speeds, even a millimeter of steering input could dramatically change the car's trajectory. F1 cars also have an extremely quick steering ratio.
Wu Shi's actions implied something extraordinary: his corner entry accuracy was so precise that he didn't need to make further corrections. He was relying on the self-aligning torque of the front tyres to stabilize the car.
"That might be a habit he picked up from F3," Fei said.
"That's not a good habit in Formula One," the other commentator replied, shaking his head. "The margins are too fine."
As they spoke, Wu Shi crossed the line at the end of the lap.
1:50.366
It was the most exhausting lap he had driven all day. His arms felt heavy, as if filled with molten lead.
"1:50.366," Tony reported over the radio. "That's another improvement. But I need to remind you — this kind of driving demands extreme concentration and physical effort."
"Understood," Wu Shi replied. "I'm just testing. I'll find a stable baseline soon."
He knew this approach wasn't sustainable. When driving slowly, adjustments are constant. When driving fast, the car should require fewer corrections.
That was the difference between searching for performance and operating at the limit.
---
On the fifth lap, the adjustments dropped sharply. Wu Shi had begun to synchronize with the W05.
That was when Fernando Alonso's voice suddenly came over the radio.
"Hey," Alonso said dryly, "this is free practice, not qualifying."
Other drivers shared the sentiment. Teams like Caterham, Sauber, and Lotus were left speechless.
After several laps, most teams had already formed a rough picture of the day's competitive lap times.
Kamui Kobayashi, driving for Caterham, couldn't help but vent.
"What does he think he's doing?" Kobayashi complained. "Fastest car in the paddock, pushing like this in practice. Ridiculous."
Wu Shi ignored the chatter.
By lap ten, the timing screens showed:
1:49.201
That was enough.
Other teams immediately began preparing to bring their cars in for supersoft tyre runs.
"Ten laps, and he's getting quicker every time," the commentator said. "Could Wu Shi really be pulling off something incredible?"
"He's simply adapting," Fei replied. "And that adaptability alone is frightening."
"But can he really do it?" the other commentator asked.
"What was third place here last year?"
After checking the records, he answered himself.
"Grosjean — 1:43.058, in a Lotus."
"Six seconds off," Fei said.
"You can't compare it directly," the commentator countered. "This year's cars are slower."
"What about Monaco?" Fei suggested.
The numbers came up quickly.
"Pole in 2013: 1:13.876.
Pole in 2014: 1:15.989.
Third place in 2014: 1:16.384."
"About two seconds slower," Fei concluded.
"Which means Singapore this year should be around 1:45," the commentator said slowly.
He paused — then his eyes widened.
"That still looks impossible… wait."
"He hasn't used supersofts yet, has he?!"