Chapter 197: Contending for Second Place
Wu Shi looked at the surprise on Jonathan's face and quickly realized what the problem was.
What would controllable, near-perfect stability bring to the team?
Reduced car damage was only the most insignificant benefit.
The real value lay in strategy.
"It seems you've realized it too," Jonathan said. "You should've told us earlier that you could drive like this."
"Sorry. I honestly didn't think of it myself at first."
"Alright. In the practice sessions, I'll need two sets of data from you. One normal set, like Massa's. And another where you drive in that… ultra-stable state."
"Then Rodrigo and I will analyze whether we can use that stability to launch some strategic counterattacks," Jonathan added, growing visibly excited.
"Can we simulate the last race first?" Wu Shi asked.
"Of course."
Jonathan pulled over a laptop, entered several parameters, then linked it to the computing cluster.
Multiple strategy models quickly appeared on the screen.
The optimal plan was still soft–soft–medium, but a one-stop strategy was not much slower.
"I think this still has too much margin of error," Wu Shi said helplessly. "Medium tyres can't possibly last thirty-six laps, even for me."
"That's where your feedback comes in."
Jonathan adjusted the degradation coefficients.
"Actually, we can extend each stint a little. In the final stage, you might even have a chance to attack Rosberg assuming there's no safety car."
He modified the strategy again.
Wu Shi studied the results.
The first stint, using qualifying tyres, still required a pit stop around lap fifteen.
But the second set of soft tyres could last until lap thirty-five.
Rosberg, by contrast, was projected to pit on lap thirty-one.
That meant Wu Shi's medium tyres would be four laps fresher, theoretically enough to mount an attack just like Kimi attacking Vettel earlier.
The simulation looked promising.
But reality was always more complicated.
This was hindsight. They dared to model this only because they already knew Vettel didn't have late-race pace.
If Vettel had been faster, such a pit strategy could easily have left Wu Shi exposed from behind.
The risks were real.
But F1 was an extreme sport.
No strategy was possible without risk.
---
Before the Bahrain Grand Prix, the FIA convened a small meeting with the teams.
As an official Williams race driver, Wu Shi was invited.
With F1's operating costs still painfully high, only Mercedes and Ferrari could afford to ignore financial pressure.
Most other teams were losing money every season.
That was disastrous for the long-term health of the sport.
If everyone kept bleeding cash, who would still be racing in five years?
So the FIA kept searching for ways to cut costs and improve competitive balance.
The budget cap proposal resurfaced again.
In theory, it could restrain big teams from unlimited development and prevent them from dragging smaller teams into financial ruin.
It would also limit the creation of "alien cars," giving midfield teams a chance to compete.
But every year, the proposal met massive resistance and went nowhere.
After endless compromise, the FIA's so-called "cost control" for 2015 boiled down to cutting the number of engines per season.
Which immediately created new problems.
Each team was now limited to four engines.
That saved money at least on paper.
But with Renault and Honda reliability this season, surviving on only four engines seemed almost impossible.
Manufacturers argued that fewer engines meant more patching and higher failure risks.
Some teams demanded an increase.
Others, like Sauber and Force India, feared that more engines would simply mean higher payments to suppliers.
The meeting was only a warning shot before formal negotiations scheduled for May 14th.
Afterward, Wu Shi asked Jonathan, "What does the team think?"
"Mercedes focused heavily on reliability this year," Jonathan replied.
Wu Shi nodded. That explained why Williams wasn't eager for rule changes.
"Bahrain will be hot, like Malaysia," Jonathan continued, "but it's a night race. That means opportunity—and risk."
Wu Shi immediately thought of Sepang.
Mercedes had lost there because of tire misjudgment and internal rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg.
Their greatest weakness might be the lack of a clear number-one driver.
So on track, Hamilton and Rosberg often pitted at the same time or just one lap apart—to avoid giving either an advantage.
That was what happened when teammates were evenly matched.
When Hamilton raced with Bottas, nobody questioned team hierarchy.
If Bottas had real title-contending speed, Mercedes would not have been so peaceful.
Every team worked this way.
"Our tyre wear still isn't better than Mercedes," Wu Shi reminded him.
"I know," Jonathan said. "But you can make it look better. That gives us a small opening."
The real problem was that Williams only had one driver capable of attacking Mercedes and Ferrari.
Massa couldn't keep up.
Which meant Wu Shi usually had to face four top cars alone.
"Let's see how practice goes first," Jonathan said.
---
Friday, 2 p.m. First Practice Session.
Pirelli brought soft (yellow) and medium (white) tyres.
Only five days had passed since the last race.
Apart from setup tweaks, no team had meaningful upgrades.
Everyone compared data, searching for hidden advantages.
Most teams started on medium tyres to study track characteristics.
But because the Bahrain race was at night, and the day-night temperature difference was huge, this scorching afternoon session was not very representative.
Wu Shi's tasks were different from Massa's.
He focused on setup sensitivity and performance limits.
Massa ran longer stints to collect tire degradation data.
Mercedes stayed completely quiet.
Both drivers ran over twenty laps but sat around fifteenth and sixteenth on the timesheets.
Ferrari, however, went all-out and topped the session more than a second faster than Mercedes.
But with track temperatures near 50°C, most teams avoided pushing hard.
The data would be useless for the cooler night race.
When the session ended, Wu Shi jumped out of the car and unzipped his suit.
It was unbearably hot.
Massa wasn't much better.
After cooling down, they reviewed data.
"Ferrari's definitely still obsessed with Sepang," Massa said, stroking his chin.
"They're great in heat, but it'll cool down a lot tonight," Wu Shi replied.
"It will," Massa nodded. "And thank God for that. My old bones can't take this kind of torture."
At 6 p.m., the Second Practice Session began.
Now everyone switched to soft tyres and pushed hard.
Track temperature dropped to around 25°C.
Real performance finally emerged.
Massa completed 36 laps, testing both compounds extensively.
His fastest soft-tyre lap was 1:35.884 tenth place.
Wu Shi dipped into the 1:34s, finishing second.
Clearly, nobody had shown real speed in FP1.
Rodrigo updated all predictions.
"Mercedes' average race pace may be about three-tenths faster than our earlier model," he said.
"And that's still not their full potential."
"Ferrari is slightly behind, but still extremely strong."
He looked at Wu Shi.
"With your pace, you can stay with the lead group. A podium is realistic."
Wu Shi studied the report.
"Hamilton's qualifying lap could be faster than your estimate," he said.
"Oh?" Rodrigo raised an eyebrow.
"Rosberg left time in several mini-sectors. Stitching his data together underestimates Hamilton."
Rodrigo was surprised.
Most rookies never noticed details like that.
"So what are you suggesting?"
"In qualifying, we're fighting for third or fourth again."
"No," Rodrigo corrected him. "If you're right, you're fighting Rosberg for second."
Wu Shi froze for a moment.
Rosberg's driving looked clean.
Which meant his current projection might already be near his limit.
But Hamilton… was another matter entirely.
"If it's high 1:32s, I'll go for it," Wu Shi said firmly.
But race strategy was even more complicated.
Williams still lacked cornering speed and overall tyre management compared to Mercedes.
Coincidentally, those were exactly the areas Wu Shi could compensate for.
With cooler temperatures, Williams' competitiveness improved.
Still, the gap remained.
If Rosberg truly lacked pace, Ferrari would inevitably enter the fight.
Vettel was in his prime.
And Kimi, though aging, was still more than capable of striking when given the chance.
Thinking about battling three champions in the main race, Wu Shi felt both excitement and pressure.
He only hoped the fight wouldn't turn into complete chaos.
Because in chaos, even the strongest plan could collapse in an instant.