F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 349 No one is hurt

All cars remained in the pit lane, and the race was completely suspended.

The horrific accident cast a shadow over everyone present.

During the break in the race, Mercedes' mechanics went to the No. 44 Mercedes to replace the front wing and repair the left front suspension that had been damaged in the collision.

"Does Hamilton still want to continue the competition?" the soldier asked angrily.

But as a TV host, he couldn't say anything too outrageous, so he could only express himself in this subtle way.

Haoran clearly didn't have many concerns; he said directly:
"It would be unreasonable not to give Hamilton a black flag for his actions; the accident was entirely his fault!"

"Wait a minute, we need to watch the replay." The soldier immediately spoke up, signaling Haoran to stop talking.

Normally, it's perfectly fine to just say a few random things, but in this complicated situation, it's important to stay calm.

The F1 broadcast will release all the replay angles that have been compiled.

First, there's the helicopter's overhead view. From the start, you can see that Hamilton had a really good start.

However, the two people in front of him completely blocked his way, and this situation did not change until turn 9.

Wu Shi cut into the apex from the inside and rushed out towards the outside, with Verstappen blocking his way.

Based on the original situation, the two were about to put on another show of squeezing onto the shoulder to fight for position.

However, an accident occurred at the slowest point in the corner, where Hamilton rear-ended Wu Shi.

From the overhead view, it was unclear why Hamilton caused the rear-end collision; it all seemed very strange.

"Hamilton's speed is absolutely insufficient for normal cornering; he's too fast, and this is only the first lap of the race! This is a heavy fuel load, not yesterday's situation!"

Haoran, with his greater professional knowledge, quickly began to criticize Hamilton's behavior:

"He started on medium tires today, and they were even old medium tires. The grip wasn't as good as yesterday's soft tires. How dare he drive like that!"

Neither the soldier nor the flying soldier said anything.

Next is Wu Shi's perspective.

As you can see, he was in the lead at Turn 9, with a clear path ahead. Once he accelerated past the apex of the corner, he could take full advantage of the Mercedes' traction to pull away from Verstappen and hold onto his position.

This shows that there was nothing wrong with his behavior; he was simply driving defensively.

But just as we reached the bend, the view suddenly jolted, the camera panned to the right and then froze for a moment, followed by a tumbling scene.

The camera freezes on the final moments of the crash as the race car falls and hits the ground.

Clearly, the T-shaped frame was damaged at this point.

From Verstappen's perspective, although he was squeezed to the outside, he still had control of the vehicle.

He entered the corner very quickly, but as he went deeper into the corner, his speed was forced to slow down. It was foreseeable that he would be left behind by Wu Shi when he exited the corner.

The distance between him and Wu Shi was only about ten or twenty centimeters, meaning the two were very close.

Just as he slowed down, the Mercedes No. 59, whose rear wheel had jumped up, slammed into him with its tail due to the lateral G-force, hitting him just behind the right front wheel.

If it weren't for Halo's intervention, Wu Shi's race car would probably have grazed the cockpit!

After the collision and loss of control, the view from the Verstappen's driver's perspective became chaotic. After spinning rapidly, it crashed into the wall, and the chaos came to an abrupt end. All that remained in the view was a large amount of drifting dust and torn advertising paper swaying on the tire wall.

The third playback is from Hamilton's first-person perspective.

He followed Wu Shi's car closely, getting closer and closer in the bend, seemingly able to overtake Verstappen, who would definitely be squeezed onto the shoulder, when exiting the bend.

But at that very moment, his front wing, which was showing signs of lifting up, suddenly crashed into the rear of Wu Shi's car, lifting up its rear wheel.

Then the footage shows both cars, 33 and 59, being thrown off the track at top speed, with Hamilton's front wing breaking off and being caught under his own wheels.

F1 replayed Hamilton's perspective footage once again.
"His front left wheel also collided with Verstappen's rear wheel!" Haoran pointed out.

"What is Hamilton thinking about here? Is he going to accelerate and change lanes to the right to overtake both of them?"
"If he was going to do that, he should have slowed down first! At that speed, he has severe understeer and it's impossible for him to turn the car!"

"That's what the soldier said."

Nobody knows what Hamilton was thinking at the time.

Finally, Leclerc's perspective was brought up.

In fact, this scene is just to give everyone a different perspective on the situation at the time, and it doesn't provide any more detailed information than Hamilton's first-person perspective.

After all the perspectives were replayed, the camera returned to the scene.

"Is there any news about Wu Shi yet?" the soldier asked.

"I don't see any official announcement from the scene yet, but some people say the medical helicopter went directly to Neweton Hospital. We'll have to wait and see what the specifics are," Haoran said.

The Grand Prix was interrupted for a full hour, and by the time Massey was ready to resume the race, both Mercedes garage doors were closed.

"Hamilton has withdrawn from the race," Haoran said.

"Is the car broken down?"

"An hour should be enough to fix it. I heard it was due to some other reason," Haoran replied.

"I think Hamilton was also in a bad mood when he returned to the pit lane," the soldier said.

"Hmm, such a big accident." Fei didn't say anything more.

This time, Masi again adopted a static start, just like in Baku, unifying the process for restarting the race.

At this point, Leclerc was in the lead, followed by Norris, Riccardo, Vettel, Alonso, Sainz, and Kimi.

The second departure was at 5 p.m. sharp.

Leclerc, Norris, and Ricciardo had a good start and maintained a stable position relative to each other.

Alonso chased Vettel, who spun in the corner but managed to get back on track after recovering in the run-off area, though he fell to the back of the pack.

Leclerc used the time it took to lap the ball to successfully shake off Norris.

Norris also successfully shook off Ricardo.

Sainz got past Alonso, and Storl got past Kimi; they were now preparing to take down the leader.

Judging from the track conditions, Ferrari has become the fastest in the paddock after Mercedes' retirement and Verstappen's departure.

Sainz surged forward and overtook Leclerc, maintaining his position. However, the excessive wear and tear on his tires forced him to pit early, reclaiming his position.

Finally, Leclerc crossed the finish line first on lap 52, bringing Ferrari their first Grand Prix win since the 2019 Italia Grand Prix.

Norris defended second place, and the young British lad also attracted a lot of attention from fans.

Ricardo blocked Sainz's attack and went up to the podium with his teammates.

Sainz is fourth, Alonso is fifth, Storr is sixth, Ocon is seventh, and Kakuta is eighth.

On the awards stage, Leclerc's expression was very conflicted, because while victory should be a cause for celebration, Wu Shi's situation worried him.

After the three award winners came to the stage, the host did not begin the next step of the program, but instead said:

"Before the award ceremony, let me share some good news with you all: Wu Shi is now conscious and out of danger!"

As soon as the host finished speaking, cheers and applause erupted from the audience.

The three people on stage also joined in the applause.

Next, the awards ceremony continued, and everyone's worries finally subsided.

Haoran also translated it for the viewers watching the live stream: "It has been confirmed that Wu Shi has regained consciousness and is currently out of danger."

"Great!" Soldier Brother and Fei Brother both clapped.

"It's good that you're alright, but I don't know how serious your injuries are." The soldier was still worried.

“Modern F1 is already very safe, and I don’t think it will have a big impact if the person regains consciousness,” Haoran said.

The way Wu Shi was thrown out was truly terrifying!

At Silverstone, Leclerc was finally able to smile during his interview, saying:
"It was terrifying. I watched him fly out, and I was completely lost in thinking about what had happened."

"Later the team told me he had no voice, and I really didn't know how to accept what might have happened."

"Fortunately, that didn't happen."

Alonso lowered his head and pondered for a moment in front of the camera before speaking:

"He's a very talented young man, and we're very close. When I learned about the situation, all I could do was pray that everything would be alright. Fortunately, I received good news after the competition."

The reporter nodded, but didn't say anything like "double happiness," since the team leader had brought back quite a few points from this match, but it was obviously not appropriate to make a comparison.

The drivers were asked for their opinions on the accident. Most said that the best news was that Wu Shi and Verstappen were both safe, while some said that F1 safety still needs improvement.

When the accident video was released after the race, it inevitably sparked discussions about F1 safety.

The necessity of the Halo system has been proven through this incident.

Aside from discussions about safety, the most frequent topic of conversation was the causes of the accidents.

Because two drivers were hospitalized and one driver withdrew from the race, no one benefited, so the intensity of the mutual insults was relatively low, and everyone was talking about the cause of the accident.

At 10 p.m. on the night the Grand Prix ended, the news of Wu Shi and Verstappen's discharge from the hospital was announced, and those who were worried about them were finally relieved.

At Neweton Hospital, Wu Shi was changing out of his hospital gown. Multiple bruises could be seen on his body, especially on his shoulders, which had borne a lot of pressure from the seatbelt.

After Martina and Wu Shi came out, she looked him up and down and said:

"Even though I know this is motorsports, seeing this scene is still terrifying."

Wu Shi smiled slightly, the impact was terrifying, and his voice was a little hoarse:
"At least F1 is safe enough right now."

"Anyway, it's good that everything's alright. Your father is on his way. Think about how to talk to him," Martina said.

"Forehead."

Wu Shi was taken aback. That's right. Although his father didn't usually watch the entire game, he would follow the news reports during the game week.

Clearly, given the magnitude of the collision, the father likely learned of it shortly after it occurred.

“Lewis looks like he’s waiting to say something to you,” Martina added.

Wu Shi nodded and walked out of the ward. He saw Hamilton sitting outside.

"I heard you voluntarily withdrew from the competition?" Wu Shi spoke first.

"Phew, I'm so sorry, I... I really didn't expect things to turn out that way." Hamilton seemed a little flustered.

Wu Shi looked into his eyes.

Hamilton is a highly controversial driver because, although he has not had any major accidents in his career, the Vibranium front left saga is not entirely unfounded.

However, that's F1 for you. Compared to Schumacher and Senna, Hamilton's so-called negative points are actually understandable.

But that's only comparing the bad. If we're comparing the good, we still have to look at good drivers like Kimi.

Wu Shi didn't know what Hamilton's mindset was when accidents happened in the past. He only had the impression that after the 51G incident in another world, Hamilton didn't care about Verstappen.

When Panzi was thrown out, the old man's first complaint was that the front left side was damaged.

He only inquired about Pan Zi's condition when the Red Flag entered the maintenance area to suspend the race.

Clearly, at that time, the old man only regarded such things as normal track accidents, part of the wheel-to-wheel game.

After winning the Grand Prix, the veteran celebrated wildly with his British fans, showing little interest in Verstappen.

But now, Hamilton, standing in front of him, did seem apologetic; at least he was certain that the old man hadn't intended to eliminate him, his rival, in this way.

"Yes, this is the equation."

Wu Shi nodded. Even if it was an intentional accident, the fact that the person responsible had to withdraw from the competition was already a severe punishment. He was naturally very dissatisfied with the result, but now that everything had happened, rage would be useless.

I was relieved to see that you were alright.

Hamilton stepped forward, hugged Wu Shi, patted him on the shoulder, and said:
"I won't keep you from resting any longer. I'm just waiting here to confirm that you're safe."

As Hamilton turned to leave, he saw Verstappen being discharged from the hospital, politely asked about his condition, and then walked straight out.

Wu Shi also walked over. At this moment, the people of Vistapan looked bewildered and appeared even more naive.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, maybe it's okay? But to be honest, my eyesight isn't very good."

Verstappen swung his hand in front of his eyes.

"There is indeed a lot of blood in the blood. Did the doctor send you home?" Wu Shi asked after examining the wound.

“But you seem unaffected.” Vestager’s already hoarse voice became even hoarser.

"Actually, my car was de-stressed, so it wasn't hit as hard as you did."

Wu Shi said that he lost consciousness simply because the accident happened so suddenly that it shut down his brain.

"Ah."

Verstappen nodded; he flew straight out and crashed into the guardrail, coming to a stop instantly.

Wu Shi's car was already losing force after it took off, and after it landed on the ground, smashed the T-frame, and continued to roll, it lost most of the force.

Wu Shi's accident was mainly because it looked too frightening. Fortunately, Halo protected his head and prevented a direct impact.

"I... I might not be able to participate in the Hungarian Grand Prix."

Verstappen's voice was very low. This man, who had grown up in a grueling environment, was not worried about his health when the accident happened, but rather about the fact that his upcoming matches would be delayed.

"There are still two weeks left."

Wu Shi could only say one dry sentence.

“You’re right, there are still two weeks left.” Verstappen inexplicably perked up and smiled.

“We need to get diagnosed somewhere else,” Joss said as he walked over.

"Hey buddy, it's so good to see you're alright."

Joss stepped forward and gently patted Wu Shi on the shoulder.

"Ouch, that hurts!" Wu Shi grimaced.

“Haha, you’d better check somewhere else too. You can’t completely rule out the problem here,” Joss said.

"Yes, Uncle Joss."

Wu Shi nodded. He didn't need to arrange this; Mercedes-Benz and his management team wouldn't let it pass by so easily.

This is just a preliminary diagnosis that there are no major injuries. Further rehabilitation and treatment will be needed for a period of time to determine if there will be any long-term effects.

After the discharge procedures were completed, the person in charge at Mercedes-Benz said that the follow-up treatment process had been arranged and Wu Shi needed to be transferred there.

Wu Shi was fine; he could walk, but his head was still not feeling well, though there weren't many obvious abnormalities.

Sitting in the car, he stared blankly at the street scene outside the window.

"What, scared of being hit?" Martina, who was sitting next to me, asked.

"A little bit, that feeling of losing everything when you fly away isn't pleasant," Wu Shi said.

"Yes, it's not a good feeling."

Martina said that as a family member, she wanted Wu Shi to stop taking such risks.

But as someone working in the F1 field, she also knows how important a driver's fearlessness is.

So she didn't say anything, deciding to wait for Wu Zhenlin and Louise to arrive before making a decision.

“I’m actually very lucky,” Wu Shi said.

"Hmm?" Martina looked over.

"This is my journey to win my sixth WDC title. Even if I die, I will still be a five-time champion and one of the strongest drivers in F1."

Wu Shi smiled, recalling what happened in 2015, and continued:
"In 2015, neither Nico nor Lewis were nearly as ruthless as me, so they gave me many positions."

"That year was a miracle, it seems unbelievable now, that I never encountered any major accidents."

Martina picked up the conversation and said:
"Lewis was already a world champion, and he had the composure of a world champion. Nico was far from having the mindset he had in 2016; he was afraid of crashing."

Martina astutely captured the state of the two Mercedes drivers in 2015.

"But you, you're still the same clueless greenhorn you were in previous years."

After hearing this, Wu Shi shook his head and said:

“I’ve been very restrained. Since 2016, I feel like I’ve been driving very gently.”

"Haha, looking at it today, that's definitely true." Martina stopped dwelling on the issue.

The following day, Wu Shi met his father, who had traveled a long way, in Blackley.

Seeing that his son was unharmed, Wu Zhenlin breathed a sigh of relief, but still couldn't help saying:
"The contract expires this year, right?"

Wu Shi lowered his head, knowing what his father was about to say, and he was thinking about how to persuade his father to let him stay in F1.

“I really want to advise you to leave F1, but I know this is your career. It would be selfish to ask you to do so just so I don’t have to worry,” Wu Zhenlin said.

Wu Shi raised his head.

"Seeing you safe and sound is my greatest wish, but I don't think you can always be out there working so hard all by yourself."

Wu Shi was somewhat puzzled, wondering what his father was going to say next.

"How are things going between you and Louise?" Wu Zhenlin asked.

“Uh, very good.” Wu Shi rubbed his cheek.

“You two grew up together and know each other very well. Have you ever thought about when to tie the knot? You’re not getting any younger,” Wu Zhenlin said.

"."

Why did they fly all this way to urge me to get married? Is this just the obsession of the older generation?

"It's because I didn't manage the family well that you suffered so much when you were young."

Wu Zhenlin slowly began to talk about Wu Shi's biological mother, whom he barely remembered.

“Yes, I understand. Louise and I have our own ideas about this,” Wu Shi said.

"Alright, you all have your own opinions. I'm just offering my suggestions. You can make the arrangements yourselves." Wu Zhenlin was satisfied with what he said.

The two then strolled around the headquarters, and many employees greeted Wu Shi after seeing him walking around freely.

After finishing his business there, Toto specifically asked Wu Zhenlin to come over and chat for a while.

Both are top businessmen in their respective industries, and they could talk for days on end even if they didn't talk about their industries.

In the afternoon, Louise also arrived from Italia.

Seeing her resentful eyes, Wu Shi could only hold her in his arms and gently pat her back.

"Don't worry, you don't need to worry about safety in F1. Besides, accidents are low-probability events," Wu Shi reassured him.

“Yeah, I’m still worried. No, I have to come to every game from now on!” Louise said.

"Okay, just don't delay your business," Wu Shi said, looking at her.

“I’m graduating soon, and my mom said she can help me get a job in the car team,” Louise said.

“It’s fine if you don’t do any work,” Wu Shi said with a smile.

“No.” Louise shook her head.

After getting a free dinner from Toto, Wu Zhenlin stayed overnight.

The next day, Wu Shi accompanied his father for a stroll around the area, and Wu Zhenlin was essentially revisiting a familiar place.

At noon, Wu Shi went to the hospital for a follow-up visit, and all his physical indicators were normal.

As for the brain, human medical technology is truly helpless when it comes to this organ. We can only confirm that there are no major blood vessel ruptures, or use some tests to determine that Wu Shi's mental capacity is normal.

Only Wu Shi himself knew what his brain was really like.

Actually, the concussion was quite noticeable the day before yesterday, and I felt dizzy yesterday as well, but that feeling has subsided today.

However, he suddenly developed some symptoms of fatigue, which indicated that he had contracted COVID-19.

It's possible that he went to the hospital, and with the relaxation of controls in Laoying, he couldn't prevent the infection despite all his precautions.

Fortunately, after such a long period of transmission, the virulence of the virus strain has actually decreased significantly.

Wu Shi only experienced two symptoms: fatigue and chills; he didn't even feel anything in his throat.

Wu Zhenlin, on the other hand, had made preparations in advance, bringing Lianhua Qingwen capsules that were hard to buy.

This left Wu Shi both amused and exasperated, but he still drank it. That's how traditional Chinese medicine works anyway; if it cures the illness, they praise the medicine; if it doesn't, they blame individual differences.

For a whole week, Wu Shi underwent medical rehabilitation and did not do any heavy work.

The same thing happened to Verstappen; it seems that a slight head injury during the impact made his condition worse.

Wu Shi heard him say several times that he was very worried that the competition would be delayed.

However, in the public sphere, the Silverstone incident was inexplicably hyped up.

Hamilton began to be attacked with racist remarks.

Now, Horner and Joss, who had previously criticized Hamilton and demanded that he pay a greater price, fell silent.

Shortly after, Horner stepped in to ease the tension, suggesting that Silverstone was over and the next event would be the Hungarian Grand Prix.

In fact, Mercedes and Red Bull did not take the collision too seriously on the day of the incident, classifying it as a track accident.

Because no one was pleased, and the driver was ultimately unharmed.

If every track accident warrants relentless pursuit and investigation, then there's no point in holding F1; everyone could just drive baby buses.

On July 25, Wu Shi returned to work. He had recovered from COVID-7, and after the symptoms of fatigue and chills disappeared, he felt much more energetic.

It's possible that when he's exhausted, his mind doesn't think about anything, and he just lies down and "falls into a coma." This complete immersion in sleep allows his energy to recover very quickly.

Upon his return, the first thing he did was not to adjust the train, but to restore his physical fitness.

His daily training schedule is tailored to his physical condition, making him feel as if he has returned to when he first entered F1.

"Our development progress at the Hungaroring circuit is going well," Jonathan said.

"Huh?" Wu Shi was somewhat surprised, because it was truly rare to see something like this this year.

But speaking of Hungaroring, wasn't this a missile launch site in 2021?

Bottas isn't at Mercedes, so it's unlikely.
Wait a minute, Wu Shi dared not think any further. Brother Bing and Brother Fei could no longer heal him; instead, he was healing himself.

He still remembered the thought he had before the silver stone.

"What's wrong? You don't look well. Should we go see someone?" Jonathan asked with concern.

"It's alright, let's continue discussing the next arrangements," Wu Shi waved his hand.

(End of this chapter)