Chapter 200: How Can He Have So Many Schemes?
"Vettel is 0.12 behind. Rosberg is 0.78 behind Vettel," Jonathan reported at the perfect moment.
Wu Shi glanced in his mirrors. Vettel wasn't tucking into his slipstream.
Between Turns 13 and 14 was the second-longest straight on the circuit, but it wasn't a DRS zone.
With such a small gap, Vettel could easily pass just by using the tow.
Wu Shi's battery had already been heavily depleted during earlier defending.
This lap felt like waiting for the executioner's blade to fall.
But Vettel didn't attack.
The reason was simple: the DRS detection line was before Turn 14.
Vettel didn't want another messy fight. He wanted to finish this in one move activate DRS on the main straight and open a decisive gap.
Wu Shi understood immediately.
He stayed on the far left of the track, while Vettel matched his speed on the inside line.
Just before the braking zone for Turn 14, Wu Shi suddenly downshifted early
da-da-da—the sound sharp and obvious.
Vettel caught it instantly.
He had studied Wu Shi's races from the previous rounds and knew this young driver loved using early braking near detection points to steal DRS. Rosberg had already fallen for that trick before.
So Vettel slammed on the brakes without hesitation, keeping himself just behind.
But braking there completely disrupted his corner entry.
Wu Shi, watching through the mirrors, saw the puff of white smoke from Vettel's front tires and knew the trap had worked.
Just like Leclerc would later trick Verstappen the same way.
Because Wu Shi had planned the move, his deceleration was fully controlled, and his turn-in was silky smooth, instantly opening the gap.
Vettel, meanwhile, had to recover his rhythm.
The difference grew immediately.
"Oh! Wu Shi slowed and baited Vettel Vettel locked up! And now Wu Shi accelerates away! The gap jumps to four tenths!"
David shouted in disbelief.
How could this young driver have so many tricks?
No wonder he came from a country famous for The Art of War.
With the advantage secured, Wu Shi exited onto the main straight smoothly.
Vettel followed, but the gap had already grown to half a second.
Then DRS activated.
Car No. 59, the Williams, ran alone at the front of the group, sparks flashing occasionally from the plank underneath.
Behind him, the Mercedes and Ferrari opened their rear wings, rocketing forward, throwing long trails of sparks as they compressed into the asphalt.
Just from the sparks alone, you could tell who had the top speed.
Three different cars, three different teams, charging down the main straight together
the grandstands erupted.
Three-quarters of the way down the straight, Vettel swept past on the right-hand side, aggressively completing the overtake.
Wu Shi, without DRS, had no way to respond.
Rosberg closed rapidly as well, but the braking zone arrived too soon.
When Wu Shi moved to the middle of the track, it was clear Rosberg wouldn't get through there.
"You've got DRS," Jonathan reminded.
Wu Shi had already seen the light on his steering wheel, but the reminder was still necessary.
Through the Turn 1–2–3 complex, freed from Wu Shi's defense, Vettel pushed hard, willing to sacrifice tire life to build a DRS buffer and prevent a counterattack.
Wu Shi didn't chase.
Instead, he focused on holding Rosberg behind, letting the Mercedes work its tires even harder.
He still remembered the team had warned Rosberg about overheating brakes earlier.
After Turn 3, Wu Shi activated DRS.
So did Rosberg.
In this short straight, Mercedes unleashed its full power advantage and simply muscled past.
Battery deployment made the difference.
Before Turn 4, Rosberg already had the inside line and turned in aggressively.
As Wu Shi was overtaken, he caught a glimpse of white smoke from Rosberg's front tires.
"He's pushing too hard," Wu Shi said on the radio.
Jonathan, unsure what to make of Wu Shi's constant psychological pressure, checked the data and replied,
"Yes, his tire wear is quite high."
Wu Shi had dropped from second to fourth in just a few corners.
"The car just isn't strong enough…" Brother Bing sighed.
"Compared to Hamilton's pace, Wu Shi is clearly slower. But holding on until lap seven is already impressive," Brother Fei added.
With no one blocking him, Vettel now accelerated, trying to close the two-second gap to Hamilton.
Rosberg pushed hard to chase Vettel.
Only Wu Shi deliberately backed off.
"Grip is still poor. Tire temperatures are unstable," Wu Shi reported calmly.
As he spoke, he subtly turned a rotary switch at the bottom of the steering wheel its English abbreviations impossible to decipher from the cockpit cam.
"Understood. Keep it there. Kimi is 1.5 behind. His lap times are similar to yours both around 1:40," Jonathan replied.
After that, Jonathan and Rodrigo briefly took off their headsets.
"His tire feedback is very good. We should get longer life from this stint," Jonathan said.
"Mhm. We'll pit him as late as possible," Rodrigo nodded.
Pitting late didn't mean forcing worn tires it meant staying out only as long as lap times remained acceptable.
Once the drop-off came, they would box immediately.
The broadcast cameras shifted toward the midfield.
Massa was drawing attention again.
Even though Williams couldn't fight Mercedes or Ferrari, they were still kings of the midfield.
Starting from the pit lane, Massa was carving through traffic one car at a time.
The team told him, "Your pace is strong. Push."
---
Lap 9 Vettel ran slightly wide at Turn 4.
Rosberg, only three tenths behind, attacked instantly.
Vettel barely saved it and kept the place.
Wu Shi, watching everything unfold, noted how the wind and sand were unsettling the cars.
He kept a steady seven-tenths gap to Rosberg.
Sometimes, simply following was the best choice.
Lap 10 Turn 1.
With DRS, Rosberg pulled alongside before braking, dived into the apex, forced Vettel wide, and completed the pass.
The fight brought Wu Shi much closer again.
"Why does it feel like Wu Shi is just watching tigers fight from the mountain?" Brother Fei laughed.
"Exactly. With his personality, he should've attacked already," Brother Bing agreed.
But the commentators didn't analyze Williams' strategy deeply. Vettel's mistake was the bigger talking point.
When Rosberg returned to P2, the Mercedes garage applauded
but the race engineer warned:
"Watch the tires. Wear is higher than expected."
Jonathan relayed it immediately.
"Rosberg's tire wear is high. He's five seconds behind Hamilton.
Also, Kimi is now within DRS of you. You need to stay close to Vettel."
"Understood."
Wu Shi nodded slightly inside his helmet.
For the first time that night, he felt real pressure.
Fighting freely was easy.
Executing a long-term strategy while managing tires, pace, and traffic that was much harder.
He and Kimi both activated DRS.
The gap between them stayed stable, but Wu Shi closed another two tenths to Vettel.
"Massa is pitting. Hülkenberg, Nasr, and Bottas also boxing," Jonathan updated.
Hamilton was still lapping in the 1:40s.
Rosberg was matching him.
But Vettel had dropped into the 1:41s
which meant Wu Shi and Kimi were naturally even slower.
Lap 11 Ericsson and Sainz pitted.
The pit window was opening.
Jonathan's tension grew.
Originally, they had hoped Wu Shi could hold second.
But reality had proven again and again:
pure pace would never keep Williams ahead of Mercedes and Ferrari.
Without strategy, Rosberg would pass eventually.
Luck didn't last forever.
Lap 12 Kimi said quietly on the radio,
"Maybe we should start thinking about my stop."
Jonathan and Rodrigo exchanged a look.
Kimi had likely adjusted a coded switch to convey that message.
"Is Leclerc also delaying stops this season?" Jonathan asked.
"Possibly. His races have followed similar patterns," Rodrigo replied.
Kimi often fought with strategy rather than direct on-track battles.
"We'll watch him closely," Jonathan said.
---
Lap 13 Vettel boxed.
"Push," Jonathan said immediately.
Wu Shi understood at once.
Without Vettel ahead, he'd lose DRS
but Kimi would still have it.
Maybe Ferrari had anticipated that and pitted Vettel early.
Ferrari radio:
"Kimi, Williams has told Wu Shi to push. Maintain."
Maintain what? Pace? Gap?
Only Kimi and his engineer truly understood.
At that moment, Bottas on fresh softs set fastest lap: 1:38.195.
Rodrigo began recalculating immediately.
Among the leaders, only Hamilton and Rosberg were still running 1:40s.
Rosberg was even faster than Hamilton.
Wu Shi's pace had fallen into the low 1:41s, but with this push lap he could reach high 1:40s again.
Strategy engineers started crunching numbers:
time loss on worn tires vs. gain on new ones, pit exit traffic, clean air probability.
All of it had to be filtered before Jonathan could speak again.
The broadcast focused on Ferrari.
Vettel's stop: 2.4 seconds.
"Ferrari pit stops are crazy fast," Brother Bing exclaimed.
"So are they treating Kimi worse?" Brother Fei joked.
Alonso also pitted.
"He's on the white tires!" Brother Fei added.
Wu Shi noticed Kimi wasn't closing, so he stabilized his pace as instructed.
Lap 14 Rosberg pitted.
"Rosberg has boxed," Jonathan said.
Wu Shi watched the silver car dive into pit lane, eyes narrowing.
So far, everything was following the plan.
Kimi had dropped a full second and had no DRS.
His strategy clearly mirrored Wu Shi's.
So how long would Kimi stay out?
Jonathan's problem now not Wu Shi's.
"Rosberg switched to mediums. Stop was 3.2 seconds," Jonathan added.
Wu Shi muttered, "How does Ferrari still have the fastest pit crew in the Mercedes era…"
Ricciardo pitted as well.
The cameras showed sand hanging in the air after each car passed.
"Vettel is ahead of Rosberg after the stops," Jonathan said.
Wu Shi's heart sank slightly.
Were the fresh softs really that powerful?
"Are we still okay?" he asked quietly.
"Yes. Maintain current pace. We'll give you the window," Jonathan replied.
Then, to Rodrigo:
"How does it look?"
"New softs are quick, but if Wu Shi pits now, he'll just rejoin into the same battles again. Strategy still makes sense."
After a pause, Rodrigo asked,
"How many laps can he hold 1:37s on new softs?"
"At least seven," Jonathan said.
Rodrigo exhaled.
"That's terrifying."
Then he added firmly:
"Our plan is right. Wu Shi's greatest strength is tire management. Better than anyone else.
"He likes to fight, but fighting only leads to mutual destruction.
We need to give him clean air space to squeeze every last tenth out of the car."
Jonathan nodded.
Testing was for cars.
Only racing revealed the true level of a driver.