Chapter 227: Wu and Hamilton Clash
Jonathan's voice was steady, but the tension was palpable. The broadcast camera locked onto Wu Shi and Hamilton – the No. 44 Mercedes streaking down the main straight, while the No. 59 Williams exited the pit lane at speed limit.
As soon as the FW37 crossed the pit exit line, Wu Shi slammed the throttle wide open. Engine and gearbox stress didn't matter – he had to regain position now. The car surged onto the track just as Hamilton edged ahead.
"Oh no – he's been overtaken!"
Wu Shi ignored the commentator's cry, immediately tucking into Hamilton's slipstream. Hot exhaust blistered his tires, bringing them up to temperature fast, but the engine temperature climbed sharply in response. He gritted his teeth, refusing to let points slip away.
The pair charged toward Turn 3. Wu Shi moved to the right early, but Hamilton held the middle line, braking ahead of him and turning sharply to block the attack. Wu Shi was forced to follow through the corner.
"Engine's running hot – be careful," Jonathan warned.
It made no difference. The second DRS zone was just ahead, and Wu Shi's ability to stay glued to Hamilton's rear paid off. With slipstream, DRS, and the long downhill, the Williams swept past mid-straight.
Hamilton immediately fell in behind, using the slipstream to carry speed into Turn 4 – a downhill corner where even small mistakes risk understeer. He braked late and dived for the inside.
Wu Shi tried to mirror Hamilton's earlier defense, but the outside line here demanded more braking force. His soft tires, not fully up to temp, couldn't handle it – white smoke billowed as the fronts locked briefly. Hamilton pulled alongside, and both cars ran wide, understeering toward the run-off before wrestling back onto the track.
It was a battle of millimeters.
Side-by-side into the track's dip and its four-corner complex, they traded positions constantly: Wu Shi lost ground at Turn 5, caught up at Turn 6, held the inside to extend his lead at Turn 7, and defended through the small right-hander at Turn 8. Their wheels touched more than once, but both drivers controlled their cars with surgical precision.
After their earlier retirements, this was pure wheel-to-wheel combat – cars packed tight at 200-300 km/h, engines roaring, wind howling past the cockpits.
Even on the straight after Turn 8, they ran side-by-side, neither taking the other's slipstream. ERS was unleashed without reserve, sparks showering the tarmac as they raced toward Turn 9 – a right-angle corner where Wu Shi's left-side position was a disadvantage.
Spectators held their breath. Wu Shi swung wide left at the last moment, planning a slow-in, fast-out approach. Hamilton shifted from inside to middle to neutralize the strategy, and the cars pressed outward together.
Hamilton led slightly into the corner with better entry speed. Wu Shi braked harder than usual, seemingly yielding – but Hamilton slowed too, blocking Wu Shi's path to a fast exit before flooring the throttle and pulling away. His ploy had worked, rendering Wu Shi's strategy useless.
Hamilton's car sense was exceptional – Wu Shi fell behind, already focusing on the next DRS zone on the main straight.
The pair streaked down the straight, sparks flying as Wu Shi used DRS to close the gap. He checked his steering wheel – he'd saved his ERS, while Hamilton's speed suggested his battery was depleted.
At Turn 1, Wu Shi chose the outside line. Hamilton defended with the middle line, but this time he was far enough ahead to not replicate his Turn 9 trick. As Hamilton accelerated out of the corner, Wu Shi squeezed into the inside, using better exit space to pull alongside. DRS and full ERS power kicked in – the Williams pulled clear of the ERS-drained Mercedes.
Approaching the next DRS detection point before Turn 3, Wu Shi saw Hamilton tuck into his slipstream. He glanced at his critically low ERS, then suddenly moved wide, leaving the inside line open.
Hamilton hesitated – wary of a trap – and in that moment, Wu Shi dived into the corner. Using extreme grip utilization, he carved through faster than seemed possible, pulling a car length clear on exit. He unleashed his last bit of ERS down the downhill straight.
The Mercedes closed in with DRS, but Wu Shi had already calculated every variable: braking point, exit line, tire grip, downforce changes, brake load from the slope. Every bit of data from practice flashed through his mind as he charged into Turn 4 from the middle line to inside, completely ignoring the risk of contact.
In an instant, he exited the corner in the lead.
"Dangerous! That's dangerous driving!" Hamilton fumed over radio, his breathing heavy from the physical strain. The fact he could speak meant he knew this phase of battle was over.
Those who studied Wu Shi understood – when he drove without restraint, he unlocked near-superhuman abilities. Turn 4 was proof. With no more DRS before Turn 10 and a gap opened, he shifted into lap-running mode, pulling away steadily.
Hamilton felt a pang of defeat – he knew he couldn't have done what Wu Shi just did in the Williams.
"OH! OH! OH!"
Cheers erupted from the Williams garage and spread through the stands. "Incredible! Pure wheel-to-wheel racing – fighting for milliseconds with extreme precision!" the commentator roared. "A rookie going toe-to-toe with a world champion like this is insane!"
Slow-motion replays showed just how close they'd been – wheels touching, cars positioned within inches of each other. The footage played three times from different angles before cutting back to the track.
"Lewis, watch your tires – that battle took a toll," Bono said.
"I know – managing them now," Hamilton replied.
"Nico is closing in."
"Let him come."
The broadcast picked up the exchange, sparking debate between commentators: "Hamilton sounds like a champion – Rosberg seems too cautious!" "But Nico's tire conservation is smarter!" "Smarter doesn't make for thrilling racing!"
In truth, Rosberg had declined team orders to chase Wu Shi, choosing to save his tires – a decision that divided opinion. Regardless, the battle had delivered a visual feast and proven both drivers' caliber.
The camera shifted to Rosberg, who now had the best tire condition among the top three. The calm at the front was just the lull before the storm.
After opening a 1.5-second gap, Wu Shi eased off to preserve his tires. Hamilton also backed off to make his one-stop strategy work, while Rosberg closed to just 1.7 seconds behind him.
On lap 37, Vettel pitted but lost time when his right rear tire locked up – a 13-second change that let Massa overtake him. Ferrari's absence from the front battle was disheartening for fans, who wondered if even a four-time champion could turn their fortunes around.
On lap 43, Sergio Pérez passed Kvyat. For the next dozen laps, the track settled – Vettel closed to 1.5 seconds behind Massa, while Bottas chased Verstappen.
By lap 60, Rosberg was within 1 second of Hamilton. "Rosberg's moving in – he's got fresher tires. If he doesn't attack now, he'll be criticized," the commentator said.
"Rosberg's within 1 second – DRS enabled," Jonathan told Wu Shi.
"I see it."
Both front-runners had heavily worn tires – Hamilton's from an earlier pit stop and hard chasing, Wu Shi's from the battle and gap-building push. Rosberg's approach put Hamilton on high alert, despite his earlier nonchalance.
On lap 61, Rosberg crossed into Hamilton's 1-second window – DRS was now active, and the fight for second was on.