Chapter 171: It's Going to Rain at Sepang Circuit
The video of the pre-race press conference quickly spread back to China.
However, the afterglow of the Australian Grand Prix had already faded. Outside of dedicated motorsport fans, public attention had shifted elsewhere.
On Friday, March 27, the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend officially began with two free practice sessions—FP1 in the morning and FP2 in the afternoon.
Williams had accumulated a long list of setup ideas after Melbourne, which made every minute of track time crucial. With only three practice sessions available, there was little room for waste.
Due to the brutal heat at Sepang, Pirelli had brought two of its hardest compounds:
the white-marked medium tyre and the orange-marked hard tyre.
When FP1 began, both Wu Shi and Felipe Massa headed out on hard tyres to establish baseline long-run data.
After ten laps, Wu Shi returned to the pit lane.
He climbed out of the car and immediately spoke with Jonathan.
"The hard tyre needs two to three laps to reach operating temperature," Wu Shi said. "But the front end still feels a bit lazy. I think we need to adjust the front suspension geometry."
Sepang is a high-speed circuit dominated by two massive straights, allowing cars to fully exploit their top-end performance.
The opening sector—particularly Turns 1 through 4—bears a striking resemblance to the Shanghai International Circuit, a similarity owed to their shared designer, Hermann Tilke.
Twenty minutes later, the setup changes were completed.
Wu Shi returned to the track, this time on medium tyres, maintaining a similar driving style to ensure a clean comparison between compounds.
As FP1 drew to a close, he returned to the pit lane once more.
Jonathan gestured for him to wait.
After Massa came back in, a quick debrief meeting was called, and Jonathan nodded for Wu Shi to begin.
"The average lap-time delta between hard and medium is around eight-tenths to one second," Wu Shi reported.
"On my runs, the hard tyre degrades at about two-tenths per lap, while the medium drops around five-tenths per lap."
He paused, then continued.
"The hard tyre starts to fall off sharply after roughly twenty laps. The medium tyre will probably last five to six laps fewer."
Massa nodded. "My numbers are similar. Hard tyres degrade about three-tenths per lap. Once the medium goes, it can spike to nearly a second per lap."
The room grew quiet.
Sepang's heat was notoriously cruel to tyres.
"We'll confirm everything during long runs in FP2," Jonathan said.
The afternoon session brought even harsher track conditions—higher temperatures and conditions closer to race time—making FP2 data more representative.
FP1 was largely about system checks and initial correlation. True long-run work belonged to FP2.
Jonathan sat watching Massa's lap times scroll across the screen.
The medium tyre wasn't as unstable as feared—but the hard compound was troubling. Not only was it slow, its degradation was worse than expected.
After FP2 concluded, the Williams engineers finalized two provisional strategies.
"The first option is a two-stop," Jonathan explained.
"Medium–Medium–Hard."
"The first stint will be on used mediums, around fifteen laps.
Second stint on new mediums, about eighteen laps.
Final stint on new hards, approximately twenty-three laps."
This plan assumed both drivers would reach Q3. If they failed to do so, they would likely start on hard tyres instead.
"The alternative is a three-stop," Jonathan continued.
"Medium–Hard–Medium–Hard."
"If we don't make Q3, it becomes Medium–Hard–Medium–Medium."
Tyre allocation was the limiting factor.
If Wu Shi and Massa reached Q3, they would be left with one used and one new set of medium tyres, with the used set mandatory for the race start.
Failing to reach Q3 would free up an extra fresh medium set for Sunday.
Everything remained tentative—Saturday's FP3 would decide it.
---
At 2 p.m. on Saturday, FP3 began.
Every team ran medium tyres for qualifying simulations.
Surprisingly, lap times were remarkably stable across all three sessions.
FP1 fastest lap: 1:40.124 — Rosberg
FP2 fastest lap: 1:39.790 — Hamilton
FP3 fastest lap: 1:39.690 — Rosberg
Aside from Mercedes, no one broke into the 1:39s.
Wu Shi finished third in FP3 with a 1:40.243—just 0.002 seconds ahead of Vettel.
Massa followed in sixth with a 1:40.391.
Williams neatly slotted itself between the two Ferrari cars.
With FP3 complete, the race plan was finalized.
Jonathan pulled Wu Shi aside.
"If you notice anything during qualifying or the race, speak up immediately. You've memorized all the codewords?"
Wu Shi nodded.
Plan A. Plan B.
Encrypted language—designed to prevent rivals from decoding strategy calls.
---
At 5 p.m., qualifying began.
Q1 posed little challenge.
Wu Shi ran hard tyres and posted a 1:40.122—comfortably inside the cutoff. Given track evolution and traffic, the team called him back early.
Mercedes once again flexed its strength. Both Hamilton and Rosberg dipped into the 1:39s and returned to the garage.
Vettel set a 1:39.813 for third.
Shockingly, Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz matched that exact time on his second flying lap.
The commentators erupted—this rookie class was proving exceptional.
When Q1 ended, both Marussia drivers were eliminated for failing to reach the 107% threshold.
McLaren-Honda sat dead last.
Button and Alonso were eliminated together—brothers in misfortune.
Sauber's Nasr also failed to advance.
But those who reached Q2 had no time to relax.
As Q1 ended, thunder rolled in the distance. Lightning flickered beyond the circuit.
The rain was coming.
---
The moment Q2 began, cars flooded onto the track.
Both Lotus drivers tried to force gaps, cutting aggressively into traffic.
Formula One drivers, after all, were far more susceptible to road rage than ordinary people.
Wu Shi exited the pit lane in eleventh position.
He skipped tyre preparation entirely.
If he didn't push now, once the rain arrived, slick tyres would be worthless.
The medium tyres—already slightly damp—came alive under Wu Shi's control.
He sliced past seven cars in succession, closing rapidly on Kimi Räikkönen.
At that moment, Räikkönen was complaining on the radio about Hamilton overtaking him—
—and then Wu Shi flew past as well.
"Hey! Has the race already started?!" Kimi shouted.
Out-lap complete.
Wu Shi went flat.
By the second sector, rain had begun to fall. Tiny droplets splashed onto the tyres, instantly unsettling the car.
Grip was fading—but not gone.
The heat stored in the asphalt prevented immediate collapse.
He crossed the line.
1:40.111.
Second only to Rosberg and Vettel.
Behind him, chaos erupted.
By Sector 3, the rain intensified. Slick tyres lost all effectiveness.
Lap times ballooned beyond 1:41.
Räikkönen—blocked in traffic and caught by the rain—managed only a 1:42.173.
He became the only top-tier driver eliminated in Q2.
When the session ended, the eliminated drivers were:
Ericsson
Räikkönen
Hülkenberg
Pérez
Sainz
As expected, once conditions deteriorated, the gap between Sainz and Verstappen became evident.
---
Q3 was delayed due to heavy rain.
Wu Shi climbed out of the car and stood beneath the pit-lane awning, watching sheets of rain crash down amid thunder and lightning.
"This weather changes unbelievably fast," he said.
"It's like this every year," Massa replied calmly.
"They won't cancel Q3, will they?" Wu Shi rubbed his hands. Being third in Q2 meant no Q3 wouldn't be a disaster.
"Unlikely," Jonathan said, studying the radar.
"These storms don't last long."
Now, all they could do—
was wait.