Chapter 178: It's Not That Tragic
Ten point zero eight seconds.
That was Wu Shi's gap to Vettel.
A trace of anxiety finally crept into his voice.
Wu Shi: "Can his tires still hold up?"
Jonathan: "He's a little slower now, but your fight with Hamilton is costing you even more time."
Damn it.
Wu Shi cursed inwardly.
He couldn't break free from Hamilton.
And even if he repeated the same DRS tricks over the next two detection zones, it wouldn't change anything.
Anyone could see it.
The pole position he earned in the rain simply could not be converted into a victory under dry conditions.
Once that reality settled in, stubbornness finally gave way to reason.
Wu Shi: "What's my best strategy now? Please tell me."
Jonathan felt an unexpected sting in his nose.
Last race, this kid had fought like a madman for second place.
This race, starting from pole, he was being forced into damage control.
Jonathan: "You need to start protecting the tires. Based on current wear, this set of hards will drop off very quickly."
Wu Shi fell silent.
He already knew what state his tires were in—but hearing the implicit message, let Hamilton go, still made him uncomfortable.
As his emotions fluctuated, Lap 12 slipped away.
Halfway down the straight, Hamilton completed the pass easily with DRS.
With that kind of straight-line speed difference, there was simply no way to defend—unless you started weaving, which would only destroy the tires even faster.
David couldn't help but sigh in the commentary box.
"From the radio we just heard, it's clear what Williams are telling Wu Shi. There's no longer any reason for him to continue fighting Hamilton."
"Dragging this battle out would only hurt both of them. And once Rosberg arrives from behind, he'd be under attack from two Mercedes cars."
He paused, then laughed softly.
"Honestly, that sounds surreal. Being hunted by two Mercedes… We expected Ferrari, we expected Red Bull—but we didn't expect Williams to be in this position."
"Through just two Grands Prix, Wu Shi hasn't only proven himself—he's dragged Williams into genuine victory contention."
His tone was firm, almost like a final verdict.
"Wu Shi is still very young. He'll learn that in Formula One, no amount of driver skill can fully make up for a big performance gap in the car."
"But I don't think this is tragic at all. Like I said—he's young. There will be many more chances."
On track, the #59 Williams was already almost four tenths behind the #44 Mercedes at Turn 15.
Once the hard tires finally reached operating temperature, Mercedes' superior traction out of slow corners became obvious.
It was also clear from Mercedes' tire allocation that they had expected the hard compound to work well today.
Out of Turn 15 and onto the main straight, Wu Shi opened DRS—but the gap barely shrank.
Turn 1. No chance to attack.
Wu Shi: "These hard tires are really awful."
Jonathan: "I know. Protect them. We still need to hit our pit window."
"Understood."
On the following short straight, Wu Shi chose not to sit directly in Hamilton's slipstream.
It would have gained him a little speed—but it would also have overheated the tires and stressed the engine.
Once clear of traffic, Hamilton immediately began pulling away.
On Lap 14, Mercedes updated him:
Mercedes: "Gap behind is nine point nine seconds. Nine point nine."
On that same lap, Rosberg sliced past both Grosjean and Hülkenberg.
Jonathan kept one eye on Rosberg's sector times and immediately informed Wu Shi.
Jonathan: "Rosberg has passed Hülkenberg. He's six point three seconds behind you."
Wu Shi: "Let me know the clean-air gap later."
Lap 15.
Sainz, Hülkenberg, and Grosjean—all of whom had stayed out earlier—finally came in to pit.
Their stops immediately drew attention.
Just like Vettel, they were clearly committing to a two-stop strategy.
Sainz switched to hard tires.
Hülkenberg and Grosjean went onto medium compound.
All three stops were clean, with Grosjean dipping into the high 2-second range.
Räikkönen also pitted on the same lap, fitting medium tires and rejoining at the back once again.
From P12 to P18—his race was still a long climb.
But Vettel's unexpectedly long medium-tire stint had clearly convinced Ferrari that the medium compound was working extremely well today.
They were likely gambling on Räikkönen pitting early to attack through traffic.
After Rosberg crossed the line again, Jonathan updated Wu Shi.
Jonathan: "Rosberg is about half a second faster per lap than you. Most of that is in Sector Three—he's gaining at least three tenths there."
Wu Shi: "Then he shouldn't catch me before I pit."
Jonathan didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he was already discussing tire choice with Rodrigo.
They pulled up Massa's data for comparison.
Massa had also pitted on Lap 4, but his medium tires were in noticeably better condition than Wu Shi's hards.
The reason was obvious—Wu Shi's fight with Hamilton had shredded his rubber.
Rodrigo: "Massa is about half a second slower than Wu Shi right now. If Wu Shi switches to mediums, the gap will grow."
Jonathan: "How's the degradation curve?"
Rodrigo: "Mediums should hold until around Lap 18. The hards only have about four competitive laps left."
Jonathan did the math.
Four more laps, already losing three tenths per lap…
No matter how he calculated it, staying on the hard tires was pure loss.
The strategy group was leaning toward a decision—
But suddenly, Räikkönen's lap times lit up the timing screens.
He exited the pit lane just behind Sainz and passed the rookie in less than a lap.
Then he started hunting Bottas.
The closing speed was frightening.
For the next two laps, the broadcast almost entirely followed the veteran Finn as he cleared Bottas and then Pérez in quick succession.
At the end of Lap 17, attention snapped back to Ferrari.
Vettel was in the pit lane.
"He's on mediums again!" Brother Bing shouted. "Ferrari has put Vettel on medium tires!"
"And look at that stop—two point four seconds! Two point four! Is Ferrari's pit crew leveling up today?!"
In a field where three seconds was normal, 2.4 seconds was exceptional.
On track, Hamilton continued to extend his advantage.
Wu Shi held steady.
Rosberg was still closing at about half a second per lap.
Jonathan: "Rosberg is five point one seconds behind you."
Vettel rejoined the circuit—
right behind Rosberg.
Now the chase wasn't just about defending second place anymore.
Ferrari had re-entered the battle.
And the race was about to tilt again.