Chapter 179: Now the Chance Has Come! Can He Seize It?!
Vettel's out-lap wasn't particularly fast. Instead, the two Red Bull Racing cars got tangled up again — a familiar scene.
This time, Ricciardo's front wing lost a chunk.
With damage to his front wing, Ricciardo was first overtaken by Toro Rosso's Verstappen, then by his teammate Kvyat. After that, even Alonso — driving a car jokingly called a "GP2 engine" — passed him as well.
The next lap, an exasperated Ricciardo had no choice but to pit.
After completing his out-lap, Vettel began setting fastest laps again and again.
At one point, he was nearly two seconds faster than Rosberg in a single lap.
When the team informed Rosberg of the gap, the pressure instantly skyrocketed. Before he could even catch Wu Shi, he now had to face the pursuit of the four-time world champion behind him.
Rosberg immediately asked over the radio,
"What's the situation with Vettel?"
He was clearly seeking help from the team.
But the reply was calm — and helpless.
"You'll both need to pit again, Nico. He has newer tires, so he'll push harder to close the gap, but you both still need another stop."
"So if he passes me, he basically beats me in the race?" Rosberg asked, struggling to accept it.
"Yes, that's correct."
Rosberg fell silent.
---
On lap twenty, Vettel was only 2.4 seconds behind Rosberg. Even before completing the lap, he could already activate DRS after Turn 14.
Thanks to the powerful Mercedes engine, Rosberg barely managed to hold on.
But entering lap twenty-one, McLaren suddenly told Alonso over the radio:
"Okay, Fernando… we have a problem with the car. We need to pit this lap."
After a brief pause, the message continued:
"It's over."
As Alonso retired, Vettel had already caught Rosberg. At Turn 15, he braked late, cut to the inside, and completed the overtake cleanly.
Rosberg didn't give up yet. He opened DRS on the main straight, trying to counterattack, but the gap was already too large.
The massive tire advantage made engine power meaningless.
If Wu Shi had seen this, he might have muttered,
"So even Mercedes can be helpless sometimes…"
But when Jonathan told him what had just happened, Wu Shi blurted out,
"WHAT?!"
He took Rosberg in two laps… so I'm next?!
Rosberg's resistance had been far too weak! At least make him work for it!
But in reality, Wu Shi understood. With two DRS zones at Sepang, when tire performance differed this much, no amount of driving skill could change the outcome.
"Excellent pace, excellent. Wu Shi is five seconds ahead, Hamilton is seven seconds ahead. Both of their tires are heavily worn," Ferrari told Vettel.
---
On lap twenty-two, Vettel closed in on Wu Shi by a full two seconds in a single lap, like a man possessed.
Jonathan immediately warned him,
"Don't fight him. He's too fast, and your tires still need to last a few more laps."
"Understood," Wu Shi replied calmly.
He wasn't reckless. When someone is two seconds faster per lap, forcing a fight would only destroy his tires.
On lap twenty-three, Vettel overtook Wu Shi easily in the DRS zone after Turn 14.
That was the brutal reality of new tires versus old ones.
On lap twenty-four, Vettel gained more than three seconds on Hamilton in a single lap.
"BOX! BOX!"
Williams could no longer wait and immediately called Wu Shi in.
This time, he switched to medium tires, expected to last around eighteen laps. When he rejoined, he was behind Rosberg but just ahead of Kimi.
"Hey! When did he catch up?!" Wu Shi exclaimed, startled when he saw another Ferrari behind him.
But when he realized it was Kimi's number 7, he relaxed.
"He changed to medium tires on lap fifteen. No need to worry," Jonathan said.
---
On lap twenty-five, Hamilton was overtaken by Vettel in the DRS zone at Turn 14 and immediately pitted, also switching to medium tires.
On lap twenty-six, before Wu Shi could attack Rosberg, Rosberg was called in by Mercedes.
At this moment, the situation strangely resembled the restart after the safety car — everyone had cycled back into similar positions.
"You are twenty-two seconds behind Vettel," Jonathan reported, static crackling in the radio.
Wu Shi remained silent. Both he and Vettel were on medium tires now. Although his tires were newer, he still couldn't push too hard, or they wouldn't last until the end.
"How far is Rosberg behind me?"
"Over fourteen seconds. He's behind Kimi and hasn't passed him yet."
"Did he switch to hard tires?"
"Yes."
Wu Shi went quiet again.
It seemed Rosberg wouldn't threaten him for the time being. With thirty laps remaining, could Rosberg even make it to the end on hard tires?
He didn't know what Mercedes was thinking, but for now, he could focus on his own race.
---
Up front, Hamilton set the fastest lap: 1:43.976. Since fastest lap no longer awarded points, Wu Shi didn't chase it.
On lap twenty-eight, Rosberg overtook Kimi, and the gap to Wu Shi shrank to sixteen seconds.
"Am I gaining, or am I losing time to them?" Wu Shi asked.
"Hamilton is very fast right now, closing on Vettel by about one second per lap. You're losing around four-tenths per lap to Hamilton," Jonathan replied.
After a brief pause, Jonathan continued:
"Hamilton plans to attack Vettel on track. He needs to do that to stay in the championship fight.
Mercedes also told Rosberg to catch both of you, but on hard tires, that will be very difficult.
Your priority now is to secure a podium."
---
For several laps, the leaders ran quietly. In the midfield, however, Pérez hit Grosjean, and Hülkenberg hit Bottas, both spinning at high speed.
Fortunately, Sepang's wide layout prevented secondary collisions.
Jonathan glanced at the screens. No safety car — thankfully. A safety car now would only hurt Wu Shi.
"Our long-run pace isn't good," Wu Shi suddenly said.
"Yes, we know. You're doing very well to be where you are," Jonathan replied, thinking Wu Shi was discouraged.
As fuel burned off, the cars became lighter, and tire degradation slowed.
On lap thirty-four, Pérez and Hülkenberg were both handed ten-second penalties.
On the same lap, Kimi pitted again, switching to hard tires — likely his final stop.
"Kimi's strategy is extremely strong. After this stop, he'll have a big advantage. Everyone ahead still has to pit once more. The safety car really helped him," the commentators said.
"Ferrari's strategy today is brilliant!"
"Or rather — Vettel's strategy is brilliant."
---
On lap thirty-six, Hamilton was 13.9 seconds behind Vettel, while Wu Shi was 19.3 seconds behind.
Rosberg was now over 26 seconds behind Vettel, clearly pushing hard. From this, Jonathan judged that Rosberg would almost certainly need three stops.
On lap thirty-seven, Vettel made his final stop, switching to hard tires as expected.
When he rejoined, Wu Shi had already passed, and Rosberg was just arriving at Turn 1.
Vettel defended tightly on the inside. With a tire age difference of more than ten laps, Rosberg couldn't mount any serious attack.
After Turns 1 and 2 failed, the rest of the sector offered no real opportunities. Vettel quickly pulled away and began chasing Wu Shi again.
A six-second gap would likely vanish within five laps.
Wu Shi took a deep breath, feeling a wave of fatigue. In long stints, even perfect technique could only help preserve tires — not create miracles.
---
On lap thirty-nine, Hamilton pitted.
Williams reacted instantly.
They called Wu Shi in as well.
"Williams not only uses Mercedes engines, they even copy Mercedes strategies!" Brother Bing laughed.
"But wait — why did Mercedes switch Hamilton to hard tires? There are still seventeen laps left!" Brother Fei noticed.
"He has no medium tires left! Mercedes saved an extra set of hard tires this race!" Brother Bing shouted.
Then Brother Fei's eyes lit up.
"Wu Shi still has one new set of medium tires, right?"
"He does!"
"Then Hamilton won't be comfortable at all later on!"
"Softer tires are about one second faster per lap on average!"
"And Wu Shi is only about six seconds behind Hamilton!"
"He's pitting!"
---
In the Williams pit box, Wu Shi stopped precisely on his marks.
"It's medium tires!"
"What was the stop time?!"
"3.1 seconds! That's very good — no mistakes, that's already excellent!"
Their excitement was not misplaced. Everyone who understood strategy could see what was coming.
Even commentator David's voice rose with excitement:
"Earlier, I said Wu Shi is young and will have many chances in the future.
But now — the chance has come!
Can he seize it?!"