F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 106 Where the Lamb Goes

Almost all of the eighteen cars still on the track have chosen to run their second stint on white tires.

Only one player, Giovinazzi, was an exception. He pitted after seven laps in his new red suit, then pitted again on lap 30 in his second set of yellows.

It was the data he generated during this period that ultimately led Mercedes to make the decision to terminate the white-trail Stint early.

It's not that he runs fast; in fact, even now, his second new yellow lap, with half throttle, only manages a long-distance lap time of 1:38.

And what about Shu Long and the other racers in the front row?
Ferrari's white tires are slightly newer, having only been used for a little over ten laps, just like Mercedes. However, the white tires on the Sultan and Verstappen have already been used for twenty and eighteen laps, respectively.

Even so, their overall long-distance lap times have gradually broken into the 1:36 mark.

Not to mention that from the twenty-seventh lap onwards, Shulong and Leclerc have been locked in a continuous battle, which theoretically would also affect the pace of each lap.

The value of Giovinazzi's racing data lies in the extraordinary lap time progression he demonstrated in the laps starting from the second and third stints.

从刚开始的1：43.5，接着二十多圈后稳定保持在1：40踩进1：39，到现在5圈的黄已经能把圈速提升至1：38.3左右了。

It's true that it's not as fast as the cars in front, but its lap time has improved by more than five seconds.

There might be some exaggeration involved, because the situation in the back row is very complex at the beginning of the race, which will inevitably have a significant impact on the car's lap time.

But looking at the front row of Benfa, it's said to have scored 1:36, but it's really just a close call, around 1:36.9, less than three seconds faster than at the start of the game.
Mercedes' lap time is faster, now around 1:36.5, and their lap time improvement is also smaller, just over two seconds.

That's already a huge difference!

Moreover, there are only about twenty laps left in the race. Having already completed more than twenty laps on yellow tires with Stint to verify their wear resistance, the risk of changing tactics in time is not actually that great.

The optimal operating temperature range for C2 compound hard tires is typically between 105°C and 125°C. Considering the low temperature of the track surface, race cars need to keep the tire temperature within a relatively high range in order to ensure lap times.

This raises a problem: to achieve speed, tire durability must be sacrificed. When high-temperature tires are in continuous contact with the low-temperature track, the rubber on the tire surface is particularly prone to abnormal molecular chain breakage.

This is what is known as tire granulation.

Even though Mercedes' two cars in front don't have to bear any offensive or defensive pressure and can comfortably run their own tire-maintaining rhythm, the same situation still exists for them.

However, it's different for C3 yellow tires, which operate at temperatures between 90°C and 110°C. Drivers can not only use them to more easily enter their optimal performance range, but the lower tire temperature also allows them to manage tire conditions more easily.

With this assessment, it becomes obvious what choices the leading racers, who have a significant advantage over the mid-table teams, should make.

The effect of this decision was almost immediate; the two Mercedes cars that completed their second stop quickly improved their lap time to 1:35 in their third stint.

After observing for two laps, Ferrari finally "decisively" copied Mercedes' strategy, calling both cars to pit simultaneously on the thirty-eighth lap.

Logically, the cars in the front row all start on yellow tires. Mercedes and Ferrari only stopped after more than 20 laps, which means that their understanding of yellow tire wear should be similar.

Moreover, Arro is widely recognized as Ferrari's second team, and the difference in car characteristics between the two is much smaller than that between Arro and Mercedes. In any case, the red Prancing Horse should not be so sluggish.

As a result, Ferrari was always preoccupied with competing with Shulong for its own little piece of land, and was always a step behind Mercedes in everything, never even catching up with the latest developments!
They weren't even as decisive as Verstappen, who performed so poorly on his first yellow-tire Stint, but then made a decisive pit stop on lap 37 to switch to yellow tires.

Then, unsurprisingly, Ferrari's strategy, which was outside their pre-race plan, backfired.
Vettel made a normal pit stop, and his 2.4-second tire change was a normal performance.

Leclerc, who followed closely behind, was forced to wait in line. Fortunately, the tire-changing process went smoothly, but after leaving the station, it was discovered that his gearbox seemed to have a problem.

"I'm stuck in gear! The race car can only go down to third gear at most; it can't shift into anything below third!"

Adami was also a bit confused. He taught Leclerc to reset the steering wheel system slightly, but the situation did not improve.

"It's probably due to the engine overheating from before. Can it still hold up? If not, we'll have to withdraw from the race!"

"No, no, no! It only affects low-speed corners a little, but otherwise it's not much different. I'll adjust it!"

Fortunately, the concentration of iron Buddha Temple's energy was diluted considerably at this stop in China due to Shulong, otherwise, who knows how many fans would have fainted on the spot.
The situation changed so suddenly. Just a moment ago, this small group had four vehicles, but now suddenly only one Red Bull was running in sight.

Fans who have been following the Shulong race felt that the current situation seemed somewhat familiar. As the leading group of cars began to pit in large numbers, Shulong, who was still on the track, suddenly became the P1 in the driver rankings.

"Dear viewers! My goodness! I'm sure you can all feel the atmosphere from the camera! Listen to this roar! To be honest, I can hardly hear myself saying what I'm saying!"

"I really don't know how to describe this scene, or how long this advantage can last, but right now our home team heroes are definitely in the lead!"

The language of the commentary seemed so inadequate at this moment, failing to capture even a fraction of the magnificent spectacle on the scene. One cannot truly appreciate the awe-inspiring power of such pure unity without experiencing it firsthand.

Regardless of which team's support T-shirt they were wearing, the audience spontaneously organized themselves, and as soon as Shulong's race car passed by, they would create a wave of cheers that almost drowned out the roar of the engines on the track.

Gan Mengning, sitting on the terrace, probably regretted watching the game here for the first time. Not being able to immerse himself in such an atmosphere up close would likely be a great regret many years later.

At this moment, she completely abandoned her reserve, watching the Shulong race car drive past on the starting straight, and joined the spectators in the opposite stands in raising their hands and screaming wildly.

Even though the driver's earplugs had built-in noise-isolating function, the overwhelming support from the home crowd still seeped into Shulong's helmet, making him feel a bit excited for a moment.

"Wow, guys, did you see that?"

"Yes, yes! We're right there! Trust me, the heat here is much stronger than where you are!"

"Hopefully this won't put too much pressure on you guys, haha! So are we sure we're not going to follow? They've already gotten into the station!"

"It's too late. If we go into the station now, we'll just get stuck in the same back-and-forth situation we just encountered. Luckily, there's a long stretch of clean air right in front of you right now. We're thinking about whether we should make the most of it."

"So that's why you suddenly made me start charging?"

"Umm, not entirely. I'm mainly worried about Max's next move."

Hamelin gave a slightly embarrassed dry laugh. The instruction he had just received had directly caused Shulong to lose the position he had worked so hard to secure. He was afraid that once the TR segment was released, he would be carried into the neighboring Songhe Garden by the angry fans as soon as the race ended.

Fortunately, plans often change, and they still have a chance to salvage the situation.

"It might be just right for us now, so how do you feel about the condition of this white tire?"

"Not bad, there's plenty of leeway. If we conserve a little, I think we can finish with a single stop." "Albon's feedback to the team is similar, but we can't afford to stop anymore. Towards the end of the race, the yellow tires are expected to be one to two seconds faster per lap than the white tires, and we can't hold on for that remaining time!"

This race, as it stands now, has very clearly demonstrated a well-known and cold reality within the paddock: in F1 racing, the car's influence on the race outcome is far greater than the driver's own ability.

While the front-row rovers may be fast, even a powerhouse like Mercedes has to face the predicament of tire issues in order to ensure its absolute competitive advantage from the qualifying stage.

For cars like Toro Rosso, the overall character of the car means that the speed ceiling is not that high, but the car's excellent balance allows them to maintain the strategic initiative throughout the long distances of the race.

It's fair to say that if Shu Long hadn't set his original goals so high, and had only aimed to finish the race in his current position to secure points, or had been slightly more aggressive and tried to take on Red Bull, then this race could have been very easy for him.

When it's time to stop, just pull into the station, and once that's done, keep the tire in place and keep going until the end. In any case, the result won't be worse than a P7.

But since you aspire to reach the podium, it's only right to rack your brains and put in more effort.

"Our engine temperature is holding up very well right now. Preset mode: Mode 4, STRAT 3. Let's try pushing it all out with SOC 5 for the first three laps!"

"OK, copy!"

The pre-race plan has finally gotten back on track, and Shulong, who had been feeling stifled for so long, now finally has the chance to loosen up a bit and run at his own pace. But before that...
"There's something I need to mention. About five laps ago, my water stopped flowing. I don't know if the pipe is blocked or the tank is empty. Could you guys check it for me?"

"Okay, you focus on making progress, we'll keep an eye on it."

About thirty seconds later, Hamelin finally responded.

"There's nothing wrong with the display here. I guess the tube might have been shaken loose. Just bear with it, buddy, victory is just ahead."

"Uh ok."

Actually, Shu Long didn't really want to drink that much; his need for water during the competition was not high.

The race-spec Red Bull in the bottle, specially formulated by the team's nutritionist, tastes even better than commercially available Olympic-grade Red Bull when served at room temperature or chilled.

But once it's been baked by the high temperature inside the race car, this sour sugar water becomes cloyingly sweet!
Now that he wants to drink, he just intends to use his metabolic system to evaporate some of the five kilograms of liquid through sweat. Who knows, in the end, he might just rely on this slight advantage of being lightweight?

Of course, judging from the 1:36.433 displayed on the steering wheel after the next lap, this effect is mostly psychological.

"Can you go faster? You're not leading Ferrari by much right now, and you might be overtaken once their tires warm up. We need to make sure you don't become at a disadvantage because you pit late!"

"Of course. But you should at least tell me how much longer you need to drive with this set of white tires, so I can plan the remaining tire allowance."

"Our yellow tires will probably still be new around three laps, which will ensure that we can push forward at full speed without having to worry about maintaining the tires during the fourteen laps."

"learn!"

“One more thing! Hamilton is two seconds behind you, Bottas is four seconds behind you. Don’t compete with them. We’re not direct rivals.”

"I know, I know, I'm perfectly calm right now!"

For the same reason, last time it was to make way for Verstappen, which is why Shulong had objections.

But this time, the gap between Mercedes and their cars was visibly large. What seemed like a two-second difference was caught up in just over a lap. Shu Long obediently let both of them pass, and even managed to borrow a few DRS segments from each of them.

Crossing the finish line once again, Shu Long glanced at his time on the dashboard: 1:36.072
"Isn't that enough?"

"Yes, Vettel is 0.2 seconds ahead of you. I suggest using cornering combination preset 2 to wear down all your tires! We'll pit on the next lap, repeat, we'll pit this lap!"

"Copy!"

Using up all the tires is an art, though it's mostly an exaggerated rhetorical device. After all, sometimes using up all the tires too early can affect the rhythm of the second half of a lap. It's not that pushing to the limit the whole time is always the best approach.

But to put it bluntly, on this track, there is probably no one else who knows his tires better than Shu Long.

Throughout the combination of corners 1, 2, and 3, the Red Bull's overall slip angle was even squeezed to 7 degrees by the Shulong, making the car's posture easily understandable to even an amateur car enthusiast.

This is where Shulong's adjustments to the driving style are most obvious, and it is also one of the places on the Shanghai International Circuit where the lap time is most significantly affected.

The low-speed hairpin bends, high-speed corners, and long straights that follow place even stricter demands on the overall performance of the race car, but this iconic combination of corners is precisely where the driver's experience and skills are most tested.

Since there was no finish line crossing on this lap, no valid final result can be seen. However, after a standard tire change, Shu Long's first head-on opponent upon exiting the pits was Leclerc.

"Hello, Ciel! Did you miss me?"

"Max is already ahead of him. Hurry up and get past him. His gearbox is faulty; he can't shift into low gears!"

"OK, copy! Hopefully, this is the result of my previous efforts!"

This was a fatal weakness for Ferrari. Knowing this, Shu Long did not rush and waited until the heavy braking zone before Turn 14 on the same lap before making a turn and merging into the inside line.

Without the engine braking provided by second gear, Leclerc had to brake slightly earlier, and the lack of torque in third gear at low speeds made him feel sluggish when exiting corners.

"Ciao!"

With almost no effort, Shulong pulled ahead of Leclerc by 0.7 seconds as soon as he exited the corner, and after the next combination corner, he directly left his opponent out of DRS range. He could even see the Red Bull's rear end, which was already fighting with Vettel, ahead of him.

If anyone were lucky enough to get a glimpse of Shu Long from inside this helmet, they could probably sense a chilling, bloodthirsty aura emanating from the corners of his rather delicate eyes.

Whether you're a horse or a cow, once we catch you, we'll gnaw a piece of meat off your ass!

　Today is Mother's Day, so I won't have time to write an extra chapter, but I can finally take some time to catch up on the list of thank-you notes for the monthly votes.

　　Help! This is a huge undertaking...

　　感谢沅陵若风、冏卡卡冏、书友20220421162152795、你在他的瞳孔中独自消了魂、抄录者mars、陈述_0707、狠活是杀不死的、星海starry、雪冰我想你了、一个学术宅、懒散的柚子、火系宝可梦大师、Otto996、240803、杨城桑少、评论大聪明、冷傲夏欢、尼禄暴风、书友20170919105529536、暗尘lan投、天三地八、包包的家、书友20190731222429080、埋葬在花海的猫、凛然音华、Ecstasy、aze、大江东去、、、栋、藏因、书友20221004074621872、无尽的苍茫大佬们投喂的月票！

　　Thank you to Jinling Yongzhe, Dajiang Dongqu, Nizhu Wagou, Xingzhe Zuomeng 739, Ffortress, Xingran Fuyun, and F1 Racing Game King for their generous donations!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)