F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 123 Love and Hate, Monte Carlo

Following the Monaco Grand Prix, the organizers and the FIA ​​quickly organized numerous commemorative events to remember this great driver who had a profound impact on Formula 1 motorsport.

In addition, the baseball caps that the drivers and staff usually wear for their respective teams were all replaced with red caps with the word NIKI on them.

The person is gone, but life must go on.

Niki Lauda was a fighter who insisted on getting into a race car even with severe burns all over his body, and he probably hoped to see generation after generation of young drivers inherit his fiery spirit.

The media seemed particularly eager to get information from the drivers about their deep respect for the old man. Whenever the camera focused on someone in the paddock, the conversation invariably revolved around "Niki this, Niki that."

The answers were almost all very similar. Even the Toro Rosso team held a special meeting to set up several templates for these kinds of answers. Of course, if you have had any connection or interaction with Mr. Lauda, ​​you can add some content as appropriate.

At times like these, one cannot afford to lose face; it is better to be mediocre than to offend public sentiment.

In fact, most people's answers were mediocre. It is true that Mr. Lauda and his deeds are well-known in the paddock, but there are very few people who have had direct contact with him.

Most of the people who could speak fluently in front of the camera were older drivers and team leaders. Even the usually taciturn Kimi couldn't help but express many feelings this time.

Hamilton seems to be particularly good at this, and of course, he is currently the only driver in the paddock who has the closest relationship with Niki Lauda.

Shu Long actually has some things to say. For example, he could share the text message Mr. Lauda sent him, or talk about how he almost missed his chance with Mercedes' youth training program back then.

With a little effort, it's actually quite easy to mold Shulong into a leading figure in the paddock who is highly regarded by Lauda and ready to take over his mantle at any time.

The media probably loves this kind of story and would be happy to put it on the front page at this crucial juncture.

This will inevitably bring a lot of attention and commercial value, and may even put pressure on Tai Niu's consideration of replacing drivers to some extent.

Marco did consider it, but only considered it; to actually eat this blood-soaked bun would be truly inhuman.

To outsiders, Marco and Lauda may seem like lifelong rivals, but having fought to this age, these so-called mortal enemies are also close friends who know each other inside and out.

As for Shulong, they never even considered that aspect.

Some emotions buried deep in one's heart are not suitable to be shared. After layers of embellishment, how much of what one says to the media can still be considered one's original thoughts?
A more confident person might think they can retain at least 70%, but from the moment they blurt it out, they've probably already hypnotized themselves into believing it completely.

Shulong did indeed admire legendary drivers like Lauda and Senna for a long time.

What he admires is not just the number of championships represented by these two names, but also the admirable spirit and will they demonstrate in racing.

In his view, defining a driver's achievement is not just about results. If a driver's career is hastily concluded based solely on the number of championships won, it would be too superficial.

Schumacher's seven world championships are indeed admirable, but are Senna and Lauda, ​​who only won three world championships, really not worth mentioning?
What about Alonso, who managed to extract two world championships from Schumacher?

Or perhaps Kimi, who fought his way to the world championship in an era of divine rebirth? And Damon Hill, who carved out a bloody path in the past battles of the gods?

They have fewer world championships, but that doesn't stop them from being equally great drivers.

The title of "racing legend" is not just a synonym for achievement, but also a symbol of the spirit it represents. And to pay tribute to such a spirit, it is definitely not enough to just talk about it.

As a driver, everything ultimately comes down to performance on the track.

Right now, there's no better stage than the Monaco Grand Prix at the Monte Carlo circuit.

The Monaco Grand Prix is ​​an incredibly boring race in the eyes of both spectators and commentators. Basically, after watching the qualifying session, you can announce the results and go to sleep.

However, this track holds a special significance for drivers, and there's even a saying circulating in the racing community: "I'd rather not have a world championship than not have a Monaco Grand Prix."

The Monaco Grand Prix, along with the Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, is known as one of the "three major motorsport events." Its history is even longer than that of Formula 1, making it a motorsport mecca that countless drivers dream of conquering at least once.

Anyone who wins all three of these races will achieve the rare "Triple Crown" honor in motorsport, but unfortunately, only Graham Hill has achieved this so far.

Alonso continues to push himself so hard even after retiring because he wants to once again achieve this miracle in the world of motorsports.

Even though Shulong doesn't dare to hope for the championship on this track yet, he wants to take this opportunity to challenge for the podium again.

Monaco is a tiny country; you could say their land area is as big as the racetrack. If they were to expand even a little, the track would end up in neighboring France.

Since the Monaco Grand Prix was established, the track layout has undergone several changes, but instead of reducing the difficulty of the race, it has become increasingly challenging.

As the most challenging track in the entire calendar, this track is the most demanding test of a driver's skills. In the current hybrid regulations, the increasingly large F1 cars require drivers to have extremely precise control over their vehicles.

Like the rain race, this is also the best test to see a driver's potential.

However, this is also the main reason why the Monaco Grand Prix main event has become increasingly boring.

Shu Long won the F2 race here because he took pole position and easily defended against Leclerc for 25 laps before Leclerc retired due to a left front suspension failure.

They only came in second in the sprint race. Despite having easily defeated their opponents all the way, Shulong was held back by Leclerc for the entire race due to the reverse starting order.

Even F2 cars, which are much smaller than F1 cars, have such difficulty overtaking here, so you can imagine how unrealistic it would be to overtake the car in front in an F1 race.

They can either rely on their initial advantage, or depend on the team's race strategy, or a lucky red flag that directly interferes with the race.

Therefore, ranking is crucial here!
Unless it rains tomorrow, the final results of the qualifying session can almost be considered the final results of tomorrow's race. Unfortunately, the weather forecast shows that tomorrow will be a sunny day.

That's why, even after learning from the previous experience, Toro Rosso didn't choose extra white tires. Instead, they came up with the ultimate solution of two sets of yellow tires and ten sets of red tires.

It wasn't just them; nine out of ten companies in this competition did the same thing.

The rewards received were naturally quite substantial.

Mercedes once again swept first and second place in qualifying. Hamilton's tribute to Lauda was not merely superficial, as he defeated his teammate Bottas with an absolute advantage to win pole position in this race.

Following closely behind was Verstappen, whose car had undergone significant upgrades. His absolute control over the car in low-speed corners secured him a P3 qualifying spot, 0.3 seconds ahead of Vettel. Shu Long ultimately finished just 0.063 seconds behind Vettel, unfortunately placing fifth, while Albon delivered a stellar performance, securing P7.

Besides their strength, Toro Rosso's high starting position this time was also partly due to luck.

First, Ferrari is up to something big again.

Perhaps to create clean track conditions for Vettel? The team allowed Locke to confidently retire after two flying laps in Q1, even though Leclerc repeatedly confirmed in the TR whether his time was safe, the team consistently replied confidently, "No problem."

The results of it?
When Ferrari realized that the rate at which track conditions were evolving made their advancement uncertain, Leclerc could only sit in his car in despair and watch helplessly as he was eliminated in Q1 on home soil.

One of the biggest differences between the Monaco Grand Prix and other circuits is that the qualifying drivers here almost constantly perform flying laps within the time limit to improve their own times.

Because this track has a very short lap length of only 3.337 kilometers, it is also the only track in the entire calendar where the race requires a full 78 laps, but the distance is less than 300 kilometers.

Furthermore, because the average speed of most stages is very low, the overall wear of the tires is not high. Even though the red tire compound is the softest C5 currently available, it can still support the car to perform multiple flying laps.

It can even continuously break lap records.

In addition, the track is extremely congested and traffic conditions are unpredictable, making it difficult for teams to calculate a clean push window. Drivers are left to stay on the track and try their luck lap after lap.

So it's different from other racers who go out on a track to do a flight lap and then return to the pit to fine-tune their cars and wait for the next window.

The qualifying sessions in Monaco often require drivers to race from start to finish, trying to improve their times whenever they have the chance.

Regardless of traffic conditions or the rapid progression of street racing, the very fact that it allows drivers to maintain a hot hand and ensure the quality of their next lap makes it completely unreasonable to keep them sitting in the pit lane.

Ferrari's decision under such circumstances is either incredibly foolish or overly confident; it's simply baffling.

Of course, thanks to them, the Monaco circuit effectively eliminated a competitor for Shulong.

But that's not all the lucky thing.

Gasly and Giovinazzi will be penalized three positions down tomorrow for obstructing Hulkenberg and Grosjean, who were making flying laps, respectively. This means that Albon, who was originally ranked P7 in qualifying, will start in P6 alongside Shulong tomorrow.

It's safe to say that as long as tomorrow's strategy doesn't go wrong, Toro is destined to secure another big win.

While Gasly's penalty relegation may not seem to directly benefit Shulong, it almost completely eliminates the possibility that Shulong will be overturned by the opponent's strategy tomorrow.

The Red Bull racing car's performance advantage is now obvious. In this qualifying session, Gasly was only 0.06 seconds behind Shulong. It's a difference that could be made instantly by just a little more tailwind on the track.

Given Red Bull's outstanding long-distance performance at this point, the consequences would be dire if Gasley were to find a clean window to pit.

Those who had no interest in the glitz and glamour of the Monaco Motor Show soon found themselves facing the second day of the main race.

At the start, Shu Long, starting from the right grid, continued to perform as usual, and managed to get a chance to be on the inside line alongside Vettel before the first right turn.

However, Uncle Wai Tou was prepared for this and did not try to squeeze in with Shu Longsheng. He just left enough space for a race car, and only when entering the first turn did he use the action of entering the turn to squeeze slightly towards the inside line.

Having suffered countless times from being forced to start from a low position, this time the two are facing off directly from the front and back rows. If Vettel is still helpless in this situation, then his four world championships will have been for nothing!
It can be said that ever since the results of yesterday's qualifying race came out, Uncle Wai Tou has been rehearsing in his mind how to withstand Shu Long's completely unreasonable starting speed.

Fortunately, Monaco's narrow track provided Vettel with many additional ideas. With his years of racing experience and understanding of the track layout and race rules, he was able to defuse the dragon's offensive without even having to make any overly aggressive defensive moves.

Yes, Not Bad!

At least it was much more effortless than Lewis's defensive play against Shu Long in the last game!

Uncle Wai Tou was satisfied, but now Shu Long only had two choices: either give way a little here, or cut through the bend from the inside of the pillar at Bend 1.

Of course, there might be a third option: to fire a bomb directly at the side of the Ferrari, causing everyone to perish together.

Vettel, occupying the outside, naturally has an advantage when exiting corners. Shu Long, who already has limited space, will only seriously affect his game rhythm if he chooses to stay inside. If he lets his foot down, he might be easily beaten by Albon, who also has a good start.

This is what makes the Monaco circuit so bad; even though Shulong's starting response is already quite exaggerated, the advantage he can gain is still extremely limited.

Even at the braking zone of Turn 1, the slight advantage that was painstakingly gained earlier can be easily wiped out by the cars behind due to the congestion of the traffic.

Shu Long didn't really have many options. He simply used the space on the outside of the track to cut a corner, and then took the opportunity to let Vettel pass and return the advantage he had illegally gained. He could only maintain the current situation for the time being.

This situation remained almost unchanged until the end of the match.
Several minor incidents occurred during the competition, but no red flag was raised, meaning that Shu Long was not given any chance to make a comeback.

Leclerc suffered a rear tire blowout while attempting to overtake Hulkenberg, and the rapidly spinning tire shattered the floorboards near the rear suspension. Unfortunately, he managed to move the car back on his own, and aside from a brief yellow flag, there was no further incident.

Mercedes replaced Bottas's tires with the wrong ones, but Bottas's lead was too great, and in the end, Verstappen was able to flip him over and make him P2.
Vettel had also wanted to find an opportunity to steal Bottas's position, but the dragon behind him was always eager to make a move, so he had no choice but to give up.

During the race, they learned that Verstappen, busy vying for position with Bottas, forgot to adjust the engine torque from 12 when he entered the pits back to 6.

This thing can't be modified on the track. Verstappen's car was greatly affected when exiting corners in the second half of the race, but that didn't stop him from easily blocking all the cars from Bottas to Gasly behind him.

Outrageous, isn't it? But that's Monaco for you.

When the checkered flag finally fell, their train was more than 50 seconds behind Hamilton in P1. If the race had gone on for a few more laps, Hamilton would have started lapping them.

Finally, what should I say?

Starting at P5 and finishing at P5, this is a barely acceptable result for Shulong.

Given the established qualifying results, he had done everything perfectly in the main competition. Unfortunately, without the unfortunate accident in Monaco, everything would have been decided yesterday.

For Gasly in P7, things weren't so great. He finished the race two cars behind Toro Rosso once again. Although the team will have to take the blame for this penalty, the fact that Albon is almost catching up in the points standings is an urgent reality that he has to face.

Conversely, Albon, in P6, was overjoyed at this moment.

(End of this chapter)