F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 140 The Dragon Returns to the Sea, I'll Do It Without Hesitation! (6K6)

Completely submerged in floodwater, Bottas is now in extremely poor traction and can only watch helplessly as one race car after another poops on his head.

But there was no way around it; the tires had almost no grip left, and even if he wanted to quickly increase the engine speed, it wouldn't be something he could do in a short time.

Fortunately, the loss of position stopped with Hulkenberg. After a series of disastrous drops in position, he managed to hold onto a P4.

Bottas is in a very awkward position right now.

The German Grand Prix is ​​Mercedes' home race. Given Hamilton's series of mistakes, if Bottas can maintain his lead, then for the sake of their reputation, Mercedes is unlikely to ask Bottas to act as a wingman for the number one car again.

But Hamilton is currently in P6 behind the other two. So, should we help him or not?

The team didn't hesitate much on this matter; a simple "Valtley, watch out for Albon behind you" made the meaning quite clear.

From a human perspective, Bottas simply didn't want to heed this team instruction.

He didn't make any major mistakes throughout the race, and Hamilton ruined his own race. Why should his performance be sacrificed to clean up the mess for the team?
However, judging from the current objective reality, this is the most convenient and direct way for Bottas to prove his tactical status and value within the Mercedes team.

It's a sad reality; who told him to be so useless?

It's not fair to say he's not competitive; without personally facing Shu Long on the track, it would be difficult to truly feel the pressure he exudes on the race car from the broadcast footage.

If anyone wants to question his abilities, Bottas could easily dismiss them with a "you do it" response, but the team won't accept such seemingly sophistical excuses.

Even if what he said is actually true.

Not long after the game resumed, Bottas was relieved to find that someone seemed to be even less competitive than him.

Albon behind him had been doing his best to defend Hamilton from the very beginning, and the Toro Rosso's second car, thanks to Bottas's DRS, actually managed to stop Hamilton!
This has put Mercedes in a very awkward situation.

Albon's fundamentals are truly solid. His years of experience in lower-level formula racing have given him a wealth of experience in close-quarters combat. Although he is an older rookie, his style already has the feel of a seasoned veteran on the track.

If Bottas isn't given the authority to attack Hulkenberg ahead, and instead they're just stuck here like this, Albon might actually be entangled with these two Mercedes for a long time.
"Valtellelli, you have five laps to attack the car in front of you. We need you to get out of this situation as soon as possible and do your best to bring back a podium for the team at home."

"Yeahyeah, I know! Copy!"

It must have been tough on the number two driver who had always worked so hard. TR, who was trembling slightly from the bumps in the car, could be faintly heard with a sound that sounded like he was crying.

Even so, you can't say the team was merciful. It's just that Hamilton himself still has an unresolved five-second penalty, so this is the most rational strategic choice under the current circumstances.

The fact that DRS can be activated indicates that the condition of most areas on the track is not that bad at this time.

Apart from the braking area at Turn 6, which was already quite flooded, and the continuous bends from Turn 13 to Turn 17, the flooding in other areas was not as severe.

Bottas may not be as adept at driving in the rain as many other general talents, but given the current road conditions in most areas of the track, it is more than enough for him to fully utilize his abilities as the number two driver for a championship team and the performance of the car.

The race officially restarted on lap 34, Mercedes updated its tactical instructions on lap 37, and Bottas closed to within a second of Hulkenberg on lap 38.

The first DRS reduced the gap between the two cars to 0.3. Eager to succeed, Bottas launched a tentative attack at Turn 3, but the road surface off the racing line was still quite wet, which affected his cornering traction to some extent.

However, in the second DRS zone after Turn 4, Mercedes showed the world what the most obvious difference is between a champion factory team and a mid-table factory team!
The gap of eight car lengths was quickly closed by Bottas, who caught up to run alongside the car. Having faced off for the entire race, Bottas made a decisive inside spin move, and once again braked late at Turn 6, which he had always considered extremely dangerous.

This time, he succeeded.

Hulkenberg's eyes blazed with a burning resentment; the gap between race cars was what made drivers feel most desperate and helpless.

But there are still 26 laps left in the race, it's still raining, and he has DRS, so he still has a chance!

This race has already demonstrated Hulkenberg's talent on many levels, making him second to none. He was already known for his ability to compete in the rain in the lower Formula classes, and his overall performance in this race puts him in the top three.

Among all the drivers who are still in the front row, only he and Shu Long have not made any unforced mistakes so far. In this respect, his performance can even be said to be more outstanding than Verstappen.

If we're talking about who had the strongest obsession with the podium in this race, it would probably be Coach Huo.

It's because he never won a championship or stood on the podium during his career!
Over the past decade, Hulkenberg has gone from a promising new star in the racing world to being valued by Ferrari but then backing out due to Kimi's return, and now with Ricciardo joining the team, even renewing his contract with a mid-table team like Renault has become a problem!
With the podium practically in his grasp, even if the team instructs him to play it safe, Hulkenberg can't just stand by and watch Mercedes snatch the opportunity away.
"We can see that Shulong, who is currently in the lead, is pushing the pace very fast! He is breaking the race's fastest lap record almost every time!"

"He's now practically three seconds ahead of Verstappen! I don't even want to think about what might happen next if nothing unexpected happens!"

"I would dare to think about it, but considering our somewhat sinister reputation on the internet, I'm a little hesitant to say it."

"Let me talk about something else. The track is still in a semi-dry state, and the clean air gives it a huge advantage!"
I'm just a little worried that Shulong might get carried away by the championship and continue pushing like this. Considering the speed at which this track is evolving, I'm concerned about the condition of his tires later on.

Okay, okay, you can't resist adding a "reverse milk" comment at the very end, can you?
Gan Mengning was so nervous that she clenched her fists when she heard what was happening before, but this unexpected turn of events almost made her burst out laughing. Suddenly remembering that she was still wearing the helmet of the dragon-binding armor, she quickly snorted twice and then sucked her nose back down.

July and August are the hottest months in Xiamen. Wearing a big helmet indoors is unbearably stuffy. Even though her little face was flushed from being covered, Gan Mengning was unwilling to take off the helmet. She just reached out and touched the air conditioner remote, which beeped twice and lowered the temperature by two degrees.

Gan Mengning gave the helmet to his girlfriend right after the competition, and he hasn't been willing to wash it. In other words, it's a truly "original" helmet.

It wasn't unpleasant to smell. Apart from the familiar smell of Shulong, there was only a slight smell of sweat. The rest was mostly the smell of the polyester foam and polyester fiber material inside the helmet.

Whenever Gan Mengning wears this helmet while watching a match, she feels as if Shu Long is right beside her, and she naturally hopes to transmit some of her strength to him remotely through this.

But it's still so hot!
How on earth could he wear that thing for so long in the even hotter cockpit during the race?!

"Oh no! A yellow flag! Another yellow flag!"

The sudden howling of the five stars jolted Gan Mengning out of her romantic reverie, which was tinged with a touch of heartache. She quickly sat up straight and went to check the driver lap time rankings on another computer screen.

so far so good!

The yellow bar at the top of the list was still popping up normally, but the dense information made it hard for her to tell who had been in trouble.

Fortunately, the commotion from the five stars quickly reminded Gan Mengning to refocus her attention on the broadcast of the race. She saw a yellow and black T-shaped race car struggling in the sand pit, its front wing nowhere to be seen.

"Huckenberger! Oh dear, what happened to you? What a pity!"

"It's the exact same spot! Turn 16! Leclerc, Hamilton, and so many other drivers have all had problems here."

"Today's death trap! With so many cautionary tales before us, everyone should be very careful here. Judging from Hulkenberg's previous performance, he shouldn't be making the same mistake again, right?"

"Perhaps he was too eager to secure a podium position for himself? Everyone here is being cautious, which means everyone is slow. Maybe Hulkenberg thought this would be an opportunity, so he became a little too confident in himself."

Soon, the replay of the accident was released, and the situation was almost exactly the same as the previous few cars, which seemed to confirm the commentators' claims once again. None of them knew what to say.

"But now Shulong is going to have a headache. All that hard work to create a four-second lead has been wasted with this yellow flag!"

"Should we take advantage of the yellow flag to pit and change the tires? He should still have two sets of new semi-wet tires, and he'll still be in the lead when he leaves the pits. If there's clean air, he'll still have an advantage."

Fei Ge's analysis actually makes a lot of sense, and it's not just about comforting viewers who are still watching the game at this hour.

Since over 60% of the downforce in an aerodynamic car comes from external airflow components such as the front and rear wings, and only about 40% comes from the floor and other parts, dirty air actually has a significant impact on racing cars.

With the gradual improvement of track conditions, the Toro Rosso race car in Shulong should theoretically have such a big advantage over the Red Bull race car. The problem lies in the polluted air.

The track isn't completely dry, and the dirty air significantly affects the downforce of the cars behind, impacting their grip and lap times. This is why Albon hasn't been overtaken by Hamilton yet.

From any perspective, the benefits of Shulong entering the station at this time outweigh the drawbacks.

Just when the commentators were quite certain of their conclusion, Shulong, who was at the very front, seemed reluctant to give up his position and stubbornly refused to leave the track.

"Huh?! Why didn't Shulong enter the station?!"

"They went in, didn't they? There's no way they wouldn't go in under these circumstances!"

"He didn't go in! Look, there aren't any cars behind him. Verstappen and the others just came out!"

"Oh no, this shouldn't be happening." At this crucial moment, the race organizers even cut out the TR footage of Shu Long's confusing behavior. Hamelin informed Shu Long that he could pit on this lap, but Shu Long simply replied: "No!"

The commentators looked at each other, unsure how to defend Shulong. Shulong had been pushing forward almost relentlessly in the previous laps with his semi-wet tires, and they couldn't think of a reason for him not pitting this time.

If they were to lose the championship because of this act of willfulness, they felt that Shulong would be subjected to a barrage of criticism in the domestic media.

However, there must have been reasons why Shu Long made such an unbelievable choice.

In rain races, only the drivers themselves truly understand the grip conditions on the track. The team's strategy can only serve as a reference. Shu Long believes it's safer for the drivers themselves to take control of how to implement it.

It was raining on the track, but the intensity of the rain had gradually decreased compared to the initial heavy downpour.

The distinct colors on the track surface also give a clue. In many places, the racing lines are basically a light gray, which is the color of the track as it dries, while the sides of the racing lines are a relatively dark black, which clearly indicates that there is a lot of water.

Such track conditions are naturally not suitable for using dry tires directly. This can be seen from the fact that Hulkenberg slid off the track while using semi-wet tires. Naturally, all the teams that pitted were changing their drivers into green semi-wet tires.

But what about after a few laps?

【Friction Control】is not just a decorative term. Shu Long naturally has a clearer understanding of the current grip situation than other drivers. He knows that as long as there are cars passing by on the track, it won't be long before the level is sufficient to use dry tires.

Hulkenberg's car was stuck in almost the same spot where Leclerc had gotten stuck earlier. Based on his first experience, Shu Long knew that it would take at least five to six laps with the safety car to clear the wreckage.

That's more than enough for a dry tire!

These ideas couldn't be explicitly stated in the team's communication channel, so Shu Long could only decisively refuse the team's order to pit for a tire change, to avoid having to argue with them any further.

Fortunately, after Shulong's accurate assessment of the dry red tires last time, at least Hamelin on the team side has unconditional trust in Shulong, and he has even vaguely guessed Shulong's plans.

Not only Hamelin, but the strategy teams of other teams also quickly figured out the reason when they learned that Shu Long was still on the track.

However, apart from Red Bull and Stroll, who is the only remaining team in the series, not many people would think this is particularly valuable information.

Not everyone has the ability to zip up lap times. Some people can set lap records on dry tires, while others can still slide like snakes even on wet tires.

In fact, most drivers' feedback to their teams is that the track is still very slippery, and there is no way to change to dry tires.

It's been raining all along, which is obvious to everyone. How quickly the track will evolve is an unknown. The only difference is that some people are betting that the surface will dry out, while others are betting that the semi-wet tires will last a long time.

As expected, after the safety car led the way for lap 43, Shu Long, feeling the time was right, decisively pitted and put on the old red car that he had used in qualifying.

This time, however, after changing tires, Shulong ended up at the back of the convoy.

Stroll also pitted with Shu Long. Even though he had just pitted once on lap 41, he still insisted on getting a set of red tires despite the engineer's advice.

Moreover, because he was eliminated in Q2 of qualifying, his red tires were brand new.

Young Master seems to have already decided that following Shu Long will bring him benefits. F3 was so badly beaten by Shu Long back then, so probably no one believed in Shu Long's abilities more than him.

Verstappen was also interested in switching to red tires, but Red Bull was reluctant to give up the P1 that they had given up so readily. After much deliberation, they finally gave in to Verstappen's nagging and called him in on lap 46.

This can be considered a timely stop-loss, and from Red Bull's perspective, they didn't actually lose money.

Verstappen's Q2 was painted with yellow tires, and there's still some spare material on the new red tires, meaning that the red tires on the Red Bull One car are brand new.

With so many pioneers already taking the plunge, many racing teams are now starting to realize something is wrong and are beginning to recall their drivers to the pit lane.

Only then did the audience gradually understand all the groundwork that Shu Long had laid beforehand, and the overwhelming doubts and ridicule instantly turned into a one-sided chorus of "a divine move!"

In contrast, the two Mercedes cars that were inexplicably and suddenly placed on the podium were also reluctant to give up their leading positions. They were only called back by the team after the race restarted and the drivers repeatedly reported that the track was dry enough to be used.

Hamilton spent even longer in his pit stop to deal with the five-second penalty, and a tire change sent him to the back of the pack.

At this point, both Mercedes-Benz cars were completely out of the running for the title against Shulong. Shulong returned to P1 without a fight, while the young Mercedes-Benz managed to get P2, and Verstappen lost a spot and fell to P3.

While Verstappen was temporarily blocked by Stroll, Shulong quickly extended his lead.

There was no DRS on the first lap, and everyone's tires were cold, so even Verstappen couldn't do much against Stroll for the time being.

By the time he seized the opportunity on the second lap and quickly passed, Shu Long had already regained a two-second lead ahead, making it impossible to tell that he was driving in the rain.

If things had continued as they were, Shulong's championship would have been practically his for the taking. But then, on lap 56, a yellow flag cast doubt on Shulong's chances of winning his first title.

Bottas, who had been steady throughout the race, dropped to P5 after his pit stop, but still managed to overtake back to the podium under the expectant gaze of the entire Mercedes team.

It seemed that as long as he brought home a podium finish at Mercedes' final home race, his place in the standings would be practically guaranteed. However, he made almost the same mistake at Turn 1 as Perez, who was eliminated at the start of the race.

The overly aggressive kerb caused the car to spin in place, crashing into a mangled mess on either side of the track where it was symmetrically opposite Perez. Toto was so angry that he cursed loudly in the pit lane.

Shu Long was nearly breached, but he managed to stay calm.

It's okay, at least he still has the advantage of being in the lead. Even if the race restarts, he's confident that no one can beat his start!
The race only restarted on lap 61. Gasly's attempt to overtake Albon backfired, destroying his own front wing. The broken carbon fiber punctured the car's front tire on the spot.

Another yellow flag!
Gasly was in such a hurry that he didn't want to finish behind Albon again, but inadvertently he played the role that the Red Bull No. 2 car should have played very well.

If Gasly had gotten stuck like the others, the race could very well have ended with Shulong snatching the championship with the safety car.

Unfortunately, Gasly himself moved the car into the safety lane, and this time the yellow flag wasn't very long, and even the virtual safety car was quickly removed.

However, Shulong's tires, which were already three times older than Verstappen's, were completely disrupted by the repeated yellow flags, and his position was now in grave danger.

But there are only three laps left in the race, so we have to hold on no matter what!
At this moment, even the commentators held their breath again, feeling as if they had returned to the final moments of last year's Brazil Grand Prix, and dared not say another word.

On lap 62, without the help of DRS, Shulong was not having too much trouble blocking Verstappen.

On lap 63, Verstappen attempted to use the second DRS to attack Shulong, but was forced to the inside by Shulong's defensive maneuver, barely managing to maintain his advantage for the lap.

But on the final lap, 64, the DRS advantage in the second segment was too obvious. The end of the track couldn't even be called a pull-up, and Verstappen simply used his speed, which was close to the dry track, to overtake it.

Shu Long's slightly narrowed eyes were tinged with crimson, and the surge of adrenaline made his fingertips sting slightly. Yet, his mind seemed to have entered another pure white world, eerily silent.

He turned around and went to the inside, right where Verstappen had failed before. Following the two gray-white tracks that the Red Bull had cleared on the previous lap, he slammed on his brakes late and forcefully earned himself another chance to run alongside.

However, Verstappen already has an advantage exiting corners on the outside, and if he continues like this, he will inevitably be overtaken.

Shulong simply stopped trying to enter the bend and instead used his tires to keep close to Verstappen's tires all the way, managing to force Verstappen off the track.

It wasn't until he was almost four wheels past the edge of the track that he started to find his way again, shifted into third gear to lock the wildly spinning tires, and sped away.

Until the finish line!

Along with the black and white checkered flag, a small orange exclamation mark suddenly appeared next to Shu Long's name.

However, the top spot was already locked in for Shulong, and no one cared about these minor details; they just wanted to celebrate their victory!
"Fxck! Fxck! Go fxck off!!"

As if all the pent-up emotions had finally burst forth, Shulong, who had been holding back all the way to the finish line, roared loudly in the team's TR.

Who cares who it is, anything that stands in my way to winning the championship can get the hell out of my way!

The other side of TR was also in a frenzy, with both sides yelling into their microphones, making it impossible for anyone to understand what the other was saying.

What rules? What connections?

Red Bull's rule is that whoever is stronger has the final say, and Red Bull's relationships are based on strength.

After begging for ages, who would want a Red Bull wingman position?
They're here to dethrone you from your number one position!
(End of this chapter)