F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 141 Crack
It wasn't until Shulong was almost finished with his return lap that Hamelin told him that he was now carrying out an investigation.

Perhaps still traumatized by Vettel's last card-swapping stunt, the investigation into the orange exclamation mark remained fruitless until Shu Long parked his car in front of the P1 sign.

"There shouldn't be any problems now, we're P1!"

Only after hearing this did Shu Long begin to unfasten the equipment on the race car, slowly climb out, and stand on top of the Little Red Bull race car.

Through the helmet visor, he gazed at the Red Bull pit garage behind the layers of people, swung his fists a few times in that direction, and then jumped off the top of the race car.

He first grabbed Max's forearm as he came out of the race car, and then bumped fists with Vettel, who arrived late and somehow managed to catch up to the podium.

They had just had a direct confrontation on the track. Shu Long and Verstappen simply exchanged a glance before awkwardly looking away, and there was no further communication between them.

Uncle Tilted Head seemed to be in a really good mood this time, smiling and patting Shu Long on the shoulder twice to congratulate him.
Starting from the back of the pack, he managed to overtake everyone in the rain and reach the podium, without making any unforced mistakes throughout the race, which proves that he is still as sharp as ever.

Moreover, the last record of a Toro Rosso champion stepping on a Red Bull's head to win the championship was set by Vettel himself, and Shu Long's performance now further proves that he did not misjudge him from the beginning.

After dealing with these polite exchanges, Shu Long turned around, took two quick steps, leaped up, and tumbled into the human wall formed by the Little Red Bull car crew members.

But he soon regretted it.

Aside from countless hands patting his helmet, shoulders, and back, Shu Long, who suddenly stiffened, quickly broke free from the crowd and shook off several groping hands that were twisting his buttocks.

After joking and playing around with the team for a while, Shu Long suddenly seemed to remember something and turned around to record his weight.

He took off his helmet and other miscellaneous equipment, placed them on the small table prepared for him, grabbed the bottle of water on the table and gulped it down in a few mouthfuls, then smoothed his hair and stood in front of the host.

Today's post-race interviewer is from Sky Sports, Martin Brundl, who was also an F1 driver and a Le Mans 24 Hours champion.

The person in charge of the interview and interaction with Shu Long after the event was also this person. They often met in the hunting grounds, so the two were not that unfamiliar with each other.

The process was similar to the last time; Brendel immediately began praising Shulong profusely.

"What a match! What a match! My God! Congratulations, Shu, your performance today was absolutely championship-caliber!"

Shu Long felt a little embarrassed by his flattery, so he simply stepped forward and shook hands with the other person without saying anything more.

“We know that there were many very complicated situations in today’s match, but you did not make a single mistake and showed a dominant speed throughout. You may very well be able to lift your first championship trophy at the age of 19 years and 94 days!”

Aside from this intriguing "possibility," Brendel's earlier lines sounded quite normal until later, when they inexplicably veered off course and focused on Verstappen.

"Undoubtedly, winning a championship trophy at this age is a remarkable achievement, breaking Vettel's record for the youngest player to win a title. However, it's a pity that you missed Max's record of 18 years and 228 days. Did you feel any resentment?"

Halfway through the conversation, Shu Long's brows furrowed slightly, but he quickly organized his thoughts.

"I don't think there's anything to regret. Racing is a sport where the outcome is full of chance, given that there are many inevitabilities."

"And I think I have proven today that I am fully capable of winning the championship, and I also have the opportunity to drive a race car that is quite competitive."

This has nothing to do with age. Max had the ability to win, so he seized the opportunity when it came. My opportunity came today, and my ability allowed me to seize it as well.

Brendel nodded in agreement, then immediately unfolded a map of the Yan state.

"A very well said! However, we also noticed that you and Max seemed to have had a minor disagreement on the last lap. What do you think?"

"That's what competition is all about."

Shu Long shut down the discussion with a single sentence, politely nodding to the "microphone" man, but resolutely ending a topic that was clearly a trap.

Shortly after he turned around, he vaguely caught Brendel congratulating Vestapan as usual before immediately steering the conversation back to Shulong's controversial last act.

Verstappen wasn't keen on answering the question either; if he were in Shulong's position, he would most likely have made the same choice.

In the same game at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, he also forced his way into Leclerc's paint in a similar manner to Shu Long in the final stages of the game, and pushed Leclerc out after making tire contact with him.

Even after that match, it was this same Brundl who was responsible for the interviews, and he was trying to stir up trouble between Leclerc and Verstappen in the same way.

Although being treated the same way was unpleasant, Vestager had no intention of being used as a pawn in this situation, and simply copied Shu Long's answer verbatim.

"That's the game, yes! We might discuss the specifics after the game, but I don't want to talk about it anymore right now."

With these two interview killers disrupting things, Brendel's hastily prepared script was almost entirely rendered useless, and the rest of the process was rushed.

Shu Long didn't rush back to the small dark room behind the podium. Instead, he went to find Albon, who was weighing himself, to congratulate him and thank him for his tight defense against Hamilton during the race.

Although the final result may not seem to have had any effect on Shulong, the sentiment behind this action was genuine and unbiased.

Of course, Alben's performance today was also really good.

Even though Ferrari, which was trailing behind with yellow flags all the way, overtook him at the last moment, he took advantage of Vettel's overtaking Stroll to improve his time to P4, which was just one step away from the podium.

When Shu Long returned, Viter and Verstappen had been discussing the replay of Shu Long's final scene in the small dark room for quite a while, and they immediately stopped when they saw Shu Long.

Verstappen, the victim, breathed a sigh of relief, muttering that he didn't want to comment anymore. On the contrary, Vettel secretly gave Shulong a thumbs up under his arm.

They had done similar things before in their previous competitive careers, sometimes getting penalized and sometimes not.

When it comes to the crucial moment of competing for the championship, what kind of driver are you if you don't have any temper?

But regardless of whether this action is right or wrong, it doesn't diminish Uncle Waitou's optimism about Shulong.

How can you compete for the championship if you don't dare to be ruthless on the track? Is there any world champion who isn't ruthless?
Even Kimi, who has the best reputation, do you think he'll hesitate when it's time to make a move?

The awards ceremony was not interrupted by any unexpected events. For the first time in F1 racing history, the national anthem was played not because it was the home race of the Shanghai International Circuit. Shu Long felt a warm lump in his throat until the champagne was sprayed.

The only slight pity was that there were relatively few supporters from China at the scene. In the vast field of vision, almost all the fans were Ferrari fans wearing red hats, and another large group was Verstappen fans wearing orange hats.

Of course, there was also something that made Shu Long somewhat gratified: among the few support groups waving the five-star red flag, there were quite a few blond-haired, blue-eyed white foreigners.

Regardless of race or nationality, it seems that Shu Long has unknowingly won over many fans who simply love racing with his pure skill.

The podium erupted in cheers, and the cameras captured Horner looking up with a smile, but his slightly unfocused gaze betrayed his absent-mindedness and apparent contemplation. Horner wasn't actually disappointed with today's result; in fact, Shu Long's performance had given him more room to maneuver between the Thai and Austrian teams.

Horner's phone vibrated a few times in his pocket at an inopportune moment. Noticing that there seemed to be cameras pointing at them, he didn't make a sound until after the awards ceremony ended, when he took the opportunity to go to the bathroom to take a look.

Back in the pit room, Horner looked around and, seeing no sign of Marco, quickly gathered a few engineers to collect evidence from the match. They were preparing to file a complaint against Shulong's excessive defensive action.

Horner handed the matter over to others and tidied up his appearance. The media also conducted post-race interviews with team spokespeople.

Just like Verstappen, Horner, standing on Red Bull's side, did not comment on Shu Long's behavior during the match in front of the media, but only stated that he would abide by the tournament's decision.

Another crucial point is that, taking this opportunity to speak out, Horner reiterated that they will not make any decisions to change drivers before the end of the season.

Gasly's performance in this game was nothing short of disastrous.

During practice, he lost his balance and crashed while trying to set the fastest lap because he couldn't adapt to Red Bull's new setup based on Verstappen's instructions.

Although his qualifying ranking looked pretty good, he was still nearly 0.6 laps behind Verstappen.

During the race, he was a complete mess. His driving on the wet track was not competitive at all. Even though he was initially affected by Verstappen's own mistakes, it is an undeniable fact that Gasly, driving a Red Bull, unknowingly fell behind the two Williams cars at one point.

Finally, he managed to catch up with the lead thanks to improved track conditions and the yellow flag, but then his own mistake completely ruined the race.

In contrast, Albon of Toro Rosso nearly made it to the podium, while Williams' Kubica managed to finish in the top ten thanks to Gasly's retirement, ending the team's points drought this year.

If this were Red Bull's old style, Gasly would have been carried off the court, chair and all. Back in 16, Kvyat was demoted back to Toro Rosso after only four games.

Just as Horner was still guaranteeing Gasly's place in front of the media, Shu Long had just taken off his racing suit and sat in the ice water bathtub.

While Hamelin was chatting with Albon about today's race, Hamelin and Tost suddenly pushed open the door to the room, startling the two drivers, whose cheeks were trembling from the cold, and made them shiver again.

"What the? Wasn't the celebration supposed to be later?"

"No, that's not it! The post-match press conference has been postponed. The tournament officials need to see you at seven o'clock. The investigation into what happened during the match will be decided after further discussion!"

After taking a shower and changing his clothes, Shu Long, accompanied by Tost, arrived at the entrance of the event director's office. Verstappen was then led over by Horner, looking completely bewildered.

A noisy argument was still coming from inside the house, which was separated by a door. The two Red Bulls, which belonged to the same family, were clearly separated on either side of the door. After a while, the elderly Marco finally arrived, panting heavily.

Unfortunately, before either of them could speak, the door to the race steward's office was suddenly pulled open from the inside, and a person came out and summoned the heads and drivers of the two teams inside.

"what happened?"

Faced with Alonso's questioning, Marco was speechless for a moment.

"I swear I don't know! We've been together the whole time since the competition ended!"

Alonso knew it was the race stewards' decision, and there was no point in taking it out on the old man.

After calming down a bit, he stopped talking and stood with Marco on either side of the increasingly cold and hard corridor, quietly waiting for the final verdict.

On a more optimistic note, Verstappen was also called in for the same match in Austria, but the final conclusion was that the collision was not against the rules, and he was able to retain the championship trophy at that home stadium.

After waiting for about half an hour, the office door opened again. The first two people to come out, Verstappen and Shu Long, both had blank faces, and it was impossible to tell which side the final result favored.

"How about it?"

Upon seeing that it was his own manager, Shu Long merely curled the corners of his tightly pursed lips slightly upwards before quickly letting them fall back down, his lips pursed even more tightly than before.

What does that mean? Did he chuckle? Does it mean the result was pretty good?
Alonso was about to ask again for clarification when he noticed his driver staring silently at the old man, Marco, for a while. Marco opened his mouth but said nothing, nodded, and then turned and left.

Not long after.

Shu Long returned with the puma head holding the number "1" in its mouth. Surrounded by a large group of reporters with cameras clicking away, he handed the trophy to Verstappen, whose expression was not very pleasant either.

He didn't take back the trophy with the "2" on it, nor did he attend the subsequent press conference. He simply packed his things and left the paddock without looking back.

Verstappen also missed the post-race press conference reserved for the three drivers on the podium, leaving Vettel, who already knew what was going on, sitting alone on the sofa with a wry smile.

The final edition of the German Grand Prix, which was originally quite spectacular, ended abruptly in a somewhat comical manner.

The penalty was simple: a five-second penalty. Just 0.024 seconds short of being moved behind Vettel and down to third place.

The tournament officials faced considerable pressure to make this ruling. As the initiator of the Chinese market, which the FIA ​​is eager to develop, it's easy to imagine how much criticism they would have to bear for refusing to award their only title.

Unfortunately, the replay was just too clear.

The reason why Shulong's judgment this time was different from Verstappen's was because Verstappen was just making a normal overtaking maneuver before the collision, and his steering wheel angle was no different from his usual cornering angle.

Shu Long's steering wheel angle before entering the corner was less than 50 degrees. Given that the tires did not obviously lock up and lose control, it can be basically concluded that Shu Long deliberately avoided entering the corner, especially considering the narrow, sharp angle of the sixth turn.

Shu Long did not object to this at the time, as he did not want his first championship to be won through sophistry and controversy.

Regardless of the truth, the news immediately caused a huge uproar in China.

Not only in China, but also on mainstream social media platforms abroad, many people are angrily criticizing the event organizers and the FIA ​​for being inhumane. Many say that Verstappen is the FIA's favorite son and a nepotism case, and that the same rules applied to him are treated as double standards and exceptions.

Many people are also angrily criticizing Red Bull, even attacking their own champions! What else wouldn't they do?
But not many people would kick someone when they're down.

Perhaps Shu Long's final move cost him the championship, but considering his overall performance throughout the competition, no one on the field deserved the title more than him.

Many people have advised Shulong to quickly leave Red Bull, such a terrible place. With such capabilities, what team can't he go to?

At this critical juncture, Shu Long has maintained a relatively silent stance, making it difficult for Marco, who wanted to talk to him, to find an opportunity to approach him.

The old man is now genuinely panicking, and what's even more alarming is yet to come.

Before Haas's Steiner could even try to poach players, Mercedes' team principal and owner Toto seemed very dissatisfied with the team's performance at their last home race. It's unclear whether he genuinely had some thoughts about changing drivers or simply wanted to use this as a way to intimidate the two drivers in the team, including Hamilton.

Just a few days after the match, Toto contacted Marco via email, expressing his desire to discuss the issue of the dragon-binding contract.
(End of this chapter)