F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 146 The Cruelty of the Racing World

The two spent four days soaking in the factory.

Having a general idea of ​​how to upgrade the Toro Rosso race car and outlining a rough direction for future upgrades, Shu Long and Gasly packed their things and boarded the plane with the team.

Gan Mengning traveled with her mother, Zhang Xin. Shu Long obtained paddock club tickets for the whole family so they could freely enter and exit Spa during the competition week.

My father won't be leaving for another two days. He and his team are still busy helping their son with his new car.

The car I ordered is a Porsche 911 Turbo S (991.2 generation), mainly because I think this car holds its value well, and Porsche has a higher general reputation in terms of prestige.

Shu Long expressed some reservations about this, as he had originally planned to buy an Audi R8 V10 Performance.

The two cars are actually priced similarly, but Shu Long prefers the Audi because it's Iron Man's car, and his current paddock agent, Alonso, looks remarkably like Tony Stark, so he feels that driving the Audi would be particularly funny.

But there was nothing he could do. Shu Xiong's eyes revealed nothing but his love for the Porsche. Since it was a gift from his father, he might as well let him have his way.

At worst, I can just buy myself an Audi R8 ticket after this year's driver earnings are settled.

Originally, I just chose a regular matte black color, but when I submitted the materials to Porsche, they discovered my identity as Shu Long and asked if I wanted a special custom version.

Not only can you customize the color scheme and paint, but you can also customize and upgrade the performance.

In addition to these, Porsche also offered a special discount in consideration of Shu Long's status as an F1 driver, his current level of performance in the paddock, and his brand influence. They stated that they could not only reduce the base price of the car, but also cover a significant portion of the cost of performance upgrade kits.

The key point is that there is no need to wait in line. Porsche says they can deliver the car within six months, which is expected to be around three to four months.

This is quite good; it's one of the few things that have gone relatively smoothly for Shulong during this period.

As for the others...
Even after boarding the plane, Shu Long and Gasly were still deeply troubled by the upgrades to the new car.

It's not that Albon deliberately set them up. The mid-season relocation was unplanned, and Albon certainly didn't want his car to lose its competitiveness in the second half of the season.

Judging from the experience of Shu Long and Gasly running the simulator, Toro Rosso does not seem to have solved the high drag problem under the new fore and aft wing regulations this year.

In addition, Spa-Francorchamps is a high-speed track known for putting a lot of stress on engines, so the impact was significant. No matter how hard they tried, Toro Rosso's lap time was about one and a half to two seconds slower than the same period last year.

The one and a half second slower is Shulong, and the one two seconds slower is Gasly.

That's a bit of an exaggeration.

Fortunately, this problem is common to most teams. Gasly was just demoted from Red Bull. Before leaving, he had done the corresponding upgrade tests on the simulator there. Red Bull was about a second slower than last year.

As for the specifics of its competitiveness, we'll have to test it out on the track to find out.

However, what troubled them even more was something else entirely.

The two were blocked by fans as soon as they got off the plane, and then they were blocked again when they entered the paddock. On Thursday's media day, they were so blocked that they could hardly move.

It's not surprising, given that Red Bull's mid-season reshuffle was truly explosive, especially the choices they made, which were quite difficult to understand.

Red Bull's major reshuffling isn't particularly surprising; what is surprising is their decision to promote Albon. To many fans, this is just as bizarre as demoting Verstappen back to Toro Rosso.

So it wasn't just Shulong and Gasly; Alben, Horner, Marco, and even Verstappen, who tried to stay out of it, were all the focus of attention this weekend, bombarded by microphones and cameras.

The previous few are relatively easy to understand, since they were all directly involved in this major reshuffle. However, Verstappen was also repeatedly questioned not only because they wanted to know who he thought was the most suitable driver for the Red Bull seat, but also because of his own reputation.

Besides a significant number of fans who have been won over, Verstappen is also one of the most verbally attacked drivers in the paddock.

Being recognized for talent and ability is one thing, but being liked or disliked is another.

Verstappen's emergence was too abrupt. His rapid advancement in the racing world left the paddock unprepared to accept him. In addition, his aggressive driving style clashed with many veteran drivers in the paddock, which offended a considerable number of their fans.

Considering the German Grand Prix before the summer break, it seems that a considerable number of people in the paddock believe that Shu Long was not promoted to Red Bull this time because Verstappen was afraid of the competition.

However, Verstappen himself didn't seem to care much about these developments. Red Bull's internal PR team had already issued a press release on the matter, which all he needed to do was read it over and over again.

However, when asked who is the most suitable candidate for the Red Bull seat, Verstappen added a personal opinion, saying, "I think the most capable drivers should be recognized more."

When the reporter pressed him again, asking, "Do you mean Albon is more capable?", Verstappen simply responded with a cryptic grin.

Who exactly said he has low emotional intelligence?
Shu Long, on the other hand, tried to avoid media attention as much as possible. Red Bull also gave him special permission to minimize media activities during the recent Grand Prix events, as they were afraid that Shu Long might lose his temper and say something particularly explosive.

But while they can keep the dragon's mouth shut, Alonso can't.

These past few days, Brother Tou has really taken his sarcastic remarks to the extreme. He doesn't explicitly say anything about Red Bull, but after just a couple of sentences, you can tell he's subtly alluding to someone by quoting classical texts.

Of course, all of these things were expected before coming to the hunting grounds, and Shu Long had already made mental preparations in advance. He was not provoked too much by the reporters.

Both Shu Long and Gasly are focused on this weekend's match. As former players abandoned by their superiors, their most pressing need is to prove them wrong with their performance.

It's just a Red Bull, if you don't want to go, you don't have to go.

But as long as we sit in this little Red Bull for a day, you big Red Bull should be prepared to be interrogated by the media and the public at any time.

For this reason, Gasly even gave their duo a name in private: "The Avengers".

Good, good, now the buffs and elements are all there.

As a result, he ran one out of three practice races.
Toro Rosso's lap time was third from last out of ten teams; and its long-distance lap time was still third from last!

Spa is not only fast, but its lap distance is also a whopping 7.004km, making it the longest track on the entire calendar and greatly amplifying the disadvantages of Red Bull cars.

That's right, not just Red Bull, but Red Bull's competitiveness in this race was also abysmal among all ten teams.

His lap times were fourth from the bottom, but he did slightly better over long distances, ranking fifth.

Well, it's acceptable.

Gasley and Shulong have joined forces. Regardless of their final ranking, their only goal is to dethrone Red Bull!

After eating something and resting for a while, Shu Long and Gasly were discussing the specific implementation plan for mutual tailgating in the upcoming ranked matches in the P room when team leader Tost suddenly reached behind and patted Shu Long on the shoulder.

"A Sky Sports reporter is waiting for you behind you. Go and say a few words to them."

"I'm busy, I don't want to go, that's all I have to say."

"This is also Red Bull's intention. They need you to make a clear statement that they will not use this as an excuse to bother you again after this."

"Make a statement? Make a statement about whose statement?"

"This is the general direction of the answer. Take a quick look to get a general idea. If you have any questions, you can ask Sarah."

Tost handed Shu Long an A4 sheet of paper containing about twenty questions the media might ask, but Shu Long only glanced at it before letting out a cold laugh.

The new young press officer next to her was getting chills from the laughter and looked rather awkward standing there. "If you don't understand anything, you can ask me."

"No, no, I wasn't targeting you. I've memorized all the answers. Hurry up and deal with this mess."

Have you memorized it?

Sarah quickly took the list and followed. Out of caution, she picked a few items and tentatively asked Shu Long about them. He answered them off the top of his head, and they were almost identical to the answers in the list.

Would you feel it's unfair that some teams weren't selected?
Do you think that Red Bull's decision to promote Albon first was a form of protection for you?
Do you also feel that there is racial discrimination in the paddock?
I thought these questions were boring enough, but Sky Sports actually asked them.

To be honest, Shu Long didn't want to follow the template answer. He might not necessarily want to embarrass Red Bull, but he wanted to annoy the other side to some extent.

Just as he was about to utter some rebellious remarks, the image on the large screen next to him immediately caught Shu Long's full attention.

The screen is currently showing the first round of the F2 race, but the race has been interrupted by a red flag, which appears to indicate a very serious track accident at the Erling Corner.

"Shu, Shu? The question we were talking about earlier..."

"I'm not in the mood to answer that question right now! Didn't you see what happened over there?"

The collision in the footage just now was no ordinary collision. A pink BWT-Arden International first lost control outside the El Roger corner and hit the guardrail, then came to rest on the track before being directly rammed by a Savor Junior car that followed.

The final shot focused on the Savor Junior race car, which was lying upside down on the track. The driver in the overturned car was clearly still moving around and seemed to be alright.

What Shu Long was more concerned about was the completely disintegrated Arden International behind him. Not only was the monocoque completely exposed, but the driver inside was also looking down as if he had completely lost consciousness.

Shu Long's mind went blank. He subconsciously dug his fingers into his hair, only to find that his forehead was already soaked with cold sweat.

As a fellow driver, he could completely empathize with the collision, and his ability to deeply understand other drivers' perspectives made him feel as if he had personally experienced the accident.

Anyone with even a slight understanding of the structure of a race car knows that such a side collision is extremely dangerous for the driver inside.

I stood silently in front of the screen for a while. To protect the privacy of the driver involved in the accident, the broadcasters had even locked out the rankings of the other drivers, so it was impossible to tell who the driver was for the moment.

Pushing aside the microphone that the reporter was still persistently offering, Shu Long turned and ran towards the pit lane of Toro Rosso, where more information could be received and the situation of the two drivers could be determined sooner.

Shu Long is quite familiar with the Arden International team. It was founded by Horner, the current team principal of Red Bull, and is the team where Horner debuted as a Formula One driver.

The racing car that Horner used to start his career was one he personally bought from Marco.

It was precisely because Horner demonstrated exceptional management skills while running the team that Marko personally recruited him to connect with Mateschitz, enabling them to make a bold gamble on Red Bull's entry into F1.

The team is now managed and operated with the help of Horner's father, and its competitiveness is only average. However, Shu Long's interest in it is not because of the team's connection with Red Bull, but mainly because he has a good relationship with Huber in the team.

Shu Long didn't have much interaction with the other young drivers in F2, except for Huber, who was often among the teammates when Zhou Guanyu invited him to play games together.

Games are the best catalyst for conversation among young people today, and over time, the relationships between them become similar to those between classmates in junior and senior high school.

It is not yet known whether the driver who was seriously injured is Huber, but from the moment he saw the accident, Shu Long had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

Gasly, who was in the P room, also noticed the incident. He was now standing blankly in front of the screen, biting his fingernails, just like a pillar, and even his lips were showing signs of turning pale.

"How's it going? Has the race organizers confirmed the drivers' status?"

"I...I don't know. But I suspect the situation might not be good, given this kind of collision."

The race organizers' decision not to resume the race further confirmed the severity of the incident. However, shortly afterward, confirmation came that the driver sitting in the Arden International race car was none other than Antoine Huber, whom they knew.

This is really cruel.

Shu Long and Huber's relationship was merely familiar and fairly good, but upon learning this news, they both felt as if a heavy stone was weighing on their chests.

Now 23 years old, Gasly and Huber have been friends for 14 years, practically like brothers who grew up together, so this incident must have been a heavy blow to him.

"I believe he'll be fine. The safety measures for racing cars are very different now than before."

"Yes, I hope so."

However, they didn't have much time to calm down. The F1 qualifying session proceeded as scheduled, and even after everyone was seated in their cars, no information related to Huber was transmitted back.

Facing such an accident right before the match had some impact on everyone's mentality, especially Gasly, who was almost completely out of sorts throughout the game.

People may easily talk about flooring the accelerator and pushing the limits, but they don't really have a concrete understanding of the dangers of racing.

But now there are living examples right in front of us.

Motorsport is motorsport after all; accidents can happen to anyone. They are ultimately a group of adventurers trying to stand shoulder to shoulder with death.

Shulong managed to get himself to P7 in Q1, but Gasly's first flight circle only placed him in P17. After that, Shulong helped his teammate drag the slipstream twice, and finally managed to pull Gasly into Q2 by just barely scraping the line.

The first quarter had just ended when Shu Long climbed out of the race car, walked over, and tapped Gasly's helmet.

"How are you feeling? Are you still able to manage?"

"I don't know, something's not right with me. I've been hesitant at several oil wells."

"He wouldn't want to see you like this."

"It may take a little time, but don't worry, I'll make sure you get into Q3."

Shu Long stared at Gasly through his goggles for a moment, then offered his hand and they clasped it tightly. He could even feel the slight, spasmodic trembling of Gasly's muscles as he exerted force.

In the first timed lap, Gasly's time was only slightly better than his Q1 lap time, while Shulong was barely in P9, less than 0.01 behind the others, and was at risk of being overturned and eliminated at any time.

This time it was Gasly's turn to create a slipstream for his teammate. He completely gave up his two chances to push forward and forced the dragon to P6, resulting in his own elimination in P15.

Perhaps the only thing to be thankful for is that Alben's final score was P14, also Q2OUT.

But given Gasly's current form, let alone making a comeback against Red Bull to prove himself, it's questionable whether he can even finish the race tomorrow.

Less than an hour and a half after qualifying, news finally came from the hospital that the young driver had unfortunately passed away due to the severity of his injuries.

A very realistic and cruel outcome.

Racing can kill people.

Many people didn't fall asleep until very late that day, and Gasly, with his bloodshot eyes, silently buried his face under the pillow, trying to soothe himself with the warmth of his breath.

The series of bad news dealt him an unimaginable blow, but as he gradually accepted the reality that everything had settled, his previously violently pounding heartbeat slowly calmed down.

The emotion that replaced fear and anxiety was perhaps the determination to carry another dream.

(End of this chapter)