F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 147 The Avengers (6K2)

"Are you scared?"

A message suddenly popped up on his phone. Shu Long, who was still looking at the news about Huber's accident earlier that day, paused for a moment, hesitating whether to pretend he was already asleep.

He was also unable to sleep that night. He felt neither sad nor upset, and couldn't quite describe what he was feeling. He just felt a tightness in his chest and desperately needed something to vent his emotions.

Stubbornly flipping through the monotonous accident reports, as if naively hoping to see a story about a doctor misjudging Huber's death and bringing him back to life.

Even though I know in my heart that it's impossible, the thumb that's swiping the screen always seems to have its own ideas.

He only managed a P8 finish in qualifying during the day. Besides the limitations of the car's performance itself, he could sense that he was also hesitant.

Shu Long's driving style used to be to recklessly straddle the boundary called the limit, and to enjoy the ambiguous feeling of the tires touching and not touching, like the tip of a tongue teasing the goosebumps on his neck.

Then, I'll tear apart the stockings of speed called risk with my own hands, and brutally ravage the performance of the race car on the bed.

The boundary line that represents the limit is still clear in Shulong's perception, but he suddenly seems to be fighting between his conscience and his beastly nature. He stands in front of the bed, hesitating whether to go further and enjoy the pleasure of violence, or to put on a gentle face and cherish her.

Before leaving the P room, he caught a glimpse of his parents in the corner of the room and also made eye contact with his girlfriend who seemed hesitant to speak in the crowd. Shu Long saw the lingering fear and worry in her eyes.

Even after he returned to motohome and lay down, he tried his best to control his mind and not imagine what kind of expressions everyone would have on their faces if he were the one being carried off the race car today.
But from the moment he realized he might have such thoughts, the control of his brain was no longer in Shu Long's own hands, and he still inevitably imagined such a scenario.

how to say?

Although this idea might be a bit irresponsible, Shu Long secretly felt a little smug.

Do you think he was looking at Huber's news to find a reason to back down?

No, no, no, he was just trying his best to use realistic words to free himself from his immersion in the whole accident.

This might be some kind of peculiar self-protection mechanism, which he had already discovered during the daytime qualifying matches—that he seemed to be developing a self-destructive tendency.

Gasly hesitated at the oil depot, while Shulong did the opposite.

The sensation of pushing the limits of grip made his spine itch, and he even felt an urge to try and see what it felt like to break those limits, even if it meant crashing into the car and being smashed to pieces.

Brothers who have fought in wars know that when people are in a state of excessive nervous tension, some people will break down and retreat, while others will have a fighting altruistic impulse of self-sacrifice.

The typical reaction is high spirits, a surge in fighting power, and then fearlessness in the face of death.

Huber's accident did not make him want to back down or seek stability. On the contrary, he was eager to get himself involved to prove that this was wrong. From the initial loss of control to the subsequent collision and Huber's death, everything was wrong!

However, in the end, Shu Long backed down. His rationality was fighting against his instincts. He wasn't afraid of racing itself; he was afraid of himself.
"Not afraid."

After sending those two words, the other party immediately sent a video call invitation. With a smile, he clicked to accept, and Gan Mengning's tearful face immediately appeared on the screen.

"But I'm scared! Can you please not push yourself so hard? Do you know how much my heart almost stopped when I saw the rear of your Q3 suddenly sway? I can't even breathe right now!"

“good good”

This is strange. Shouldn't I be the one needing psychological counseling? Why does it seem like the opposite is true?

He made a bunch of promises that even he didn't believe, and it took a lot of effort to calm the girl down. He made a pinky promise with her through the screen, and only reluctantly put down his phone when he saw that it was getting late.

After a slight hesitation, I ultimately decided not to send a separate message to my parents.

Because no matter what guarantees he makes, Shu Long feels that the choices he makes often go against his family's expectations.

I'm so sorry, but I think I've gone mad. I've been mad ever since I got into racing at the age of seven.

There may be many interesting things in life, but this one truly thrilling thing seems to be all I know. And I may have long since become accustomed to the pounding of my heart, addicted to the poison called adrenaline.

Shu Long didn't know how he fell asleep last night. He only knew that when he opened his eyes again in a daze, a long-lost entry was highlighted in red on the panel.

[Neural reflexes, recruitment speed: 100%] => [Body control]

Hmm. It seems to be a Buddhist saying.

After glancing at the description of the entry, there was nothing particularly difficult to understand. It simply meant that once the entry reached 100% unlocking progress, it would solidify his reaction ability and physical control at the theoretical limits of human capabilities.

Then it seems that other terms will also slightly boost the index in a short period of time.

For example, there's the [Energy Special] item, and the newly released [Candle Shadow Gaze] item, which is only 7% unlocked yet.

It sounds rather mysterious. The description mentions an adrenaline-related term, but the unlock level is so low that the specific effects are unknown. Optimistically, it might cause an adrenaline burst, similar to a bullet time reaction.

As for the "Body Control" skill, which only appeared after finally completing one of the skills, it's like controlling your body used to feel like playing a game with a latency of 35, but now the latency has suddenly dropped to single digits or even close to 0.

The impact on daily life is not significant, but in a highly competitive environment, the benefits of this improvement can be immeasurable.

Faker should have a lot to say on this.

However, there was no time to study it in detail. I had already gotten up a bit late today, and there were also moments of silence and memorial services for Huber at 10:50 and 14:50 in the afternoon, which were before the start of the F3 race and the F1 race, respectively. These were important events that I absolutely could not be late for.

Fortunately, I was staying at a motohome, which was relatively close by. I quickly took a shower, went downstairs, hopped on my electric scooter, and arrived at Weichang in no time.

Gasly seemed much more invigorated than yesterday, as if he had been given some kind of buff, and his words conveyed nothing but determination.

After the moment of silence, Ye Yifei was about to participate in the next competition, and Shu Long even had a chat with Zhou Guanyu, who was standing in the front row.

Besides Gasly, the most worrying thing is Zhou Guanyu's condition.

They had been friends for many years, and after joining Renault's youth academy, they often trained and ate together, which made their relationship even closer.

Not only do they often play games together, they also frequently go on outdoor sports together. After the competition last month, the two even went on a bike ride around the Tour de France together. Who would have thought that something like this would happen?

When the accident happened yesterday, Zhou Guanyu's car was right behind him, and he watched helplessly as Huber died in front of him.

Today's second round of F2 races was cancelled by the organizers out of respect for Huber, giving Zhou Guanyu more time to adjust his mindset. Otherwise, if he had competed in this state, today's situation might have been even more chaotic than yesterday.

Shu Long didn't have the energy to help others with their mental state at this time. Seeing that Zhou Guanyu was down but still relatively calm, he quickly returned to the pit room to discuss the strategy for today's main event with Gasly.

By the afternoon, it was time for these two avengers to prove themselves.

Since neither Gasly nor Albon made it into Q3 yesterday, Gasly will start with a new red set today, while Albon will start with a new yellow set.

Both Shulong and Verstappen used the same old red starting lineup that they had worked on in Q2.

In other words, barring any unforeseen circumstances during the main race, Shu Long and Verstappen's first stint will be shorter than their teammates' second stints, and they are expected to pit for their first stop around lap 13 to 15.

Verstappen's qualifying results yesterday were also so-so; he only managed a P5, and his lap time was 0.3 seconds behind Bottas'.

It's clear that Red Bull's overall competitiveness in this race is really not that great. In other words, if the main race strategy is executed properly, Toro Rosso could very well have overtaken Red Bull in both races.

The initial plan was for Gasly to try to keep up with the pack while using his first, longer stint to disrupt Verstappen's second set of tires, creating an opportunity for Shulong to flip over.

Shulong, on the other hand, took advantage of his earlier pit stop to try and get in front of Alben, thus reducing the lifespan of Alben's yellow tires.

The tire compounds used at this station were the hardest C1, C2 and C3 tires. The white tires performed very poorly, while the yellow and red tires were a bit too durable.

Therefore, the best strategy for the main race is basically to stop the car when it is red or yellow.

If Shulong can disrupt Albon's rhythm on his first yellow tires, he will be forced to either choose white tires for his second tires, or risk using red tires for a longer stint, or even have to resort to a two-stop tactic.

This would allow Gasly to establish a significant advantage over Alben, which would be perfect.

However, plans can change faster than reality.

Verstappen has had his umpteenth lapse in concentration this season. While Shulong, whose entry had just been upgraded, overtook the Renault duo ahead to rise to P5, Verstappen dropped all the way to P7, and started wheel-to-wheel with Arroyo's Kimi at Turn 1.

The cost of this confrontation was quite severe. Kimi was directly tackled by Verstappen's Vibranium left front, and the two even fell behind Gasly and Alben at one point.

If that were all, there might not be much to say. Just before entering the Errogau corner, Verstappen discovered that Red Bull's Vibranium front left suspension seemed to be a knock-off Vibranium. The already severely damaged suspension simply couldn't withstand the insane lateral G-forces, and after wobbling a couple of times, it chose to leave.

Verstappen, who had completely lost his steering ability, had no way to salvage the situation and could only watch helplessly as his car crashed into the barrier, forcing him to retire from the race.

The first lap of the race wasn't even over yet, and Shulong's biggest competitor has already disappeared. What do you mean by that?
What else can I say? They're just doing their own thing.

In front were two Mercedes cars, and behind them was Hulkenberg's Renault.

Ricciardo actually did quite well in qualifying for this race, lapping 0.3 seconds faster than his teammate. However, his unlucky streak struck again in the race, as he was the only driver affected by the incident involving Verstappen and Kimi, and had to change to yellow tires on the first lap.

After about twelve laps, Shulong entered an awkward state where he was 3 seconds ahead and 3 seconds behind.

It's always like this; I never feel involved at all.

So, out of boredom, Shu Long began to pay attention to the driver rankings on the side of the track, and silently calculated the pit stop windows behind him by observing the time gaps displayed on the broadcast screen each time he passed by.

Gasly started as a new Red, with a significant advantage over Albon. He also capitalized on the initial chaos caused by Verstappen and has now climbed all the way from P15 to P11.

Albon was not to be outdone, and was now about 1.5 seconds behind Gasly.

After carefully examining the tires, I found they were actually in pretty good condition, able to maintain the current lap time, but there wasn't much leeway to push them further; they were in a state where they could go either way.

The gaps between the cars behind them varied greatly; there was less than a second between Perez and Grosjean, while Norris and Grosjean were nearly 10 seconds apart.

All things considered, the time difference between Shulong and Albon is currently about 19 seconds, while the average pit stop time at Spa is about 22 seconds. In other words, they are still a little short of the tactical window.

Although Shulong no longer needs Gasly to block Verstappen, he still approached Hamelin in the TR and asked him to relay a message to Gasly's crew, asking if they needed to execute Tactic Z.

"Tactic Z? We don't think we discussed Tactic Z before the match!"

"Don't worry about it, just tell them that."

How could he possibly tell the team about such a treasonous tactic? The Avengers he and Gasly were in might be surrounded by Hydra agents from Red Bull's side. If anyone leaked the tactic, what would be the point of playing?

Not long after, Gasly's engineers responded, saying that if it wouldn't affect the dragon's coffin, they could consider proceeding.

Impact? What impact could it have?
Shu Long is now almost four seconds behind Bottas. Red Bull's cars are not very competitive in this race, so how can we expect him to beat Mercedes?
Ferrari, needless to say, their monster engines were in their element at this race, and even Arro and Haas saw their competitiveness rise significantly at this race.

So, apart from helping Gasly put pressure on Albon, he doesn't seem to have any other options to further increase the team's profits in this race.

"Then let him slow down the pace a bit. I need an entry window."

"Copy!"

There was no need for the race engineers on both sides to communicate with each other; Gasly, who was also monitoring the driver rankings and lap time differences, quickly understood what he needed to do.

The DRS on Spa's long straight is not easy to defend, which means Gasly will have a hard time pressing the car. He has to avoid trying to outmaneuver Albon and letting him pass.

This pressure lasted for a full six laps. Shu Long, who had already run four laps more than planned, finally found a suitable pit window and, after notifying the team, chose to pit on lap 20.

Actually, this is not bad.

The Spa race only requires 44 laps, and the red tires have already lasted for 20 laps. The remaining 24 laps are more than enough for the yellow tires, which means that Shulong can be more unrestrained when using this set of yellow tires.

Of course, it's not so good for Gasly. The fact that the red tires lasted so well means that Albon's next stint won't use white tires or a two-stop red tire. So, the only time that Shulong can give Gasly a chance is in the few laps before Albon's pit stop.

The timing was impeccable. Shulong and the team, who had restarted to allow the [Core of Synergy] to take effect, completed a tire change in 1.95 seconds and came out of the pits right in front of Gasly.

With two cars defending together, even though Gasly's tires were in terrible condition, Albon, on yellow tires, could only obediently be pushed back by this wall of sighs.

Gasly pitted on the next lap, and Shulong, who had already warmed up his yellow tires, seamlessly took over the defensive task against Albon.

Hulkenberg pitted early, and to prevent Renault from stealing his position, regardless of which lap Albon pitted, Shulong could only buy Gasly a maximum of 4 seconds. The rest would depend on Gasly's performance and luck.

If you don't want to disappoint Huber, then run as fast as you can!

Alben was in a bind. He had realized what tricks the two from Toro Rosso were playing, but he didn't seem to have the right to be angry. Putting himself in their shoes, he probably would have been even more annoyed than Shulong and Gasley.

However, Shu Long's ambiguous defense put him in a dilemma.

Attempting to attack Shulong would mean additional tire consumption and an earlier-than-planned entry into the station.

If the plan is to simply wait it out with Shulong to preserve the pregnancy, then Gasley will ultimately be the one who benefits.

However, Verstappen's withdrawal is a rare opportunity. All of Red Bull's attention is now focused on him. If he can put on a good performance at this time, then his position with Red Bull will be basically secure.

Therefore, from beginning to end, there was only one choice that Alben was presented with.

Dry!
The more aggressive actions from the rear quickly caught Shu Long's attention, and almost simultaneously he took even tougher blocking measures.

Albon did his best to help in the German Grand Prix, so it's a bit embarrassing to see him being openly targeted like this.

But Red Bull seats are so hot to be had. Since you dared to take the seat first, I'll check it out here first. You must be able to handle it, right?
If people still don't understand Toro Rosso's plans for their two race cars at this point, then they're being rather unprofessional.

The director was also very good at creating a buzz, quickly directing the cameramen in the paddock to focus on Red Bull's pit stop, paying particular attention to the expressions on Horner and Marco's faces.

Strangely enough, neither of them was feigning distress; both of them were laughing.
Horner's smile was rather subtle; rather than being happy, it was more accurate to say that this seasoned veteran of the paddock had just the right amount of embarrassment mixed into his smile.

As for Marco, you could say his smile was a sign of pride in Shulong's performance, or you could say it was full of mockery towards Tai Niu.

But regardless of their true feelings hidden beneath their expressions, once Taurine's influence was firmly established in the team, Horner and Marko's positions seemed to have quietly shifted closer without them even realizing it.

There is an unchanging principle in the hunting grounds: there are no eternal rivals, only eternal interests.

Shu Long dominated Albon for three laps.

Ultimately, whether it was due to tire wear exceeding expectations or Red Bull realizing that continuing the stalemate was pointless, they decisively changed their pre-race plan to pit on 30 laps and called Albon back on lap 24.

Without a companion to relieve some boredom on the track, Shu Long was forced to return to the extremely boring cruising rhythm of the race, and he maintained his P5 position until the 44th lap when he crossed the finish line.

On the other hand, Gasly, who had been holding back his energy, really went wild in this match.

Hulkenberg was forced to stop twice due to severe tire wear and voluntarily withdrew from the competition, but Gasly still managed to defeat both pink cars at race point head-on, and finally held off Albon, who was 0.3 laps faster than him, for five laps, ultimately securing a P6 finish for himself.

What were we supposed to say before the match?

While there's an element of luck involved, just think of it as the Red Bull scoring points by having two cars step on each other's front wheels!

After the race, the two Toro Rosso cars paraded side by side on the track as if in a show of defiance, and the two drivers each gave the other a thumbs-up from a distance.

"Thank you, thank you to my team and my teammates, you are all legends! This P6 is for him! These 8 points are for Antoine!"

Gasly finally released the tension he had been holding back all day, and he broke down in tears in the car.

Shu Long, who had parked the car first, waited outside for a while until Gasley had calmed down enough before pulling him out together with Alben, who had been the victim all day.

Let bygones be bygones. To be fair, aren't all three of them victims of this round of political infighting within Red Bull?
If we're talking about who was tortured the most during this major relocation, Alben, who has listened to countless media trolls, probably has a lot to say.
The driver who achieved pole-to-win in this race was Ferrari's Leclerc. As a fellow French-speaking driver, he, like Gasly, had known Huber for a long time.

Finally, when he raised his championship trophy, he made the same gesture to the sky that Vettel made after winning the championship following Bianchi's death.

"This championship is dedicated to you in heaven!"

Shu Long watched from below the stage for a while, then quietly nudged Gasley, who was still not fully recovered from the emotions he had just experienced, with his elbow.

"Don't be so easily satisfied with just a P6. A salute from the podium is much more sincere, isn't it?"

Go up on the podium?

Gasly seemed somewhat surprised by Shu Long's ambition. He hadn't made it to the podium in the first half of the season while driving a Red Bull. Could he really do it now that he's back in a Toro?
However, considering the miracles the other party has repeatedly created...
Amidst the noisy crowd, two Toro Rosso drivers quietly bumped fists, saying nothing more, yet their gesture seemed to carry more weight than any promise.

(End of this chapter)