F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 149 Undercurrents in the Enclosure
Shu Long withdrew from the Russian Grand Prix, but the other three Red Bulls still showed great fighting spirit.

Albon, in particular, started from the back of the pack but managed to climb to fifth place thanks to his consistent long-distance running and ability to maintain his position, second only to Verstappen in P4.
With these results as a foundation, Shu Long knows that Alben's position is most likely secure, even before the season ends.

Marco's explanation at the time was, "If Albon can't adapt well to the Red Bull car."

Albon and Gasly are actually about the same as Verstappen in terms of lap time ceiling. When they perform well, the difference can be as small as 0.3, but when they lack confidence in their car, the difference can be as large as 0.6 or even 0.7.

Judging from his single-lap performance, Albon's current performance clearly fits this description, yet he has repeatedly achieved results that satisfy the team in several consecutive races.

Perhaps it's also because he benefited from the upgrades to the car and Honda's engine over the past season. It's also undeniable that Albon's performance is indeed quite outstanding. In short, his performance in these four races is a stark contrast to Gasly, who often struggled on the edge of the points zone in the first half of the season while driving a Red Bull.

But can you say Gasley was weak?
In the first half of the season, everyone was saying that Gasly seemed to have turned Red Bull into a mini Red Bull, but now that he's back to being a mini Red Bull, his performance is like he's back to being a full-fledged Red Bull.

This is a bit confusing.
If it's not a problem with the driver's ability, does it mean there's some shady business going on within the Red Bull team that's unknown to outsiders?

Before the Japanese Grand Prix, countless microphones were once again thrust into the mouths of Shu Long and Gasly. Gasly, facing the cameras, evaded the question and refused to mention his experiences within the Red Bull team.

Shu Long was much more direct, simply responding with a curt "Heh~"

"Excuse me! Could you please interpret this 'he'?"

"There's nothing to explain. I don't know anything about it. I've never driven a Red Bull."

What exactly happened to Gasly at Red Bull? Perhaps professional clauses prevent him from speaking out, but that doesn't stop the two Little Red Bulls from venting their frustrations privately.

Unable to enjoy preferential resource allocation?

Verstappen went to run simulator data to determine the direction, while Gasly went to run simulators not to provide data, but simply to say, "Look, this is how the car is, get used to it."

These are not really the main issues. The key point is that Gasly couldn't even adjust the car according to his own wishes throughout the first half of the season.

The reason is actually quite simple: the solution developed according to Gasley's plan was not as fast as Verstappen's plan. But how can a forced solution that doesn't listen to others' opinions during the research and development process possibly be successful?

In the end, Gasly couldn't get rid of Red Bull, and the Gasly melon that Red Bull forced out of him was naturally no better.

It is the opposite of "going in both directions".

As for whether Albon will receive the same treatment in the Red Bull team, Shu Long, who was also marginalized for half a season, thinks it is unlikely.

Perhaps he won't receive the same blatant favoritism as he did at Toro Rosso, but his situation certainly won't be worse than Gasley's.

Of course, as the saying goes, circumstances aside, the reason why Alben was valued by the Thai team is not only because of his identity and nationality, but also because he himself is quite capable.

During qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, he not only set the exact same time as Verstappen in Q3, but his best lap time in Q2 was even 0.3 seconds faster than Verstappen's.

Perhaps there was indeed an element of luck involved.

Because the qualifying session was not held as scheduled on Saturday afternoon, but instead was moved to Sunday morning due to typhoon weather.

The rain has indeed stopped, but the wind direction and force on the track remain complex and unpredictable.

Gasly nearly got eliminated in P14 due to crosswinds in Q2, but he managed to squeeze into Q3 and still managed to secure a starting position in P8. Judging from his feedback after getting off the bike, he still seemed to have a very difficult time that lap.

However, none of this mattered to Shu Long. At this race, he simply replaced the entire power unit and gearbox. No matter where he was in the race, he always started from the back of the pack. In the end, he simply used the race as practice and gave himself an extra half hour of practice time.

The Japanese Grand Prix track is too narrow, making it really difficult to create overtaking opportunities.

Therefore, if Shulong wants to squeeze into the points zone, it can only rely on its starting ability and long-distance tire protection.

This is a typical track with high tire wear, and the tire compounds are the hardest C1, C2, and C3. Even so, the best tire strategy for the race before the race still took into account either a red-white first stop or a red-yellow-red second stop.

Because they were starting from the back of the pack, the team suggested stopping on red and white tires at the beginning, but Shu Long felt that starting on white tires would be too slow given the current temperature and track conditions, and insisted on the strategy of stopping on red and yellow tires at the beginning.

In any case, the goal of this race is to get points and win, so the team naturally let him do as he pleased.

Due to the adjustment of the race schedule, Sunday's schedule was very tight. The drivers had just finished qualifying and had to take a shower and change clothes to prepare for the drivers' parade.

Afterwards, we'll have a tactical meeting, grab a bite to eat and rest a bit, and then immediately get back to preparing for the main competition in the afternoon.

This was the first time Shulong had received such a penalty, and also the first time he had started from such a back position. Shulong was much luckier than Verstappen at the previous station.

Of course, it's also possible that his starting response was somewhat of a disadvantage compared to the generally less competitive back row of cars.

Even if the drivers in the front row reacted a little slower at the start, they could still make up for it somewhat with the car's powerful performance. But the unlucky ones in the back didn't even have the power to make up for it.

In short, just as the five red lights went out, the race cars in front of Shulong seemed to be stuck in place, stunned. Before the formation of cars was even completely disrupted, he had already cut directly from P20 to P14 from the outer left lane, without encountering a single decent obstacle along the way.

What are you doing? Playing games here?

Shulong's journey has been smooth sailing, while Verstappen's side has suffered yet another setback.

Both Ferrari cars failed at the start. The guy in pole position inexplicably jumped the gun, but just as he braked to a stop, the red light went out, completely disrupting the rhythm of the start.

As for Leclerc, who got a P2 this morning, it was purely an undeserved misfortune for him; he was distracted by Vettel, who was diagonally in front of him.

In short, both Ferraris started off pulling backward as fast as they could, and Verstappen was ecstatic as he snatched the opportunity. But his smile soon vanished as he was torn away by a Leclerc torpedo that was eager to catch up.

Now things are really messed up. Leclerc's front wing is damaged, and Verstappen's sidepods and floor are damaged, so both of them have to pit early.

Verstappen's car was in serious damage, and after 14 laps, he realized he couldn't keep going and had no choice but to pit and retire from the race.

Hey~ how do I say it?
Regardless of Verstappen's feelings, Shulong picked up P12 right at the start and was grinning from ear to ear under his helmet.

However, with the Ferrari-powered Arroyo duo ahead, it was difficult to overtake them in a short time. So, he pitted early on lap 15, switching to yellow and finding himself a clean undercut.

This strategy went quite smoothly. With a tire change in less than two seconds and a full push on three laps, he easily overtook the two Arro and fell behind the two McLarens that had just exited the pits.

This makes things much easier. McLaren has had an excellent and aggressive aerodynamic design this season, but it was only defeated by Renault's engine.

While Honda's engine wasn't particularly powerful, Shulong handled the complex, continuous curves of the Suzuka Circuit with greater precision, quickly closing the distance to the car behind and then easily overtaking it using DRS.

After that, it's a long journey of trying to maintain the pregnancy.

Perez, ahead of us, had to make a second stop due to excessive tire wear, which unnecessarily gave Shulong another position. Although the last Stint on red tires was chasing very fast, Shulong still managed to block him with the help of the track's characteristics, making him scratch his helmet.

Unfortunately, towards the end of the race, Shulong, who was trying to maintain his lead, was overtaken by Leclerc on the straight and finished in P7 after crossing the finish line.

Albon played steadily, picking up two laps and bringing back P4. Then Leclerc overtook Gasly to P5, and Gasly also overtook two McLarens in the first stint.

Except for Verstappen, everyone else achieved a better-than-expected ranking.

The FIA ​​subsequently imposed additional time penalties on Leclerc, one for his collision with Verstappen, and the other for Ferrari's failure to promptly recall the damaged car, as the scattered carbon fiber fragments posed a substantial threat to other vehicles.

The last five-second and ten-second penalties, totaling fifteen seconds, plus a fine of 25,000 euros, moved Gasly and Shulong up one place in the rankings.

To be fair, Albon's luck seems to be quite remarkable. After the summer break, he joined Red Bull and participated in five Grand Prix events, and he finished three of them before Verstappen.

On the other hand, Verstappen has been plagued by bad luck, as if Albon had brought some kind of Southeast Asian curse into the team, making the other Autobots furious.

So in a short interview, when the reporter asked him again what his ideal teammates would be like, his answer completely ignored the two teammates from this season and pointed directly to Ricardo.

The original quote was: "I hope someone can fight alongside me and push me to even greater heights."

Although he didn't say it explicitly, and he even defended Gasly and Albon, the implication might be that his two teammates this year were simply not up to par.

In subsequent reports, the reporter naturally interpreted this conversation as Verstappen believing that Shu Long was the best teammate for him at the moment.

As for how many people believe and agree with it, it's hard to tell in the current public opinion environment.

Guided by certain individuals, many netizens seem to interpret this statement as Verstappen's anxiety and justification regarding his performance being repeatedly surpassed by Albon.

However, in the next stop in Mexico, Verstappen edged out Ferrari by nearly 0.3 seconds to take the pole position, refuting the doubts from outside the field with his actions.

But sheer strength only seems to have slightly mitigated the series of misfortunes; Verstappen's bad luck is clearly not over yet.

Bottas was overjoyed to win the Japanese Grand Prix in the last race and successfully secured a one-year contract extension with Mercedes. However, he crashed in the Q3 in Mexico, which triggered a yellow flag and indirectly caused Verstappen to be unable to slow down in time and was penalized with three penalty points and two points deducted from his super license.

He bumped into Hamilton again at the start of the race, and on the fifth lap, he had a tire blowout and had to pit for white tires, which he ran all the way to the end, eventually finishing in P7 behind Alben.

Gasly had a little trouble changing tires and finished in P9, while Shulong got a P5.

The Rodriguez Brothers Circuit in Mexico is, strictly speaking, a track where Red Bull racing cars excel.

Although the cars were at a significant disadvantage on the super long starting straight before Turn 1, the subsequent numerous complex combination corners and low-speed corners became the domain of the upgraded Toro Rosso and Shulong.

On the last lap of Q3, he even overtook Bottas, who had crashed and failed to improve his time, and took a P5 starting position.

During the race, Verstappen and Hamilton collided, and Verstappen even reached P3 at one point. However, he couldn't withstand Mercedes' relentless attacks on the main straight and had to start and finish in P5.

With the Mexican Grand Prix over, Gasly and Shulong enjoyed a rare short break. Before the US Grand Prix, the team will be giving them a major upgrade for the last round of the season, and there's not much else they can do to help until the actual effects are tested.

With everything going smoothly for the team, Shu Long, in a good mood, remembered the promise he made with Gan Mengning in April. He called her to ask if she wanted to come to the United States to watch the competition and take her to a shooting range at a gun shop to have some fun.

Surprisingly, the answer was no. The reason given was not concern about affecting Shulong's condition, but rather a mysterious statement that they were too busy with work.

"You still have a job? Is it because you haven't finished your live streaming contract with the platform?"

"Oh no! It's... it's an off-campus part-time job! Hmm, that sounds a bit strange. But don't worry, my mom came with me. It seems like a big project. I'll give you a surprise later!"

Surprise? Shu Long didn't know whether he was surprised or not; he only knew that some recent developments in the hunting grounds made him feel uneasy.

First, Mercedes equaled Ferrari's record of six consecutive team championships after the Japanese Grand Prix. If nothing unexpected happens, Hamilton's world championship title will also be secured ahead of schedule in the next race.

It's pretty much settled now. Bottas, who currently has the second-highest points, only has a theoretical chance of winning the annual championship, and Mercedes is unlikely to be so kind as to let Bottas take the lead at this point.

Another point is that Ferrari's consecutive impressive pole positions have raised questions from most of the teams in the paddock. Mercedes speculates that Ferrari's new 064 engine has increased by more than 50 horsepower compared to the second version of the 064 engine.

The Leclerc's ability to withstand the onslaught from two Mercedes on Monza and Spa was not only due to its own outstanding performance, but also largely because the Mercedes, even with DRS activated and at full power, was still able to be pulled ahead by Ferrari on the straights.

So, under the leadership of Red Bull team principal Horner, several teams jointly wrote to the FIA, asking them to clarify whether Ferrari's engine advantage was fully in accordance with the rules.

This is both for the benefit of the team and to go with the flow.

Marco may have thought that placing Shulong in Haas was a delaying tactic, but Horner, who had a slightly longer-term perspective, was still worried that Shulong would take this opportunity to run off with Ferrari.

So how can you prevent problems from occurring in the middle of the concealed wiring you've laid?
It's very simple. As long as Ferrari is dethroned, Shulong will see no hope of competing for the championship there, and will naturally have no choice but to return to Red Bull's embrace.

Envious of Ferrari's powerful engine that has been running smoothly for almost the entire season, and with the prospect of enjoying the thrill of a powerful, high-performance car almost next year, I naturally don't want anything to go wrong with Ferrari.

Fortunately, the FIA's investigation report came quickly, stating that they found no possible violations in Ferrari's engine.

However, due to Horner's and Mercedes' persistent complaints, the FIA ​​still issued three technical directives regarding the engine before the US Grand Prix: TD35, TD38, and TD39.

It is strictly prohibited for any flammable liquid to enter the combustion chamber, that is, to obtain additional power by burning engine oil, and to install a second flow meter, it is necessary to ensure that the fuel flow rate does not exceed 100KG/h.

Binotto confidently assured that Ferrari's engines would be absolutely free of any irregularities, claiming that this was a dirty trick by their competitors who were jealous of their competitiveness.

However, at the US Grand Prix, after qualifying once again eliminated Alphard, who had reached P6, Shullon was far from happy. Telemetry data showed that Ferrari's once-unbeatable engine advantage seemed to have vanished.
Verstappen's pole position at the Mexican Grand Prix was due to the track's characteristics, but the U.S. Grand Prix has significant elevation changes, especially the longest straight which includes a challenging climb, making it a perfect place for Ferrari engines to showcase their capabilities.

If Verstappen hadn't made a mistake in the consecutive corners of Turns 5 and 6, Ferrari wouldn't have been able to demonstrate any superiority in powertrain against Honda's Red Bull.

Don't mess with this, bro, it's a new account in Weichang!

If I ruin this year, what will I do next year?

P6 finished the US Grand Prix, and the first thing he did after the race was to contact his agent, Alonso, hoping he could help him find out the specific situation with Ferrari.

Binotto's response was that it wasn't a big problem, because Ferrari had already used up its engine quota for both cars this year, and in order to avoid unnecessary penalties, they strategically reduced the engine power a little.

Do you believe it?
Shu Long wanted to believe it, as Ferrari's reasoning seemed quite reasonable, but the fact that Arro and Haas finished last in this race seemed to confirm something.

I just hope it's not the Brother Tou's genius team-selection aura starting to work its magic.
(End of this chapter)