F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 152 is written as "Has" and read as "Sh-ha".

[Actually, ever since that summer break that decided everything ended, I realized that I would soon replace Grosjean.]

But it seems that only today, when this child said it to my face, did I truly realize that I had replaced Grosjean.

What was I thinking at that time?

I feel that Albon has encroached on resources that should belong to me, and that Red Bull has failed to deliver on its promises that should have been made to me.

So I want to leave, to go somewhere far from the complex power struggles, somewhere where I can truly earn everything I deserve based solely on my own abilities.

However, there are only twenty seats in the paddock, and the total resources are limited.

[The rise of others deprived me of my opportunities. At the time, I didn't seem to realize that the opportunities I seized were also forcibly taken from others.]

[It's already the 21st century, and I can't believe such primitive, barbaric, and bloody phenomena still exist in reality.]

[When I stand at Red Bull with resentment, looking down on it from my own perspective, what am I like from the perspective of these kids?]

[They're probably quite repulsive, aren't they?]

Shu Long slowly bent down, made a funny face at the little kid who wasn't even as tall as his knee, and startled the child so much that he screamed and ran behind his mother.

What a wicked person!
Fortunately, Gan Mengning went back early to prepare for her final exams; otherwise, if she had seen this, Shu Long would probably have his ears pulled when he got back to the hotel tonight.

【Feel sorry. 】

If you strip away the complex web of interests within the paddock, you'll find that ruthlessness and cruelty have always been the underlying nature of motorsport; the survival of the fittest has always been the fundamental code governing this world.

In the face of strength, there is no such thing as "grabbing" or "not grabbing," only "deserving" and "more."

As if to convince himself to harden his heart, Shu Long made up his mind to stop paying attention to what was happening on the other side of the P room.

However, he felt a little guilty about venting his emotions on a child whose understanding of the world was still incomplete, so he secretly glanced over there.

The little boy was hiding behind his mother, peeking in their direction. When his eyes met Shu Long's, he started giggling.

Grosjean's wife, Marion, was a senior media professional at Automoto and a beautiful woman with a generous demeanor.

Seeing this interaction, she simply smiled apologetically at Shu Long, then handed her daughter to her husband, and then took her youngest son Simon and came back to Shu Long.

"I'm sorry, please don't feel guilty because of what Simon said. He was just a little curious about you."

"It's fine."

Shu Long originally wanted to quickly move on from this topic, but after thinking about it, he realized that his deliberate attempt to scare the child didn't seem quite right, so he added a few more words to comfort Simon, saying that his father was also a very good driver, and that his job was just different now.

However, children raised in driver families seem to be much more sensitive to this, and even at a young age, they know the difference between a driver being on the track and only working backstage.

Shu Long spoke French in all of these conversations, which he had not formally studied.

However, since his teammates Gasly and his game engineer Hamelin were both native French speakers, he gradually picked up some of their language skills through their daily interactions.

Moreover, having lived in Italy for a long time, he now has a fairly good grasp of Italian.

They can understand, but don't speak very fluently. However, they are good enough to handle some everyday conversations with young children.

Marion's apology to Shu Long wasn't just for her youngest son. Gross still harbored considerable resentment towards Shu Long for suddenly appearing and ousting him. From the morning's team meeting, he hadn't even given Shu Long a second glance.

Seeing his wife take the initiative to talk to that brat, even now, while holding his daughter Ge Daqi, the expression on his face is incredibly sour.

“I have worked in the paddock for many years and I know that this is a dilemma that every driver may encounter in his career. Roman may need some time to adapt.”

"Perhaps there's no need to adapt. Defiance is the catalyst for a driver's motivation. As long as you want to surpass others on the track, there will always be times when you feel defiant."

Marion smiled slightly, but did not dwell on the topic.

"The kids don't actually have much of a problem with you. On the contrary, they were all quite happy when they learned that Dad will have more time to play at home next year."

happy?

Grosjean's gaze towards his child reveals a tenderness beyond that found on the racetrack, a bond deeper than love.

"In recent years, he has seen no hope for his future performance, yet he is reluctant to give up the track. At the same time, he is also struggling to balance his family and work."

I also hoped to see Roman continue to shine in his beloved career, but your arrival may be a relief for both him and us.

This time, Shu Long didn't reply, only sighing at the vicissitudes of life.

The test lasted two days, and Shu Long was there for both days. Magnussen also arrived at the paddock on the second day, but he didn't have any tasks to do. He just came to chat with his teammates for next year and get to know each other's personalities and get used to each other's styles.

This is a Dane who seems to have an inherently straightforward nature, as if he were of Viking descent.

Upon meeting Shu Long, he went straight to the point, expressing his desire to avoid unnecessary chatter and infighting within the team, emphasizing that the important thing was for everyone to work together to get the team up and running.

The Viking cultural spirit is martial, and a prominent characteristic of martial spirit is the admiration for strength.

Magnussen is quite impressed with Shulong's abilities, after all, not everyone has the ability to score 200 points in their rookie season on Earth.

However, we'll have to see how things go next year, as not everyone can get used to driving a car like the Haas.

However, if Shu Long can truly convince him with his strength, Magnussen said he wouldn't mind taking a step back and prioritizing the team's interests; conversely, he also hopes Shu Long would do the same if Shu Long couldn't.

The lower-level teams already have it tough enough, and Magnussen doesn't want to be stuck at the back of the pack worrying about all this messy stuff.

However, once the topic of the racetrack was removed, Shu Long discovered that Magnussen's personality was not as unapproachable as he had stereotyped; in fact, he had a somewhat kind smile.

Speaking of family matters, Magnussen is one of the few drivers in the paddock who has settled down and started a family. He is very devoted to his family and officially became a father at the end of last year.

Hearing that it was a little princess, Magnussen proudly shared many photos of the child with Shu Long, saying he would bring her to meet him if the opportunity arose. Since the topic came up, Shu Long casually inquired about the impact the child had on Magnussen's career.

The answer is that he still feels he can give his all at any time, but the children do give him a lot of reasons to be distracted outside of the game. But when asked if he regrets it, Magnussen just smiled meaningfully.

"Believe me, you won't know what it feels like until you experience it yourself. It didn't take anything away from your life, but rather gave you more."

Get married.
This subject is far too profound, and Shu Long felt that at his age, he might not be able to prepare to learn it in a short period of time.

Two days of testing isn't a long time, but it's enough for Shu Long to gain a basic understanding of Haas's current racing situation.

It is indeed very different from the Little Red Bull in terms of characteristics, but it is not as difficult to drive as imagined. Apart from the fact that it is not easy to manage the tire operating temperature, its overall potential is still good.

As we all know, tire temperature often affects grip performance. With its inherent advantage in "friction control," this minor issue isn't a problem for the Shulong tire. At most, it will require the driver to pay a little more attention to tire maintenance during long distances.

Moreover, because the design concept of this assembled car is relatively simple and straightforward, Shulong has a relatively large degree of controllability during the driving process. Compared to the Little Red Bull, which adapts to the corresponding driving style according to the framework left by Albon, this Haas brings him a wilder sense of freedom.

If Ferrari's engine power is indeed temporarily reduced for end-of-season protection, as Binotto claims, then Haas should still have a bright future next year.

Unfortunately, Haas has already finalized its first version of the race car design for next year, and has also purchased a lot of ready-made parts from Ferrari. We'll have to wait until the actual car is installed next year to see how it performs.

As for why we didn't use an emulator to make do for now...
What Shulong is probably most dissatisfied with about Haas is that their simulator facilities are quite outdated. They can basically only be used for data reference during the development process, and there is a big difference between the actual and real racing cars. In some aspects, they are not as good as the realistic racing games currently on the market.

Even Ferrari complains that their current simulator is not accurate enough and needs to upgrade. Haas is still using someone else's leftovers. It would be a miracle if their simulator worked!

Steiner had already given them a heads-up, saying not to have too high expectations for their simulators. Magnussen also said that there is basically no situation at Haas where drivers are working overtime on simulators day and night. If they need to practice, they might as well practice at home using iracing.

Well, that's hard to say.

No wonder Magnussen doesn't care about the issue of resource allocation within the team, because Haas's team simply doesn't have any extra resources to allocate!
Are you still thinking about which driver's style you prefer?
It's good enough that the race car they developed can even run! What more could you ask for?

There really aren't many good people in Weichang; they're all big swindlers!
Steiner invited Haas to visit the factory in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England after the test. Many people in the team are not very motivated right now. The main reason is that a series of setbacks have made Haas like a piece of duckweed in the rain. No one can see the future and they don't know when the team will disband and leave the field. No one can muster any enthusiasm.

But now that he's lucky enough to bring in a driver of this caliber for the new season, it will be much easier for him to write those motivational speeches later on.

Before that, however, they still have to go to France to attend the FIA's year-end awards ceremony.

Haas theoretically has no chance of winning any awards, but Shulong is guaranteed to win one. They had already informed him in advance, so it's basically just a formality for him to go through with it.

Without a doubt, the Rookie of the Year award.

The only two remaining contenders for the award are Alben and Norris.

Alben has a relatively higher score, while Norris has an overwhelming advantage in the official website's fan vote.

However, in terms of both points and overall dominance in the competition, they are far inferior to Shulong. Unless the FIA ​​goes crazy, this award cannot be given to anyone else.

Zhou Guanyu, from the F2 category, also won the Rookie of the Year award.

Although his overall performance this year can only be considered average, he is indeed the undisputed number one among all F2 rookies.

A few days later, Autosport officially announced its list of the 2019 F1 Top 10 Drivers.

First place undoubtedly belongs to Hamilton, who won six consecutive championships; second is Verstappen; third is Shu Long; and fourth is Leclerc, who won the Pole Position King title this year with seven pole positions.

As for Vettel, the four-time champion, he was relegated to tenth place, almost failing to even make the list, which was a slight concession to Ferrari.

I really don't want to talk about that trip to the Haas factory. After leaving, I was numb and my first reaction was to gasp for breath wherever I went.

Not only is the engineering team small, but many essential departments are also lacking at Haas!
For example, after abandoning the 18-inch rainbow tires this year, many teams are struggling to adapt to the new tire regulations, and almost all teams have established dedicated tire departments.

Even for the Toro Rosso team, which doesn't have particularly abundant resources, according to Shu Long, this department still has more than twenty people, who are specifically responsible for testing the coordination between the car setup and the tire compound during a race weekend.

Haas did set up this department, but it only had one person in it.
It's like they're playing a joke on me!
What can one person do? They probably can't even handle all the data being sent back.

No wonder Haas had a strange performance throughout the 19 season, going from a dominant qualifying run to a complete disaster in the race. It would be a miracle if he hadn't done well!
There was no need for any roundabout talk with Steiner, and Shu Long stopped mentioning the issue of allocating R&D resources. Instead, he urged Steiner to first improve the team's structure.

In short, hire people where you need to, and don't try to save money where you shouldn't!

Shu Long doesn't consider himself a god. As a driver, he only knows how to tune the car and can provide the team with some feedback on the development aspects from a driving perspective.

But he didn't know how to build cars; this kind of thing requires specialization.

After getting a general understanding of Haas's operations and having a few more chats with Haas's boss, Gene Haas, Shu Long decided to pack his things and go home for a vacation.

As mentioned earlier, there are very few conditions at the Haas factory that require drivers to work overtime, so Shulong simply doesn't plan to move and continues to live in the small detached house he originally rented in Faenza.

Before leaving, Steiner and Shulong finalized the frame he wanted to use next year.

Logically, since the number one driver's status has been determined, the T-shaped roll cage on top of the car should naturally be black to serve as a symbol of his status within the team.

However, I thought about what happened with Red Bull this year.

"I want to wear a yellow T-shirt."

Not to mention Steiner, even Magnussen, who wore a yellow T-shirt this year, didn't quite understand.

Even though there isn't a clear distinction between the number one and number two drivers within the team, the general perception is that only the number two driver uses the yellow T-shirt. For these drivers in the paddock who are all competitive with each other, many of them actually care a lot about this.

Shu Long's reason was actually not complicated, nor was it intended to comfort his teammates.

Simply because he was wearing a black T-shirt, he didn't get the treatment that the number one driver deserved. Even though he was capable enough to not care about such differential treatment, he would still feel uncomfortable.

But if driving a yellow-T race car actually gets you preferential treatment from the team, that's like winning the lottery!
Look at this, what does it mean to be enlightened? Some people have already learned to find joy in suffering before they've even started their prison sentence.

As for the worries that will follow the new season, I'll leave them to myself after the winter break.

However, this wait led to the arrival of face masks.
(End of this chapter)