F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 156 The Great Chaos Induced by Vettel

I wonder what Hulkenberg, who unfortunately failed to secure a seat this year, would think if he saw this.
Of the three people standing on the podium, Bottas deserved the championship, Leclerc fought his way to second place, and Shulong somehow managed to snatch the podium by picking up scraps along the way.

This is no ordinary table; it's Haas's first ever table. Shu Long's first game with Haas helped them rewrite the team's history.

Shu Long didn't know how significant it was; all he knew was that Steiner in TR was going crazy with excitement!
If it weren't for the FIA's requirement that all race staff wear masks throughout the race, Shu Long doubted he would have been kissed so hard his face was swollen by Steiner after getting out of the car.
If Haas's predicament and Ferrari's sudden Waterloo this year were the triggers for Gene Haas to seriously consider whether to withdraw from F1, then Shu Long's podium finish today at least gave the team a temporary boost.

Despite Steiner's repeated insistence that he believes Gene Haas will not choose to retire from F1, if the boss is truly determined to leave, Steiner himself is actually powerless to do anything about it.

Sometimes, you might spend your whole life pursuing something only to find it unattainable, but when fate truly arrives, luck is unstoppable.

Last year, when Red Bull was still at home, only one of the four Red Bull cars, Shulong, suffered an engine failure and had to retire from the race.

Unfortunately, this year could only be considered a semi-home race, resulting in a total of eight cars retiring from the race. In particular, three Red Bull cars retired, leaving only Gasly to survive and bring home the P8. Shu Long still managed to take home a podium finish.

what is this?
Is it time to collect interest on loans issued last year?
But who cares? This is only the first race, and Shulong has already moved the team's overall standings to third place.

Forget about the next game or not, just tell me if Haas is third right now!
The three starting grid positions on the podium look out of place with Haas and Ferrari parked together. Is this where this race car should be?
Anyway, that's how it is now!
After getting off the vehicle and taking off my gear, the first thing I did was quickly put on my mask, followed by interviews and the podium.

This year's competition not only lacked the roaring crowds in the stands, but the podium was also quite rudimentary, consisting of just a few small round platforms of varying sizes placed in front of the parking spaces.

For some reason, the relatively quiet award ceremony environment, coupled with the fact that he had a mask covering most of his face when facing the camera, made Shu Long feel much more at ease than before.

As soon as the Finnish national anthem finished playing, Bottas broke the taboo by pulling down his mask and gulping down several mouthfuls of slurp.

The Finns always keep their first sip of alcohol for themselves; it seems that Bottas prefers to keep it to himself rather than spray it around aimlessly.

What a wonderful victory! Maybe this year they can really turn the tables on their teammates and become world champions.

Shu Long only symbolically sprayed Leclerc. He had never really had the habit of drinking, and his experiences on the podium were limited to just a sip.

However, with a mask on today, he actually picked up the bottle and started gulping it down.

Yeah, I drank it through my mask. Half of it was on my clothes and half on the floor, but not a single drop was imported.

It wasn't just Haas who was excited on this podium; Marko Bryant and Shu Long from Red Bull were also thrilled.

Regardless of how well Shu Long performs this season, having this podium as a safety net will make it much easier for him to arrange Shu Long's return to Red Bull, given the current awkward situation where Thai Bulls are stuck in the middle of the market.

Regardless of whether it was because of good luck that they stumbled upon a great deal.

According to Haas's pre-race practice data analysis, the team's overall competitiveness was second to last, only slightly better than Williams.

Finding a bargain requires a certain level of skill. To be able to find a P3 while driving a Haas requires considerable ability.

Otherwise, why don't we see other teams taking advantage of this opportunity?

McLaren, Racing Point, or Renault? Which of these teams isn't faster than Haas?

Do they not like the podium?

But look, even if Shu Long fell for the evil trick and ran to the trap caravan, it didn't stop him from going on stage.
In the match just now, when Alben was knocked out of bounds, Marco's first reaction was not anger, but relief.

If Alben actually gets second or third place, who knows what unrealistic fantasies might arise on Tai Niu's side.

However, some recent news from within the paddock made the old man feel somewhat strange.

Along with rumors that Vettel might sign with Aston Martin next year, Ferrari confirmed that it will not renew Vettel's contract next year and has begun openly searching for a new driver.

Actually, it was Vettel himself who initially expressed his reluctance to renew his contract with the team. Ferrari figured that since he was no longer a good player, they might as well not renew it. Besides, their alternatives were quite good, so they simply made it public.

This was followed by rumors that Ferrari had begun to have frequent contact with Alonso.

Ferrari's approach to Alonso certainly wasn't to try and sign him back, given that his two-year contract with Renault was already finalized. It's obvious who they were really after.

It can't really be called a rumor. There were no spectators in the paddock, and everything was peaceful. Even though reporters wandered around every day, there were only a few people they could take pictures of. The photos of Alonso meeting with Ferrari had already been circulating everywhere.

The reason why Brother Tou made that call to Shu Long was because Ferrari was eager to confirm Shu Long's whereabouts next year and had contacted Alonso several times.

As it turned out, things weren't going well for Shulong either. A driver with that kind of skill would definitely want to compete for the championship. Now that the car's core engine has a problem, it's understandable that Shulong would need to reconsider.

But Marco didn't know that, in his view, there were only a few teams in the paddock with the strength to forcibly buy out the Shulong contract, and Ferrari was among them.

Last year, I acted impulsively and didn't think things through. Now, thinking about it carefully, from Haas's sudden and inexplicable approach last year to Ferrari's blatant contact now, it feels like Ferrari started laying out a grand plan last year.

Although Ferrari has suddenly faltered this year, the name Ferrari still holds a mysterious attraction for the paddock, and Marco really has a hard time making sure that Shulong won't be tempted.

Furthermore, it's unclear whether Ferrari was using a divisive tactic, but after the race, AMuS actually started reporting that Vettel would return to Red Bull. It's unknown where they got their information.

This news seems quite credible.

The problem with Racing Point right now is that Perez has a three-year contract, while Lance Stroll, as the team owner's son, is practically guaranteed a spot on the bench.

Whether Vettel will actually go to Aston Martin depends on whether Lawrence has the guts to do so.

But this is obviously fake news. Vettel has indeed been in contact with many teams in the paddock recently, but Red Bull is the only one among them that is not an option.

In order to avoid any unexpected problems before finalizing Shulong's position, Marco had no choice but to hastily deny the rumor.

He bluntly stated, "There's no place for Sebastian in our team. If I were him, I might consider taking a year off before looking at things from the outside."

It can only be said that Vettel was indeed Marco's ideal man, but the reason why an ideal man is an ideal man is that unless Vettel of that time had returned to his youth, even the current Vettel cannot compare to that beautiful memory in the slightest.

Especially now that the color of this white moonlight has begun to gradually dim, it goes without saying how to choose when faced with a new white moonlight.

However, when Marco once again expressed his desire to finalize the Red Bulls' position as soon as possible, Horner, who was practically becoming the white glove for Taurean Bulls, started using delaying tactics again. Nevertheless, he did agree to come forward and clarify the rumors that Vettel would re-sign with Red Bulls.

Immediately following was Vettel, who was completely surrounded by the media.

This middle-aged man, who is currently under pressure to lose his job, did not explicitly deny the possibility of returning to Red Bull. However, it is also true that he never took the initiative to contact Red Bull about next year's seats. Instead, he had some discussions with Renault about the contract.

Perhaps not wanting to place too much unnecessary burden on Shulong, Vettel admitted in the interview, "While I still yearn to do more in a competitive team, everything is indeed a choice right now. Including continuing to compete, taking a break, or simply retiring." Retirement...
Vettel, who was full of vigor last year and often competed with Hamilton for the Grand Prix, has he already started to have thoughts of retirement this year?

This statement has clearly caused considerable controversy for Ferrari.

People tend to sympathize with the underdog. Public opinion felt that Ferrari was being incredibly unreasonable, as it was unacceptable to ruin the mentality of their own drivers right at the start of the season.
With poor racing performance and disastrous management strategies, Ferrari's management resorted to desperate measures. Seeing Shu Long's hesitant attitude, they decided not to wait for a response from the other side and began casting a wide net throughout the paddock.

Whether or not they sign with others is another matter, but they also want to use these actions to put some pressure on Shu Long.

Because of its engine failure, Ferrari will definitely have to invest a lot of energy and money in engine development in recent years in order to return to the ranks of championship contenders.

If Shu Long himself doesn't have a very strong desire to transfer in, then the point of them paying a high price to buy him from Red Bull is actually not that significant.

In particular, Binotto and Ferrari's current CEO Camilleri have begun to face pressure from within Ferrari's board of directors. If the team's performance does not improve, they may be removed from their positions at any time.

So whether to invest a lot of resources in drivers or in the team's research and development, anyone with common sense already knows the answer.

Ultimately, motorsports are 70% about the car and 30% about the driver; if the car itself isn't good, no amount of coaching will help.

If they end up spending a large sum of money to buy the dragon, but it ends up negatively impacting the racing car's development performance, causing it to decline instead of improve, then the two people in charge will almost certainly become scapegoats.

Considering that it is very likely that Shulong will not be signed, and since the message has already been made, the second seat in the team cannot be left vacant. Among the drivers who have been contacted is Hulkenberg, who failed to obtain a seat this year.

This is actually a bit of dark humor, because ever since Ferrari backed out of signing Hulkenberg, who was almost certain to sign Kimi, in order to get Kimi back, Hulkenberg had practically blacklisted Ferrari in his mind.

He once even pretended not to know Ferrari when asked about the team during an interview, and replied that he had never heard of it.

Then there's Perez, whose seat is now in doubt due to Vettel's issues, and Ricciardo and Sainz, whose seats are also unstable due to Vettel's contact and Alonso's return.

It feels like I'm getting so hungry I'm willing to eat anything.

However, none of these guys are as competitive as Shu Long, and according to Alonso, Shu Long doesn't really need to be a big deal.

In a year where Mercedes has become completely globalized, Red Bull was able to closely follow in qualifying laps, and Albon even posed a direct threat to Hamilton in the race.

If the old rules are still applied next year, coupled with the budget cap, Red Bull might still have a chance to compete for the annual championship. Obviously, it would be the best option for Shu Long to return to Red Bull next year.

In addition, Alonso also explained to Shulong that because he is about to officially return to F1, although he will still help Shulong deal with those teams, he will definitely not have as much time and energy as last year.

Renault will not allow Alonso to participate in the first practice session, but will arrange a lot of private tests for him in order to help him regain his F1 driving skills in preparation for the 2021 season.

Besides completing his necessary driver duties with Renault, Alonso also has many new business collaborations to handle, so he will definitely be somewhat unable to manage Shulong's affairs. Therefore, many of the agent-related tasks will need to be taken over by Shulong's own agency.

The days following the opening race were filled with chaos, followed by the back-to-back Stirian Grand Prix, also held at the Red Bull Ring.

Ferrari reportedly made some upgrades to the front wing this week, but judging from the lap times in practice, the effect is not as expected.

To put it bluntly, Ferrari's biggest problem this year is the engine. As long as the engine problem is not solved, no matter what adjustments are made to the aerodynamics and car balance, it will be of no use.

Everything seemed exactly the same as last week, with no changes whatsoever.

Not every race will be as lucky as the last one. As long as the leading car doesn't have any problems, Haas will likely be hovering on the edge of the points zone again this time.

but!

It rained on Saturday, and it was heavy rain, so heavy that it was very likely that the qualifying race would be canceled.

If qualifying cannot resume due to weather conditions until Sunday morning, the race may start with the grid order based on the final grid order from Friday's second practice session. In that case, Shulong will be in big trouble!
On Friday, Magnussen's car barely participated in the first practice session because the previous problem had not been resolved. In the second practice session, Shulong's car broke down again. It took a long time to repair before he could symbolically try out four or five laps at the very end.

They only checked whether the car still had any hidden problems, and didn't actually set any effective lap times, so their ranking was naturally last.

I had just run the exact same track last weekend, and the car hadn't brought any upgrades, so I thought it wouldn't matter if I missed one practice session, since it wouldn't have a big impact anyway.

Who could have imagined this would happen?
Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and after three postponements, the organizers finally allowed the cars to complete the qualifying session with heavy rain tires.

In heavy rain, the Shulong tires are simply unbeatable!
Not only did he advance to Q3 without any pressure, but he also took advantage of the opportunity before the rain intensified to make a flying lap first, directly eliminating McLaren's Sainz and taking a P3 starting position.

If the race is going to be in heavy rain tomorrow, holy crap, we're going to take off, folks!
cough!
Be content with the small gains you've made; overdrawing your good luck like this will bring divine retribution!
Unfortunately, the rain stopped on Sunday, and the weather was quite sunny in the afternoon, so the track was completely dry.

At the start of the race, the two Ferrari cars put on quite a show, colliding with each other at Turn 3 on the first lap and retiring from the race.

This time it was Leclerc's own mistake of being too hasty. He grabbed the ball in the paint and then hit Vettel, damaging his wing.

That's it, Vettel was completely shattered by the crash, and after getting off the car, he just sat in a corner hugging his helmet, not wanting to say a word.

Even if Ferrari still has the will to repair the relationship and make things turn around a little, it's estimated that Vettel himself won't be able to stay in this team.

However, apart from this incident, almost nothing else went wrong during the entire match.

Even though Shu Long briefly overtook Verstappen to reach P2 at the start, the car's long-distance limits were too much to handle, and his position kept dropping as the race progressed, eventually falling to P10.

As a result, in the final stages of the game, Renault's Ricciardo, McLaren's Norris, and match point's Stroll clashed once again.

The dragon, which had already been three seconds behind, quickly seized the opportunity to catch up and successfully entered the attack range within 0.4 seconds on the last lap.

Then, a feint completely disrupted the formation of the three cars ahead, forcing McLaren and Renault to run side-by-side at Turn 3.

Upon reaching the DRS zone after Turn 3, Stroll, who was at the front without DRS, was immediately surrounded and caught in a predicament. Norris took advantage of his speed to finish alongside Racing Point.

At the same time, Shu Long braked slightly at Turn 4, which startled Ricciardo on the outside, who quickly swerved to avoid him.

Unexpectedly, Shulong regained grip almost instantly, completely disrupting Renault's rhythm in the corners, and taking advantage of the opportunity when Young Master was almost squeezed off the track by Lando, he overtook Young Master again.

Do you even know what strategic suicide is?

With a familiar move, he inserted two more pieces into the same spot, and finally brought back P8, earning another four points.

(End of this chapter)