F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 161 The Gears of Fate Meet at This Moment
It was said that many rookies would participate in the first practice session during this race, but it rained heavily all day Friday, so Mick's F1 debut was naturally canceled.

It rained the last time I came to Germany, and it's raining again this time.

I thought this would be another opportunity for Haas to rack up a lot of points, but the weather cleared up completely the next day, and both qualifying and the main tournament were purely dry court games.

With no performance advantage whatsoever, Shulong only managed to get a P13 ranking in Q2.

There weren't too many unexpected incidents in the main race. Although five cars retired, it didn't have a significant impact on the overall situation of the race.

Shulong managed to finish in P8, bringing back 4 points, but Gasley finished in P6, regaining 4 points and officially overtaking Haas in the score.

Albon withdrew from the tournament again. The young man had been suffering from diarrhea before the tournament and withdrew from the third practice session. Instead, Hulkenberg, who was called in at the last minute to replace the young man, immediately won the P9.
In some ways, the "Hulk" can truly be considered a role model among mercenaries, and it's quite regrettable that someone like him struggles to secure a position.

After this race, Ferrari shifted its focus in negotiations with Shu Long for next season's drivers from Shu Long to several other drivers.

For example, there's Perez, who was abruptly kicked out of the club by Match Point; Hulkenberg, who scored in both of his two substitute appearances; and Ricciardo, who is already considering leaving the Renault camp.

Then, after a hasty shuffling of the mahjong tiles, Ferrari ultimately chose to sign Sainz, who wasn't even among the top names in the rumors.
The reason is that it's cheap and has decent performance; it's a good temporary solution for a year or two. Let's wait and see if Shulong will change his mind.

Of course, the most crucial reason is that McLaren officially announced Ricciardo's joining, and Sainz was naturally ousted again, allowing Ferrari to take over smoothly without paying much extra cost.

How many times has this happened?

Two years ago, he was ousted by Renault's decision to sign Ricciardo, and was then taken over by McLaren, who needed a qualified enforcer after losing Alonso. Now, the same script is playing out again, and the person who ousted him is Ricciardo.

It's endless, right? !

However, Sainz's current ability in the paddock is indeed quite awkward. In terms of results alone, he is actually no weaker than his teammates. The problem lies in his age.

Born in 94, he is already 26 years old this year. His potential has long been clearly seen by the various teams in the paddock.

Last year, Sainz was able to lead his teammate Norris by nearly double the points, but this year, although he still leads Norris, the difference in points is only in the single digits.

It's fair to say he's capable, and he's also backed by a substantial sponsorship from Santander Bank. Plus, his father, Carlos Sainz Sr., was a multiple-time Dakar Rally world champion, making him a prestigious family in the racing world. If any team has an emergency need, he's definitely the best choice.

Especially for Ferrari, which values ​​seniority and is currently short of funds, this is indeed a very suitable transitional option.

But Sainz's career ceiling had already been seen to be limited long ago.

He can neither become a pillar driver for a team nor is he worth cultivating as a future pillar. Being stuck in the middle is a true reflection of Sainz's current situation.

Of course, Sainz's resentment this time isn't that great. If he's ousted by someone else next time, he can still snatch a seat from a top team.
Then let it come even more fiercely!

For Shu Long, Ferrari's path is now blocked, and his only option seems to be to wait for Albon to take the position at Red Bull.

However, judging from Red Bull's actions, they don't seem to have made a final decision yet.

As he watched as those around him received their "admission notices" for the following year, Shu Long, who had initially thought that the Ma Zeping family's move to Haas would have no impact on him, now began to feel anxious and uncertain, just like Magnussen.

This year is different from last year; it seems he really has no other way out.

Alonso was helpless in this situation; he had done almost everything he could. His agent wasn't part of the team's management, nor was he the one who could make the final decisions.

Moreover, Renault is currently arranging private testing for Alonso at the Circuit de Catalunya, and there's a whole host of other team development work regarding the Alpine car that will be renamed next year, so there's really no time to spare.

Alonso himself frankly admitted that next year, Shulong and he might become the most direct competitors on the track.

Therefore, Shulong now needs to learn to grow on its own and stop relying on others whenever something happens. Off the track, they may still be partners with a close relationship like they are today, but Alonso himself cannot guarantee that he will not have any selfish motives when faced with interests.

These words perhaps confirmed Alonso's sincerity at that moment, but in the blink of an eye, Shulong seemed to have returned to being a lonely person in the paddock.

Life is full of disappointments.

The long-awaited Hanoi Grand Prix in Vietnam was reluctantly cancelled, and in its place, another old track was unearthed from the shadows: the Portimão Circuit in Portugal, which was to be held again after 24 years.

Before the match, it's unclear what Steiner, Magnussen, and Grosjean discussed, but both of them officially announced on their respective social media accounts that they would be leaving Haas at the end of the season.

As for who will be the driver next year, it has not been announced yet, but anyone with even a little bit of inside information in the paddock already knows who it will be.

According to sources, Alfa Romeo has renewed its contract with Sauber and will remain Alfa Romeo next year.

Regarding the driver lineup, it will naturally remain the same as this year's selection of Kimi and Giovinazzi.

Is there still any doubt about what Haas's roster will be next year?

It can only be described as a rather amazing choice.

It's rare for a team to select two rookie drivers at the same time, unless that team doesn't care about results at all.

However, Shulong seems to have proven this year that achievements are useless, at least not in the past few years when the world has been affected by the pandemic. In comparison, the money that can actually be transferred into one's own pocket is the most important thing right now.

Having already secured the necessary sponsorships, the team's performance this year seems to have met the team owner's expectations. They only approved funding for the final round of upgrades and then strategically abandoned the subsequent research and development plans for this season.

If the teams are all giving up like this, what can the drivers do?
Fortunately, at least the crew members at the first-line stations are full of fighting spirit. They have been inspired by Shu Long and have set their sights on a comeback against the Toro Rosso team this year.

What's the storyline about the rogue ninja of Konoha?

Unfortunately, Shulong could only compromise in qualifying and bring back a P14. After using strategy to climb to the top, he managed to hold on to Ferrari's tilted head and finish in P10, bringing back one point.

Shu Long could sense that Vettel's fighting spirit wasn't actually that strong.

Perhaps in Uncle Wai Tou's view, since his future is already set, he might as well give Shu Long a push from other aspects.

As a result, Gasly finished the race at P5, which directly widened the gap between Toro Rosso and Haas to 12 points.

Given Haas's current disastrous pace of R&D, this outcome was inevitable.

Back-to-back at Imola, Shulong started in P13 in qualifying and finished in P9 in the race. Gasly retired at the end of the race, while Kvyat finished fourth, giving the Toro Rosso a 22-point lead over Haas.

The Imola circuit is already very narrow, and this year only a section of DRS was installed on the starting straight. Shulong's performance was due to the rule changes.

Besides the track conditions, Gasly's retirement and Verstappen's unfortunate tire blowout might also be reasons why Shulong was fortunate enough to score points. The only two truly amusing moments of the entire race were Russell's sudden, seemingly reckless veer to the left and crash into the barrier while under the safety car, and Stroll's accident during his pit stop, where he knocked his former jack mechanic off his feet.

I wonder what Toto's expression was backstage. Maybe he feels much more at ease now about renewing Bottas' contract early?
Two weeks later, the Turkish Grand Prix will be another track dug out of the dust of antiquity, Istanbul Park returning to the F1 calendar for the first time since 2011.

However, the track was poorly maintained during the suspension of the race. After learning that the race needed to be restarted, several sections were newly laid, but because they were not very compatible with the three tire compounds currently selected, the grip conditions were actually very poor.

It rained again on Friday night, and the temperature on the track surface was extremely low. It rained throughout the third practice session and qualifying session.

As a result, such a good opportunity finally came, but Shulong's engine ran out of water pressure in Q1. He waited in the pit for the entire Q1 without being able to go out and make a valid lap. In the end, he could only accept the reality that he would start from the back of the pack.

And guess what?

Stroll, who was criticized online for being too incompetent and unworthy of a seat after crashing into his own mechanic at the last race, has surprisingly broken Mercedes' pole position record this time.
Fortunately, it rained almost the entire second day of the race. Although Haas couldn't squeeze out any more speed, Shulong still relied on extremely stable lap times and a one-stop-and-go-for-fifty-laps strategy to save the tire, and finally finished in P6 to take 8 points.

Neither of Haas's two players made it into the points zone in this game, meaning that the point difference between Haas and the Toro Rosso has narrowed back to 14 points.

The team's only two and final upgrades of the season will be unveiled at the Bahrain Grand Prix in two weeks. Whether they can turn the tide against Toro Rosso in the last three back-to-back races of the season depends on the effectiveness of these upgrades.

A series of extremely high-pressure and dull matches, and in order to avoid infection, Shu Long was almost always in a completely closed state. Even though he usually lived a very secluded life, he was about to burst into tears.

It just so happens that Lao Mi Games started a new project a while ago, and since I had nothing better to do anyway, Shu Long decided to register an account and check it out.

At first glance, it has a bit of a Witcher 3 feel to it. The biggest difference is probably that you can't ride a horse and you won't fall to your death if you jump over a hurdle.

The plot is relatively simple, but the guidance is quite good, and it's quite addictive to watch when you're staying at home.

The main character's initial damage is a bit too low, which is a bit unusual for players who are used to seeing huge numbers in Honkai Impact 3rd. And that damn artifact system is a headache to look at and feels like it's testing your patience.

Thinking about the long string of numbers in his account, he suddenly felt that it would be great if the relics could be obtained by drawing them like in Honkai Impact 3rd.

Then I clicked into the gacha interface and saw that the character I was looking for was a male character.
I don't want to play anymore!

He said he didn't want to play anymore, but his body still obeyed, because he got a black stockings character who used the butt-slanting sword technique in a single 10-pull from the permanent pool.

Well, I'll forgive you for the sake of your new wife.

Just three days into the ordeal, a familiar sound effect was heard off-camera, and Shu Long was arrested by his girlfriend during a video call.

"Holy crap, you could tell that? You play this game now? Is it that popular?"

Shu Long had always thought that Old Me was not a particularly popular company. Honkai Impact 3rd recently gained some popularity with a few animated shorts, but the company's games should still be in a relatively niche market.

Shu Long himself was too embarrassed to play in the hunting grounds, otherwise, if those bastards saw a grown man playing a game full of beautiful girls, who knows how they would tease him.

"Shall we play?"

Yes, just like Gan Mengning's current state, even when she's having fun, she feels a bit ashamed to admit it.

"Go ahead and play. I haven't had much time to think about it lately. You can teach me how to maintain this artifact later."

"Okay, there's something I haven't told you yet, I %￥#@&."

"You what?"

Gan Mengning's voice sounded like it was being choked up in her chest, and Shu Long couldn't hear a single word clearly.

"I played a role in this!"

"What?! What did they pair with?!"

"Last year, I didn't go to watch your competition because of my part-time job. It was because my voice was noticed during my audition that I went to the headquarters in Shanghai to audition and got a role."

"I understand! I mean, who?!"

Shu Long hadn't expected his girlfriend to quietly pull off such a big project, and he was genuinely happy for her. However, he quickly went through all the roles he had encountered so far, and none of them seemed like her.

The answer I received was that the gacha pool hasn't been released yet because the current storyline hasn't reached that point, but it might be available in a while.

In addition, Gan Mengning also signed a contract with a dubbing studio, which is indeed something to celebrate. While Shu Long was responding to his girlfriend with "uh-huhs," he was already thinking about what kind of gift to buy.

When the topic of signing contracts came up, Gan Mengning naturally couldn't help but become curious about Shu Long's contract for next year.

The news in the paddock is incredibly exciting right now, with many drivers already securing their seats for next year.

There are also many rumors that Shu Long has confirmed that he will officially join Red Bull next year, and the two sides have held several rounds of negotiations on the contract. No one knows the specifics.

just
"What are you signing? They're still keeping me hanging. Horner just told me not to let my guard down and to keep up the current pace. I guess a decision will be made soon."

Upon hearing this, Gan Mengning suppressed her joy and gently comforted her boyfriend for a while, then said that she would come to the stadium to accompany him for the next three matches.

Attending classes isn't really a problem, since all the classes are online anyway. We can go back to online classes when the final exams are coming up.

Originally, Shu Long didn't want to be seen at this crucial moment, but he found that he did seem to need someone to be with him.

Gan Mengning acted quickly, arriving with her parents within two days. She then dutifully underwent nucleic acid testing and waited for quarantine. Once it was confirmed that there were no problems and she did not encounter any obstacles, she obtained the Weichang pass.

The anti-epidemic procedures within the paddock have now been simplified considerably. After all, it's impossible to have to be quarantined for 14 days every time the race is held in a different location. In addition, while non-team staff were not allowed to enter the paddock before, the requirements for drivers' family members have now been relaxed.

Soon the match week at the end of November arrived, and Magnussen's family came to the stadium for what would likely be his last three matches before retirement.

The arrogant man on the track looked only kindly at his daughter, and proudly handed his little girl, Laura, to Shu Long for a hug.

The little girl, though young, had quite a strong grip. She looked completely innocent as Shu Long pinched her cheek until it hurt terribly, while her father laughed gleefully on the side.

However, the pre-race warmth was only fleeting. Shu Long's P14 in qualifying and Magnussen's miserable P19 clearly signaled Haas's disastrous failure in this round of promotion.

Maintain the status?
Shu Long didn't know what kind of performance he would need to deliver to maintain his form while driving this car, or if he could just go on stage and beat Little Red Bull in 15 minutes.
All he knew was that he was sleeping very late, his heart was beating fast, he felt like his head was shrouded in gloom, and all that remained in his emotions was restlessness.

The next day was the destined Bahrain Grand Prix.
(End of this chapter)