F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 171 I came back to win

24 hours of hard work + 371 laps = a Le Mans overall champion
The roadside was filled with cheering Matthews, and every passing race car received a hero's welcome. There were no losers among those who could finish Le Mans or those who dared to challenge Le Mans.

"How are you feeling now? Your first Le Mans?"

"I can't say it's cool, it's probably something on a higher level than cool, but anyway, it's an honor to fight alongside you guys!"

"Our honored partner! Woo—!"

The cheers from Hartley on the other side blasted through TR's headset, causing Shulong to squint and tilt his head slightly. He could also faintly hear the sobbing of Nakajima Kazuki, who was overjoyed.

It's said that Hartley, who used to be a pushover in Red Bull, can be so cheerful after leaving that high-pressure environment.
The 24 hours of Le Mans were so grueling that when the final result was finally announced, no matter how familiar Toyota was with this scene, the overwhelming sense of relief still moved them deeply.

After circling the track, Shu Long spotted his two teammates from this year's Le Mans in the distance, waiting on the side of the starting straight, holding up the Toyota team flag and the checkered flag symbolizing victory.

"So what should I do now? Should I bring them along?"

"Of course! They'll know what to do. You just need to enjoy your victory to the fullest!"

Shu Long had seen Alonso and his team do this before, but he never expected to have the opportunity to practice this tradition himself so soon.

As soon as the car door was opened, Hartley pounced on him, grabbed Shulong's helmet, and gave him a big kiss through his mask, acting childishly like a middle-aged man who was almost twelve years older than Shulong.

On the other side, Kazuki Nakajima seemed much more "reserved." He held tightly to Shulong's hand, which was originally meant to be a fist bump, and kept saying "thank you" in a rapid-fire, rap-like manner.

"Don't say that. Everyone performed exceptionally well. The malfunction was just a small test from Le Mans for us, and it was also Le Mans that chose us."

"No, it was you who made Le Mans choose us!"

The whisper that Nakajima peeked in startled Shu Long.

With just a slight change in wording, the meaning was completely different. He didn't want to be flattered like that, and then realized that the other person had subtly expressed their feelings in Japanese.

But this was indeed Nakajima's truest thought. Perhaps only he and Hartley, who had actually driven the race car, could truly understand what incredible things Shulong had accomplished.

As the team's biggest drag this year, Nakajima truly experienced what "redemption" meant through Shulong.

Let alone Sebastian Buemi, who was forcibly replaced at the beginning, even if it were Alonso, who brought Toyota its first Le Mans victory, they probably wouldn't have been able to lead this car, which was already barely hanging on, to the overall championship.

It seems like the current racing cars belong to the next generation.
A 36-year-old Japanese man sat on the side of car number 8, his eyes closed, his face slightly raised as he felt the breeze on his cheeks. The youthful passion of a middle-aged man flickered like a faint flame, and he couldn't help but have the above thoughts.

Shu Long didn't have many feelings. Experiencing the Le Mans award ceremony for the first time made him a little flustered. He was just nervously being surrounded by the crowd as he slowly drove through the pit lane and, under the guidance of the staff, parked in the exclusive parking space reserved for the overall champion.

"Jesus seems even more nervous than when they're racing on the track! Aren't they afraid I'll crash into them?!"

"Haha~ You'll have to get used to all of this sooner or later, come on!"

Hartley grabbed Shulong's shoulder and shook him a few times, then leaned in to unbuckle Shulong's seatbelt and pulled him out of the car.

On the other side, Nakajima handed over the hat and mask that had been prepared in advance, and also took the headgear and helmet that Shulong had taken off, and ran out to hand them to the Toyota staff.

"What should we do next?"

"Group photo! Even though you can't see our expressions, remember to smile and have a good time!"

Someone was forcibly moved to the center position by the other two, and together with the car that had accompanied them for 24 hours, they left behind a proud moment in racing history that will be forever etched in the annals of motorsports.

From pole position in qualifying to several huge gaps in the race, and finally to a comeback victory against the slump caused by the No. 8 car's malfunction.

Shu Long indeed proved his worth as the center of attention with his performance that lasted for more than 11 hours and nearly half a minute.

Unfortunately, this was not the main battlefield he had always devoted himself to.

So when he was surrounded by reporters after the race, and faced with microphones eager to ask what the Le Mans title meant to him, besides expressing respect for the Le Mans race itself, Shu Long's message was actually only one thing—

"To come back!"

There was no time to bask in the joy of winning Le Mans. After a brief moment of tenderness with Gan Mengning, he said goodbye to his girlfriend and headed to the Red Bull Milton Keynes headquarters with his parents and Alonso.

Before leaving, Shu Long actually met with Iren Kruger.

I originally just thought I'd chat a bit like I do with any other interview program, but when Alonso heard it was about film production, he immediately became less talkative.

Simply put, Shulong itself is a resource. If you want to use this resource to complete the film production, you can't just help out of "enthusiasm"; you have to give something in return!
Of course, there are some things that are not up to Ellen, a screenwriter, to decide. To put it bluntly, he is just a hired hand. It will be easier to discuss the specifics after the project officially starts.

This matter has been temporarily put on hold, and Shu Long's current focus is on clarifying his role within Red Bull.

The first and most important step is to secure his Red Bull roster for the second half of the season.

If Perez and his team were still trying to use sponsorship to buy out his place in the second half of the season, everything has changed completely after Shu Long successfully brought back the Le Mans title.

Besides the change in Shulong's status in the racing world, another factor is that Tainiu is now more willing to invest in Shulong, making the sponsorship brought by Perez seem less important.

Aside from the conflict of interest, Shulong is clearly a comprehensive replacement for Perez in terms of ability.

Not only in terms of absolute speed, but also in terms of the extremely high limits of car and tire protection, Shulong demonstrated at Le Mans. It can be said that just a few days ago, he directly crushed Kobayashi Kamui and his No. 7 car crew's Le Mans dream by protecting the tires and the car.

Who is Kobayashi Kamui?

Back when he partnered with Perez in Sauber F1, Kobayashi was known for his ability to maintain tire pressure and his powerful overtaking ability in the later stages of a race. Perez even publicly stated that he learned his tire-maintaining skills from Kobayashi Kamui.

Now even Perez's most prized ability to maintain pregnancy is somewhat inadequate compared to Shulong, so what reason is there not to obediently step aside?
While the two interest groups were still arguing, Shu Long was actually sitting outside chatting with Perez about Le Mans, and the atmosphere wasn't as tense as outsiders imagined.

In terms of empathy based on their shared experiences, Shu Long, who had just been squeezed out by the Red Steak, felt some sympathy for Perez, who was being tossed around like a burden. Based on their past interactions, Perez, as a mild-mannered person in the paddock, was indeed hard for others to dislike.

Forcibly removing someone's seat is indeed somewhat cruel, but after these years of experience, Shulong has learned to become indifferent to some extent.

As for Perez?

Ever since he signed that emergency contract last year, he knew in his heart that he was always at a disadvantage in the competition with Shulong, and the only thing he could hope for was that Shulong would recover a little slower.

Unfortunately, it now seems that this hope was nothing more than wishful thinking.

The negotiations were nearing their end, and Shulong's Red Bull spot for the second half of the season was finalized. Perez's team also compromised, shifting their focus from securing the Red Bull spot to securing the remaining spot.

The Mexican Grand Prix is ​​in the second half of the season, and according to them, they need to ensure that Perez can at least play in his home stadium this season. Red Bull readily agreed, and not only that, they were also willing to act as a go-between for Perez to join Williams next season.

Perez, having previously been a Racing Point driver, has extensive experience with Mercedes engines, and his driving skills are indeed outstanding. He would be a very suitable choice for Williams, a fellow Mercedes customer team.

After all, earlier this year, Williams, which decided to change its team operating policy, publicly announced that they now prefer to accept strong drivers rather than those with substantial sponsorships.

Against this backdrop, although there has been no official announcement yet, Albon, backed by the Tyrekes, has already finalized his contract to join Williams tomorrow during the summer break.

Perez is only slightly less desirable than Red Bull's needs, but he's a hot commodity for Williams, especially since he also comes with a lot of sponsorships. As long as Perez himself is willing to go, there will be no obstacles.

Of course, this is on the premise that Mercedes confirms that Russell will replace Bottas next season.

Mercedes is currently counting on Bottas to help Hamilton win his 8th title, and it would be unwise to shake morale at this juncture. Therefore, negotiations regarding Perez and Williams can only wait for Mercedes' decision at the end of the season.

Before that, Perez can spend the rest of the season at Toro Rosso, while the unfortunate guy he replaced is Kakuta.

If we go back another year, Kakuta's position wouldn't have been so easy to take.

After all, Honda was Red Bull's engine partner in F1 at the time, so they had to give Kakuta a place out of consideration for their sponsorship.

However, due to the pandemic last year, Honda was already significantly affected. In addition, the FIA's suspension of engine development under the new regulations delayed the implementation of the new regulations, so Honda naturally had the idea of ​​withdrawing from F1.

Their engine research project has now been completely taken over by Red Bull, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Red Bull race cars next year will no longer bear the Honda logo.

The reason why Shu Long, who has a formal Red Bull seat contract, was able to jump to compete for Honda's old rival Toyota so easily this year is partly due to the reduced control Honda has over Red Bull.

However, with his backing no longer reliable, Kakuta, whose performance in the first half of the season was completely incomparable to his two teammates, could only temporarily return to the bench to wait for his turn.

Comparing Kakuta's rookie year results to those of a veteran like Gasly, who has been playing for four years, is indeed unfair.

Unfortunately, there's another rookie season where Shu Long's performance couldn't be judged by normal standards, so we can only compare him to Shu Long. His results were indeed unsatisfactory. He ran 10 races but didn't score as many points as Shu Long in his first race. So we can only make him experience the most fundamental cruelty of the paddock.

Of course, Kakuta's side is not entirely without hope. Since Shu Long officially entered F1, Red Bull's youth training system, apart from the mediocre Lawson, doesn't have many promising young talents to offer for the time being.

Aside from his age, Kakuta's record is inferior to Alben's, and Lawson is even worse than Kakuta. Kakuta's commercial value is also not as high as Kakuta's.

So once Perez leaves next year, Kakuta has a pretty good chance of getting a seat.

With the basic arrangements settled, Alonso didn't linger any longer, except for Shu Long's parents who were prepared to stay and watch his first game after the summer break.

Strictly speaking, the summer break is now over, and the F1 teams have gradually resumed their normal work schedules a few days ago. Alonso also has to rush back to the Alpine factory to prepare for the Belgian Grand Prix a few days later.

Perez rushed to the Red Bull base in Faenza, Italy, and Shu Long finally sat down once again at his familiar workstation from his time at Red Bull.

Before leaving, Perez may have kindly offered a word of advice, reminding Shulong that the Red Bull car wasn't so easy to handle. And Red Bull's number two seat wasn't easy to sit in either; one wrong move and this car could ruin his entire driving career.

Shu Long simply smiled politely at this.

Number Two? Who said I came back to be Number Two?
Regarding Shulong's return, aside from the unspoken understanding between Horner and Tai Niu, Marco seemed somewhat uneasy.

8 month 25 day.

The main team, including Horner, has already gone to Spa to prepare for the race, while only Shu Long remains at the factory in Milton Keynes to get used to the Red Bull car, which has undergone a summer break upgrade, using a simulator.

Oh, there's another person who hasn't left either.

"How does the new race car feel?"

"Dr. Marco? I thought you were on that flight yesterday."

"I'm just an advisor. Christian will manage the team perfectly well without me, so..."

"The car is great. Compared to Toro Rosso and Haas, it gives me a more relaxed feeling and I don't need to make any more compromises in operation."

"Ah, that's really good."

Marco raised an eyebrow slightly, walked around to the front nose cone of the simulator cabin and sat down, looking like he was ready to have a good talk.

"What are your thoughts on the second half of this season?"

"Which aspect?"

"Anything is fine, just say whatever comes to mind."

Shu Long obediently took his hands off the steering wheel, scratched his ear through his gloves, and frowned as he considered Marco's possible intentions.

"Hmm—Max has been overtaken by Lewis in the points standings by quite a bit, and Mercedes is now leading the team standings by 12 points."

"anything else?"

"Mercedes seems to have found a way to artificially boost engine power within the existing rules mid-season. Red Bull suffered two car injuries in the last race, and with the budget cap in place, we may continue to be at a competitive disadvantage in the second half of the season."

Even though the other party still seemed hesitant to speak, Marco's purpose in coming to talk to Shu Long was already quite clear.

"Doctor, we are a team, and I naturally know what I should do."

"Sigh, you've always been a child who makes my life easy. Indeed, the championship is our current priority."

"but!"

Shu Long put his hands back on the steering wheel. The simulator's chassis vibrated slightly as the race car started, as if a volcano was lurking beneath it, ready to erupt at any moment.

“I’m here to win the race, and when the time is right, I can provide Max with everything except letting him pass.

Perhaps sensing Shu Long's attitude, Marco sighed and said nothing more, only leaving behind the words "Be mindful of your behavior," patting Shu Long on the shoulder before leaving.

Only when the familiar footsteps gradually faded away did Shu Long softly finish the remaining half of his sentence, as if speaking to himself.

"After all, a championship is something you have to earn yourself."

(End of this chapter)