F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 173 In Excellent Condition

"Good evening, viewers. Welcome to Five Star Sports' live broadcast of the qualifying session for the 2021 Formula One World Championship at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. This is Bing Ge!"

"I'm Fei Ge!"

"I'm Ran-ge!"

After a short yet seemingly endless summer break, the three commentators and hosts of Five Stars, who had been keeping quiet since their victory at Le Mans, finally reappeared on screen.

After a highlight reel of the previous race, the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Shu Long also won, the studio announced that qualifying was suspended due to rain. Currently, only Uncle Meland is on the track, driving the Mercedes safety car and testing the track conditions lap by lap.

"Since qualifying is temporarily suspended, Haoran, why don't you share some of the news that fans might be most interested in this week?"

"OK, all right."

Ran, the five-star interpreter, was dressed in a neat suit and adjusted his glasses with a serious expression, but he couldn't hide the joy on his face.

"First of all, there's a piece of news I've been waiting for, but I've never received it: Mercedes' team manager Toto didn't confirm whether Russell would replace Bottas's position until the end of the summer break."

"We've been following up on this news, after all, Toto has almost made it clear that they need to pay attention to the future development of the team's talent pool, and Hamilton has been trying to speak well of his teammate Bottas. It feels like there are already signs of many things happening within Mercedes."

"This might relate to the second thing I want to talk about, which is that finally, finally! We can see that after suffering such a big accident, Shulong has finally put on the Red Bull team uniform and joined the true Mars team!"

The true intentions are revealed as the map is unrolled; all that stuff on the table was for this tiny dish of vinegar.

“Yes! We’ve all seen Shu Long frequently challenge for the podium even when driving a car that wasn’t particularly competitive. Now that he’s joined Red Bull, we can say that he can truly fight for the championship in every race!”

"Speaking of which, I wonder if you guys noticed Toto's expression at the end of yesterday's second practice session?"

"Haha~ You mean that meme, right? Someone in the group posted a picture of it as soon as it was posted yesterday. It looks like you could plant flowers in the wrinkles on Toto's face."

"Verstappen driving a Red Bull was already enough of a problem for them, and now this Shulong has arrived. No wonder they're hesitant to make a decision to replace Bottas with Russell."

The camera then focused on Shu Long in the Red Bull pit room. He was holding a phone in one hand and having an intense discussion with Verstappen beside him, while making a gesture that resembled airflow pressing downwards.

Verstappen then nodded thoughtfully, pointed to the front suspension of the Red Bull One race car in front of them, and made a steering gesture with his hands as if to demonstrate something.

The background of the scene shows Marco sitting in the back looking quite content, and it's unclear what this visual language is trying to express.

"It seems that the relationship between the two of them is quite harmonious. After all, they are both very capable young drivers. I always felt that Albon and Gasly in the Red Bull pits seemed to be suffocating. Every time the camera turned to them, they looked worried."

"It's not surprising. In the past few years, every teammate of Verstappen has had a significant difference in their lap ceiling. As a result, Shu Long only had one practice session and he reached P1 yesterday, while Verstappen's teammate got stuck on the wall and prematurely ended his second practice session."

"I suspect he may have felt considerable pressure from Shu Long as well."

"It's normal to feel pressure. For these young drivers who are aiming for the championship, pressure can often become their motivation."

"Of course, I've also heard that they've known each other for quite a while, and they probably have a good relationship in private. This kind of healthy competition is actually beneficial to both of them."

If only healthy competition could be maintained, back in the day Hamilton and Rosberg were childhood friends, but their struggle for the world championship ended up making things look bad both on the surface and in reality.

Thinking of this, the three people in the studio couldn't help but sigh in unison.

"Sigh, I wonder how tomorrow's race will go. After all, young drivers with ability and ambition usually have quite a temper. You can see that from the 19 German race. When it comes to the championship, Shu Long can do whatever he wants to you."

"We'll talk about the main competition later. In any case, today's ranking results are the most important thing. Although the fact that Erlian Shulong ranked first in the whole competition has made us feel a little relieved."

"Go ahead and release it. I have no problem with it. Judging from Shu Long's previous ability to handle Red Bull and Haas cars, I don't believe that he can't adapt to the Red Bull race car."

"I am.!"

The soldier became a little anxious, but if he were to say that he was speaking up for certain people of unclear origin on the internet, it would seem to be a bit like making sweeping generalizations, which is a big taboo for people like them who work in the media.

Just because of one practice session, many people started to predict the outcome. As a live commentator, Bing Ge's straightforward temper, where he often says whatever comes to mind, is really hard to tolerate.

During his rookie season with Toro Rosso, he scored 200 points. Last year, Haas was so bad that everyone knew how bad he was. Apart from Magnussen only scoring one point, Shu Long scored more than 70 points while missing the last three games.

With such a record, the first person to say that Shulong would not be able to adapt to Red Bull racing would not believe it. How could Red Bull be as difficult to drive as Haas was last year?

Of course, one should be mindful of the impact during a live stream. Saying things too bluntly can be unpleasant. Fei Ge also stepped in to control the situation.

"Did you notice the interaction between Shulong and Vestapan just now? Although I couldn't hear what they were saying, I could roughly guess what they were talking about."

"It should be related to downforce settings and the rear wing, right?"

"I guessed so. Shulong used a relatively high downforce setup throughout the weekend, probably taking into account the possibility of rain during the race. But this morning in the third practice session, Verstappen pulled out a super low downforce wing similar to Monza's, which was something we didn't expect."

"Indeed, the key point is that the track was still wet during the third practice session! As a result, Verstappen turned the tables and regained the top spot by 0.13 seconds."

"This should also indirectly prove that Red Bull's current chassis and mechanical grip are really excellent. Verstappen's idea may be to maximize the advantages of Red Bull's chassis by using low-drag components."

"In any case, everyone probably has their own considerations, so let's wait and see!"

The red flag is still flying high, and the discussion about Shu Long's situation at Red Bull has finally come to an end. The members of Five Stars have finally shifted their focus back to the current track conditions and when the race can resume.

The rain is gradually subsiding, but there is still a lot of water on the track, the air temperature is only 14℃, and the surface temperature of the track is only 16℃.

These are extremely poor track conditions on other tracks, let alone at Spa, where even the safety car is visibly slippery, making it far too dangerous for drivers.

However, according to Pitwall's weather forecast, a large, rain-laden cloud is currently approaching, making now almost the best time to start the game rather than postpone it until the next day.

"Get ready, guys, the organizers have sent us a message that the match is expected to start in ten minutes."

"Ok."

The person who came to inform Shu Long was Nicholas, the mechanical engineer from the Red Bull crew, whose most distinctive features were his tall and muscular physique and the iconic dreadlocks on his head.

Shu Long bumped fists with the other person, then turned to say goodbye to Gan Mengning in the video on his phone. He then noticed that the girl opposite him was leaning on her cheek with her hand, smiling foolishly.

"Hey! I'm off to work. What are you daydreaming about?"

"I've never seen you working in the pit lane this close before. Watching you and Max talk just now, it suddenly felt real, 'Oh, my boyfriend really is a professional race car driver!'"

Verstappen, who was putting on a fireproof hood nearby, heard her name and leaned over to greet Gan Mengning with a smile.

“Hi Max!” “Hello! Why didn’t you come to the event? I’ve noticed that Long is distracted by thinking about you every day. Don’t give him an excuse to lose to me. We bet on tomorrow’s dinner, and I’m afraid he’ll deny it if he loses.”

"Get out of the way! Who's distracted? She needs to go back to school!"

Shu Long slapped Max across the face and pushed him aside, while Gan Mengning on the other side giggled. Then she watched as Vestapan turned around and kissed Kelly, who had just made a move, in front of everyone.

"Son of a bitch"

"Alright~ The track looks pretty wet over there, so please be careful!"

"Don't worry, my girlfriend is way prettier than his! I wouldn't want to die!"

After re-equipping himself and getting into the race car, Shu Long had just connected his headset when he heard Rennie confirming with him about the tires to use in qualifying.

"What do Max and the others use?"

"Blue all-weather tires. They still used a rear wing kit with relatively high downforce today, but the overall downforce characteristics are still a bit lower than ours."

"Then we'll use semi-weather tires."

"Are you sure? It'll be very slippery at first, and it won't look good to get on the wall in the first qualifying match."

"Please, brother, give me some confidence!"

Whether it's raining or leading the race, a car setup with relatively high downforce is more beneficial for tire and stability in the rain, while low downforce is more advantageous for overtaking at Spa.

As for which of the two has the advantage in single laps, it's really hard to say.

Spa boasts one of the longest lap times in the entire racing calendar. Its relatively low drag tuning allows the car to achieve higher top speeds while placing less load on the engine unit, especially after the so-called engine technology command is issued.

Hamilton, who is aiming for the pole position at Mercedes, adopted a high downforce setup similar to that of Shu Long. His overall lap performance in practice was faster than Bottas, who had to retire due to a change in engine parts and adopted a low drag setup.

Therefore, Spa is basically a rare track where low-drag and high-drag settings have similar lap times, but relatively speaking, the low-drag setting makes driving slightly riskier.

Verstappen had tried to overtake Shulong's lap time several times during Friday's second practice session without success, which is why he tried the Monza-style ultra-low drag package this morning, but it was too risky given the current track conditions.

The main race isn't just about who's a lap or two faster. The most important thing in a rain race is to survive on the track; otherwise, nothing else matters.

Moreover, Shulong is not an opponent that can be easily dealt with, and Verstappen, who is currently behind Hamilton in points, is indeed not too daring to be overconfident.

There were already quite a few race cars lined up in the pit lane outside, while Red Bull's two cars remained calmly in the pit lane until Q1 started running.

In rainy qualifying, finding a clear air window is crucial, and the distance between cars needs to be kept wider. As for stealing other cars' slipstream like in dry racing, that's simply not feasible.

Given the current track conditions, getting into the slipstream means that the driver behind can barely see anything.

Additionally, starting a little earlier allows for more laps to assess the track's grip, which can greatly help the driver set better lap times later on.

However, Shu Long was in no hurry. Even after Max next to him had gone out, he still had no intention of going onto the track.

Since it's only a semi-weather tire, let's wait for the riders with full-weather tires to help him wipe off the water first.

"There are now 7 cars that have entered the flying circle, and apart from the two Williams cars, you are the only one who chose the semi-weather tires."

"Great minds think alike; I think they were faster than the full-fledged rain tires in the first two quarters."

During a brief yellow flag section, Latifi drove onto the grass, but fortunately he moved his car back out, so it didn't significantly affect the qualifying process.

However, this driver, who has already revealed that he will no longer have a seat next year, is not of much reference value.

Russell's lap times on the semi-wet tires were indeed very convincing. He was more than two seconds faster than Hamilton in the first two timeouts, and only slightly slower than the full-wet tire car in the third timeout due to the different amount of water.

The yellow flag displayed by Latifi caused a large number of cars behind him to slow down, indirectly creating a clear window for them. The brand-new semi-wet tires made a series of pleasant whistles on the tiled ground, and Shulong officially drove onto the track under the command of the team.

After he completed his first warm-up lap, virtually every car on the track completed its second flying lap.

As it turned out, the semi-wet tires were indeed the best performing tires at the time. Russell maintained his lead with a full-wet lap in purple, while Latifi, although trailing his teammate by nearly 0.7 seconds per lap, also maintained his position in P2, giving him a lead of more than 4 seconds over the full-wet tire group.

With these two as role models, other teams stopped insisting on using full-weather tires and started pitting to change tires, giving Shulong a much clearer driving space.

All eyes were now focused on the Red Bull II, the only car currently performing a flight lap. The director even showed a beautiful aerial shot to demonstrate what a textbook example of cable routing looks like.

With the brand-new three-segment purple, Shulong officially changed the lap time from the 2s to the 1s with a huge difference of 3 seconds.

Of course, this is also related to the evolution of track conditions. Verstappen followed closely behind with a time of 1:59.606, temporarily taking second place with a slight difference of just over 0.1.

But McLaren's Norris then improved his lap time to under 1:58 on the next lap, pushing both Red Bulls down one position.

This is the extremely tedious qualifying process in the rain, because the track conditions change dramatically with every lap, and all the drivers can only keep going lap after lap, just like in Monaco.

Ultimately, due to Shu Long's late pit stop, he had one less lap to improve his time compared to many other riders, but he still secured P3 with a time of 1:58.833 and advanced to Q2.
The Mars rover is different! Unlike before, you don't have to calculate so meticulously from Q1 to Q3. It feels like you can advance to the final round of qualifying without even having to do anything.

Norris was a bit of a surprise. He hadn't shown much in the previous practice sessions, and it seemed like McLaren's competitiveness in this race was just so-so. But in Q1, he actually managed a time of 1:58.301, the best performance of the race.

There was definitely an element of luck involved; Norris just happened to have the best track conditions before the clock stopped in Q1, but he also demonstrated an extremely high ceiling and consistency in rain conditions.

Even in Q2, Norris pushed his lap time to 1:56.025, advancing to Q3 in first place, while his teammate Ricciardo was eliminated in P12.

Red Bull's two cars, on the other hand, were looking to leave enough tire margin for pole position in Q3. With their current results already securing their advancement, they called both cars back with three minutes left in Q2, ultimately finishing in P5 and P6 respectively to advance.

There were only four sets of semi-weather tires in total. Although Pirelli provided an extra set of semi-weather tires during practice according to the rules, the continuous rain throughout the weekend still caused considerable wear and tear on the tires.

As a result, during the time between the end of Q2 and the start of Q3, the rain on the track started to intensify again, to the point that we had to switch back to full wet tires.

However, Norris, who had advanced to P1 twice in a row, was not afraid at all. As soon as Q3 started, he bravely took to the track with rain tires.

"Oh dear, the rain is really heavy now, we can barely see the road! Of course, I still have faith in Shulong's ability to fight in the rain; under these conditions, he might just be able to bring home his first career stroke today."

"Indeed, but Norris's performance today was quite unexpected. No wonder McLaren was willing to extend his contract for many years so early. He is indeed a driver worth developing."

"So today, Shulong mainly needs to calm down and deal with things calmly. After all, there are still many potential challengers for pole position. Verstappen and Hamilton have both shown very good lap times, and I think Norris is also in excellent form today."

(End of this chapter)