F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 177 World War
"beep!"

As the fourth red light came on, Shu Long slightly increased the throttle, bringing the engine speed up to 9800 rpm.

"beep!"

As the fifth red light came on, Shu Long glanced at the tire temperature data on the steering wheel, which showed that the four tires were almost out of their optimal operating range. Combining this with his experience with the grip on the dirty side of the track during the burnout, Shu Long actually lowered the revs a little further.

That was close! Two more "beeps" and it would have triggered some mysterious background music.

The noise of a huge traffic light losing power is not insignificant.

But before the "click" reached his ears, Shulong had already disengaged the clutch to a semi-engaged state. The rear wheels had just completed 100% engagement with the ground when Shulong quickly increased the throttle opening according to the grip feedback he felt.

As the race car entered a stable acceleration phase, the fingers that had been half-lifting the clutch were completely released, and almost simultaneously the other hand shifted into second gear.

Due to the poor grip on the dirty side of the track, Shulong's 0-200 acceleration was slightly weaker, but he still managed to close the gap with Verstappen quickly thanks to his clutch response of only 0.117.

Verstappen's start was a little slow, but with the home advantage, he still managed to break the 0.2-second barrier. The two Red Bulls widened the gap between themselves and Mercedes as soon as they started.

But things are clearly not that simple.
When Shu Long parked his car in the starting grid, he noticed a detail: Verstappen, who was in the left starting grid P1, pointed the front of his car slightly to the right when he parked, clearly indicating that he was going to keep a close eye on his teammate's movements when starting.

Don't ask how Shulong discovered it, because when he parked in the right-hand starting grid, he also slightly tilted the front of the car to the left.

All I can say is that everyone turns into a cunning guy on the field, so let's not laugh at each other.

The original plan was to use his starting advantage to push Verstappen outwards before entering the corner, but the effect was not as expected. The initial acceleration rate did not allow Shulong to take the initiative in taking the lead. Before he could make a move, Verstappen directly and very roughly came over.

There was still a short distance to the right edge of the track where the grass was, but Shu Long showed no intention of backing down. Instead, he gently pressed the steering wheel and squeezed sharply toward Verstappen.

The left front wheel bounced against the spoiler in front of the other vehicle's right side box with a very subtle force, causing no real damage to the vehicle, while still allowing Verstappen to truly feel this contact-style confrontation.

Anyway, I'm not the one who needs to score crucial points for the year championship, so whoever backs down is a coward!

As expected, Max, driving the Red Bull One, behaved like a frightened cat, quickly separating from the car as soon as they made contact and jumping far away to the other side of the track.

It seems that Verstappen was keeping a close eye on Shulong's movements and had prepared contingency plans for possible responses.

This scene left Hamilton, who was in the VIP section at the back, speechless, while several people sitting in front of the Pit Wall outside the Red Bull pit were also terrified. But it also ignited the passion of all the commentators for the game.

"It's lights out and away we go!"

"Shulong's start is still alarming, but Verstappen has clearly already planned how to deal with what may be the most threatening teammate he has ever faced!"

"And then what did we see?! They must be crazy to do that! I suspect one of those two slapped the other's dad in the P-room, or maybe they both did it!"

"This is only your first match fighting side by side! Are you sure you really want to do this?"

"Oops! They really have no manners!"

"But it was a very measured collision, it just seemed like they were asserting their dominance in the team, but how were they supposed to get through Turn 1?"

How else can we get through this?
Just make do!

It's true that Turn 1 has a camber angle, and it's also true that the outside line has an advantage on the track, but the key is that the camber angle here isn't particularly large, so you can't just ignore the apex!

Before the tires had fully reached operating temperature, Shulong applied the brakes slightly late, squeezing into the inside lane and slowly extending his exit line outwards, attempting to continue blocking Verstappen's exit line.

Verstappen responded very quickly here, anticipating the situation and braking early to let Shulong pass, then embracing the apex and going the other way around with an outside-inside crossover.

Both players' cornering efficiency was affected at the same time. After exiting Turn 1, they unfortunately formed a side-by-side trend with their left and right sides exactly swapped. However, for Shu Long, who was initially a car length behind, Verstappen was obviously at a greater disadvantage.

Next, before the right turn officially designated as Turn 2, there is actually a slightly left-leaning false turn. Usually, you need to go full throttle into the false turn first, and then lightly apply the brakes to enter Turn 2 the moment you straighten the steering wheel and align the front of the car with the apex of the turn.

Conversely, Shu Long, who was on the inside line, could have successfully climbed the leader by taking advantage of the line. Being on the outside line, he could also have an extremely comfortable line into the second corner. However, the extremely special third corner made him quickly abandon this plan.

Quickly shift the brake ratio forward by 4% using the wheel near the right thumb, and gently apply the brakes while Shulong is still in the false bend.

First, he blocked Verstappen from entering a more comfortable outside line. Then, after determining that Verstappen's speed was no longer sufficient to force an "inside-inside-inside" cornering line, Shu Long suddenly slammed on the brakes and used traction braking to let Verstappen find a crossing line.

While maintaining stable control with his feet, his hands were also busy.

While fine-tuning the braking force with my left foot to find the limit of grip, I used the wheel to shift the braking proportion towards the rear wheels, manually completing the brake transfer settings that I hadn't had time to adjust before.

These two functions sound very similar, and in fact they are quite closely related.

Brake ratio controls the proportion of braking force distributed to the front and rear wheels during each braking action. Brake transfer usually applies during tracking braking. This function gradually transfers the braking force from the front wheels to the rear wheels in accordance with the driver's release of the brakes.

Its main function is to prevent the front wheels from locking up during traction braking and to improve the stability of the rear of the race car.

Generally, depending on the different cornering characteristics of the track, the team will preset several sets of front and rear brake ratios and brake shift speed settings during the tuning process. When facing different needs, they can switch them with one click using the small lever behind the steering wheel.

The tires don't rely heavily on this feature during qualifying, but the condition of the tires changes every lap during the race. Compromises are not only for tire protection, but also to ensure lap speed with minimal cost.

The sudden braking adjustment and the aggressive double-tracking maneuver in the corner were clearly not matched by a corresponding brake shift setting. Not wanting to ruin the tires with just one overtaking attempt, Shulong had no choice but to manually complete this task that should have been done by the computer.

With so much effort put in, the results were naturally quite ideal. The car that was gripping the apex of the corner was not thrown to the outside line, but instead remained firmly on the inside line of the apex. As for Verstappen, it's unclear what he went through, but after diving into Turn 2 at excessive speed, although he did not maintain his ideal "inside-inside-inside" line, he still managed to keep the car in a slightly right-middle position.

One person wanted to go "inside inside inside", and the other wanted to go "outside inside inside". It was clear that both of them were willing to sacrifice some of their positional advantage in order to firmly occupy the third "inside" position.

The key point is actually the third left turn that follows the second right turn. It is a 19-degree inward-leaning corner with an exaggerated angle, almost reminiscent of NASCAR design. The feeling of driving the car up it is like flying over a wall.

Combined with the extreme elevation changes, it's fair to say that the outer edge of this curve is practically the only solution here.

The "inside" line after exiting the second right turn is precisely the so-called outside line of the third turn!

However, Verstappen, who firmly occupies the middle position, is also trying to encroach on the already limited track space. It can't be said that he didn't leave any space for Shulong at all, but it's just that the space he left is rather abstract.

Currently, there is still a small section of rough asphalt road on the outer edge of the track with Aramco advertisements printed on it. Shu Longshang can ride on the edge of the track, but if this continues, it won't be long before he has to ride on one side of the grass.

When exiting a corner, the loss of grip between the two drive wheels is a very dangerous situation that greatly affects speed, and Verstappen's body language at this moment undoubtedly showed his attitude.

Shu Long neither argued with him nor chose to back down.

Instead, it slid outwards along the guardrail to climb to the top of the slope, slightly shifting its lanes from the two vehicles, and then almost scraped its own front wing with an inside cut. Using the slight bounce between its rear wheel and the guardrail, it performed a third round of cross-line offense and defense between the two vehicles in a short period of time.

The inside is definitely not a place for people to go.

The extremely deep depression combined with the sudden rise in terrain caused Shulong's race car to scrape against the ground, creating a series of sparks. If it weren't for the fact that they had already adopted a high downforce setup for the Dutch Grand Prix, he would have suspected that he would have flown away!
However, Verstappen's own cornering line was actually quite average, as he was trying to block Shulong's overtaking maneuver on the outside. Even though Shulong suffered significant losses from his continuous lane changes, he was only a little over half a car length behind.

Turn 4 is a short right turn with a similar arc to the fake turn before Turn 2, so it doesn't have a significant impact on the competitive landscape between the two cars.

However, Turn 5 is a long, high-speed left turn, and Verstappen, who is currently at a crucial moment in the championship points race, simply cannot afford the risk of closing the gap. Moreover, the next turn is more favorable to him, so he simply let Shu Long take advantage of the line to climb back up.

The track is now very narrow, with high-speed corners from turn four to turn six. Even when flying solo in qualifying, it is just as thrilling as the classic high-speed continuous S-curves of Suzuka Circuit, let alone when two cars are driving side by side.

From turn four to turn six, only one of the four turns is a left turn, while the other two are both right turns.

In addition, the narrow track meant that the cornering speed advantage on the outside could not be utilized at all. Shulong, who had already ridden onto the outer grass twice, lost the side-by-side advantage he had just gained.

However, both Red Bulls maintained a certain degree of restraint here. Shu Long didn't even try to compete with Verstappen for the line at Turn 6. Instead, he eased off the accelerator, letting Verstappen go to the outside, and then turned around to absorb the opponent's slipstream.

Turn 7 is an opportunity for him. It's a high-speed downhill right turn with a large, inward curve, and the road is relatively wider than the narrow, continuous curves that came before.

It sucks in the wake, but there's no tap.

Aside from not having enough speed advantage, Shu Long could also guess what Verstappen would do next.

Sure enough, just before Turn 7, the Red Bull No. 1 car in front suddenly veered inside and got stuck at the apex.

Shu Long, who had been closely following the lead, did not choose to follow. Instead, after the other party helped him complete the maneuver, he slightly eased off the throttle, shifted the car's weight to the front wheels, and threw himself into the lane, right next to the edge of the outer line.

It's crazy, but it's very effective.

The entire process of cornering Turn 7 involves going downhill first and then uphill. Shu Long could feel that the four tires of his race car were on the verge of breaking the grip limit during the descent.

But just when he was on the verge of losing control, the inward tilt and the sudden uphill turn of the track brought him back to his senses.

Verstappen was just about to drive to the outside when he discovered that the spot that should have been his had already been taken by someone else.

It was another fierce battle that left both sides severely injured. As the fight progressed, a nameless fire began to rise in the hearts of the two, especially Shu Long, whose adrenaline was surging and whose eyes were almost bloodshot.

Turn 8 has almost no camber, and the track is wider than Turn 7. It is a high-speed right-angle turn that is very similar to Suzuka's Turn 8. The only difference is that the top speed before entering the turn is not as high as Suzuka's.

After braking quickly and resisting the enormous lateral G-force, Verstappen, once again positioned on the inside line, swiftly cut the car toward the apex of the corner.

Shu Long opted for a late braking maneuver, sacrificing his entry speed to find a sufficient entry angle on the outside. This time, the crossover wasn't for overtaking, but rather to seize the inside line of the next turn, the No. 9 hairpin turn.

The intense back-and-forth battles were so intense that viewers were sweating bullets. David Croft, the commentator, was practically out of breath, making the audience wonder if he needed an oxygen tank.

"Please, let's settle this at Turn Nine!"

"But look at who's behind those two bulls? Seven-time world champion Hamilton is already close to their attack range. Can he find a chance to win this crazy duel?"

"First catch Long's tail, then catch Max's tail. He's going to do it!"

What a familiar scene! The last time the same three people fought like this was in Brazil in 18. Just when the audience was looking forward to a drama of the century, Horner poured cold water on the situation and quickly put out the fire.

"Hold on! Watch out for Lewis!"

Shu Long and Verstappen glanced at their rearview mirrors simultaneously, one on each side. The continuous battle in front had greatly affected their speed and rhythm. Mercedes, which had initially left them far behind, was now almost cutting in between them. If Mercedes succeeded, it could very well disrupt both of their exit lines from the corner.

Without further discussion or eye contact, the consensus between the two men was to first take Old Liu down.

Fuck him!

(End of this chapter)