F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 221 The Conflict Between "he" and "she"

Shu Long had strong opinions about the wording used in the host's introduction!
Last year I went to so much trouble to help my teammates win the world championship, and this is the treatment I get this year? I've been racking my brains for ages, and it turns out my title is only good enough to be XXX's teammate, right?
It's not that he wants to hear fancy words to describe himself. No matter how long a string of English words others use to flatter him, nothing compares to a simple but sincere "Awesome!"

Shu Long would rather the host just call him by his own name than hear such an adjective that sounds like someone else's subordinate.

Horner, who was following behind the two, was always quite sensitive to the emotions of his employees. This was the reason why he was able to build a highly cohesive and loyal team despite not having any high academic qualifications in management.

However, the rivalry between two strong teams has always been a major challenge in team management.

When their competitiveness lags slightly behind, both drivers are strong fighters and might be able to overpower the veteran, earning the team more points for the year.

But when they are in the lead of the season, frequent infighting among the drivers could very well backfire.

But the season has only just begun, and both players were kept in the team by Red Bull at great expense. In terms of their value to the team, they are actually equal.

Although Shulong's performance last year was recognized by the vast majority of people, the team is clearly more emotionally inclined towards Verstappen.

Regardless of their relative strengths, just considering the length of time they've worked together, Verstappen has been fighting alongside the team for six years. Their shared hardships and triumphs in bringing Red Bull back to its peak are experiences that are not easily replicated by anyone.

It's like asking McLaren's Zach Brown whether champion Ricciardo is more important to him, or Norris, whom he has nurtured and developed since childhood.
Not to mention that they are one of only two world champions in Red Bull's history, so their indulgence of Max's reckless drive yesterday was also a result of that.

It had nothing to do with the difference in status between Shu Long and Verstappen in the team; it was simply because they had a better relationship that they naturally began to accommodate some of Verstappen's less unreasonable requests.

As for Shulong
He had been too cooperative before, and from Gasly to Albon to Perez, every Red Bull number 2 driver had been excessively hardworking, so much so that whenever the team needed the driver's cooperation, the first thing they thought of was to put the number 2 driver aside.

But Shu Long is fundamentally different from the others.

Moreover, in terms of importance, Shu Long is actually no less than Verstappen. Even putting aside his abilities, Red Bull has already made a series of business arrangements around him and cannot easily afford to lose him.

Taking ability into account makes it even harder to discuss.

He's skilled at strategizing and coordinating, and he can also take on seven-time champions head-on. From a strategic perspective, we absolutely have to find a way to keep him in the team, no matter the cost. What would happen if we let him go?
If Shu Long were to actually join Ferrari in 2020, it's uncertain whether Red Bull could have won both the driver and team championships last year; they would have plenty to worry about this year alone.

To emphasize the drivers' confidence in the opening race, some specific details were not explicitly stated at the meeting, but the teams were well aware of them.

Ferrari is really fast this year, much more difficult than Mercedes was last year.

Leclerc is a driver capable of competing for the championship and is still in his prime. Furthermore, he has the support of Sainz, who even scored higher in the drivers' points standings than Leclerc last year.
Even Horner, the genius team leader, felt a bit of a headache for a moment, and seemed to be starting to empathize with Toto in the second half of last year.

Hey~
With a smile on his face, Horner stepped between his two drivers and began greeting the fans who were busy handing out hats and asking for autographs.

Who watches Netflix with you?

As the villain in the Drive to Survive script who has already bought a house, Horner's question to car enthusiasts at this moment has a strangely comical, dark humor.

The key point is that his words actually received a very enthusiastic response, and a large group of fans began to raise their hands enthusiastically.

"Great, now you're on the show."

Sure enough, a large number of people's attention was drawn over, and they turned around and waved excitedly at the Netflix crew. Before they knew it, Shu Long and his group slipped away in the chaos.

Let future Horner worry about that; right now, Horner's priority is to ensure the competitive state of the team's drivers.

The current race week schedule is really unreasonable. Although the overall time wasted on press day activities has been reduced, without the coordination of other aspects, it has not actually improved the teams' work efficiency much.

On the contrary, because they had to deal with fans and the media before the first practice session, the team and drivers were in a state of unnecessary exhaustion.

We'll have to change it back sooner or later!

Because they had just tested the car on the same track a week earlier, Red Bull did not rush to find the car's limits during their first practice session. Instead, they first tested the long-distance degradation performance of the yellow and red tires.

The main focus is still on the yellow tire with the C2 formula.

Pirelli officially recommended tire compounds from C1 to C3 for the opening race, while Red Bull, during the second round of winter testing, focused on softer tires with compounds from C3 to C5, as they primarily wanted to test the car's maximum performance.

In other words, compared to qualifying lap times, Red Bull's plan in at least the first practice session is more focused on finding the best setup for the car over long distances.

It wasn't until the second practice session that we finally got into qualifying racing mode. Ferrari and Red Bull took turns dominating the leaderboard, and during the second practice session, Shulong pushed the fastest lap of the entire session to 1:31.4.

During the third practice session, because we were looking for the best long-distance setup on the C3 red tires, even Verstappen, who was at the top of the leaderboard, only managed a time of 1:32.544.

very slow!

It's not that Verstappen's lap times were slow, but rather that all the teams in the paddock were generally slow, considering that last year's pole position time was 1:28.997.
Even further back, without any reduction in aerodynamics in the front and rear wings and floor, the pole position was consistently 1:27.

Two years ago, this lap time would have disqualified many teams from even participating in the race due to the so-called 107% rule.

Vettel even bluntly stated after the race that modern F1 cars make him feel like he's turning a truck when entering corners.
Don't assume that slower cars will be easier to drive. For these drivers who consider pursuing the ultimate speed as their faith, there is only one reason for the slower speed—the cars under the current rules are really difficult to drive!

But there's no way around it; that's how the rules of racing are. No matter how easy or difficult the car is to drive, the driver's only task is to adapt to and master it.

It is "she".

"Oh! Come on!"

When Verstappen, who was passing by, overheard Shulong and René discussing racing terms, he finally couldn't hold back and let out a wail.

"How can you call it 'she'? Racing cars are warriors who fight alongside us! They are, they are... they are real men!"

"No, no, no, I don't think my good brother who fights alongside me needs me to coax her like this."

"It's 'him'! We just haven't figured out the race car's personality yet. Don't you think it would be more exciting and thrilling to fight alongside your brother?"

I think so.

"Then you... uh, um?"

Shu Long shrugged noncommittally.

“Admit it, Max, modern racing is delicate and sensitive. The days of the rough and ready are gone. What we need more between us and racing is understanding and tolerance. By the time your brothers are in a better mood on the battlefield, we'll all be long gone.”

Well, it seems that the two teammates have now developed their first non-competitive disagreement in the new season.

Moreover, it was a fundamental disagreement that was irreconcilable.

They hadn't really discussed this topic before, and usually only used the conventional "it" to refer to racing cars. It was only when they were being somewhat emotional like this that they started to complain in a personified way.

In fact, even without the ground effect regulations, Shu Long's understanding of racing from the moment he got involved with it was simply "her".

Dangerous yet alluring, it often makes one unable to extricate themselves from its allure. Every time one teeters on the edge of losing control, it's as if one can feel the hot, seductive breath flowing down their spine, even more tempting than a delicate tongue gently licking their ear. Anyway, Shu Long, being an old man, felt that he was completely incapable of flirting with men.

He enjoyed the tender relationship he had with Gan Mengning in real life, but if a man's wildness is suppressed in this aspect, it will inevitably show itself in other aspects.

The scheming and maneuvering involved in racing sometimes gave Shu Long a sense of illicit gain, a feeling of mutual benefit.

It's a bit immoral, but incredibly exciting!

Verstappen seemed disgusted by Shu Long's description, and involuntarily shivered. He then gave Shu Long a somewhat sympathetic look.

"I didn't know NingNing was such a troublesome girl. Kelly seems much more understanding to me."

"First! I usually call my girlfriend Mengmeng, and only on very special occasions. Calling her that normally gives me goosebumps! And second..."

Shu Long rolled his eyes first, then shook his head smugly, took off his helmet and came to Gan Mengning in front of the P room.

"What?" The girl felt a little confused.

Shu Long didn't answer, but simply raised his eyebrows slightly at his girlfriend.

Gan Mengning didn't say anything, but a blush slowly seeped up from under her mask. She nervously looked around at the cameras, and even her eyes were a little pink and moist from the heat.

Do we really want to stay here?
It feels like someone's disguise was torn off along with their disguise.
While secretly grumbling to herself, the girl still tiptoed slightly and gently touched Shu Long's outstretched face through her mask.

Hmm—it's a little different from what I expected, but let's leave it at that for now during this special period.

Shu Long returned the greeting by patting his girlfriend's face, then turned around with a smug look on his face.

What's wrong with this personality? Our little one is just too well-behaved!
The drivers' competitive spirit flared up again in a strange way. Verstappen took off his helmet and went to Kelly for comfort, but Kelly just shoved her daughter, P, into his arms.

Verstappen first scratched his adopted daughter's neck with his stubble, then handed Little P to Shu Long to hold, while he continued to shamelessly act like a child, looking like he wouldn't give up until he got a kiss.

Shu Long ignored the childish girl. He was a little puzzled as to why Little P was staring at him with such a resentful look, so he reached out and flicked the little girl's nose.

No, she still looks so angry.
Shu Long's raised hand froze in mid-air, feeling that if he tried to use the same trick again, he might get bitten.

"Who made our little princess angry?"

Little P remained silent, staring intently at Shu Long.

"I?"

"Ok!"

“But I was just arguing with Maxie.”

The little girl opened her mouth as if to refute something, but in the end, she only let out a deep sigh that was not in line with her age, and turned to look at the Bomb doll on the cabinet next to her.

Shulong, whose initial reflex could always be controlled within the 0.1-second range, finally came to his senses after the nerve signals leisurely circled his entire body.

On Thursday, he carried this little gadget around the field, giving one to everyone, whether they were kids or adults. However, one little kid in his own team's pit lane had been eagerly waiting all day, but in the end, Shu Long completely and utterly ignored her.

Don't blame him for being so careless. In the paddock, the Red Bull pit room had the most bacon. In his opinion, if a child was interested, she could just point and countless kind uncles and aunts would help her get one to hold.

Okay, okay, Shulong reached out and took down the biggest and fattest bangbu from the top of the shelf and handed it to Little P.

The effect was immediate. Although the young girl was still trying to maintain her reserved persona, her clear eyes at her age couldn't hide her joy.

Don't try to guess what a little girl who is a little over three years old is thinking. Suddenly, Shu Long understood Vestapan's idea.

If he had ever been with a girl with a troublesome personality in the past, he might now try to use racing as a metaphor for "him".
bah bah bah!
The hypothesis of parallel worlds is invalid. This is a battle of beliefs. Whose conviction is the truth will be revealed on the race track!
What may seem like a simple metaphorical habit actually represents the starkly different understandings of racing between Shu Long and Verstappen. This is the first race under the new regulations, and also the race where their setups differ the most.

Due to changes in ground effect regulations, the structure of the front wing of the race car has been greatly simplified this year.

The downforce provided by the Venturi tunnel mainly acts on the mid-rear section. When the car enters the braking zone and its speed decreases, the front wing, which can no longer provide the extreme aerodynamic effect as before, naturally cannot make up for the car's needs in this part.

This is why most teams in the paddock feel that their cars lack front-end downforce this year, and it is also the main culprit for the left front lockup disaster area at Turn 10.

Verstappen's idea was very simple and straightforward.

Since the front downforce is insufficient, he increases the front downforce. As long as the front of the car is tuned to be sensitive enough, the race car will still be his good brother.

This was also Shu Long's favorite racing car feature in the past; the responsive front end gave him a lot more room to maneuver.

However, he discovered that maintaining a consistent speed in corners makes driving smoother, and a more uniform cornering speed also makes the car's grip very stable. Especially when following other cars, this approach can maximize the advantages of the ground effect car's characteristics.

Especially on a typical stop & go track like Bahrain, this driving style can compensate for some of the disadvantages Red Bull has in mechanical grip this year due to its front-pull and rear-push suspension.

Of course, the price he paid was that he had to make a lot of compromises in his operation. Uncle Wai Tou's comment really hit the nail on the head. Driving the new racing car really felt like wrestling with the front of a truck.

As expected, both teams advanced to Q3 in qualifying. When everyone decided to pull out all the stops, it was the decisive moment to determine who had a more thorough understanding of the new regulations.

Before entering the acute angle of turn 14, Shulong still adopted the method of applying lighter braking earlier, cutting through the apex of the turn at a higher cornering speed, and taking a longer line with a smooth arc.

He pushed the outer corner kerb to its limit, to the point that he could completely ignore the final turn 15, although he went all-in a little late. But before that, he had already brought the throttle to 70% much earlier.

Until crossing the finish line.

"where am I?"

"P1 guy! That was a fantastic lap, well done!"

"Where's Max?"

"Max's final score was 1:30.681, which is 0.073 slower than yours."

Shu Long, who seemed to have successfully attained enlightenment, didn't find much to be happy about upon hearing these words.

He could fool others with his stubbornness, but he couldn't lie to himself about how the car actually felt. He had a feeling that there was still some untapped potential in the car, and in fact, his lead over Verstappen was far lower than the psychological expectations he had built up in Q2.

Back then, with plenty of fuel, he led Verstappen by a full 0.2 seconds on a single lap.

As expected, reality didn't give him a chance to be happy. Less than twenty seconds after he crossed the finish line, Leclerc's final lap time was officially announced.

With a time of 1:30.558, they beat both Red Bulls to take pole position in the opening race.

(End of this chapter)