F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 225 Two Peaks on the Camel's Back
Shu Long also noticed where Gasly had parked; it wasn't a collision at all, and the fire at the rear of the race car could have been extinguished with just one fire extinguisher.

Having just revisited the place with those Middle Eastern tycoons this week, he knew very well that there was a passageway less than 3 meters from where Gasly parked that could be pushed in. Why send out a full security car when a simple virtual security car could solve the problem?

Surely the event organizers can't have some kind of psychological trauma related to safety incidents at this location, right?

Regardless of Shu Long's complaints, the team only instructed him to pit under the safety car to change tires, using a set of old red tires with 3 laps of mileage for one last gamble.

This is really great!
He ran so hard earlier because he didn't want to get into an unnecessary fight at this crucial moment, right?
With the safety car compressing the car formation like this, it's impossible to avoid a fight when the race restarts. Compared to Shulong's side, Verstappen's resentment is relatively mild.

At least Verstappen is still in the same position as at the start, even though they were already behind in the game.

Although a safety car negated all his hard work in the previous race, it also greatly reduced the cost of chasing other cars and gave him an extra chance to start over and fight for a better ranking.

After venting his frustrations to the team on TR, Shulong calmed down a bit and started to convince himself that deploying the safety car wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

At least he had a few extra laps to rest, right?
Before his rambling could even take effect, Shu Long's attention was quickly drawn to the race car ahead that had slowed down and closed in.

A red and white Arro, judging from the T-frame markings, it seems to be Zhou Guanyu's race car.

"Where is Guanyu ranked now?"

"Are you talking about Zhou? His message is currently on page 9."

Before I knew it, I'd landed all the rings in the points area.
Wait a minute! Something seems off?
After overtaking Leclerc, Shu Long not only focused on racing, but also paid close attention to the rankings displayed on the roadside screens in order to distract himself from his aching fingers.

If I remember correctly, at least four laps ago, Zhou Guanyu and Bottas were both outside the top 10, right? So, someone in the car ahead of them has pitted?

"So they won't be pitting this lap, right? The yellow tires should hold up after the safety car finishes its patrol, which is less than ten laps."

"No! The information we received here is that both trains from Arro will be coming to the station. Bottas may not drop a position, but Zhou may drop to around P12 or P13."

"If it were me, I would let two people on the team try out a different strategy. At least after the game starts, my teammates might be able to coordinate with them. I'll just leave them alone and give my forward wing two points."

"Is there understeer? The adjustment angle is a bit too large. Changing to new tires should alleviate it, are you sure?"

"You can understand it that way, so I'm sure!"

Fine-tuning the front wing angle isn't a big deal; in most cases, it's much easier than changing tires. Not to mention that this year, because it's the first year using 18-inch tires, many teams have tire change times exceeding 3 seconds.

Red Bull fared slightly better, with their longest tire change being Verstappen's 2.9 seconds, while Shulong managed to keep their times around 2.3 or 2.4 seconds each time.

Although René does not recommend making hasty changes to the car's settings unless absolutely necessary, since the driver insists, we should go along with it.

This was a decision that Shu Long finally made after spending a long time mentally preparing himself.

As the current leading car on the track, with Red Bull's pushrod rear suspension characteristics, increasing the front wing angle by a few degrees won't affect the top speed much; on the contrary, it can improve the car's front-end sensitivity in low-to-medium speed corners.

The steering wheel is already heavy and sluggish. If Leclerc seizes the opportunity when the game restarts, not adjusting this setting is basically tantamount to surrendering.

However, this comes at a cost: compensating for the downforce at the front of the race car means that the front wheels will get more grip.

Especially when the current hydraulic power steering system malfunctions, the reaction force to the driver is essentially equivalent to a heavier steering wheel.

Low-speed corners might be slightly better, but Shu Long was already imagining how he would probably have to grind his teeth to pieces when he went through those high-speed corners later.
I don't know the specific situation with Verstappen, but René revealed a little information to Shulong, saying that after Verstappen left the pits, he kept asking the team to check if there was anything stuck in the steering mechanism, and that he couldn't turn the steering wheel at all when the speed increased slightly.

Currently, the two are not in direct competition, and upon hearing this, Shu Long couldn't help but give Max a thumbs up in his heart.

That's so right, bro!

Why don't you try out the steering wheel of my car?

Shu Long is full of bitterness but doesn't want to give up. He is unwilling to expose his weaknesses to his opponents at this crucial moment in the championship race.

The race organizers not only deployed a safety car, but also kept it on for a long time. Shu Long took the opportunity to relax his hand muscles and get used to the changes in driving feel brought about by the increased front wing angle.

On lap 48, the race organizers announced that the slower cars could get out of the trap. Shu Long, who had become the first car following the safety car, suddenly realized a problem: Had Zhou Guanyu not come in just now?

Shu Long was busy adjusting his pit stop settings when he entered the pit, and was also lost in thought about how to defend against Leclerc after the game resumed. He didn't pay much attention to whether Zhou Guanyu had actually entered the pit or not.

However, when he left the station, he was quite certain that there were no cars in front of him. If Zhou Guanyu hadn't been taken down by A Luo's traditional tire-changing technique, then he hadn't actually made it in at all!

Shu Long quickly scanned a screen that was broadcasting the match and confirmed Zhou Guanyu's current ranking—P8?

They moved up one place from before, but they really didn't make it?!
broken!

Heaven and earth bear witness, Shu Long was just making small talk in TR, subconsciously feeling that with less than ten laps on the yellow tires and a few more laps from the safety car, the remaining seven or eight laps would be no problem.

Whether or not A Luo overheard what Shu Long said, they actually decided to send Zhou Guanyu to fight the strategy battle.

At the time, this was actually the most appropriate strategy: let Bottas, who wouldn't lose his position, get a free pit stop, and then keep at least one car to hold onto his current position.

This way, the two race cars can coordinate with each other on the track, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to give up the position at the end.

But Shulong never expected that the safety car would be able to do so many laps. It had already done six laps so far. On the 50th lap, the safety car's dome light finally turned off reluctantly. By then, the car formation had been compressed into a very tight formation.

Zhou Guanyu's yellow-tire car is now surrounded by cars with red tires. For a complete rookie participating in an F1 race for the first time, the pressure he faces is immense.

If this causes someone to lose the points they should have received, wouldn't Shulong, who was just talking nonsense, become a sinner?
Pooh!
The clay bodhisattva can barely save himself, yet he's worrying about others. Shulong rubbed the red tire back and forth several times, beginning to suppress Leclerc's position behind him.

Another vehicle that was itching to get behind the wheel was a Verstappen. Poor Lock didn't know that both of these Red Bulls were incredibly difficult to drive right now; he just felt like he was stuck in the predicament of having cheese sandwiched between two slices of bread.

On the contrary, P4's Sainz was leisurely hanging in the back, looking like he was ready to sit back and watch the tigers fight.

Leclerc's feeling was actually correct; at the moment, he posed the greatest threat to Shulong, making Verstappen, whose steering wheel also suffered a hydraulic malfunction, seem particularly endearing in comparison.

As the race progressed, the two Red Bulls finally started to feel like teammates.

By repeatedly changing lanes during the tire warming maneuver, Shulong unknowingly forced Leclerc to the outside. By the time Ferrari realized what was happening and tried to escape, a Verstappen had already blocked the line.

At the hairpin turn on the 14th, the entire car formation was almost brought to a standstill by Shu Long, who once again pushed Leclerc outwards. Just as Shu Long straightened his car, he suddenly accelerated, officially announcing the restart of the race.

This is really frustrating.

Leclerc's reaction was quite swift; based on his understanding of the Dragon, he had actually anticipated the timing of the Dragon's acceleration.

Unfortunately, these two Red Bulls are really inhuman. At the beginning of the race, they fought like enemies, but now they are working together to destroy him.

What about Sainz?

Save it!

Sainz was busy waiting in the back to reap the benefits, especially when he saw Verstappen brake incredibly late on the inside of Turn 1; his heart almost jumped out of his chest.

Could it be that the podium for the opening race is about to appear?!

Go ahead and crash into him! However, Leclerc remained incredibly calm. Going head-on with Verstappen here and getting torpedoed out of the game would be the worst possible choice. He gave Verstappen a slight leeway and let him pass.

Shu Long knew that Verstappen's steering assist was faulty, and Leclerc knew it too. In his view, even if they were temporarily behind, it would be no problem to take down a half-crippled Red Bull in the last seven laps.

It's clear that Verstappen's ambitions are definitely not limited to just a P2; after leaving Ferrari behind, he immediately launched an attack on the dragon ahead.

These two are truly fearless; when they really go all out, they're both incredibly reckless. Even when the steering wheel is already shaking their hands, they'll drive right onto the curb without hesitation.

If they initially had some reservations about the layout of Bahrain's Stop & Go, now both are genuinely grateful for this straight-line driving style where corners are curves and straight lines are straight. At least in most areas, they don't have to argue with their hands and their right foot when they're revving the engine.

If it were a track like Qatar's, which is almost entirely composed of high-speed corners, it would be a different story whether you could even keep your hands after a race, but your pectoral muscles would most likely get two or three times thicker.

However, the fact that Shulong could withstand it does not mean that Verstappen, who is much weaker in physical condition, could also withstand it.

The race officially restarted on lap 52. Shu Long had already pulled ahead of his teammate by more than 1.5 seconds on lap 54. Then, Leclerc, who was behind him, seized the opportunity and made a strong run from the outside at turn 6 on lap 55, quickly closing the gap with Shu Long.

A short stretch of continuous high-speed corners was perhaps too much for Verstappen, who was now almost completely exhausted.

However, compared to the drivers who possess an iron will, it seems that Red Bull's number one car was the first to give out.

The series of defeats and falling behind seemed to have made Verstappen a little too impatient, completely ignoring the team's previous warnings about engine use, and blindly pushing forward.

As a result, on the penultimate lap of the race, the Honda engine, which had played a crucial role in Red Bull's double championship last season, finally gave up in the first race of the final round before the new regulations were implemented.
"Jesus bloody hell! I have no power!"

The following insults were too vulgar to show, so the race engineer GP for the number one car asked if the car could be brought back safely, but Verstappen only gave him a "try" answer.

Fortunately, the problem occurred not far before Turn 14. Relying on inertia and a shaky power connection, he managed to force the car into the pit lane.

Now it was Shu Long's turn to curse.

If he knew what had just happened, he would definitely try to subtly suggest to the team that Verstappen create a yellow flag. Unfortunately, the team didn't know that things weren't much more optimistic on his end than on Verstappen's end!

Clearly, rather than risk exposing the car's undercarriage structure to a crane, the team prefers to believe that Shulong can hold onto its first win of the new season.

From the very beginning of the competition, Shu Long was trying every means to accumulate an information advantage for himself, but in the end, he was finally hit by his boomerang at the very end of the competition.

Leclerc has already bitten him twice with DRS. He can barely manage the power steering issue by gritting his teeth, but the team's warnings and the lessons learned from two previous incidents have made him hesitant to go all out and sprint.

The engine isn't part of his body, so he wouldn't know where it hurts or where he's breathing.

With only one lap left in the race, even if you get overtaken, you can still get P2. But if your car breaks down, then all your hard work will have been for nothing!

But there's only one lap left in the race. You've persevered this far, are you really going to give up?
"Honey, you have to hang in there! If we win, I'll treat you to the finest engine oil!"

Taking advantage of the long straight without DRS after Turn 13, Shu Long took a break and symbolically kissed the front of his helmet with two fingers, then reached out and touched the screen on the steering wheel.

I'd round it up and say I've kissed you, baby!

He casually switched the engine's preset strategy to Strat 5, glanced at the car and saw that it still had 63% battery remaining due to safety concerns, and then quietly adjusted the discharge strategy to SOC 8.

The two Honda engines that have withdrawn from the race do not appear to have problems with the electric motor based on their malfunctions. Gasly's engine seems to have an internal combustion engine problem, while the Red Bull No. 1 car's performance seems to be a problem with the MGU-H.

Engine instability is an engine problem.

Switching to a more aggressive output mode was only to ensure the maximum tail speed during defense. However, in the low-to-medium speed corners where the front wing angle was specially adjusted, Shulong planned to make up for this disadvantage by relying on the full power discharge of the overtaking button.

On the starting straight of the final lap, Leclerc took advantage of the DRS to inflict his most painful blow so far.

Shu Long ignored him on the outside and instead braked early, taking an inward turn out of the curve and pressing the overtaking button in the middle of the curve.

The extra power from the motor delivers extremely strong torque, yet under Shulong's relentless control, it perfectly squeezes out every bit of traction from the tires gripping the track asphalt.

At Turn 2, Leclerc quickly cut to the outside to defend, knowing that Red Bull's performance in low-speed corners was not ideal, and wanted to force Shulong to take the inside line for a narrower cornering angle.

As a result, Shulong did not appreciate the gesture and simply slowed down the accelerator.

He didn't even use the high-speed corner 3 to compensate for Red Bull's lack of acceleration in the low-speed range, just like he did when he overtook Leclerc at the beginning of the race. He simply used DRS to ensure that the gap between the two cars wouldn't widen further.

On the last lap, he even put his opponent in front of him. If it wasn't rationality that made him prioritize securing those 18 points, then Shu Long really has a big heart.

However, there was no other way. Even if Shulong didn't put Leclerc forward at Turn 1, the pressure on the engine from the two DRS zones would be too great.

He used to be at a disadvantage in low-speed corners, but now that the front wing has been adjusted, it should be able to play a role in some way, right?

A Ferrari and a Red Bull plunged into the consecutive turns 9 and 10 one after the other. Before this, the high-speed turn had been blocked twice by the Leclerc, and the gap between the two cars was widened from 0.41 to 0.73.

Based on previous racing experience, if Shulong cannot establish a sufficient advantage before then, he will need to lay the groundwork at least until turn 3 on the next lap if he wants to launch another attack that poses a real threat to Ferrari.

But this is the last lap of the race; there won't be another lap!
As they entered the 9th and 10th turns in their current order, not only the commentators, but even Leclerc himself, who glanced in the rearview mirror, felt confident of victory.

Although he was unaware that Shulong was also facing a steering assist malfunction, anyone with eyes could see how hesitant Red Bull was to run. Their previous attempts at the first and second corners seemed to be their last stand.

but--

Shu Long made his latest braking attempt of the entire race weekend at Turn 9. The previous 0.73-second difference was the braking space he deliberately created to avoid Leclerc's braking point. In just one corner, the time difference between the two was reduced to 0.25 seconds.

The two cars were so close together that Leclerc didn't even notice the dragon hidden in the Ferrari's shadow at first, nor the Red Bull's already quite aggressive presence.

The key is exiting the corner!

In the final DRS zone, which could decide the outcome, even though Leclerc was already quite confident, he couldn't help but nervously glance at the car's rearview mirrors.

left?

Don't Have
right?

None?!

Shu Long, who seemed to be braking late and preparing to fight for the inside line, chose a wide line after grabbing the apex of the corner, which seemed difficult but was actually the most efficient way to exit the corner. He used the same trick again at the apex and pressed the overtaking button early.

Right outside line, inside to catch the tail, left side to flick!

A perfect coincidence allowed Shulong to slip out of Leclerc's sight. When the melancholy prince of Ferrari looked back again, he only found that his opponent's distinctive spitting engine was already blowing wildly in his ears like a gust of wind.

When the fatal disadvantage of cornering acceleration in racing cars is no longer present, what can Ferrari, which focuses more on cornering performance, do to compete with Red Bull, which has super speed at the top?

Anyone can't stay on the line when cornering, but speed on the straight is what truly matters!
"P1 guy! A true champion!"

TR's opponent, Shu Long, was yelling something that was completely inaudible. Having been tormented by the race car for the entire race, he had more emotions to release than any of his previous victories. His already poor microphone was completely distorted by the shouting.

The only thing that could be vaguely discerned amidst the cheering clamor was Horner's roar—"You're a monster!"

(End of this chapter)