F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 230 Pacifier
The outcome of the second round of the F2 race was almost a foregone conclusion.

After a year of training, Piastrelli demonstrated remarkable technical reserves and consistency. After a high-intensity five-lap battle with Drugovic, he still managed to bring a championship back to Prema with remarkable composure.

Shu Long also paid a little attention to Du Han.

It's not just because they had some interaction last year, but also because after this young man left Red Bull's youth training program, he joined the UNI team, which Zhou Guanyu's family had officially withdrawn their investment from after the end of last season, and took over Zhou Guanyu's car crew.

Sometimes fate is truly wondrous.

Unfortunately, Duhan's performance in this race was rather average. I wonder if he, like Zhou Guanyu, is not particularly good at these tracks with walls. In the end, he only managed to get a P9.

However, considering that this is only his first year in F2, overall it is not particularly amazing but still not bad.

He dealt with sponsors, interacted with members of the Paddock club, interacted with lucky fans selected online, and remotely interacted with children from welfare organizations.

This is the part that Shulong fears most.

After Bahrain made that big news two years ago, many places have regarded him as a role model for inspiring children, especially in social welfare hospitals with special characteristics.

Many young children who are diagnosed with terminal illnesses stare at him with hopeful eyes and ask if they can become race car drivers like Shu Long in the future.

Shu Long had no idea how to answer. Every time he was forced to perform, he felt a tightness in his throat and could only force a smile.

Horner kept trying to comfort him about this.

Often, those children simply need some hope for comfort, and that's about all they can do. At least for this moment, these children are genuinely happy.

"But isn't this just false hope?"

Shu Long had asked the same question before, but the only response he received was silence.

It's fake, but that doesn't really matter, does it?

Perhaps even those children have long been aware of all this, and now they are just playing along with these boring adults, each getting what they want.

Living in such an environment, Shu Long knew that he would eventually get used to it and become numb. He hoped to become numb, but he was also afraid of becoming numb.

If everything in this world were as simple as using your left foot to brake and your right foot to accelerate, that would be wonderful.
Then came the team's preparations: pre-race warm-up, meetings, and being pulled out for an interview.

Shu Long, who barely had any free time, was in a daze from all the commotion. He had just managed to hide in the lounge and play on his phone for a while when he was immediately notified that he had to participate in the drivers' parade.

Didn't we just get hit by a missile here?

What's the explanation behind these car enthusiasts not seeming afraid at all?
Among the parade riders was Mick, who was rushed to the medical center for examination yesterday. The results were good news; despite the violent impact, Mick was not seriously injured.

But this may not be good news for Mick, as he will not participate in today's main event for "health and safety" reasons.

That sounds nice.

Although Haas has now completely latched onto Ferrari's coattails, their extremely poor performance throughout last year has made it difficult for them to attract many sponsors. In addition, this year's series of questionable moves has driven away the team's biggest financial backer, Ma Zeping, so this year will most likely be another year of tight budgets.

Based on Shu Long's understanding of his former employer, Haas, who had worked there for a year, it was likely either that the car was too badly damaged to be repaired in time, or that even if it was repaired, they wouldn't dare let Mike drive it.

Anyway, Magnussen got a P10 in ranked yesterday, so trying his best to earn some points would be a way to give Gene Haas some satisfaction.

As it turned out, fate seemed to think that there were a few too many drivers on the track. Kakuta stopped in the run-off zone during his pre-race check of the car's condition on the outbound lap, and TR reported that there was a problem with the engine.

It seems the problem he encountered in yesterday's ranked match wasn't completely resolved, and today it's most likely a DNS (Do Not Start) error.

This undoubtedly serves as a wake-up call for both Shu Long and Verstappen. They are both using the same batch and specifications of Honda engines, and the same malfunction that occurred on Kakuta's side could very well be repeated in their race cars at any time.

The most frustrating thing is that they don't know what exactly went wrong with Kakuta's side. The only thing the team can repeatedly emphasize is not to drive too aggressively in the race.

Fortunately, Ferrari seemed to have run into some trouble as well. Sainz's car was surrounded by a wall of people for a full 15 minutes before it finally came out of the pit lane for a short drive.

It seems the problem has been resolved, but it's worth noting that Red Bull has also publicly stated that their engine issue has been resolved.

As for whether there are still any hidden dangers in the racing cars, only each company knows for sure.
Concealing their own hidden agendas, Shu Long, unusually, led the formation of vehicles to warm up their tires.

It's kind of funny, Shulong has won quite a few stage championships so far, but he only has three pole positions, including this one.

The first time was at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, but the race was hit by torrential rain. There was no warm-up or start, and the race ended up being a symbolic victory with only half the points.

The second time was in Sochi, Russia, but unfortunately that track is now temporarily unavailable.

Moreover, because the qualifying rounds were a special rain-soaked race that started in the rain and then turned dry, Shulong was surrounded by opponents who weren't very competitive, so he didn't feel much psychological pressure.

But now, each and every one of them is a formidable character, so to be honest, I'm feeling a little excited and apprehensive.

The start of the Jeddah circuit.
Honestly, it's better not to mention it, because once it's brought up, it's all terrible memories.

Last year's race started smoothly in the first round, but a crash by Mikel directly changed the course of the race, indirectly causing Shulong, who had entered the pits earlier, to be eliminated by the red flag, and then to be sandwiched between Leclerc and Perez at the start.

However, Mick crashed his car yesterday, and Kakuta, a half-rookie, also retired from the race early. There is currently only Zhou Guanyu, a complete newcomer, on the track. So, there shouldn't be any more unexpected problems, right?

should
"The medical evacuation vehicle is ready."

"I saw it, I hope nothing goes wrong!"

Reni's reminder made Shulong quickly bring his wandering attention back, focusing on the traffic light ahead and starting to shift gears and increase the engine speed.

In an instant, all five red lights went out. His random thoughts did not affect his performance. Even though Leclerc beside him had a fairly rapid acceleration, he still steadily kept him behind before Turn 1.

It wasn't until he entered the second timing phase and turned 13 that he realized there were still no yellow flags trying to interrupt the race. Only then did Shu Long quietly breathe a sigh of relief inside his helmet, press the water button, and take a sip of Red Bull to calm himself down.

Nothing unexpected happened here. In fact, because Verstappen started fighting with Leclerc as soon as he took off, Shulong was able to secretly free up some time to conserve battery power.

However, his inner monologue was only half right.

As the newest rookie on the field, Zhou Guanyu did not cause trouble for others, but he very honestly eliminated himself, once again replicating the spectacle of Bahrain, falling to the back of the pack from the very start.

上次是从P15落到P20，这一次是从P13落到P18，每次起步都稳定掉5个位置也是没谁了
It's unclear whether a casual remark made by Shu Long during a pre-race chat at the drivers' parade put too much pressure on him.

In the previous Bahrain race, due to the different tire strategies of the two teams, apart from the overtake that Hamilton made when he came out of the pits, the two did not actually have much of a high-quality battle.

This week, Liu Laohan was eliminated in Q1 and started from P15, right behind Zhou Guanyu. He wondered if he should seize this rare opportunity to practice with the seven-time world champion.

As a result, the starting clutch response of the Guanyu was more than 0.3 seconds, which was significantly slower than the two McLarens in front of it.

Then, as if things weren't going to go wrong, the engine's anti-shutdown device also came into play.

However, this time it wasn't triggered at the start, but because of a slight lack of experience entering Turn 1, Hamilton squeezed him from the outside, and then he bounced off Ricciardo's left rear, causing him to lose too much revs and thus unexpectedly triggering the anti-stalling mechanism.

The bad news is that this puts him more than three car lengths behind Hulkenberg, who is second to last.

The good news is that Arro's speed is indeed very good. After quickly regaining his rhythm, Zhou Guanyu started racking up overtaking statistics all the way.

However, when he tried to overtake Albon on the fifth lap, he was too eager and locked up before Turn 1, so he had no choice but to cut the nutmeg at Turn 2.

Meanwhile, Alonso is having a great time playing with his teammate Ocon.

I wonder if it was that line from last year's TR: "Please tell Esteban to play with all his might! Like a lion!" that unlocked Ocon's potential, and this notoriously headstrong player on the track has once again awakened some incredible attribute.

Last time, Ocon's lion-like defense saved Alonso from a podium finish, and this time he showed no mercy when it came to his teammate. A very aggressive inside cut almost sent Alonso crashing into the wall.

If we have to be specific, Ocon's similar behavior is not a new one. When he was in Force India and was teammates with Perez, the two withdrew from the competition more than once due to internal conflicts, which indirectly led to Ocon's unemployment in 19.

I originally thought that after a year of reflection, he had finally toned it down a lot, and his relationship with Alonso last year was generally harmonious.

Now, perhaps due to BWT's arrival, Alpine's pink paint job has rekindled O'Connor's dormant memories from its time with Power in India, and its hidden nature has finally revealed its true colors.

Although the movements were a bit intense, the two haven't had any real physical contact yet. Overall, these rounds of entanglement can still be considered quite exciting.
The broadcast camera focused on Alpine's newly appointed team leader, Ottma, who had a chubby face that suggested a good temper. The team leader was flushed, and he sat in front of the Pit Wall with his hand on his forehead, unwilling to speak for a long time.

"Oh dear, Ottma's going to have a headache." "Indeed! Aipine's racing competitiveness this year is actually quite good, but we know Ocon's personality to some extent. That guy will absolutely never submit to you, old man!"

The lead runner, Shu Long, hasn't been on camera for quite some time, and the battle between Verstappen and Leclerc has temporarily ended with Leclerc holding P2 because Red Bull needs to consider engine protection. The entire front row championship contender is in a peaceful state.

On the contrary, the midstream groups were having a great time and really garnered a lot of media attention.

Five Stars had no choice; there's a limit to making conversation. After talking about Shu Long and Zhou Guanyu, all they could do now was say whatever was on screen.

Judging from the tone, there's a hint of someone who enjoys watching the drama unfold.

"However, I remember Shu Long talking about the personalities of the drivers in the paddock before. His assessment of Ocon was that he was a very friendly and easy-going person off the track."

"Actually, I can understand it. After all, F1 is definitely the most competitive circle in the world. Last year, Haas was at the bottom of the pack every race, and Mick and Mazeping were constantly fighting each other. Everyone wants to cherish this hard-won opportunity."

"There must be teammates who get along very well, right? A couple of days ago, Vassell did an interview praising Zhou Guanyu and Bottas as excellent team players who are willing to make some sacrifices for their teammates."

"It's hard to say for sure right now. After all, if you want to compete internally, you need to be roughly competitive on the track. Xiao Zhou has only run less than two races so far, so he still needs some time to grow."

That makes sense. Last year, Ocon couldn't outrun Alonso, so there weren't many opportunities for internal competition.

This year's new regulations suddenly made him a match for the boss, no wonder he's starting to show his true colors.

"Hiss—I suddenly remembered that Williams has two drivers who came from the Red Bull system this year, but they seem to get along surprisingly well?"

"There's no competitiveness in the race, and there's no need to fight, right? Besides, both of them have good personalities. As fellow Red Bull alumni, I think there's probably no driver in the paddock who understands each other's situation better than them."

As he was talking, the soldier suddenly laughed.

"And do you know what I was thinking just now?"

"what?"

"Before, Williams had the combination of Latifi and Russell. One of them was slow and prone to crashing, while Russell had a high speed limit but his car damage was also quite severe, which forced Williams to sell the team."

With two highly sponsored and consistently strong drivers this year, is it possible that Williams can regain the competitiveness they had in 15 with Bottas and Massa, who finished third in the team standings that year?

Who knows
At least Williams still has its roots; after all, their ancestors were once wealthy. After the driver lineup was officially announced last year, many die-hard Williams fans had their expectations raised to the max.

After a long chatter about things unrelated to the competition, the five-star studio had just quieted down for a short while when Shu Long, who was in first place, finally appeared on the broadcast screen after a long absence.

I initially thought he might have been attacked by Leclerc, but upon closer inspection, it seemed not. His lead remained steady at 2.3 seconds, as if he was practically asleep while leading.

But now that the camera has turned to us, there must be some reason, right?
At this moment, a dialogue between Shu Long and the convoy was shown on the right side of the screen. Ran Ge, who was in charge of simultaneous interpretation, quickly organized his thoughts and completed the translation.

"Oh—the team is asking him if he wants to pit."

But it's only lap 14 now. If I remember correctly, the pre-race tire strategy was to pit in yellow and white. Isn't it a bit too early to pit now? Are the tires worn out?
Clearly, Shu Long's doubts are the same as Xia Ge's.

"Why? I feel my tires are fine."

"We happen to have a window here; this is a preventative entry. Repeat! This is a preventative entry."

What should we prevent?
As the lead car, Shulong was already in clean air, and in order to reduce the possibility of malfunctions, it was running with a very low load on the car. So, the only reason for it to pit was to prevent the cars behind from undercutting.

Immediately following Shu Long's TR segment, the next communication from Ferrari quickly cleared up everyone's doubts.

Leclerc has been unable to close the gap with Shulong from behind, while also dealing with the threat from Verstappen behind him. His current tire condition is not particularly ideal, and it seems he is preparing to play a strategic trick to see if he can get a free position.

The question was posed to the Red Bull Racing team.

To follow or not to follow? And who should follow?
The announcement of pit stops on lap 14 and lap 15 seemed a bit early, but in fact Ricciardo pitted on lap 8, and Albon and Stroll also chose to pit on lap 13.

To be precise, Shulong's current entry window is not yet fully formed. After exiting the station, he will likely be about 5 seconds behind Russell.

However, Shulong's good tire wear is due to his own ability. In fact, for most other teams that have been breathing in polluted air, even if they don't advance now, the time when they finish their first stint is not far away.

When Russell pits after a few laps, there will be at least 14 seconds of clean air ahead of the dragon.
In fact, according to Verstappen's feedback, after more than ten laps of close following, their current tire wear is in a range where it's neither too high nor too low.

However, due to the numerous high-speed corners at the Jeddah circuit, which can quickly raise tire temperature, the lap times of the white tires improved rapidly after leaving the pits. If Ferrari were left unattended, there was a real possibility of them being undercut.

Based on the principle that the strategy favors the team whose position is in front, it is natural to have Shulong follow Ferrari's strategy.

So, on turn 22 of lap 14, Shu Long pressed the pit stop confirmation button on the steering wheel and turned into the pit lane entrance on lap 15.

The pit lane at the Jeddah circuit is relatively short, but even so, Shu Long caught a glimpse of a red Ferrari speeding past out of the corner of his eye.

"Wait, they didn't go in?"

Red Bull, being last year's team champions, has its pit garage closest to the pit lane entrance. Based on last year's team rankings, Ferrari is only separated from them by Mercedes' pit garage.

Therefore, Shu Long could see very clearly that Ferrari's entrance was clearly in a state of high alert, ready to change tires.

Holy crap, I got scammed by the fourth guy?!
"Quick, quick, quick!"

A tire change in 2.1 seconds is quite good, but Shu Long still felt the movement was too slow and couldn't help but urge him loudly in the TR.

The jack had barely put him on the ground when the light turned green, and he impatiently floored the accelerator, speeding off with a swerve.

"I told you my tires were in good enough condition to not pit! I felt like even if they did, I could push one more lap in clean air and hold on. Why were we in such a rush?!"

"It's OK, it's OK! The lap time on the white tires after leaving the pits is very good. The initiative is in our hands, let's push hard!"

Really, bro?
Shu Long naturally understood the reasoning: the lead car is in clean air, which is beneficial for the tires, so being the first to stop for one or two laps is practically no loss.

The premise is, "If this yellow flag hasn't appeared, then what exactly is going on?!"

"It's Checo, at turn 13. Be careful to slow down, the safety car is coming out."

"I'll give you %#￥@!"

"Sorry, buddy."

Sorry, can that be eaten as food?

As Shu Long passed the 13th bend, he also saw the scene of the accident. A blue Williams car went through the sand and gravel buffer zone on the outside of the bend and crashed headfirst into the guardrail.

Just by looking at the accident scene, Shulong, one can roughly guess what happened.

The reason why hairpin turn 13 is a high-speed hairpin turn is not only because of its large arc, but also because the turn itself has an inward camber angle of about 12 degrees, which allows the race car to rush in with more speed, and the differential can be locked more tightly.

However, if there is a sudden change in wind direction here, it could easily cause the rear of the car to lose balance instantly. He himself had encountered a similar situation in qualifying.

While we can't expect everyone to have his strong adaptability, we still have to be unhappy when we feel annoyed!

A normal entry into the Jeddah station takes about 21 seconds, while the entry time for the Yellow Flag station can be roughly converted to 14 seconds, giving them a disadvantage of 7 seconds compared to Leclerc and his team.

Based on the time difference before entering the station, it's possible that this time the yellow flag will fall behind Sainz when it arrives!

The five-star studio is now too quiet to speak. Shu Long's strong resistance to being fed milk seems to have made them relax their vigilance a little. Who was it that just said Williams recruited two drivers this year who are both well-sponsored and have good skills?

"Long! Make sure you don't exceed the speed limit, pick up the pace a bit, Ferrari's two pit stops have Sainz stuck!"

"I'm already going full speed ahead!"

Despite saying that, Shu Long secretly stepped on the gas when exiting Turn 27, wishing he could get off and carry the car himself.

Even so, when he turned into Turn 1, he was still in a very dangerous situation, running alongside a yellow-T Ferrari. In a fit of temper, the Ferrari swerved and pushed Sainz against the wall.

Losing two places is enough, my patience has its limits!
(End of this chapter)