F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 232 The storm is rising
Shu Long changed his mind; he felt that the feng shui of these desert racetracks was perfect for him.

Although the first two matches were somewhat bumpy, at least the ending was good. The accident in Bahrain, which was suspected to have burned him a little.

Currently, with a total of 50 points from two races, he leads the drivers' championship standings by 16 points, ahead of Leclerc with 34 points, followed by Sainz with 27 points.

Verstappen has only scored 18 points in P2 so far, and even with today's fastest lap, he only has 19 points.

The team was quite happy, and Max was in a pretty good mood, but Verstappen looked rather grim.

Old Pan felt it was a bit unlucky to have to withdraw from the first race due to engine failure, but it was still barely acceptable, because the actual inspection in Shulong revealed a bunch of minor problems.

At first, when I saw that Shulong was eliminated by the team's strategy, Verstappen seemed a little gloating, as if Red Bull still loves his son.

But seeing Shu Long steal two cars while Max and Leclerc were locked in combat, and considering that Shu Long's engine was the only one of Red Bull's four cars that hadn't blown up yet, this irritable and gruff uncle suspected that his family had been set up, regardless of whether it made sense or not.

The entire backstage area was in an uproar. After Shu Long and Verstappen finished the awards ceremony, the team didn't let them go back. Instead, the two press officers took them directly to the TV interview area.

Unfortunately, as I passed by, I still overheard snippets of words that sounded like the roar of a lion, such as: "We decided to renew our contract until 2028 because we believed in you!" and so on.

Verstappen looked a little embarrassed.

The situation in the first two games of the new season was indeed not what he wanted to see, but he also did not want to see his father using such a somewhat childish method to fight for privileges that others did not have.

To put it another way, how is this any different from admitting defeat in advance and feeling inferior to others?
Verstappen certainly craves victory, but that's based on his love for driving, especially after winning the world championship last year, which seems to have elevated his entire mindset.

When given the chance, Verstappen will naturally go all out. In fact, he is almost always in a state of giving his all. The ruthlessness that he unconsciously reveals due to his extreme dedication is something that even Shu Long would be ashamed of.

But Verstappen never harbored unrealistic hopes for an uncertain future.

With his points already far behind others, what's the point of thinking about the world championship? Right now, his focus should be on performing well in every race. Once he has a real chance to compete for the world championship, he will naturally shift his focus to competing for it.

This is why Shulong felt that being with Max this year was somewhat counterintuitive.

It seems that the person who was so quick to offer advice to his teammates last year still has a lot to learn on the road to becoming a champion.

When the two arrived at the interview area together, they happened to see Gasly.

He hurriedly finished the interview, sweating profusely, and then, still sweating, clutching his stomach, he ran away without even saying goodbye.

"What's up with him?"

Verstappen shrugged, and Lambias only mentioned in the TR that Gasly wasn't feeling well. With such an intense match just now, there was no time to care about how others were doing.

In fact, Gasly had a very tough time in this race. With ten laps left, he suddenly started having severe abdominal cramps. Every time he turned left, it felt like someone had stabbed him, and his intestines almost flew out.

In the end, they managed to pull through and get a P8 finish. Of course, Bottas, who posed a direct threat to Toro Rosso, also deserves credit for retiring due to engine overheating.

However, this does not prevent Gasly from having a truly outstanding game. His contract expires at the end of the year, and Marco has been struggling with how to handle Gasly's future.

You could say promote Red Bull, but there aren't any spots available here. However, Toro Rosso is primarily a team for developing young drivers, so it doesn't seem right to keep Gasly stuck here.

Now they're either figuring out how to sell Gasly for a good price, or using the money to trade for something Red Bull is short of.

Just a couple of days ago, Shu Long mentioned Piastrelli, and Marco thought about it and it seemed to be a good suggestion. He wondered if there was any way to use Gasly to make it happen.

While Alpine might not be willing to give up such a prestigious brand as Alonso, it's common knowledge within the paddock that his contract expires at the end of this year. Since a renewal hasn't been confirmed yet, who knows what other ideas this tough guy might have?

Fortunately, Alonso is still Shu Long's agent, so it will be convenient for them to sound each other out later.

Even if things don't work out with Alonso, it's not entirely impossible to find a way to replace Ocon.

Marco wasn't interested in the feud between Gasly and O'Connor, but that didn't mean he was completely unaware of it. In the old man's view, Gasly could be considered O'Connor's replacement.

With considerable strength, Gasly also has one more championship than Ocon, and being French, Gasly is definitely a big draw for a French team like Alpine.

The key is that Gasly has a better personality. His time as teammates with Shu Long undoubtedly proved that he is an excellent team player. In the past two years, he has shown that he has all the qualities to carry a team and be the leader.

Some things might be a drawback for Red Bull, but they are undoubtedly quite suitable for Alpine at present.

Otherwise, just look at Ocon's performance in this race. He was practically treating Alonso like an enemy. Alpine's new team principal, Ottmar, was sitting in front of the Pit Wall with his heart pounding in his chest, fearing that either of them might do something rash and cause both cars to suffer a multi-million dollar accident.

When Alonso retired from the race due to engine failure, Ottmar wasn't even disappointed; instead, he subtly breathed a sigh of relief.

Surely they can't fight now, right?

It's hard to say whether Alonso's reluctance to renew his contract is related to Ocon. Anyone would be unhappy working with someone who always delivers "lion-like" heavy blows to his teammates.

The more I think about it, the more I feel like there's a chance!
Shu Long had no idea what kind of brainstorming Marco had generated from the match. He simply read the interview script provided by the press officer and sent Verstappen back to the Red Bull pits first, waiting for things to calm down before returning himself.

To avoid embarrassment, he went around to chat with Zhou Guanyu for a while.

Zhou Guanyu's final position in this race was P11. Several cars retired before and after him, and the yellow flag completely muddied the waters for several cars that started on white tires. He somehow rose from the back of the pack to his current position.

Objectively speaking, they were quite lucky, having benefited from several yellow flags. If it weren't for the team's several disastrous actions, they might have even gained points.

However, it seems that Xiao Zhou didn't blame the team much, because his performance in this race was indeed just average overall.

Both were negatively impacted by the team's instructions and strategies, and the huge difference in their final results might make Guan Yu's public image even more difficult.
Or perhaps the good mood provided by Shulong might make car enthusiasts more tolerant?
Judging from the overall trend of the post-match comments section, the former is not absent, but the latter seems to be more widespread in terms of scope and scale.

There seem to be quite a few rational Chinese people around lately.

Mick seems to have played a significant role. As the son of a seven-time champion, his performance in his second year was still so poor. Compared to him, many fans felt that Zhou Guanyu had become more handsome.

Haas's competitiveness this year is clearly on par with Arro, and in terms of stability, Arro is not as good as Haas, which has joined forces with Ferrari this year.

Bottas, with his numerous Grand Prix wins, is expected to be faster than Magnussen, but Zhou Guanyu's ability to consistently outperform Mick in his first two F1 races is certainly something to look forward to.

This trend is actually quite positive.

Shu Long was afraid that his presence would raise the bar for Chinese drivers too high among domestic fans. He worried that Zhou Guanyu might be bombarded with criticism as soon as he entered the arena, which would discourage young drivers from even dreaming of becoming F1 drivers.

If Shu Long were to single-handedly ruin the future of Formula racing in China, who can say whether he was a villain or a hero for being a pioneer? The next Australian Grand Prix is ​​in two weeks, which means Shu Long can have a short break.

Zhou Guanyu had no intention of slacking off, but decided to return to the team's base to start practicing with the simulator, while Shu Long took some time to go back to China.

There's no way around it, I'm just really bored.

There was nothing to do back at the team headquarters, and even Verstappen returned to Monaco to enjoy his peaceful life.

The first two games of the season undoubtedly proved that Newey's design philosophy for the RB18 was correct.

With the new regulations just in effect, there's not much to change in the overall layout of the race car. Upgrades are mainly aimed at solving engine problems, refitting the steering mechanism, and reducing the weight of the race car.

Red Bull's cars were way too overweight this year. Even though the FIA ​​raised the total weight limit for cars to no less than 798 kilograms, Red Bull's cars were still nearly 20 kilograms overweight.

The next stop, Australia, is still a while away, but Imola, the race after that, is expected to lose 10 kilograms, which is initially estimated to improve Red Bull's lap time by about 0.2 seconds.

That’s very good!
Don't underestimate this simple weight reduction; it means that Red Bull's acceleration and top speed performance can be enhanced to a certain extent, while its dynamics in corners will also become more controllable.

I've heard that Ferrari and Mercedes will also be making upgrades in terms of weight reduction, so there's no need to get too excited yet.

Currently, the upgrade plans that the team has planned for the race car are not of much concern to the drivers, so Shu Long is naturally happy to be idle.

Of course, it's not about giving up or dealing with any business activities. It's just that my family is quite frightened by the missile attack on Saudi Arabia, and I want them to go back and check if they've lost any limbs.

Perhaps it has something to do with business. Anyway, since we're already back, we might as well test the go-kart chassis prototypes that we made in cooperation with Geely.

They also hired test drivers with test chassis, and in fact, Shu Xiong himself is a kart racing expert.

However, that's not important; what's important is that Shulong "participated" in the research and development.

Even though Shu Long's suggestions might not be objective given his current height, as one of the world's top drivers, his words carry considerable weight, even if they are just casual remarks.

To this end, Mr. Shu even invited people from Film Hurricane to film a video of Shu Long testing go-karts, which can be used as promotional material when the car is officially released in the future.

It was just a small favor, but Tim still brought along a rather extravagant roster to help.

After all, since Shu Long made an investment in their studio, they haven't asked for a single penny in dividends. They've simply left it in the company's account as reserve development funds for them to use as needed.

Since he's not in a hurry to use the money, and dividing it up would just waste tax money, he might as well leave it there to continue adding to the value of his assets.

Of course, a different perspective makes all the difference. Where in the world is there such a good boss? What kind of angel investor is this?

So they just asked a couple of guys who know a bit about photography to help out, and they came carrying a whole bunch of equipment, and even brought a storyboard editor.

That's exaggerated, really a bit exaggerated.

However, Tim's team is ultimately an amateur when it comes to racing, and they might have to bring in Jack Wang's titanium alloy mouth to help out later on.

Those things can wait until later. After a long time, Shu Long had a great time driving go-karts for an afternoon. He was having a blast.

He evaluated all the frames as a whole, and his favorite features were one of the softer ones and another neutral frame that was both quite stiff and good at making wheel lifts.

The responsiveness in the previous corner was good, allowing the tires to grip the curb firmly to a considerable extent. The downside was that the road feel became slightly less sensitive, which could potentially limit the driver's potential if they lacked skill.

The latter, while retaining some of the characteristics of the former, can provide drivers with clearer dynamic feedback, but the difficulty of maintaining the slip angle is increased, and it may not be suitable for everyone.

It mainly depends on the user's needs and positioning.

Overall, it's pretty good, though there are quite a few minor flaws. There's still a lot of hard work to be done in the future, including further research and development.

Coincidentally, there were people from Geely here, who revealed some of their progress in contacting teams within the paddock, as well as some insider information that has not yet been widely disseminated.

During this period, Geely communicated with both Alpine and Arro.

Alpine has just changed its team leader and doesn't seem very keen on selling the team or a portion of its shares. On the other hand, Arro has hinted at a slight possibility.

To be precise, Sober released some prisoners.

Because Alfa Romeo's naming rights contract is about to expire, their support for F1 over the past few years has not been able to save their dismal sales. On the contrary, the team's continuous decline in performance has also affected their brand reputation to some extent.

Many people have always regarded Alfa Romeo as a lower-end alternative to Ferrari. In recent years, Alfa Romeo has been thoroughly beaten by Ferrari in the paddock, making it increasingly difficult to shake off this deep-rooted stereotype. Now, there seems to be a trend of ending the cooperation when the contract expires.

If the sponsoring company were to withdraw, Sauber's already struggling financial situation would be further exacerbated. In its eagerness to seek support, Sauber actually sent a more positive signal to Geely.

Meanwhile, Horner also provided information he had gathered during negotiations with Porsche, saying that Audi's negotiations with McLaren had yielded no results.

So, people didn't even think highly of Sober at first?
If car manufacturers collaborate on F1, will the car be branded as Audi or McLaren?
Upon hearing this news, Shu Long didn't know what expression to make. He just felt that it was indeed somewhat humorous, and even wondered if Geely was playing a little joke on him on April 1st.

The negotiations between Red Bull and Porsche seem to be going smoothly. They have started to release information that Red Bull will work with Porsche to develop a new engine for 2026, which seems to be building momentum for the official announcement later.

The signs didn't stop there. When Shulong 6 headed to Melbourne to meet up with the team, it was discovered that the performance cars the team had prepared for the Hot Laps event had been changed from Honda NSXs to Porsche 991s.

In the past, Red Bull has used Porsches as temporary vehicles for Hot Laps events on more than one occasion. In addition, this includes, but is not limited to, Aston Martin Valkyries, as well as Ford Mustangs, which have always had close cooperation with Red Bull in other areas.

Red Bull is ultimately a beverage company, so it is relatively free in this regard. There are always ways to circumvent many rules and regulations if you want to.

However, the sudden switch to Porsche at such a sensitive time raises suspicions about whether Red Bull has any other motives.

A beaming Horner reminded Shu Long after meeting him that the matter of Gu Ailing had been settled. The team would invite her to the pit lane at the Miami Grand Prix, and there would probably be some interactive activities arranged. He told Shu Long to prepare himself mentally in advance.

Holy crap, this is incredible!
Before Shu Long could even study the racetrack in detail, he hurriedly asked his superiors at home for permission to ask Gan Mengning if she wanted to come to the site to inspect the work.

Then I received a very pleasant and positive answer.

That's all!
Shu Long, after putting down his phone, didn't take his bicycle out of the lounge. Instead, he volunteered to apply for a test drive at Hot Laps.

Albert Park Circuit has undergone significant changes this year, and the effects might not be immediately apparent when cycling. There's no better way to clearly feel the subtle changes than by driving up and taking a spin.

As a result, Shulong was told that he still needed to wait in line because Verstappen had already made three appointments in advance.
(End of this chapter)