F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 245 Aftermath Smoke

The countdown for Q3 on the track had already reached zero, but because many people missed the finish line on their last lap, their final flight lap was not yet completely over.

Shu Long was probably the third to last driver to leave the pit lane, followed by Bottas, Hamilton, and Stroll.

Stroll was originally in front, but Shu Long cut inside at Turn 11 during the warm-up lap and stole his position, prompting a lot of complaints from Aston Martin's TR about it.

The young master's habit of not looking in the rearview mirror has taught Shu Long a lesson.

I'd rather follow Norris through a less-than-clean window than follow Green Martin and take unnecessary risks.

The camera couldn't find Shu Long for a moment, and the director seemed to have ulterior motives by focusing the lens on Hamilton and Bottas, the two former teammates, one in front and one behind. The commentators were also betting on whether Arro would be faster than Mercedes again today.

In fact, judging from the results of the first time segment at the bottom of the screen, although both players have achieved their current best times, Bottas does seem to be a little faster.

And right to the left of these two childhood sweethearts' names, the first time segment of the dragon's saddle has already been marked with a purple line.

I don't know how it was hung up, but it was quick.

Before this, Sainz had the fastest time in the first period and Leclerc had the fastest time in the second period, but neither of them did well in the third period. They finished their first qualifying session in Miami with a purple-green-yellow and a green-purple-yellow finish.

Just getting rid of the first purple shard isn't enough to celebrate, because Ferrari's speed advantage over the entire weekend lies in the second timing shard.

This week, Ferrari further unleashed the engine's power output limits for both drivers, and also opted for relatively low-drag winglets in the kit.

In addition, their uniquely shaped bathtub-style sidepods have equally excellent aerodynamic performance. While ensuring that the car has the second-highest top speed in the entire race after Red Bull, the higher downforce and the excellent mechanical grip of the push-pull suspension can help them gain enough advantage in the low-speed cornering section from Turn 14 to Turn 16.

The fact that Shulong's first section of the race was purple was only because he was 0.018 seconds faster than Ens. Whether he can take pole position from Ferrari will also depend on the quality of his cornering from turn 14 to turn 16.

This is also the most troublesome aspect of Red Bull's racing cars in terms of performance.

Gu Ailing was clearly not very familiar with the process of watching the game in the P room. She had been watching the official broadcast for a long time but couldn't find where Shulong was.

what a shame.

After seeing Verstappen make a mistake between Turns 5 and 6, she has been wondering if Shulong will handle the corners as he previously said.

Especially after seeing the purple hue on the section of Shulong, a color that represents the most perfect data in Miami's history, Gu Ailing's regret doubled.

It's only natural that Gu Ailing, as a world-class athlete, would have a certain obsession with the concept of "top".

She believed this was the part of the track she understood best; without paying attention to this part, she felt she couldn't understand the rest.
In contrast, Gan Mengning never expected the director's perspective to provide her with any useful information from the very beginning. From the moment Shu Long drove out of the pit lane, her attention was focused on the split screen displaying the lap times of all the drivers.

But the frequent appearance of yellow and green timing markers during the second timing phase made Shu Long so nervous that she clenched her teeth.

Currently, Shulong is located on this extremely long full-throttle sprint section from the exit of Turn 8 to the front of Turn 11.

Even if there are several high-speed corners along the way, the curves are too gentle and may be defined as false corners on some tracks, so the lap times that can be improved by line and operation are negligible.

The reason why Shulong can still occasionally produce a few green and purple timing points is because the fuel is lighter than before, and the increased surface temperature of the track makes the traction efficiency of Turn 8 more efficient.

Just as things were getting tense, Gu Ailing, seemingly oblivious to the tension, suddenly tucked her sleeve in.

"Excuse me, but where should I look now?"

Look at the camera and give a "V" sign!

The girl muttered a resentful complaint to herself, criticizing the other person's behavior of constantly seeking exposure and being photographed throughout the enclosure these past few days. In the end, she managed to force a polite smile and pointed to a screen in front of her that was specifically for playing videos from the Shulong vehicle.

"Oh—was that the car from Shulong? Thank you! I didn't know that before~"

ε=(ο｀*)))Alas

That's as if knowing this means you'll understand it.
Gan Mengning sighed silently. Since their eyes had already turned to her, she might as well watch along with them.

Ordinary people can't really tell anything from the video feed, and even professional analysts have to slow down the video frame by frame to find out why it's so fast. People like them can actually get more feedback from the lap time rankings.

However, the following part is a bit special; perhaps it would be interesting to see what the in-car display is like?

At this moment, Shulong had just entered the end of the straight where he was sprinting at full throttle. The moment the car pulled right and hugged the guardrail, he slammed on the brakes 85 meters before the corner, tracked the track and turned left, precisely sucking into the apex of the middle and rear of the 11th corner.

After straightening the car, quickly accelerate by applying 30% to 80% throttle, then lightly apply the brakes and fly close to the wall.

Turn 12 is a 180-degree hairpin bend with a fairly long arc. The key is to keep the driving line as short as possible while maintaining a delicate balance between the car's rotation speed and traction in the bend by controlling the throttle opening.

Gu Ailing couldn't see the intricacies of this situation; all she knew was that the dragon-shaped object was stuck very close to the wall, and just looking at it gave her a tingling sensation that made her scalp tingle and her spine tingle.

"He really is!"

Before he could finish speaking, Shu Long brushed against the inner guardrail of Turn 13.

After opening the angle outwards, the vehicle braked suddenly and downshifted to second gear, scraping against the inner guardrail of Turn 14. It then cut through the entire Turn 14, but thanks to the larger body size under the new ground effect regulations, one of the four wheels was always kept within the track line.

Meanwhile, because of the cornering, Shulong aligned the front of the car with the apex of Turn 15 earlier. He didn't pull the cornering angle to the left any further and flew straight over the inspection sign pole inside the apex of Turn 15, passing over the shoulder.

"."

Dude, do you think this was the day before yesterday when you were riding your mountain bike?

Is this a place for you to run around like this?!
Perhaps Gu Ailing and Gan Mengning just thought that Shu Long was like a madman, constantly performing dangerous stunts.

But the more professional mechanics and engineers at the Red Bull P shop can confidently guarantee that they are sweating just as much as those two young girls!

The near-identical incidents involving Sainz and Aokang on Friday and this morning are still fresh in our minds. In almost the same location, Aokang even experienced a momentary impact of nearly 51G, and we heard that it still has blood in its urine.

If Shu Long had risked even a little more force in the collision, not only would the team have faced a heavy workload of car maintenance before the race, but Shu Long would not only have to start from P6 tomorrow, and it's uncertain whether his own body would have been damaged by the violent impact.

Because it was the first year of racing on a brand new track, each team was essentially figuring out how to tune their cars.

This series of corners, set up with Red Bull advertising paper, wasn't just a headache for Red Bull; almost everyone was searching for a balance between top speed on straightaways and stability in continuous low-speed corners on rugged terrain. Sainz and Ocon were both great adventurers who bravely sacrificed themselves on this path of exploration.

The cautionary mistakes made by predecessors have led to a relatively conservative approach to running in this segment throughout the race week.

Even Leclerc, who is known as the "Extreme Guy," left a lot of room for error in his fastest lap, because no one knew exactly where the limits of the car were here.

Only Shu Long, that bastard is really daring!
High risk, high reward. When Shu Long once again swerved the car to the side of the guardrail after Turn 16 and sped through the third DRS checkpoint, the purple mark for the second timing segment was also displayed below his name.

Perhaps the difference between Shulong and Ferrari is only less than 40cm in line selection, but it has created a 0.17-second advantage for Shulong over Leclerc, who is currently in pole position, in a single timing segment.

Steady!

They didn't even need to look at what happened next; the race engineers and strategy team in front of the Red Bull Pit Wall already knew they had it in the bag.

The third timeout has only three turns: one hairpin turn (number 17) and two smooth, high-speed turns.

Unless they make a basic mistake like missing their braking point due to distraction before Turn 17, they simply can't imagine how Shulong, who is already 0.23 seconds faster, could possibly miss pole position today.
That is definitely impossible.

As long as there wasn't any "no-difficulty" level of jinxing from the five-star side, Shu Long naturally crossed the finish line steadily in three stages of purple and green. Only then did the two young girls, who were originally quite distant from each other, grab each other's hands and jump around excitedly for a few moments.

"Pole position! Absolutely masterful driving!"

"Let's goooooo! Haha~ I know this might sound a bit harsh, but thanks for your efforts. I knew that as long as the race car doesn't break down, we'll never lack speed!"

This should be said to Verstappen; he's starting from P4 tomorrow.

But there was nothing he could do. Verstappen seemed to have had a particularly unlucky weekend, or rather, since the start of the 2022 season. Red Bull's cars were fast, but their extremely frequent breakdowns had left both of them on the verge of losing their temper.

Heaven knows how much psychological pressure Shu Longfei was under when he hit the road shoulder. There were only a few corners in the third time slot, and he was even prepared to force the car to finish the race even if the hydraulic power steering broke.

Fortunately, my concubine is capable enough!

After the race, before the two hours of closed-loop management are triggered, I'll definitely have the crew do a thorough check, but now... hehe~
Shu Long jumped off the car and did nothing else but hug the left front tire of his race car and kiss it several times through his helmet like a chicken pecking at rice. Gan Mengning, who was waiting by the guardrail to offer her the first words of congratulations, was so jealous of seeing this.

The person in charge of today's interview is a still-charming Western beauty named Danica Patrick.

She is the first and only female driver to win an IndyCar race and hold numerous pole positions, achieving remarkable success in a male-dominated sport and earning the title of "Queen of American Open Wheels."

Um.
F1's status in the United States is actually somewhat awkward. IndyCar was originally part of F1, but the Europeans didn't want to involve the Americans. They developed their own racing circuit and were just as successful.

Many American racing fans even believe that the head-to-head IndyCar racing is the sport real men should be watching, and its popularity in the US far surpasses that of F1. However, after Liberty Media took over the operation and management of F1, there seems to be a glimmer of reconciliation between the two groups, and Danica's appearance seems to be sending some kind of signal.

This wasn't Shu Long's focus. After showering the enthusiastic audience with compliments about the map, his thoughts had already drifted off to who-knows-where.

See it.

Danica is already forty years old this year, but her spirit and skin look as young as someone in their early thirties, in the prime of their life.

Indeed, exercise and passion keep you young!
Now we've started to cultivate Gan Mengning's interest in sports. I promised her before that I'd take her to experience the atmosphere of a real racing event sometime in the future. Should we start planning to do that now?

Graduate students should have more free time, right?
Let's leave that aside for now. Gan Mengning will begin a new phase of her studies after the summer break. We'll talk about the future later.

Having secured pole position once again, Shu Long immediately handed the small tire to his girlfriend after leaving the track.

The interest in drifting that I had before is ultimately different from real racing. Interests can always be cultivated slowly, so let's start by getting to know these little tires.

Compared to the envious look in Gu Ailing's eyes, Gan Mengning, who was honestly holding the tire in her arms, was really at a loss for words.

This wasn't the first time she'd received this gift, but it was the first time it had been presented to her in person like this. It felt a bit too hardcore than romantic.

Helplessness doesn't mean dislike. The word "romance" wasn't written on the tires, but it was delivered into the girl's heart the moment Shu Long reached out his hand.

The second day of the main competition.

Feeling that her vanity had been fully satisfied yesterday, Gan Mengning originally didn't plan to go to the P room to provoke that blond-haired girl. Instead, she planned to go to the main stands and enjoy the peace and quiet with her friends in her studio, where she wouldn't be held hostage by the cameras.

Whether it was because Shu Long's pole position yesterday put Horner in a good mood, or because he felt it was a bit embarrassing that the team's main players' families couldn't even get a pit stop spectator spot, he generously approved the group to enter the pit stop and participate in the entire race today.

Of course, even if the P room is spacious, its capacity is limited, and some space still needs to be reserved for other celebrities who want to get in the spotlight.

After a brief discussion, Mr. Ma and his wife, along with Director Peng, voluntarily moved to the Little Red Bull side to alleviate some of the pressure on the crowd in the P room.

Actually, there's not much difference. After all, Little Red Bull was a battlefield where Shulong once fought, wasn't it?

Consider it a pilgrimage to a sacred site!

But honestly, sometimes the viewing experience in the P box is not as good as that in the main stands.

Miami certainly has a lot of activity, and everywhere it exudes the ostentatious air of nouveau riche. The pre-race driver parade brought in 20 convertible luxury cars to replace the traditional pig-hauling carts.

Red Bull was assigned two Rolls-Royces, and could only lean out of the sunroofs to awkwardly smile and wave at the fans on both sides of the track, with no one to interact with to ease the awkwardness.

It's not even as good as pulling a pig cart!
When the main competition started at 3 p.m., the Shulong family and friends, who were crammed into the hot and stuffy P room, regretted it even more.

As long as the car doesn't have any problems starting from pole position, Shu Long is basically unlikely to falter. As soon as the lights go out, he gains a half-second lead. After two laps, when DRS is activated, he enters cruising mode with a 1.37-second lead over Leclerc.

It's fair to say that, apart from the time the train departed, there were hardly any shots of Shulong in the broadcast.

So what are these young girls doing crammed together with a bunch of rough, burly men?

At least if you sit in the main grandstand outside, you can cheer for Shulong every lap!
So, what about Zhou Guanyu?
He's another Chinese driver, after all. If we don't have Shu Long's camera, we should focus on our own people. But after searching around, we still couldn't find any trace of Xiao Zhou.

Oh, he retired from the race on lap six due to engine trouble.

Otherwise, how about looking at Verstappen? He's Shu Long's teammate, after all, right?

This time I made the right choice.

Aside from Shu Long, who has disappeared from the screen and has no presence whatsoever, from the perspective of a neutral driver, this race was actually quite exciting.

Shu Long wasn't the only one to have a valiant start today. Verstappen also braked hard before Turn 1 to get alongside Sainz, and then very aggressively squeezed through the pressure of the two Ferraris at Turn 1 to reach P3.

After DRS was activated, the dragon was already out of the range where Leclerc would attack, but Leclerc was facing Verstappen's relentless attacks. Finally, on the starting straight of lap 9, he failed and Verstappen moved up to P2.

Red Bull's top speed is simply unbeatable in Miami.

With three full DRS sections and two super long sprint straights exceeding 15 seconds, Ferrari, which focuses more on cornering performance, simply couldn't withstand the continuous DRS impacts.

After that, Chun Chun became Ferrari's nightmare.

Generally speaking, if you get overtaken, you can just stick close and overtake back. They have three DRS, which makes it seem like you don't, but Ferrari is just missing that one crucial edge.

Each time it can quickly get close, but each time it can't leave enough space for the tap.

The Ferrari was getting further and further ahead, and the air ahead of Verstappen was getting cleaner and cleaner. On the contrary, the burden on the tires of the Ferrari was getting heavier and heavier as it followed the car. After 17 laps, it was pulled away by Verstappen by more than a second, and then it was slowly falling backward at a speed of almost 0.2 seconds per lap.

This can't go on like this. Ferrari's current chairman, Elkann, is personally overseeing this race. If they don't produce results, they might get a slap on the forehead.

Miami's best strategy for the main race was to stop the yellow and white cars. If they don't figure something out now that they're not completely out of the competition, then they're really out of luck!

So on lap 24, Ferrari called Leclerc to pit early, intending to try an undercut.

However, this year the FIA ​​lowered the maximum temperature of the tire warming blankets, making it much more difficult for the cars to raise tire temperature after leaving the pits, especially since Ferrari was using a set of white tires, which greatly reduced the effectiveness of the undercut tactic compared to previous years.

Ferrari's circus-like performance not only failed to catch up quickly, but Verstappen actually pulled ahead by 0.7 seconds.

To prevent Verstappen from losing position due to increased tire temperature, Red Bull called him to pit on lap 26. Meanwhile, Shu Long, who had a 7-second lead, didn't pit until lap 30, giving Gan Mengning and the others in the pit a rare moment of excitement.

Well, although it only happened twice, it was definitely worth the price of admission.

The race car roared into the parking space with precision, and the tire change was completed in two seconds with the synchronized roar of the four air cannons. Watching this highly coordinated teamwork up close is indeed exhilarating.

Then Shulong disappeared from the competition again.
Even Verstappen has lost his presence now. The group huddled in the pit room didn't know whether they should pretend to be watching the game or secretly yawn behind the camera.

The race, which consisted of 57 laps, proceeded smoothly until lap 40. It seemed that Alonso felt that continuing like this would be detrimental to his driver's exposure, so he began to orchestrate a grand spectacle.

First, he locked up on the inside of Turn 1, crippling Gasly. Gasly, who was already losing position rapidly, suddenly locked up his steering gear at Turn 8, causing an innocent passerby, Norris, to trip over.

Yellow flag, then virtual safety vehicle, and then quickly turned into physical safety vehicle.

Shu Long finally returned to the broadcast, and his return immediately put a lot of pressure on Gan Mengning and the others.

The safety car lapped the car five times, which meant that Shulong's eight-second lead was instantly wiped out.

Verstappen's tires were four laps older than his teammates'. Given everyone's understanding of Verstappen's abilities, and with the starting rhythm completely under his control, there shouldn't be any major issues.

The panic was caused by Ferrari suddenly becoming smarter; when the safety car was deployed, they actually called Leclerc, who was in the podium position, in and then brought him out in a new yellow suit.

Although he has temporarily fallen behind his teammate Sainz, it is clear to everyone that Leclerc will have an overwhelming advantage in grip in the later stages of the game.

At this point, with the car formation already compressed by the safety car, Red Bull, having reacted too slowly, could no longer take any further action.

The race restarted on lap 47, with 10 laps remaining. Will the champion change hands in the end?
DRS was reinstated on lap 49, but Leclerc overtook his teammate on lap 48, his aggressive move leaving the Red Bull strategy team in a state of panic.

Gan Mengning held her hands and prayed until the 53rd lap, when she suddenly realized that she didn't seem to have anything to worry about at all.

Leclerc couldn't even get past Verstappen.
Ferrari's top speed in this race was just too dramatic. Even if your tires have better grip and you can brake later, you can't even do a turn, so how can you brake later?
Alonso made such a great sacrifice, so Shulong shouldn't let him down, right?

After the restart of this round of racing, he didn't rush to widen the lead. He kept a distance of about one second in front of his teammates. Whenever he saw the red Ferrari car making any ill intentions, he would ease off the accelerator and give Verstappen a hand.

It's not just about holding onto their stage title, but also about holding onto their annual championship.

Verstappen is currently far behind his teammates, and there's almost nothing that could pose a threat.

On the contrary, Leclerc's side is sticking to their own game. The most advantageous option for Shulong right now is to form alliances and, if there is an opportunity, to suppress Leclerc's scoring momentum.

That person is really wicked.
Even Gan Mengning, who was firmly on Shu Long's side, couldn't help but empathize with her boyfriend's rivals after realizing this—a sympathy that was slightly mixed with schadenfreude and kept trying to lift the corners of her mouth.

No, no, I have to hold back!

But as the mechanics of the car crew excitedly climbed the track fence, the entire pit garage was filled with jubilant air, as if the pressure difference of the concentration was trying to forcefully penetrate into the pores of everyone.

Atmosphere is contagious.

Even though she wanted to maintain the composure of a girlfriend, she couldn't hide the radiant smile on her face when she saw Shu Long climb out of the champion's parking space in high spirits to greet the cheers of the crowd.

(End of this chapter)