F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 259 Mime
The car's setup can only be made do for now, but the strategy still has to be aimed at winning the championship.

The best strategy predicted by the data is to stop the yellow and white tires once, and the second best option is to stop the yellow, white, and red tires once. However, Shu Long always felt that the tire wear in this race would not be so simple.

The Baku circuit has poor grip, and many teams, including Verstappen, have opted for relatively low downforce setups this weekend in order to maximize speeds on the long straights.

The difference between the two players within the Red Bull team is not a medium-low pressure and a low pressure, but rather a low pressure and an extremely low pressure.

This setup, combined with these track conditions, leads to a problem: the car will experience a significant amount of lateral slippage on tracks like Baku, which have many right-angle turns.

Moreover, you can't go fast without slipping.

The broadcast photographers had a blast this weekend, all waiting at the exit of the sharp turn to capture the cars swerving and coming to a stop right next to the guardrail.

Data from practice sessions suggests that the C3 hard tires should be able to withstand wear from long-distance skidding, but practice sessions also lack crucial data on tire wear after prolonged exposure to polluted air.

This is only a small part of the variables.

There are many other interfering factors that are not or cannot be calculated, such as different choices of routes during a dogfight, the heat dissipation of tires in dirty air, and the slip variables caused by the low downpressure of the wake.

The biggest difference between long-distance races and practice tests is that you can't run at your own pace. Unless the pre-race goals are completely within the driver's and car's capabilities, tire wear is something that the driver can't control alone.

Red Bull currently has a resource advantage over both Ferraris.

That is, even with identical reserves of both red and yellow compounds, Red Bull still has two sets of brand new white tires, while Ferrari only has one set of new white and one set of old white tires in reserve for the race.

The reason Red Bull was able to produce an extra set of white gear can be attributed to Verstappen's frequent DRS issues in the first two practice sessions.

Ferrari did an extra long-distance following test in practice compared to Red Bull, which resulted in an extra set of white tires being worn out. Meanwhile, Red Bull was busy comparing the differences between different rear wing versions, and with Verstappen's progress being delayed, the project was left unfinished.

If both sides stop once, then of course everyone is fine. But if one side completely disrupts the strategic situation on the track and turns it into a two-stop battle, then it will be worth studying carefully how Red Bull can make use of its 12-lap white tire mileage advantage.

First, rule out red fetuses.

At the meeting, Shu Long expressed his desire to try using red tires at the start, and after a few laps after gaining a good position at the beginning, he would pit early to change to white or yellow tires, and try an undercut with a super large lead time by taking advantage of the clean air behind the car formation.

However, this suggestion was quickly rejected by Hannah, and the team insisted that both of their riders start on C2 compound yellow tires.

One reason is that the C5 red tires have a very short lifespan here!

Especially if you start with red tires during the heavy fuel phase, the car's greater inertia, combined with the negative factors discussed earlier, may cause the tires to become overloaded and reach the cliff point prematurely in less than 5 laps after the start.

The consequence of doing this is that they can only play the two-stop tactic with their cards on the table, or they can only hold on until the end with a red-white stop, completely giving up their competitiveness in the second half of the race. Given that Ferrari has more information and initiative, this is tantamount to suicide.

As for how to arrange the subsequent plans, that depends on whether the drivers' feedback on tire wear on the track is accurate or timely.

Qualifying + nearly two hours of discussion and troubleshooting + more than an hour of post-race team meeting

After finishing all the trivial matters, it was already quite late. It wasn't until 8 p.m. that Shu Long, having changed his clothes, finally found Gan Mengning, rubbing his hair, and prepared to take her to try a local restaurant nearby that he had heard had a good reputation.

He himself doesn't eat it.

According to the normal schedule for a competition weekend, Shu Long had already eaten dinner while in the meeting, but he didn't eat because he wasn't hungry. In fact, he would have another meal when he got back to the hotel.

The real reason is that the teams now have very strict management of the drivers' pre-race meals. The scene of the Brazilian team going out for a race last year and getting stomach aches is still fresh in our minds. It's just that the requirement of being disciplined for three days and two nights during the race to ensure the drivers are in good condition is really not excessive.

So Shu Long basically just asked for a glass of water, put his phone, which was still showing Le Mans, aside and glanced at it from time to time, and then watched with great interest as Gan Mengning devoured the food.

The girl didn't eat much at night, and she wanted to share with Shu Long from time to time, but she only allowed him to taste a tiny bit with his fork!
When the two returned to the hotel, they watched as Shu Long haphazardly blended protein powder, milk, 200 grams of chicken breast, and a banana into a paste and drank it. They felt a pang of sympathy and heartache for him.

There's a saying in the fitness world: if you want to grow big muscles, being able to "eat shit" is a kind of talent.

Gan Mengning had tried this stuff before, and looking at the ingredient list, she knew that it couldn't possibly taste too strange, but it was definitely not "delicious" either.

Combined with its incredibly complex texture, the first reaction when you put it on your tongue is not to swallow it, as if your body is instinctively resisting defining this thing as "food".

Shu Long still remembers the pitiful look on Gan Mengning's face that day, with a puddle of something in her mouth.

I inexplicably find her adorable, a little funny, and a little bit awkward.
He doesn't do this every day, after all, he doesn't have any masochistic tendencies; he's just a bit lazy.

After a chaotic and busy day, I'm really not in the mood to cook a proper meal. If possible, I'll ask the team's kitchen to help me prepare something. If not, I'll just rush through the task and then take two supplements before bed.

Obviously, street races in places like Monaco and Azerbaijan, where land is scarce, don't have as good logistical support.

The day before the competition, you store up enough energy in your body, so on Sunday, the day of the competition, your diet is basically just to fill your stomach.

The digestive process also takes an extra toll on physical strength and increases the likelihood of drivers needing to use the restroom during the race. In short, every aspect of the race week is the result of nearly 20 years of experience accumulated over the team's founding.

While keeping a close eye on the situation at Le Mans, Shu Long noticed Gan Mengning's complicated expression of disgust towards his breakfast and lunch, and suddenly some other ideas popped into his head.

Recently, it's been Gan Mengning's "Dou Ke" account that's been posting about the daily interactions between the two, and Shu Long's own account's comment section has also seen a surge in fans urging for more updates.

I even put it in my favorites list, but ever since the last Miami Grand Prix and the Red Bull official account posted a joint video, this lazy person hasn't made a single move. If he doesn't pop up soon, I'll have to remove Shulong from my list to make room for other pretty ladies!
What kind of threat is that?
Shu Long doesn't really care about having a few more or fewer followers on his account. What he's really upset about is that a few cyber girls can overshadow all the hard work he's put in over the years!

Recently, I've been intensely following the channel of "British Marble" Eddie Hall, who is supposedly the first human to deadlift 500kg.

Later, this record was broken by the actors from The Mountain. However, Shu Long paid attention to this fat man not because of his strength, but simply because he thought the man's personality was quite interesting. It was particularly interesting that a round, big potato would do something that would create a special sense of contrast in the show.

It seems that a Red Bull event planner noticed this and contacted the other party, suggesting that there might be an opportunity to collaborate with them at the P-room.

After all, if the titles of "the strongest man in the world" and "the fastest man in the world" were to be combined, just the title alone would probably attract a lot of onlookers to click and watch the excitement.

Of all the collaborations Eddie Hall has had with other bloggers, besides inviting them to work out together at the gym, the one that Shu Long finds most interesting is exchanging recipes with them for a day.

Then, if we find an opportunity to film a video with Gan Mengning about exchanging recipes, we can easily make a short video.
Shu Long thought about it more and more and felt that it had potential; he was still thinking about climbing into the racing car even though it was time to do so.

There's probably not much of a chance at the next round of the back-to-back Canadian Grand Prix, but the round after that, the British Grand Prix, would be perfect. In the UK, it's easy to find something that isn't good to eat!

At 15:00 PM, the Le Mans 24 Hours next door officially entered its final hour of sprint, while F1 also turned on the green light to enter the pre-race warm-up lap.

Toyota's No. 8 car seems to have secured the championship. Unlike last year, it didn't encounter a bunch of problems, big and small. From securing pole position to maintaining the lead, it basically ended the suspense of winning the championship.

Shulong is in for a tough battle.
Wait a minute!
He got sick at Red Bull, his engine was overworked at Haas-Ferrari, he caused an oil pressure problem at Le Mans, and it seems he hasn't been able to drive a fully healthy car for many races since returning to Red Bull.
So that's where the problem lies, right?
Am I the jinx?!
"Ha~"

This laugh made Red Bull a little uneasy, but due to the rules, René didn't dare to speak at this moment.

Since 16, there has been a TR ban rule for the warm-up lap, which strictly prohibits any communication between teams and drivers during the period from when the green light comes on until the five red lights go out.

Later, the restrictions were gradually relaxed, allowing drivers to communicate about the track and car conditions, but teams were strictly prohibited from providing drivers with any information or guidance regarding clutch settings or starting procedures.

However, between 19 and 21, the ban on TR underwent several revisions and evolutions, and today it has been clearly defined as allowing drivers to report unilaterally to their teams, and strictly prohibiting teams from providing any feedback to drivers.

Violations will be subject to penalties, depending on the severity of the offense, and may even result in punishment within the maintenance area.

So, tell me if you felt something was wrong with the race car during the warm-up lap! Why did you burst out laughing and then hold it in? It's driving me crazy!

As the last P20 vehicle, the Mick, and the medical pursuit vehicle took their positions, five red signal lights began to light up in sequence, and everyone inside and outside the Red Bull parking garage who was watching this start held their breath.

"Crack!"

The teams couldn't hear the signal lights going out, but they could hear the changes in RPM of the F1 engines just a wall away.

The game has officially begun!

The Red Bull pit stop was too far from the front row starting line, so you could only barely see the movement of the cars at the back. Everyone's attention was focused on the big screen in the pit stop.

It was supposed to be the most tense starting phase, but the director, for some reason, only gave a shot facing the traffic, making it impossible to tell who had broken through.

Then the red Ferrari directly in front of the filming location moved. First, it squeezed the yellow-T Red Bull's line to the right of the audience, but soon changed its mind and turned to squeeze another black-T Red Bull race car on the outside of the track.

Both changes of direction resulted in the ball landing right in front of Red Bull, meaning neither player was able to improve their position.

Pity.

It seems that the poor grip conditions on the dirty side of the track were a bit too demanding for Shulong's low-drag race car.
Before he could even finish expressing his inner feelings, he hadn't finished speaking.

The next second, Shu Long, who was inside, made a direct pass and braked very late, forcing Leclerc, who was defending Verstappen on the outside, to also brake late at the same time. A plume of thick smoke immediately shot up from the left front, making Verstappen's nose hurt.

So you're playing a props race now, huh?

The locking of the front wheels meant that the Ferrari next to Shu Long lost its front axle steering ability immediately. Although Leclerc recovered it in just a moment, it was enough for Shu Long to comfortably climb from the huge gap on the inside line to P1.

"Pretty!"

To be fair, the cheers erupting from a group of tall, strong men in a semi-enclosed space like a P room were quite impressive. The phrase "lifting the roof" even seemed less exaggerated and more realistic.

Nothing can boost a team's morale more than such a thrilling overtake.

However, the broadcast cameras completely ignored the uninteresting group of men, focusing instead on Gan Mengning, who was huddled at the back of the P-room. This girl had become incredibly popular since she started showing her face, attracting a large number of American gamers overseas. Since the US took power, political correctness has been rampant, and cute, charming girls are now a rare commodity; nobody wants to miss out on a treat for their eyes.

This girl was quite different from the other socialites in the paddock. After her boyfriend bravely overtook her, she didn't pretend to be elegant by covering her mouth and laughing or anything. Instead, she grabbed the two little tufts of hair behind her head and excitedly started taking small steps on the spot.

After finishing, he suddenly realized that the broadcast had turned into a close-up of his own head. He immediately glared at the camera outside with his round almond-shaped eyes and "huffed and puffed" as he swung his little fists.

Why are you filming the race? The first lap is when the competition is at its most intense!

"That's it!"

In the extremely noisy environment, no one could hear what the little girl was shouting, but there was no doubt that what she wanted to express at that moment quickly resonated with a wide audience, and the commentators were also crying out, wanting to know what had happened after turn 1.

Shu Long's inside player beat Leclerc, and then what?

Didn't Verstappen just have a chance to move up in the standings?

Fortunately, the match footage finally returned before further riots broke out. Looking closely at the rankings on the far left of the screen, the top three had not changed much: Shulong P1, Leclerc P2, and Verstappen P3.

To make up for the broadcast strategy error, the organizers also provided a full overhead replay of the initial phase to help viewers and commentators understand what happened in that split second.

It's clearly visible in the beautiful aerial footage.

Shulong's car is always one step ahead, which the audience has long since become accustomed to.

However, it's also clear that the grip on the dirty side of the track is really terrible. The entire 0-200 acceleration rhythm is a complete mess. The car just started moving and the track was already trying to move towards the outside.

However, Leclerc's start wasn't too slow, and when he stopped, he deliberately tilted the front of the car slightly to the left of the track in order to block Shulong as soon as possible.

It's like having one trick up your sleeve and getting by in no time!
Unless Shu Long is willing to ease off the accelerator and give up the advantage he has gained through his starting reaction, it is almost impossible for him to break through if he starts on the dirty side of an even-numbered track. Only on the clean side of an odd-numbered track will he have a slightly better chance of breaking through.

To avoid the oncoming Ferrari, Shu Long had no choice but to turn back to his original lane. In the aerial footage, you could even see the rear of his car swaying very slightly and unnaturally as he crossed the dividing line formed by the tire tracks.

The inside is really slippery!

At the start, the stage that consumes the most torque from the car, the two drive wheels instantly experienced an imbalance in grip. Shulong almost twisted his ankle due to the pre-set differential lock at turn 1!

Fortunately, the final result was not bad.

What about Verstappen?

Verstappen's start in this race was also quite excellent. It seems that as long as he doesn't start from the front row, he can deliver a very good performance. I wonder if the dynamics of the front row slightly affected his subconscious reflex.

After Leclerc had essentially eliminated the threat from Shulong on the inside, he quickly realized that his blocking action might give Verstappen an opportunity, so he hurriedly returned to his original racing line to block Verstappen.

Then the scene that the audience saw before the camera cut to Gan Mengning took place.

Leclerc's lock-up initially gave Verstappen a significant opening, but the white smoke from the locked tires completely blocked Verstappen's view, causing him to slightly miss his braking point.

In addition, the low-drag setting and the interference from the dirty airflow from the car in front resulted in a significant loss of steering ability on the front axle, even though the car did not lock up.

The two players almost simultaneously veered off the track, nearly allowing Sainz to steal their position.

After that, the competition fell into a period of stagnation again.

Shulong's engine power is slightly insufficient, but its wing drag setting is the lowest in the entire field. If you manage the battery power a little, it won't be easy for other cars to overtake it.

This is probably Shulong's ideal competition situation: no one in front to annoy him, so he can comfortably immerse himself in laps, while someone behind him adds pressure and fun from time to time, so that the competition is not so boring that it makes people want to fall asleep.

But the audience was almost asleep!
And that's when the fun started.

Sainz retired on lap 8, and according to Ferrari's team radio, it sounded like a hydraulic system malfunction. Meanwhile, Leclerc pitted on lap 9.

The super lock-up at the start of the race left a large flat mark on Leclerc's front left tire. Ferrari, Haas, and Mercedes were already the three teams with the most severe dolphin-like bouncing on the track at this race, and this puncture in the tire almost made Leclerc's soul jump out of his body.

Since the dragon in front can't be overtaken in a short time, it's better to enter the station early and try an undercut.

But if they pit on lap 9, they will either have to use hard tires to endure 42 laps, or Ferrari's test data on hard tires will clearly show that a second stop is required before making such a choice.

Red Bull was unsure of what their opponent was thinking.

In their view, Ferrari could have let Leclerc hold on a little longer. Even if the white tires are durable, they can still run for a while and then stop. That's not a reason for the yellow tires to pit after only 9 laps. Anyway, it's just that the car is a little bumpy, not that it can't keep up. Why hand over the initiative so early?
Of course, Leclerc's decision to give up his position indirectly helped Red Bull a lot, at least he created a 2.7-second gap between Shulong and Verstappen, so there's no need to worry about the two players fighting for the time being.

Originally, the team was considering extending the yellow tire stint to over 23 laps to try a one-stop strategy by having Shulong maintain the tire. However, after Leclerc entered the pits, he went all out, making the team worry about what would happen if they were undercut and had no way to break the deadlock.
After all, the engine on Shulong's side is ultimately a hidden danger. Its low drag tuning means that even if DRS is turned on, there won't be much improvement in top speed. If the engine power is insufficient, it may really be difficult to overtake.

So on lap 16, Reni finally gave the order to pit.

no reply
It wasn't until then that the race control team in front of the Pit Wall realized that Shu Long hadn't spoken for several laps—he simply hadn't heard them at all!

Whitley immediately felt overwhelmed.

He quickly turned around and arranged for a few people to wave their clothes by the fence to attract the driver's attention. He also shouted for the other idle people to hurry up and go to the warehouse in the back to find an ancient antique - a Pit board!
What era are we living in that we still need to use Pit boards to transmit incoming station information?

If it weren't for the FIA's requirement that every team must have the corresponding equipment to deal with unforeseen circumstances, this thing would probably have been forgotten somewhere, gathering dust long ago!
However, this thing isn't as primitive as the old chalkboards and blackboards. After quickly setting up the content to be displayed, they hurriedly extended the electronic sign covered with LED beads out of the guardrail.

Shu Long had actually noticed the crew members waving their clothes while leaning on the guardrail during the previous lap, but these crazy Red Bull fans had done similar celebrations or cheering gestures before, so he didn't pay much attention to them for the time being.

Sometimes, when your brain is numb, you really do forget how many times you've repeated the same mechanical actions. Shu Long himself didn't know which lap the race was on, but he felt that the yellow tires were starting to degrade in performance, so he decided to ask the team when they were going to pit.

no respond
By the way, it seems like Rene didn't say much in this match?
When he looked down, he only saw a small light flashing to indicate that he was entering the station. When he looked up again, his excellent dynamic vision caught sight of a small blackboard that said "PIT 18", meaning that he was to enter the station on the 18th lap.
"But I have no idea which lap I'm running!"

Unfortunately, no one heard this complaint, so Shulong could only try to save itself, such as glancing at the large broadcast screen on the roadside for the audience.

LAP 18 / 51
This is the 18th lap?!

Fortunately, Shu Long hadn't lost his mind and forgotten that he was the lead car. The real-time lap count of the race was based on the number of times he crossed the finish line, which meant that he had to pit on this lap.

Pressing the pit stop confirmation button on the steering wheel, Shu Long finally rediscovered that familiar feeling of communicating with the team. Before even stopping in the tire changing grid, he lifted his goggles and shouted to the mechanics around him, "I don't have a tire changer!"

I know you don't have TR anymore, otherwise why would I have bothered with all that effort?

Get the tires in and get going. What, you want to fix them before you leave? Leclerc's already gone!

The commentators saw Leclerc pass by, and Shu Long saw him too. For a moment, their emotions were so complicated that they didn't know what to say. They could only close their goggles and chase after him in silence.

When TR was in dire need, it was gone. Can anyone tell us what Shulong just said?

Losing a location due to a TR malfunction is simply too absurd!

Leclerc seemed to think so too. He had only followed the Ferrari's wake for one lap when, on the twentieth lap, he was covered in hot smoke.

The engine exploded.
The joke made at the start of the item race has come true. Le Sheng will treat every Red Bull driver who didn't get hit by his smoke bomb equally. It was Verstappen just now, and now it's Shu Long's turn.

Unfortunately, the audience still doesn't know what Shu Long's comments were on this.

Shu Long originally thought he was unlucky enough, a jinx reincarnated, but it turned out that the Ferrari race car seemed to be in some serious illness today, which gave his silent performance a touch of dark humor.

Zhou Guanyu started from P14 and squeezed into P10 after changing tires. His overall speed this weekend was indeed extraordinary. Not only was he faster than Bottas in qualifying, but his pace in the long race was also definitely at the upper-middle level.

There are still two cars ahead of us that haven't pitted yet, so it's safe to say they'll secure another points spot.

As a result, on lap 23, his engine suffered a mechanical failure and he retired from the race, leaving Shu Long in silence.

Magnussen made a stop and switched to white, and after several cars ahead of him retired, he moved up to P10. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will most likely be able to bring back a point.

Then, on lap 32, his engine blew out, forcing him to retire from the race. Shu Long remained silent.

He silently watched the yellow flag appear on the sidelines, then silently watched the confirmation signal for entering the pit flash on the steering wheel, and the virtual safety car being deployed on the screen, and he knew it was time to enter the pit.

Using a virtual safety car for dual-vehicle entry is a perfectly normal strategy. Although Verstappen had been out of sight for a while, Shu Long felt that he shouldn't have to worry about a situation where a strategic difference would force him to chase after his teammate.

should.

Ok
The word "should" is something you say to yourself; having your sources of information almost completely cut off can really make you feel insecure.

After exiting the station, Shu Long still couldn't rest easy and went to a large screen to check. Seeing that the three letters VER were still 4.7 seconds after SHU, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Whose favor did we receive this time?

Looking down, Shu Long noticed that four names had turned gray. A Luo had been notified by the engineer of a mechanical malfunction and had driven back himself. He had no idea that Zhou Guanyu had actually retired.

However, judging from the order of the names below, the person who triggered the yellow flag just now was Magnussen?
It's just a bug in the engine power output mode, but it feels like I've almost completely indebted to my former teammates in just one game.
As expected, with only 16 laps left after the green flag was reinstated, Shulong was brought back to P1 again in a "silent" manner.

There were no excited screams, no post-match remarks.

After silently parking his car in front of the P1 sign in the middle, he realized that in the other spot next to him, besides Verstappen, Gasly had once again taken to the podium.
(End of this chapter)