F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 272 Picking the Tallest Among the Unlucky

The most appropriate consideration is naturally to prioritize protecting the pregnancy.

After all, Shulong has the advantage of clean air, while Verstappen's rhythm has been completely disrupted. Shulong's biggest direct competitor in this match is Leclerc.

Moreover, with Norris blocking the way ahead, Verstappen's pace on his new tires won't be very fast, meaning the chances of Shulong being undercut are very low.

The team was still considering this when Norris pitted.

Just as the tires were starting to warm up, the lap time instantly went into overdrive, and the car quickly closed the gap to about 1.3 seconds behind the two Haas cars.

Is it a train formation led by a prisoner?

Magnussen has a wealth of experience and is also a highly skilled team player. As long as Mick doesn't mess up, his small train formation should be able to hold them off for a while.
As a result, Magnussen chose to pit on lap 15, and Mick followed the team's strategy on lap 16. Ocon and Russell also followed Mick's pace and pitted for tires on the same lap.

In other words, within Verstappen's immediate field of vision, there is only Hamilton, who is still playing 1.2 seconds ahead, and a nearly 20-second stretch of flat terrain.

Old man?
Last year, he and Verstappen were destined rivals! Can Max relive his peak glory days?

If he could hear, the old man would most likely give Shulong an "OK" sign, but unfortunately, his racing skills simply didn't allow it.

In the home turf of Mercedes, managed by Austrian owner Toto, Mercedes' overall competitiveness this season was almost on par with Haas. On the other hand, Haas, who are known for their unpredictable and sometimes erratic performances, somehow managed to run exceptionally fast this season.

Well—or rather, Mercedes really did run quite slowly at this race!

On lap 18, at turn 4, Verstappen immediately used the same overtaking strategy that Leclerc had used against him on Hamilton, taking advantage of the better grip of the new tires to break back to P4.

This was truly a free-spirited moment, and on the second lap, Verstappen set a time of 1:09.895, snatching the fastest lap of the race from Shu Long.

The two Ferraris were instantly within the range of Undercut's attack. Even Shulong's strategy had to be more cautious, because at this moment, the performance of his yellow tires had begun to decline.

However, Shu Long's 2.3-second lead over Leclerc is not just for show. Not to mention, there is a 3.7-second buffer zone between Leclerc and Sainz. Even if there is a risk of being overtaken, there is no need to make a decision in just one or two laps. You can observe a little longer.

However, the yellow tires had already lasted for almost 20 laps. The driving in the main race was not only more aggressive than in the sprint race, but the fuel load was also much heavier than in the sprint race. It was very normal for the tire performance to start to decline.

The same should apply to Ferraris.

Thanks to Verstappen's disruption and early departure, Shulong didn't face much defensive pressure. Their tire management was actually easier than in the sprint race, and they might be able to keep their tire wear levels roughly the same as Ferrari's.

The first person to confirm this guess was Sainz, who was called back by Ferrari on lap 20.

For those who haven't pitted, their lap times are generally still dropping. Ferrari calling Sainz back could have two meanings: one, his tires are indeed worn out; two, Sainz's position just now was quite clever, and after exiting the pits, he should be able to position himself right in front of Verstappen, creating some obstruction for him.

Then it failed.
A disastrous 4.3-second tire change turned what could have been a one-second advantage over Verstappen into an embarrassing 1.6-second deficit.

What can this do?
The reason why Sainz could be so sarcastic towards Verstappen was because Verstappen's yellow tires were barely functioning.

For now, the white tires don't have the hassle of tire management, and the Red Bull car, which can take pole position, already has a higher speed limit than Ferrari. It's conceivable that for a long time to come, Sainz will have to continue to hang on the back like this as a decoration.

Therefore, both new and old F1 fans only need to remember one rule: never have any expectations for Ferrari, even if they seem very promising at times. Just silently recite the four-word mantra "Ferrari is hopeless."

But there's actually a second half to that statement: when you stop having expectations for Ferrari, they often bring unexpected surprises to car enthusiasts.

Being a Ferrari fan is like opening a blind box every day; it's all about emotional turmoil.

Just like now.

Sainz's failed encirclement actually affected two people: Leclerc and Shu Long.

The timing of Shulong's entry into the station must be carefully considered.

Judging from the lap times, the tire wear of the Shulong is still slightly higher than that of the Leclerc, and it is now almost 0.13 seconds behind in lap times.

With the time advantage accumulated in the early stages of the race, there is no need to worry about being caught up and pressured for the time being. However, the entire Red Bull strategy team must be wary of Ferrari taking the lead by pitting first and using the new tires to gain a time advantage.

If Leclerc catches up to the DRS range due to a strategic delay, given the defensive pressure of Red Bull's three-segment DRS layout, it's conceivable that Shulong will likely fall into a significant performance disadvantage in the later stages of the match.

Ferrari, in particular, made it clear to Leclerc in the TR: "Try to close the gap with Shu; we need to try the undercut."

Will this allow them to succeed?

Of course not!
So on lap 22, when Ferrari notified Leclerc to pit and had the tire change team take the tires out to wait, Red Bull called Shulong back almost without hesitation.

As many people probably guessed, this was a case of telecom fraud.

It's impossible to guard against once; it's a very deceptive form of telecom fraud.

The race has already completed 22 laps!

With almost the same mileage as yesterday's sprint race, everyone's tire performance should be pretty much degraded by now. What's the point of making a feint at this point?

Really!
Due to the FIA's lowering of the temperature for warming blankets this year, it will take longer for white tires to reach their operating temperature range than in previous seasons.

Verstappen's performance was not noticeable because he was hindered by slower cars for a few laps. He only showed a very threatening lap time after he used the dirty air to raise the tire temperature.

For at least a lap and a half after leaving the station, the white tires felt like cold, hard stones, and the car was being dragged along by the heavily loaded oil body in a very "tiptoeing" manner.

Just as Shu Long was feinted into the pits, Leclerc also started his full-speed sprint at the team's command.

Their tire wear was actually much, much better than Red Bull had anticipated!

However, due to Sainz's confusing behavior, coupled with the fact that most of the other cars in the paddock also chose to pit at laps 12 to 16, Red Bull misjudged the pace of Ferrari's situation.

At this point, Leclerc's yellow tires were certainly not in the same condition as new tires, but the reduced oil level actually made up for a significant portion of the lap time loss caused by the decline in grip.

While it's not quite as exaggerated as snatching the fastest lap from Verstappen, it's true that he quickly closed a significant time gap while Shulong was still working to raise the tire temperature.

Finally, on lap 24, Leclerc was notified by Ferrari to pit, and after exiting the pit, he successfully closed the gap to 0.76 seconds ahead of Shu Long.

"Shift!"

The timing was so precise that Red Bull was completely taken aback. They never expected Ferrari, who had almost made a fool of themselves in the first two races, to be able to orchestrate such a brilliant strategic reversal. They were speechless for a moment.

Ferrari's strategy was indeed extreme, so extreme that even Sainz's somewhat comical pit stop earlier seemed to be a carefully planned setup.

However, it seems a bit too extreme; Red Bull isn't entirely without a chance to salvage the situation.

"Stay calm. We have the advantage in tire temperature now. Let's see if we can get him out of there."

Shu Long wasn't in the mood to answer, but the answer was yes.

Leclerc's successful overcut allowed him to pass the DRS checkpoint first before Turn 3, allowing Shulong, who was less than a second behind him, to take the DRS after the corner.

Almost the same scenario played out again before Turn 4. With the same pull-out and late braking on the inside line thanks to the tire grip advantage, Leclerc took the P1 lead, but less than 30 seconds later, Shu Long took it back.

The game has now reached a stalemate.

Verstappen ran into tire wear problems again on lap 35 and had to pit for a new set of white tires.

This time the window was perfect. Hamilton, who was closest to him behind him, had a full 7-second time difference, and another 19-second clean window was created in front of him.

However, Verstappen doesn't seem to be planning to push forward like he did in the previous quarter. For now, the only way to minimize his ranking loss is to keep running this stint to the very end.

Shu Long and his team had no need to follow him; they were already pitting an average of 10 laps late. Judging from tire availability, they could essentially ignore Verstappen's presence in the race.
Without having to worry about the strategies and movements of his teammates behind him, he could naturally focus all his attention on Leclerc behind him.

The expected continuous offensive did not occur. Leclerc only made a few attempts after the tire temperature was close to the working window, and then hung behind the cable for about 2 seconds to protect the tire.

It seems that everyone's goal is now very unified: to extend the length of the current stint as much as possible.

Otherwise, if they engage in a battle too early and end up having to stop again for nothing, Verstappen, who was already far behind, might actually benefit from it. In that case, it would be better to save the decisive moment for the final stage of the match.

They kept going until the 48th lap.

Red Bull's tire wear is ultimately a problem. This time, it's not some strategic deception from Ferrari; they've been holding on for 24 laps and are now being overtaken by Leclerc. If they pit now, there will be 23 laps left in the race, and they could just hold on for one more stint. So, it's better to make the first move!
Having learned from the previous failure of the reverse overcut tactic, Ferrari will likely have to reconsider their approach if they try to use the same trick again.

Despite their careful consideration, Ferrari concluded that their tire wear was still quite good, and they might be able to hold out a little longer before finally replacing them with new yellow ones!
This was not part of Red Bull's plan at all. Even after Leclerc changed tires, he was still behind Red Bull. The white tires had no chance against the yellow tires, which had an absolute advantage in grip.

Damn, three-stage DRS!
In order to defend against the event, Shulong will be forced to adopt a more aggressive and radical driving style. In the racing world, the words "aggressive" and "tire conservation" are almost equivalent to antonyms. Red Bull's tire consumption at this race is already a complete mess, so what will they use to cope?

Just as they were worrying about this, Sainz started adding fuel to the fire in the game.

On lap 58, Sainz, who was trying to attack Verstappen, suddenly had his engine explode, and soon the car burst into flames.

Everything proceeded according to normal procedures: the yellow flag, the virtual safety car, and—

Trapped Driver Carlos: A Desperate Situation

Shulong is even more desperate!
Leclerc hadn't even entered the station yet, but now, thanks to the yellow flag, it had gotten a free entry window and would definitely land in front of Shulong after exiting the station.

If maintaining a pregnancy in clean air is this difficult, how can you possibly run a race if you smell exhaust fumes?

So the second half of that sentence has come true here?!
Ferrari's intricate strategy is truly terrifying! Would they really go to such lengths for a mere Grand Prix victory?
Did we push them too hard at the last stop?
Wait, that's not right!
Where is Max?

"7.6 seconds behind you, do you want to enter the station?"

"We must go in!"

Shu Long reached an agreement with the team almost instantly. At that moment, he was not far from the entrance to the pit lane at Turn 6, and he decisively asked the team for a new yellow pit stop.

If he advances now, he will definitely fall behind Leclerc.

If he doesn't advance now, he'll definitely fall behind Leclerc.

Whether you advance or not, the outcome will be the same. Knowing that the old white has no chance of winning against the new yellow, why not take this opportunity to give it a shot?

The only downside is the possibility of falling behind your teammates.

But it doesn't matter. Even if Verstappen chooses not to go in this round, once the safety car compresses the car formation, his teammate's old white car has no chance against his new yellow car.

If Verstappen scores, things will be even simpler; Shulong won't even lose his position.

As two of the most capable drivers in the paddock, what Shu Long could think of, Verstappen naturally could as well. He was not one to sit idly by and wait for his fate, so he immediately followed suit and asked for a pit stop as well.

Sainz's engine exploded!

This is the umpteenth time Ferrari's power unit has experienced similar reliability issues this season.

Despite their current advantage of position and lower tire wear, and even the potential for Ferrari to have an even greater advantage in tire wear in later races, who can guarantee that Leclerc isn't feeling uneasy?
Faced with the potential for his car to be retired from the race, does Leclerc really still have the confidence to go head-to-head with Red Bull despite the DRS?
The virtual safety car ran for 5 laps, and the race restarted on lap 61.

Red Bull's thinking is simple: it's just a 10-lap race, so just ignore tire wear and such!
Fuck him!

Leclerc clearly thought the same way. It was just a 10-lap race, and they had already given the car 5 laps to rest. He didn't believe that anyone could be so unlucky as to encounter a mechanical failure that would force them to retire during those 10 laps.

As for whether Ferrari thinks the same way...
That dragon, however, is unknown.

In the first two laps after the race restarted, there was no DRS and Shu Long, who had no opportunities to attack, spent some time observing the line and dynamics of the Ferrari in front of him.

It's no wonder that once you look, you seem to notice something amiss.

The braking point was earlier, and the cornering arc seemed larger than before.

It doesn't seem to be a change in the racing line caused by insufficient tire performance. The key point is that even in a low-speed corner like Turn 3, the engine noise of the Ferrari in front is noticeably different from before.

Braking while maintaining throttle?

Dude, are you selling antiques over there?!

Before naturally aspirated engines, there was a period of time when large-volume turbocharged engines commonly suffered from severe turbo lag.

Compared to the smoother corner exit throttle curve of today, back then drivers would typically apply some throttle input with their right foot when braking into a corner, in order to maintain engine speed and offset the effects of turbo lag to some extent.

Almost all older generation drivers know this, the most famous being Senna's "accordion foot".

However, since F1 switched to using a 1.6L V6 turbocharged hybrid system in 14, the turbo lag problem has been largely solved by the MGU-H system in the power unit.

The Shulong was only affected by Honda's power unit in the early 19 period, and at that time it was only corrected by slightly applying the throttle when braking.

Unlike the current Leclerc, this is not something that can be produced by "just a light touch of the accelerator." The humming and whining sound alone is enough to make one's imagination run wild.

So cute! I want to *!

"Let it go with Charles, it's nothing."

Shu Long said almost nothing, leaving the team completely confused, but they didn't pay much attention because there was so little useful information.

But the decision-making team in front of the Ferrari Pit Wall immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

They have already figured out from the telemetry signals on the data wall what problem Leclerc is currently experiencing, which probably started after that entry into the station under the virtual safety vehicle.

Simply put, the Leclerc's throttle pedal, once pressed, cannot return to its original position and always gets stuck at around 20%-25% of its opening, even when the foot is completely removed, the car continues to output power.

As for the cause, the driver dared not give feedback, and the team dared not ask directly, for fear of giving the opponent a weakness.

Who would have thought that the data anomalies had only been appearing for a short time before Shulong seemed to have already noticed them?!
The impact wasn't as significant as one might imagine. The Red Bull ring's stop & go characteristics weren't particularly aggressive, and all Leclerc needed to do was shift his preferred "V" shaped routing towards a "U" shaped routing.

In this way, the problem of cars constantly needing to accelerate can actually find a suitable match with the characteristic of "U" lines that allow for higher speeds when entering corners.

There is only one exception: the narrowest corner, which is also the slowest corner on the entire course, turn 3.

For this type of low-speed corner, continuous throttle input will only cause the car to understeer unnecessarily, and the car will also have no way to hug the inside kerb where the line is most efficient.

Differential locks that haven't been properly adapted can also clash with the abruptly raised terrain on the inside. At best, this can cause the drive wheels to spin freely, wasting traction; at worst, it can unexpectedly turn into oversteering and spinning in place.

Therefore, Leclerc basically only has one option on the line: to find a gentler entry line from the outside, just like Alonso's most common cornering habit in this corner.

The fact that Tou Ge and Shu Long have a good relationship does not mean that his running style is necessarily correct. It's just that his bad habit from his early years of pushing the head away has become muscle memory ingrained in his genes and cannot be changed.

In fact, Alonso's lap times here were much slower than his teammate Ocon's, by almost 0.4 seconds.

This kind of racing line not only has a lower lap ceiling, but more importantly, it makes it impossible to effectively defend against attacking cars. How can you resist taking advantage of such a large opening?
Shu Long turned around and got out of the car, then gave him two little red flowers!
It's on the 68th lap.

Instead of waiting for the familiar Turn 4, Shulong went straight to the first DRS zone after Turn 1 and used full power to force a turn, even at the cost of being the first to cross the DRS detection line before the turn in order to take advantage of Ferrari's weakness and squeeze into the lead.

Leclerc probably had a similar idea. Since he couldn't defend at this corner anyway, he might as well try to counterattack using DRS after Turn 3.

Of course, this is just wishful thinking.

The limitations imposed by continuous throttle input on the car's line essentially ruled out Leclerc's idea of ​​cutting inside before Turn 4. The downhill terrain, coupled with the understeer characteristic, forced him to try to widen the angle of entry into the corner from the outside. It was obvious that Shu Long would never allow him to do so.

Moreover, since it's currently unclear whether the throttle jamming is due to a problem with the grounding unit or simply a mechanical issue with the pedal, Leclerc, who was initially full of energy, is now truly hesitant to go all out against the dragon, fearing he might follow in his teammate's footsteps.

So sometimes there's really no rush. Those two comments about Ferrari have always been there.

Now I can surprise you, and then I can immediately give you a huge mess.

The good thing is that although he couldn't stop the dragon, he was relatively easy to defend against Verstappen, who was stuck in the train formation for several rounds and whose tire wear was now a problem.

Otherwise, why would Shu Long have made a guess on lap 63, but wait until lap 68 to take action?

Even if teammates can observe the same information, there are prerequisites for trying to penetrate the paint.

Verstappen's yellow tires simply didn't give him enough confidence to brake late. At this point in the race, no one could afford the consequences of recklessly retiring.

(End of this chapter)