F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 38: First Look at the Tournament After a Series of Victories
The purpose of starting in reverse order is to give more young drivers a chance to showcase their abilities.

Some players may not be as good at single laps, but their long-distance consistency and wheel-to-wheel ability are outstanding, and for some teams, this is the ability they value.

Similarly, some people have extremely high lap times, but it's not impossible for them to become completely useless once they fall into a pack of cars. Teams should also be wary of such trap drivers.

Even with standard-spec cars, performance differences between teams still objectively exist. Teams cannot always guarantee that their cars will be absolutely competitive, let alone in the highest level of racing like F1. Who knows if the new cars developed each year are even drivable?

Therefore, more often than not, teams need to assess whether their drivers have the absolute ability to adapt.

Compared to the chaos at the back, the track conditions at the front are naturally cleaner, and the possibility of failure due to luck is reduced. This is why only the top ten start in reverse order.

Those ranked after tenth are either just bad players or their cars are simply too bad, but either way, they basically don't deserve to compete for points.

Rather than letting them create accidents that no one wants to see, it's better for them to go somewhere cool and stay put.

For Shulong right now, the significance of the reverse order is that once it leaves its main competitors behind at the start, the road ahead is almost entirely smooth.

In the main race, which lasted about 40 minutes in total, Shulong, who started in 10th place, led for about 25 minutes.

During those 25 minutes, Shu Long only needed to fend off Stroll's attacks from behind for the first 17 or 18 minutes. For the rest of the time, due to the excessive tire wear caused by the opponent's aggressive route regardless of cost, Shu Long had to ask Hayden to talk to him on the comms so that he wouldn't get so bored that he would fall asleep.

For Taurus Dragons, preserving a pregnancy is almost an instinct.

Even before he mastered the neutral steering technique, he had already learned to maintain his balance while driving, thanks to the [Friction Control] skill.

If driving a race car is like dating a girl, then pushing hard is like dragging her along by the hand, while maintaining a good balance is more like the two of you playing side by side under the moonlight.

A driver with a high speed limit but who is in charge will obviously be more tired, while the other driver, because the two are in sync and work together, can maintain a similar speed while keeping both the car and the driver in better condition.

As expected, Shulong won the first match with great ease.

In his first Formula One race, he competed in F3 and, despite starting in reverse grid, secured his first victory by reaching the podium.

At this point, anyone could see that Red Bull had most likely won the jackpot again, but it seemed that only Red Bull's own people couldn't quite see it.

Marco casually replied on the phone, "So-so. It would be abnormal if it didn't perform like this in F3, where everyone's a rookie."

Then tell Shulong not to let his guard down and to focus on preparing for the main race 2 in the afternoon. If he messes up this time, he will be scolded without hesitation.

Race 2 also started in reverse order, but the starting order was based on the results of Race 1, with the top ten starting in reverse order.

In the fifth row, it was still Stroll and Shu Long. Zhou Guanyu finished fourth in the last round, and this time he was diagonally in front of Shu Long, with Shu Long's teammate Nico Carri directly in front of him.

Nico Carri ran quite well just now. Although he couldn't withstand the onslaught from Shulong and Prema in the end, he still managed to get past Motopark, who had taken the fall in the previous race, and earn a podium finish.

As for Guan Yu's other teammate, he was just so-so. He was stuck in eighth place and couldn't keep up with the overall pace of the Prema team until the end. He started from the second row in this race.

The situation on the field suddenly changed from one against three to two against two, and the team's strategy group naturally had some other ideas.

"Do you need Nico to shield you from Zhou and Lance?"

"No need, just tell him not to block my way for a moment, I'll pass by on the right."

This is the status of the team's absolute number one driver. Unfortunately, Shu Long has never had the habit of placing his hopes on others. Moreover, after saying this, he secretly kept something in mind.

If he hadn't achieved good results at the beginning, that would have been fine, but he made a strong showing right from the start of the season, and now that he's full of confidence, Nico might have some other ideas.

Lights out, start running.

As always, Shu Long reacted with zero delay at the start, his first move was to pull away to the outside, and sure enough, Nico made a synchronized defensive move almost at the same time.

Left with no other choice, Shu Long had to squeeze between Nico and Zhou Guanyu's two cars, and as if on cue, the two in front squeezed into the middle together.

Zhou Guanyu's side must have also received the order to block him and make way for Stroll. Compared to his teammates who were full of ulterior motives, the movements of the opponents were more predictable.

Having prepared a contingency plan in advance, Shu Long didn't try to squeeze in with them. Instead, he turned around and caught Zhou Guanyu's tail current. Then, just as Lance Stroll passed by, he turned around and caught the young master's tail current, using the excuse of being exempt from death to pass through together.

What happened next was simple. Stroll's car had a high ceiling, and Shulong didn't rush to overtake him. He just followed behind him all the way to second place, even more easily than in the first race.

Just as Shu Long was about to make his move against the young master in front of him, the tires were worn out much more than he had anticipated.

Prolonged following of other cars is not good for the engine and tires of a race car. Being in dirty air not only hinders heat dissipation, but also negatively impacts downforce and increases the tire's spin angle on the ground.

A large idling angle can cause the tire surface temperature to rise too quickly, and in severe cases, it can even lead to the tire surface becoming grainy.

Theoretically, a race car is fastest when the traction and the grip between the tires are perfectly matched. In this case, the tires should not be spinning idly, wasting power. However, this conclusion is based on the premise of "theoretical tires".

The reason why theories often remain just theories is that their so-called ideal conditions often differ from reality.

Tires are elastic, and pushing a tire's grip to its limit often means that at least part of the tire has undergone deformation within its performance limits.

The tire itself is constantly rotating, so the part of the tire rubber attached to the ground can't stay in one place forever, right?
Like a slingshot that's been fully charged, there's always a moment when it's released, and at that moment, the partial spinning of the tires is an inevitable result.

While Shulong's sensitivity to friction does indeed minimize tire spin, it also prevents the race car from reaching its full speed potential. You save on tires, but what's the point if you can't keep up with the car in front? The good news is that after a long overtaking spree, Stroll's tires are also severely worn from prolonged exposure to polluted air; his tires are now in even worse condition than Shulong's.

So the competition from now on won't be about whose race car engine has more power, but about who can better adapt to the poor grip of the low-end tires. That person will have the absolute advantage in the upcoming competition.

In the final ten minutes, Shulong mainly used high pressure from the first stage, forcing Stroll to use more aggressive tire usage to close his line.

His intention was not to overtake in the low-speed corners, but to make the young master, who was not very good at handling grip in continuous high-speed corners, back down a bit. In this way, without the disadvantage of engine power, Shulong could freely choose the attack route in the wide high-speed corners.

No one expected happiness to come so suddenly. Driven to desperation by Shu Long, the young master slammed on the brakes at the third bend of the "gun barrel" and died, leaving behind a trail of choking white smoke as he circled the earth.

Shu Long naturally couldn't let go of such a golden opportunity. Even when it comes to martial ethics, one must know when to yield to the occasion. He decisively accepted the championship that Stroll kindly offered.

Stroll, who ultimately ruined his own tires, couldn't even hold onto second place, as Zhou Guanyu fouled him in the third stage on the third-to-last lap.

By the end of Saturday's race day, Shu Long's two wins, pole position, and fastest lap in the race had already earned him 36 points, leading second-place Stroll by 12 points.

On Sunday, the third day of the main race, Shu Long, starting from pole position, unsurprisingly secured a "pole to win" in his debut race, racking up a whopping 63 points in the first race.

However, Shu Long did not receive the praise he deserved after the race. He didn't even have time to spend a few more days in France with his family before Marco's urgent phone call brought him back to Red Bull's headquarters in Milton Keynes, England.

After the season started, because the Carlin team's headquarters were in the UK, Shu Long moved to a small apartment in Milton Keynes.

Since Shulong's daily training doesn't follow the team, choosing this location makes it closer to Red Bull's headquarters. Also, even if Carlin needs to be reassigned, traveling over 100 kilometers there isn't particularly troublesome.

However, Shulong was not called back by Marco for training. Even the demanding Marco was extremely satisfied with the first game of the season, so this was actually a good thing.

As soon as they stepped into the base, Red Bull team leader Horner, whom they had only met a few times before, took the initiative to greet Shu Long. They didn't talk about anything important, just exchanged a few perfunctory pleasantries.

The long-necked man next to Horner, who had been discussing something with the team leader and had a furrowed brow, turned his head and saw Shulong, a big but still very young child, and immediately grinned and smiled.

Although there has been no formal self-introduction, Shu Long recognized that the signature smile belonged to the current number one driver of the Red Bull Racing team – Daniel Ricciardo.

This was the first time Shu Long had ever seen a live F1 driver in person. Since Max officially became an F1 driver, Shu Long had only spoken to him once via Marco's phone.
Speaking of Marco, the old guy, whom we hadn't seen for almost a month, didn't even bother to praise Shulong's impeccable performance before turning around and having someone take Shulong to get his look done.

"Is it necessary? Anyway, once the racing helmet is on, it will be a complete mess. It's better to just be casual."

"It's necessary! Unless you're saying you don't want to come with us?"

"Go? Where?"

Shu Long, who was always one step ahead, had barely uttered two words when he immediately realized what was going on, recalling the series of unusual signs that had occurred earlier.

"The next round? Me?!"

"You guessed it? It's a rare opportunity. Considering your decent performance, we can give you more exposure in front of the camera."

"Expose it!"

Shu Long suddenly had second thoughts. It felt like being called up to the podium by the teacher during class and having to read aloud all the awards he had won in front of all the students.

So far, I haven't achieved anything particularly remarkable. It's fine to have some fun with a few close friends in private, but it feels a bit unworthy of being presented to the public.

Even now, Shu Long only has an account on Bilibili, which can be considered a social platform, and he never posts anything related to himself. He simply uses it to watch parodies and anime.

Unfortunately, Marco wasn't consulting Shu Long's opinion. This decision was made by his management team together, in order to gain recognition in the new market before Zhou Guanyu from Ferrari.

Regardless of whether Shu Long ultimately agrees or not, they have already started generating buzz by releasing information through various channels.

On April 16th at the Shanghai International Circuit, during the first practice session, the live broadcast director deliberately gave a shot of Red Bull's pit garage, causing an uproar in the stands.

Shu Long, dressed in leather, had a serious expression. He was wearing headphones and listening to something, nodding frequently as if he was humbly learning from his seniors.

Apart from a few seasoned fans who have been closely following overseas news, few people actually recognize the young face of a fellow countryman appearing in an F1 team.

To put it bluntly, whether it's go-karting or F3, the European Championship held in Shulong is a localized event. Even if there are occasional reports from domestic news media, they are nothing more than a few lines of text like a template essay, plus a photo of someone wearing a helmet.

There are actually quite a few young people from China who go to Europe to compete. Shu Long has encountered several Mandarin-speaking drivers in karting competitions, but the reality is that so far, none of them have shown any clear hope of making it into F1.

But things are different now. Being able to appear in the pit lane of an F1 team at least shows that Shulong is highly regarded in their development priorities.

Shu Long doesn't have a super license yet, so he can't be a reserve driver for the team. His headset is empty except for the team's TR (Traffic Tracker). He's just a mascot standing here.

His serious expression was due to nervousness. Marco told him that several reporters from various media outlets were waiting to conduct interviews in a short time. The press officer had already taught him many template answers for dealing with the media, but Shu Long, who had a photographic memory, couldn't help but recite them to himself again and again.

　Well, I couldn't resist writing some erotic content today. It's so sinful. I hope Heaven won't punish me.

　　As we all know, this is a racing-themed novel, so it's understandable and reasonable for a racing-themed novel to have some driving content, right?
　　Thanks to Adoukens, Li Xiaoyao, Wanderer i, 讔鵀 (I spent 5 minutes looking for these two characters in my input method!), 107 people who are as awesome as me, TX is awesome, Tian San Di Ba, McGrady, and the book friend 150731224125178 for their monthly tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)