F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 40 Main Characters and Supporting Characters

On May 20th, Marko, who had just completed the major transfers between Verstappen and Kvyat, arrived as scheduled at the Pau circuit in France.

The outcome of the race was just like a pre-written script: pole position and three podium finishes.

There was a slight problem with this match's second main game.

As always, Shu Long overtook Stroll, who started in the same row, at the start of the race. Perhaps he had gotten too cocky and angered Stroll, because he missed the braking point at the second corner in his attempt to gain the lead.

Turn 2 is a downhill, low-speed left turn where race cars are very sensitive to changes in grip. The young master, who braked hard and lost all front wheel grip, crashed straight into Shu Long.

The race had just started and the car formation was already very crowded. In addition, it was at a critical moment of braking, and Shulong had no room to avoid it. Stroll scraped off a large part of the front wing.

The impact of this is considerable; on a track where downforce requirements are extremely high, such a disruption of aerodynamic balance could be the worst-case scenario.

The team asked if they needed to pit, but pitting was basically equivalent to giving up the race. After experiencing a few corners, Shu Long felt that he could still control the car, so he stubbornly continued to run on the track with this injured veteran.

Thanks to the advantage gained at the start, Shu Long chased the car to third place throughout the race. After weighing the gap between himself and the car in front, he decided to stop chasing and focus on defending the cars behind him, thus securing his podium finish.

Even the commentators were already able to make a definitive conclusion at this point: Shu Long would very likely be able to obtain an official F1 seat soon.

Stroll's unfortunate withdrawal from the tournament even affected his performance in the subsequent three main draw matches, which made him quite unhappy.

But given how much old Stroll dotes on Lance, this anger won't be directed at his precious son. So it's conceivable that the ones who will suffer are mostly the engineers the team hired at high salaries and the young master's other two teammates.

If the start were like in Formula 1, then Zhou Guanyu and Maximilian, who are already slower than Reims, wouldn't be subject to much criticism.

The problem is that you've already started the trains in reverse order, so why can't you help Lance properly stop Shulong from being behind?

Zhou Guanyu's comment was, "If you're so good, then you do it!"
Aside from resorting to dirty tactics to send the dragon flying, there are many times when you clearly know what attack strategy the dragon will adopt, but you still can't stop the dragon from hunting with the extreme precision of a cheetah.

Unlike Shu Long's situation in the Carlin team, where Red Bull allowed him to thrive, Prema, whose teammates were all products of Ferrari's youth academy, could be considered brothers.

As the young master of the team who has absolute say, Lance Stroll actually has a pretty good personality, and he and his teammates get along quite well. But unfortunately, an adult who can't read the room comes along and messes everything up.

Whether it was due to the immense pressure from Stroll or tampering with parts of the car, Zhou Guanyu and Maximilian both performed very poorly in this race.

Instead of receiving any comfort afterward, old Strohl said something like, "Since you're not capable of competing for a ranking anyway, you might as well just do your job as wingmen."

Shu Long, who was standing at the entrance of the Prema repair area, happened to see this scene. He had originally planned to bring Zhou Guanyu his birthday present a few days in advance, but now he knew what gift to give him.

Max gave him a pair of racing shoes for his birthday, and Zhou Guanyu gave him a watch. It seems like the gifts he received were all very impressive. Why can't he think of something with a good meaning and great sentimental value?
The safest gift would be a pair of shoes, symbolizing being down-to-earth.

However, Max had already given this idea to Shu Long and didn't really want to copy it. Later, he heard that Zhou Guanyu liked to play games when he was free, so after thinking it over, he simply picked out a keyboard that cost around a thousand yuan.

But at such a crucial time, giving away a keyboard felt a bit like handing someone a risqué magazine before a final exam, so Shu Long simply kept the keyboard for himself.

【It's definitely not because I'm also... cough!】

On May 30, all the teams arrived early at the Red Bull Ring in Austria to complete their pre-race track walk.

The pressure on Shulong, playing at home, is immense. Even Horner was brought along by Marco, all to pave the way for Shulong's future promotion.

The outcome of this match is crucial; a loss would be disastrous.

Despite this pressure, Shu Long still sent Zhou Guanyu an extremely long message on his birthday as scheduled.

It contains his understanding of the track's details, his feelings about the car's setup, and of course, his analysis of Stroll's driving habits using his "eagle eyes."

He wrote a long and detailed explanation, but he didn't say anything explicitly. The main point was just four words: "Fuck him!"
With a total of eight victories across three races, plus various pole positions and points from the fastest laps, Shulong now has a significant advantage in points.

Zhou Guanyu struggled a bit, as his second-year teammate overtook him in points at the Hungaroring circuit and then closed the gap to just three points at the Pau circuit.

But there's Russell, a top player who jumped ship from Carlin, relentlessly chasing after them. If they don't step up their game, they'll definitely become the team's tactical sacrifice.

Old Stroll's generosity came with a condition: if his son could win, he wouldn't mind sharing a piece of broth with the rest of Prema.

But the reality is that there is an insurmountable mountain ahead, and the existence of teammates may have another name: "stepping stone".

Shu Long did not intend to give up his own victory to help others, even if that person was Zhou Guanyu. However, it was not a big deal to give some help as long as it would not threaten his own ranking.

In this respect, Shu Long felt that his mindset was actually similar to that of old Stroll.

Sharing one's experience is a major taboo for any driver aiming for F1. There are only twenty seats in total, and if you teach your apprentice, you might end up starving.

But just as Shu Long didn't care if his teammates studied his vehicle data, experience and knowledge can be shared, but abilities cannot be shared. In the end, it still depends on oneself.

All of Shulong's knowledge and experience stemmed from his abilities, and he had absolute confidence in his abilities.

From the Red Bull Ring in Austria to Norrislinn in the Netherlands, the route passed through Zandvoort, stopped in Nürburgring, detoured around Imola, and finally returned to the Red Bull Ring on September 23.

Regardless of whether the start order was forward or reverse, whether the track was dry or wet, except for one race where the driver had to retire due to an engine malfunction, no one could stop Shulong's winning streak.

It was as if he simply took a trip around Europe and casually brought some championship trophies home as souvenirs.

After that, no one regarded Shu Long as a simple rookie F3 driver anymore. People had already accepted that his ability was on a completely different level from others, and simply regarded him as an old ghost who had already obtained F1 qualifications and was now making up for the points of his super license.

Including the elder Stroll.

Zhou Guanyu's performance throughout the season fluctuated with the mentality of the old Stroll. He was brilliant at the beginning of the season, but struggled like he was driving an F4 in the middle of the season, and his ranking once dropped to 7th or 8th.

Later, after Stroll came to his senses and stopped tampering with the resources belonging to other members of the team, they relentlessly chased after the others and finally managed to return to fourth place.

The team is still part of Stroll's family, and it will need strong drivers next year. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing to see a dominant team turn into a second-rate team after only two years as the owner of Prema.

Of course, the main reason why Lance Stroll suddenly became generous again was that in early September, he signed a 17-year official driver contract with Williams, at the cost of at least $35 million in sponsorship fees.

What is a father-sponsored driver? What is the power of a father? What is a modern-day Batman? Shu Long's situation is similar to that of his fellow sufferer he met in youth training, and Gasly can be said to be much worse off than Shu Long.

Gasly's performance today was also outstanding, winning the GP2 World Championship. This is exactly what a promising young player should look like in Marco's mind.

Because of his discovery of several outstanding drivers, Marko, who was already trusted by the Red Bull boss, has recently gained more power and is even showing signs of surpassing Horner in terms of influence within the F1 team.

Perhaps this is why Gasly's dazzling record "did not impress" the team's management, and he will be unable to replace Kvyat next year, who has already made Marko very unhappy.

In 2017, GP2 and F2 were officially merged into the FIA ​​Formula 2 series.

Gasly became the last driver to hold the GP2 championship title, and the first Frenchman to win the title since Grosjean in 2011.

Shu Long, who officially moved up to F2, encountered many names that he had only heard about from Marco before.

Ferrari's star player Charles Leclerc, Alexander Albon who left Red Bull for Lotus, and Nick de Vries, who is highly regarded by McLaren.

Of course, we can't forget Nicholas Latifi, whose father is just as powerful as Stroll's.

Shu Long didn't mean to belittle the power of fatherhood; in fact, the power of fatherhood is simply amazing!

Before leaving, Old Stroll made a cunning deal with Marco and directly signed Shulong to a one-year PremaF2 contract.

If you can't beat them, join them; if you can't outrun them, buy them!

After being tormented by the dragon for a whole year and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, the Stroll family decided to show the enclosure the power of a Martian rover and Martians!

That year, Shu Long and Leclerc were teammates for a year. This genius from Ferrari seemed to have the word "protagonist" written all over his face.

First of all, he's handsome, drives fast, has a very gentle temper, and is honest to the point of being a bit naive.

Just looking at him standing there, it seems like he's surrounded by pink bubbles like those in a shoujo manga, and he seems to have his own spotlight wherever he goes.

Shu Long is actually not bad-looking. Fortunately, he inherited more of his appearance from his mother, Zhang Xin, than from the burly Shu Xiong.

Especially after Red Bull took over his styling, his demeanor became cold and aloof when he had a straight face, and his eyes alone, when he wore a helmet, exuded a murderous aura.

When he smiles, his eyes and brows soften, and coincidentally, there is a small beauty mark under the corner of his right eye, giving him a delicate and feminine appearance.

According to outside stereotypes, Shulong should have signed with Ferrari, whose youth training is known for its good looks. Red Bull, on the other hand, is known for its emphasis on ability. Marco has always been unconventional and has signed many oddballs.

Despite these very conditions, Shu Long seems to have an inherently low profile, making him a real-life male version of "Saint Megumi".

While Leclerc was surrounded by a large group of men and women clamoring for autographs as soon as he stepped out, Shu Long simply drifted past like an unrelated passerby.
Lumi, the stylist in charge of the dragon, said that he usually has a bad temperament and always has a lazy, dead fish-like look. He usually wears a Red Bull short-sleeved shirt and shorts casually, and if he wears slippers, people on the street might mistake him for an otaku who is just going downstairs to take out the trash.

Shu Long blamed everything on [Fang Kong], feeling that the biggest difference between him and Xia Er was that he didn't have the protagonist's halo buff.

Leclerc's father passed away during the season due to illness. His greatest wish was to see his son become an F1 driver.

His dream of becoming a Ferrari F1 driver probably stemmed from his mentor, Bianchi, who was once just one step away from Ferrari, and was hailed as the face of Ferrari's youth training program, a godfather with both good looks and talent.

He is also the only F1 driver to die in a racing accident since Ayrton Senna in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Charles's principles of conduct were always influenced by his father, upholding mutual respect and honesty. However, to put his dying father at ease, he told the biggest lie of his life.

"Dad, an F1 team has already signed me, and I'll be a full-fledged driver next year."

Unfortunately, Shu Long was also present when he said this, and he happened to understand it.

At that time, they had just finished their home game at the Monaco Charité Stadium. Shulong won one game and finished second in the whole game. The game they lost was in the sprint race when they started in reverse order and were blocked by Leclerc for 45 minutes.

At the time, they were having a victory party with the team when devastating news reached Leclerc: his father had fallen ill, and the doctor said he might only have a few weeks to live.

Just before the next stop, Azerbaijan, Leclerc's father quietly passed away in a dream.

This incident dealt a heavy blow to Leclerc, but at the same time, it ignited his fighting spirit like never before. At this moment, it seemed as if several figures appeared behind him, standing with him. He was not fighting alone!
The protagonist's aura was unabashedly bestowed upon this lovable boy.

According to the ideal script, from this moment on, the tragic yet tender protagonist is about to unleash his full potential and launch a full-scale counterattack against the villainous demon king.

Unfortunately, he encountered Shu Long.

Leclerc, driving a Prema car, has a much higher potential than Lance Stroll, who is already a full-fledged F1 driver.

But unfortunately, Shu Long beside him was neither human nor human, and mercilessly crushed the teammate's hopes of winning.

It's very impersonal, and very Red Bull-like.

Under identical racing conditions, no matter how many reasons the opponent has to win, Shulong will never allow himself to lose to anyone!
His bottom line is that he doesn't take precautions with his teammates regarding his own racing and driving data, allowing them to study and learn from it, and then brutally defeat them.

The script for each subsequent stop was largely the same, the only difference from the previous year being that Lance would occasionally stumble because of his teammates, while Leclerc was able to easily defeat everyone except Shulong throughout the year.

Of course, another very important reason is that Albon, who finished second last year after a close competition with Leclerc in the ART team, missed the Baku race due to injury. After recovering from the injury, he was in poor form and withdrew from the competition for second place early.

The despicable dream shatterer, the great demon Shu Long, won the annual championship with an indisputable points advantage. Unfortunately, this time his dream wasn't shattered completely.

Charles Leclerc, who finished second in the year, had the opportunity to test the SF70H during the season, successfully obtained his super license, and signed an 18-year official driver's seat with Ferrari's customer team, Alfa Romeo, at the end of the year.

But Shulong is not yet... mature!
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(End of this chapter)