F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 90: Fate is everywhere in the hunting grounds.

"Well done! A truly outstanding world-class overtake! Congratulations on bringing back P5, another ten points for the team!"

"Thank you, Hamelin! And the rest of the team! Great strategy and helpful advice. The tire change went smoothly too. Everyone worked hard this weekend, well done!"

After crossing the finish line, Shu Long and his race engineer exchanged compliments, then switched the car to return-to-track mode and started running over tire sludge on the track.

In the last twenty laps of the main race, Shu Long and Uncle Wai Tou used DRS to slow each other down for a while on the track. They were also very restrained in their use of the throttle in order to protect their tires, which passively saved a lot of fuel.

Based on the amount of fuel remaining in the tank, the race car's weight definitely meets the requirements.

However, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Sometimes, if you're just one kilogram short of the mark and your score is disqualified, you'll have nowhere to turn to for help.

"How are the other people doing? Should I congratulate Charles for winning the pole to win in his second race with Ferrari?"

"Regarding this, Leclerc's car suffered a power unit failure on lap 46. The initial assessment is that the MGU-H failed, and the power loss was very obvious."

"Oh, so in the end he was..."

“P3.”

Shu Long's Adam's apple bobbed awkwardly a few times as he silently prayed that the TR segment from earlier wouldn't be cut out, otherwise those bastards would definitely rip off his wallet.

Fortunately, Hamelin changed the subject in time, saving people from dire straits.

"There's another piece of good news: Alex also finished the race and scored points, finishing as P10. And Pierre, he's P9."

"Oh, that's great news! I remember they fell behind quite a bit at the start due to the chaos, so our upgrade is confirmed to be effective?"

"Well, basically. We'll talk about the specifics when we get back."

Hamelin's hesitation made Shulong unsure whether this was good news or bad news.

The Toro Rosso car has indeed undergone effective upgrades for this race, not only based on Albon's feedback to the engineers, but also with significant improvements in lap times in qualifying and overall race stability.

However, while Toro Rosso was upgrading, other teams weren't just sitting idly by. They had indeed made significant progress compared to their past selves, but that didn't necessarily mean they were more competitive compared to other teams.

Firstly, in this race, McLaren and their factory team Renault also showed visible improvement, making Raikkonen, who was driving Arro, feel humiliated throughout the race.

He kept overtaking me, overtaking me so much that Old Lai was completely exasperated.
If Renault's engine hadn't malfunctioned yet again, forcing Ricciardo and Hulkenberg to retire hand-in-hand with their rear ends smoking, it's uncertain whether Gasly and Albon would have scored any points.

The broadcast camera even focused on Zhou Guanyu, who was making his first appearance in the Renault pit room. With both his former and current employers in the news, it's hard to know what he was really thinking beneath his stunned expression.

When Shu Long drove the car back to the pit area, Vettel, who had parked his red Ferrari in the closed area, didn't rush to leave for weighing. He just sat on the side box of the car as if he was deliberately waiting for someone.

Perhaps related to certain characteristics of Taurus, Shulong always dawdles during his rounds, as if he has some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder. He feels uncomfortable if he doesn't thoroughly clean up any meconium he sees on the way.

Mine! All mine!
Clearly, Vettel was waiting here specifically for Shulong. From the moment someone started unbuckling his seatbelt and removing the steering wheel, his unabashed, piercing gaze was even more intimidating than the pressure he had exerted on the track.

"Brilliant driving; that overtaking maneuver was quite unexpected."

Shu Long, who jumped off the race car, seemed a little flustered, unsure whether it would be more polite to shake hands first or take off his helmet first.

However, in the end, he chose to take off his gloves first, since the other person had taken the initiative to extend their hand, and it didn't seem appropriate to just leave them standing there.
It was truly thanks to Vettel who broke the ice in the conversation. While climbing out of the car, Shu Long had pretended to struggle for a while, trying to come up with a less presumptuous opening line.

You can't exactly say "Congratulations," can you?

They just had their spot stolen from them, and now you're saying "Congratulations"? Are you looking for trouble?
Or should we just use a template comment like "Not a bad match?"

Putting aside whether finishing sixth is something to be happy about for a championship contender, Vettel's two elementary mistakes on lap 38 that completely ruined his race were by no means "good" at all!
If Shu Long were to suddenly make such a cryptic remark, it would truly be rubbing salt in the wound.

Fortunately, Vettel himself had already moved on from the matter, so Shu Long was naturally happy to have some peace and quiet, and humbly replied:
"It's all just good luck."

"Just good luck?!"

Vettel was almost amused by this shamelessness.

If such a difficult overtaking maneuver could be explained simply by good luck, then two of his four world championship trophies could be given to Shu Long!

"You have a very keen sense of the car. I saw that replay on the big screen when we were on the return lap just now. You're very talented!"

Shu Long's first reaction was that he felt a little guilty.

He could swear on his life that his driving skills were all honed through his own hard work, but because of the stats panel, Shu Long always had a vague sense of inferiority about his talent, feeling like a shameful cheater.

He didn't dislike the existence of the panel; in fact, he was sometimes genuinely grateful for this gift from heaven.

If it weren't for the foundation laid by the panel, given Shu Long's family background—which was moderately wealthy but not extremely wealthy—the possibility of him becoming such an icebreaker would be almost nonexistent.

Therefore, generally speaking, Shu Long prefers people to focus on the effort he puts in rather than being praised for his talent, even though this effort is somewhat exaggerated by the talent he gains from his stats.
People often complain that in superhero movies, "the rich rely on technology, and the poor rely on mutation."

In Formula 1, especially with the increasing commercialization in recent years, if an ordinary person can't compete with others in terms of financial resources, then he has to rely on some kind of "mutation," right?
Seeing that Shu Long was still denying it, Vettel immediately grabbed his old teammate Kimi, who had just parked the car and whose face was full of "I'm speechless," and asked him directly if he could do what Shu Long did.

“Umm”

Stop muttering "umm" and come over here to take a look!

"But I think we should weigh ourselves first. If we wait until our sweat dries, we might not pass the test."

Vettel stared intently into his old teammate's eyes and suddenly realized that what the Finn said made a damn good point!

This year, the FIA ​​introduced new weight limits for drivers and cars. The original intention was to ensure that drivers do not excessively lose weight and affect their health in pursuit of reducing the weight of their cars. Therefore, the total weight of the driver and equipment must not be less than 80KG.

Since it was the first year of the new regulations, the teams had a fair amount of leeway in terms of calculations. However, drivers often lose 2-4 kg of weight due to dehydration during a race, so it makes them feel more at ease if they have a little more sweat on their clothes when weighing themselves.

Fortunately, there was a screen in the weighing area, so Vettel grabbed the old man's weight without saying a word and left, not forgetting to pick up Shulong as well.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure it started discharging electricity while the car was still spinning. Did you notice that?"

"Ah~ a very clever and bold move, it does easily remind people of Alonso."

Kimi is two years older than Alonso, but to be precise, they were actually drivers in the same batch and at the same time. Both entered F1 in 2001, but one drove for Sauber and the other for Minardi.

This feeling of nostalgia is often strongest for older men of this age.

In fact, Alonso and Shulong have quite a history. The Minardi team, where Alonso first showed his talent, was actually the predecessor of Shulong's current Toro Rosso team.

All sorts of causes and conditions, and the connections between fates, are most likely to make people lose their senses in an instant.

Vettel was still going on and on about the technical details of the dragon at Turn 12, trying to coax the kid out some useful information.

Regardless of how many world championships he had won in the past, at least at this moment, Vettel only had the purest pursuit of driving skills in his eyes.

Shu Long didn't hide anything either. Opportunities to discuss driving techniques with two world champions are rare. However, Grandpa Lai seemed a bit absent-minded, muttering something to himself.

The difficulty of Alonso's extreme understeer style lies not in how to get the car into an understeer state, but in how to handle the extremely sensitive rear of the car at the moment when the car switches from understeer to neutral steering.

This is precisely the ability that Vettel currently lacks. Without the stable rear-end characteristics of his car, Vettel is probably the driver in the front row of the paddock who is most prone to making mistakes and spinning out.

none of them.

The most important skill for a top racing driver is to constantly adapt to the different characteristics of the car and then squeeze out the car's potential to the maximum extent.

Vettel has actually done a great job in this regard. It has been proven that even if the car he is driving is not the best fit for his driving style, he can still maintain a championship-contending level.

However, when his goal shifted from Grand Prix wins to the World Championship, Vettel's discomfort with Hamilton, who was in perfect form, had caused him to always fall just short.

So this time, Vettel specifically sought out Shu Long, hoping to find out if he had any tips for improvement that he could refer to.

"I'm not entirely sure, it's more of a feeling, I guess? There's no standard answer, it's just that when the car reaches that point, I know what to do."

Vettel and Raikkonen exchanged a glance, neither of them feeling that Shu Long was just being perfunctory.

Because during their youth, when they controlled lightning, when others asked them why they could do it so quickly, their answer was actually similar to this.

In terms of driving skills, everyone learns roughly the same things, but geniuses often rely on their unique flashes of inspiration that others don't possess.

For a moment, Vettel, who was only in his early thirties, felt a sense of melancholy, as if the new generation was about to replace them, the old ships of the past.

"If I hadn't ruined this match with my own stupidity, I might not be talking to you so calmly now, you brat!"

Viter looked around and, with Old Lai, pulled Shulong to a corner where the camera wouldn't be able to capture the shot.

“Listen, with your talent, you’re really suited to develop within Red Bull. I came from there, so I know very well.”

But that's difficult. Red Bull might not be the right fit for you anymore. Is there something Dr. Marco didn't tell you?

"No, what happened?"

Vettel did not answer directly, but instead tried to probe indirectly through Raikkonen.

"Didn't you hear any wind direction either?"

Uncle Iceman shrugged indifferently.

"I don't know. I've always been too lazy to care about that mess. Many teams are complete monstrosities inside, so just don't get involved."

Speaking of which, Raikkonen also wore Red Bull clothing back in the day. Before Red Bull officially entered F1, it had a naming sponsorship relationship with Sauber, and the car livery and racing suits at that time were completely in the shape of Red Bull.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this connection that Raikkonen, who is usually not very talkative when facing outsiders, was unusually talkative today.

"Opportunities and resources are handed to you, so take them and use them to prove yourself. If they make you unhappy, just say 'Fuck off.' If you have the ability, there will always be times when people will beg you to come back."

Uncle with the crooked head immediately chimed in, "There's no doubt you're capable."

"Yeah~ Otherwise, Sebastian would be in a really awkward situation today, haha!"

Grandpa Lai laughed quite carefree, and for a moment Shu Long even wondered if he had drunk too much before the competition.

"So what exactly happened? I'm still completely confused."

"No, no, no! Just like Kimi said, knowing too much about some things might not be a good thing. But continuing to perform like this on the field is absolutely fine, and that applies to all of us."

Vettel didn't go into the details of what happened next, because a few uninvited guests came to the weighing area, including Zhou Guanyu, who had just skipped work at the Renault pit shop to sneak over.

Just by looking at the man with the crooked head, I could tell who these kids were probably looking for. Not wanting to be a boring adult, I simply used this as an excuse to spend time with the children.

Having finally reconnected with his peers, Shu Long and Zhou Guanyu bumped fists. Shu Long was about to congratulate Zhou Guanyu on his achievements in the F2 races over the past two days when Zhou Guanyu unexpectedly blurted out:
"Treat us to a meal!"

"How did it become my treat?! Didn't we agree that whoever came in the highest ranking would treat? Didn't you just come in fourth place today?"

"That was the sprint race, it doesn't count! I only got a P10 in the main race!"

So you're quite proud of that?

Upon hearing this, Shu Long immediately turned to look at Huber, who seemed a little flustered: "I remember you ran P4 in the race, right? Then would you like to go?"

"No, no, no! You drive an F1 car, so your position automatically moves up two places. Since you have the highest salary now, you're definitely paying!"

In fact, Zhou Guanyu's teammate in the UNI team, Giotto, had a better result in the main race, finishing second. However, he didn't get the team's favor in this race and can only lie in the hotel watching the live stream and playing on his phone now.

"Alright, alright, I'll treat! I'll call a few more people later, Zhou Guanyu, you find a place!"

As soon as he said that, Shu Long regretted it.

Bahrain is full of oil tycoons and big spenders, and they rely on imports for 90% of their goods. Their consumption level doesn't seem that low, does it?

Or, how about hiring two fewer people?

(End of this chapter)