F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 104 The shit stirrer

Hamelin and Shulong completed their communication on the short straight after Turn 10. Here, pushing against the headwind allowed Shulong to maximize the slipstream effect without DRS.

Shu Long braked late at Turn 11 to cut inside and force a run alongside Leclerc, but instead of rushing to overtake, he firmly held the outside line at the next turn, forcing Leclerc to take the lead into Turn 12 on a shorter line.

Actually, if you want to overtake here, turning around on the outside is a better option.

Because Turn 12 is a long, right-hand curve, Shu Longda can use his better tires to brake later on the outside, and while maintaining a full entry angle, take the lead by utilizing the inside advantage of Turn 12.

but!

After the combination of turns 12 and 13 comes the longest DRS straight on the entire track, and the detection line that determines the right to use the DRS is located in the middle of turn 12.

Shu Long chose to cut inside Turn 11 to prevent Leclerc from veering off to the outside of Turn 12, forcing him to be the first to hit the DRS detection line.

This is not over yet.

The DRS straight ahead wasn't the overtaking spot Shu Long chose at all; the point he actually wanted to overtake was the long acceleration corner on number 13!

If Shu Long simply wanted to catch Leclerc's DRS, he could do nothing here. The distance between the two cars was only 0.6, and even if he just drove steadily, he could easily get enough speed to overtake on the long straight of the DRS after Turn 13.

However, the gains were too small, barely enough to overtake Leclerc. Once past the hairpin turn on the 14th, Shulong would immediately be countered by Ferrari using DRS on the starting straight.

The solution is actually quite simple: as long as he doesn't overtake in the first DRS zone and instead chooses the overtaking point in the second DRS zone after Turn 16, he can basically have a whole lap to consolidate his advantage.

But Shulong can't wait that long.

On the next lap, at Turn 1, there's an 80% chance that Toro Rosso will directly encounter Vettel, who is exiting the pits.

If they choose the safest, but also the most mediocre, Shulong will likely face a situation where he is sandwiched between two Ferraris.

If the pace is slowed down here, then Shulong will likely face continued threats from Verstappen, who is catching up from behind.

The higher the risk, the greater the reward. Almost at the same time Hamelin issued the attack order, Shulong immediately constructed a complete overtaking plan based on the existing map data.

Turn 13 holds a special place on the track because it connects to the straight that emphasizes the highest speed of the cars. Therefore, the understanding of this turn is different from that of ordinary turns.

Generally speaking, the most basic idea for conquering a curve is to choose the shortest and straightest line while maximizing acceleration on the straightaway after the curve.

The key is to ensure acceleration on the straightaway after the bend.

The difference is that the angle of the 13th turn is quite large, and the arc is also very large. The entire turn can be regarded as part of the acceleration on the straight after the turn.

The key here is not to seek the shortest and straightest cornering line, as pushing too hard will actually reduce the acceleration distance. The key is to make the most of the length of the corner to gain a sufficient speed advantage before entering the straight.

Leclerc understood all of this, and he knew what he had to do.

The team's task for him was to delay Shulong's pace as much as possible, but now it was a foregone conclusion that he would be attacked by DRS in the next segment. All he had to do was to minimize his speed disadvantage over Shulong on the long straight after the corner.

So, as he entered Turn 13, Leclerc very firmly pushed his line outwards towards the outside of the corner.

This action clearly told Shulong next to him that he either had to risk losing control by driving one tire into the grass and keep pushing forward, or he had to soften his attitude, ease off the accelerator a little, and then everyone could peacefully use the outside to accelerate.

Anyway, we can overtake them on the straightaway later, so why bother pushing ourselves so hard here?
Shu Long did give way, but it wasn't for harmonious development. Instead, he turned around and cut into the inside with a cross-court shot!
This brings us to a question: in today's racing era under DRS rules, what is the most successful way to overtake?
Of course, it's DRS overtaking within the rules, duh!
It's easy and low-risk; all you need to do is press a button on the steering wheel and then weld the accelerator shut. The attacked car will often rationally choose not to make any unnecessary defensive moves.

But Shu Long believes there is another way: to launch a surprise attack in a place that others do not expect!
Turn 13 is actually quite wide, and in past races, many drivers have attacked the car in front of them here. Logically speaking, this should also be considered an overtaking point that needs to be carefully monitored.

However, such conditions are almost impossible to meet today. As for why, we need to ask whether the strong winds of about 30 degrees east of north, which are close to level 6 on the track today, agree with this.

During the warm-up lap, when Hamelin reminded Shulong to be extra careful, this section was particularly emphasized!

His assessment of the place at the time was—you must be extremely careful!

From the moment the race car enters Turn 11, the direction of the car's nose follows this series of consecutive, large-arc corners, turning nearly 300 degrees clockwise from the northwest before finally pointing due west.

In other words, the race car will experience crosswinds, strong headwinds, and crosswinds from another direction in succession here, before finally turning into a tailwind at the exit of Turn 13.

During this period, the car's grip and balance will undergo a series of very chaotic and abrupt changes. The entire throttle action must be adjusted at all times based on the grip feedback transmitted from the steering wheel while maximizing the car's acceleration performance.

Otherwise, at best they would completely lose their rhythm on the corners, and at worst, they could lose control of their cars like Verstappen and Kubica did during pre-race warm-up.

Let alone overtaking in a curve, just being able to complete the exit procedure normally is a remarkable skill.

This is no easy task even for Shulong, but fortunately he has two great advantages: [Friction Control] and [Tai Chi].

Taking advantage of the better tire grip, I slightly eased off the throttle to shift the car's center of gravity forward. With the increased front downforce from the wind, I precisely cut into the inside line of the corner left by Leclerc.

What may seem like a simple steering wheel maneuver actually involves Shu Long making at least a dozen micro-adjustments to the steering wheel in less than a second.

This section is quite different from the combination corners of corners one, two, and three. The final corner speeds of the cars there are not actually that fast, while corners eleven through thirteen are very high-speed corner sections.

High speed also leads to a problem: the dynamic response of the car to any input you make to the car will be exceptionally sensitive.

As a driver, you either need to ensure that your actions are as precise as a program, or you need to be even more sensitive than a racing car!
Shulong is not a robot, but he has keen enough perception and a reaction speed that is more than enough for him to respond in time.

Conversely, Leclerc, who was pinned to the outside, was sweating profusely. He dared not breathe too loudly as he watched Shulong's seemingly drifting motion in the corner, afraid that he might accidentally disturb the madman's composure and that the visibly swaying front wheel would suddenly slide over and elbow him.

As it turned out, this worry was unnecessary. Leclerc, who had already floored the accelerator and was determined to fight the dragon to the death, suddenly noticed that the little Toro next to him suddenly accelerated and, quite irrationally, took the lead into the acceleration section of the straight road.

The fourth brother's brain probably went blank for a moment, and he could only watch helplessly as the car in front of him turned on DRS and drove away.

"Ah—! Nooooo! He's past! My tires aren't warm enough yet!"

"Okay, we see it. Vettel is pitting. Stick close to his wake as much as possible. We'll counterattack in the next DRS zone. Don't let him shake us off."

"This guy is absolutely insane! Absolutely! I'm not kidding!"

"Copy, copy."

Others may not know what Shu Long just did, but Leclerc, who had been maintaining a close wheel-to-wheel connection, couldn't possibly be unaware.

The fact that Ferrari's white tires hadn't fully warmed up after leaving the pits was only one reason, but the surge of electric motor noise coming from the other engine undoubtedly told Leclerc the real answer.

The key to Shu Long's ability to overtake on the inside line where acceleration is less efficient in corners is that this guy presses the overtaking button inside the corner!
The two were almost in the same position on the track just now, and only Leclerc knew just how crazy that move was.

The wind on the race car had just changed from a crosswind on the left to a tailwind, and the turbulence caused the tail to drift. In addition, the loss of airflow at the front caused the front to be pushed, making the handling of the race car a complete nightmare.

And this person would dare to press the overtaking button at that exact moment?
No wonder after the last race, Vettel kept grabbing people in the team to analyze the overtake that led to Toro Rosso's last-minute defeat. This guy really can't be judged by common sense!
Fortunately, the straight section was long enough, giving Leclerc, who was following behind, ample time to calm himself down and unleash his full power. He managed to stabilize the gap between himself and Shulong at 0.91, just in time to catch the second DRS.

"I didn't see Seb! Did he get off the train?"

"Yes! We made a great pit stop! He's now 2.4 seconds ahead of you and 1.6 seconds ahead of Toro Rosso. You executed that perfectly!"

"No, no, no, I drove terribly just now! I don't even want to talk about it anymore, really! I drove like a pile of crap!"

"OK, OK. Now let's try to attack him and take back our position."

Leclerc breathed a slight sigh of relief at not letting Vettel into the Dragon's attack range, but his conversation with the engineer caused him to lose his rhythm slightly at the combination of turns one, two, and three, and the Dragon took the opportunity to widen the gap to 1.1 seconds.

"Please! This filthy air! We can't linger here any longer, Max's already in my rearview mirror! Give me some useful advice, anything!"

"You're out of battery now, how about the STRAT5?"

"No! I want to switch to mode 3!"

"We've discussed this before the race; it's very risky to do this. But if you insist, it's best to go fast and not let the engine overheat."

"I understand. Let me charge up two more times first."

Shortly after the Ferrari TR incident, Hamelin also informed Shu Long of his plans for Leclerc.

Judging from their tone, it was as if they were planning to temporarily remove the engine restrictions that Ferrari had imposed before the race, which was not so good news for Shulong.

While the high-frequency mode of the Ferrari engine may not be as stable, in terms of actual power output, the Honda engine currently in Shulong's car absolutely cannot handle it.

Leclerc's engine performance is currently like Schrödinger's cat; it might run into problems, or it might remain fine until the end of the race.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the strategy team on the other side wanted to slow down Shulong's offensive pace against Vettel and deliberately put up smoke bombs in TR.

But Red Bull can't pin its hopes on the time bomb behind them; they must take some countermeasures.

Hamelin was so nervous that his forehead was covered in sweat. As the race progressed, his original expectation that Shu Long would finish the race had somehow turned into a podium finish instead of a comeback against Red Bull.

"Dragon, don't rush to overtake after entering the attack range. I guess they won't dare to gamble on the engine for too long."

"Are we gambling? What if they actually dare? A few more laps and the Ferrari's white tires will warm up!"

"That's why I said don't rush to overtake, let's play with Leclerc for a while and see if we can take down his engine."

The tone of the man describing the tactic was calm yet concealed a deadly intent. It was the first time Shu Long had ever seen anything like it. He had never known that racing could involve such insidious tactics in addition to overtaking and defense.

"You're so naughty, but I love it!"

Although the sentence was spoken in English, Wang Jieke, wearing headphones in the VIP viewing area of ​​Little Red Bull's P room, immediately understood who Shu Long was referring to and turned the camera to give a close-up of Xiao Qiao, who looked innocent, next to him.

No wonder he's the son of the studio's shareholder and owner!
Even while competing, they didn't forget to throw out some jokes here. They would be doing a disservice to their Paddock votes if they didn't capitalize on this wave of popularity!
Unfortunately, this joke was a bit too advanced for the team's engineers. Hamelin didn't smile; he was still busy deploying the mission for Shulong in the TR.

"Stay focused! You heard them too, they're afraid of overheating! Give them more polluted air!"

"Copy!"

The most insidious aspect of this tactic is that it's an almost open and obvious strategy. Regardless of whether Leclerc is willing to risk engine failure, Vettel ahead must increase his pace of attack to some extent.

Ferrari pitted too late with their yellow tires; they could have actually completed a one-stop tactic using white tires.

Little Red Bull's early-stage tactics have been executed very well so far.

But since observing Ferrari's excellent long-distance lap performance in clean air, the biggest variable now is that Ferrari's strategy team might recover and then play a reverse strategy, letting the two Red Bulls compete against each other while they comfortably maintain their own pace and keep running at their own pace.

What Shulong is trying to do now is to completely muddy the waters of the battle. No matter what it is, whether it's preserving the tire or using the engine to start the Kaioken, nobody will have a good time!
　Bonus chapter 17-1=16, a chapter to pay off debts.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)