F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 108 Next time, let the national anthem sound twice in the home stadium! (5K1)

He started in English as usual, thanking the team for their hard work throughout the Grand Prix weekend. However, when it came time to address all the fans, Shu Long switched directly to Chinese.

Since it was his home ground, his family felt he couldn't be as casual as before. Before the game, his mother and girlfriend even helped him draft a speech.

Objectively speaking, it is indeed very well written. It was originally revised based on Shu Long's own ideas.

However, at this point, Shu Long felt that some of the content no longer matched his current feelings, so he only borrowed the general framework of the script and filled in almost everything that came to mind on the spot, rambling on and on.

Sometimes, it may only take one or two experiences for a person to grow up.

Compared to this somewhat regrettable final result
The teamwork, the competition with opponents, the enthusiastic atmosphere at the scene, and even the emotional ups and downs during the race.

Shu Long discovered that there were actually many more things worth remembering throughout the entire competition.

"In short, thank you to everyone. For me, this is the best home game so far, but I also believe that we will have many more and better home games in the future!"

Hamelin felt he hadn't understood anything in the preceding Chinese passage except for a few "thank yous," but he still felt that Shu Long's tone was a bit too calm.

He has been a team engineer for quite some time, and has witnessed the performance of many young drivers at home races. He also understands what home races mean to drivers.

Before the match, everyone could see Shu Long's anxiety and impatience. Aside from trusting his abilities, agreeing to such an aggressive tactic was also a way of accommodating his emotions.
In terms of results, P7 to P4 can definitely be considered a perfect combination of team strategy and driver performance.

After all, you have to look at what kind of teams are competing with you. This improvement of three places may be more valuable than overtaking more than a dozen people from the back of the pack.

However, judging from the goals Shu Long set for himself before the match, this result is definitely not satisfactory. Hamelin was even prepared for Shu Long to trash talk in TR.

Not only did they not get what they wanted, but the person also offered them some words of comfort.
"Come on, guys! It's 12 points! Why are you so serious?"

"OK, OK! I might be a little more relaxed if you don't say that line. Just don't shove a knife in my mouth one day, or I'll laugh! Also, the rest of the crew are actually quite happy. Did you see them leaning over the guardrail to welcome you?"

"Of course, but I didn't even have a chance to say hello to them. This is 'our' home turf, and everyone deserves it. I hope you can enjoy it all."

Hearing this, Hamelin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Such a result is certainly welcome for a team like Toro Rosso. What he fears is that Shulong will get stuck and unable to get out, and then, because it's his home ground, he'll force himself to stay in the game to save face.

However, on the other hand, in the only four races they collaborated on, this young Chinese driver, who appeared out of nowhere, performed impeccably in every single one.

Even though Hamelin's original mindset had gradually shifted towards that of a ruthless working person, he couldn't help but feel a sincere admiration for Shulong.

With its technology, mentality, and adaptability, Shulong basically has all the conditions to compete for the world championship. What it lacks now is just a car that can compete for the championship.

At the same time, I felt a little regretful. It was certainly a stroke of luck to work with such a driver, but within the Red Bull system, such a partnership was destined to be short-lived.
Seeing that Hamelin suddenly didn't know what to say, team leader Tost felt that as the face of the team, he should say something to make his presence felt.

It was mostly just some template-like clichés, but after that, Hamelin, who took over the conversation again, shared the final rankings of the competition with Shu Long.

"Here are some more good news: Albon started from the pit lane and finished the race in P9, bringing 2 points back for the team. Gasly finished in P7, but he pitted for red tires in the last three laps and still managed to score points with the fastest lap of the race."

Is this good news for Shulong?
Even within Toro Rosso itself, they didn't really know that as teammates on the same team, they still had to say the polite things they had to say.

Gasly started in P6, and finishing in P7 made up for the loss with the fastest lap and an extra point. Overall, he was neither outstanding nor mediocre.

At least at this point in time, when Red Bull has just completed its transformation and is not yet capable of competing for the annual team championship, Gasly's ability definitely qualifies him as a qualified Red Bull number two driver.

It's quite interesting that Hamelin, the current race engineer at Shulong, is French, just like Gasly, and both of them are actually named Pierre.

This is why, even though so much time has passed and everyone else in the team has long since changed their way of addressing Shu Long from "Shu" to "Long," Shu Long still insists on calling him by his surname.

But to be honest, even with this relationship involved, Hamelin always felt that Gasley would have a hard time competing with Shu Long within the Red Bull system.

On the other hand, the seemingly low-key Alben
The car started at P20 in the pit lane and quietly finished at P9.

Although they didn't have the same huge points as Shulong, the improvement of eleven places is still real. Looking at Alben's performance throughout the game, he could even be considered to be in the top five!
With the support behind the other side, it remains to be seen whether Shulong can break through in this power struggle at the top.

"Oh? The voting results for Drive of the Day are in. Guess who it is?"

"Huh?! You're kidding me, right? Why don't you guess whose home turf this is?"

"Alright, alright, with 46% of the vote, you truly deserve the title of best driver today!"

"Wow~ So this is what I mean? This is home-field advantage, right?"

This is not just a matter of home advantage in terms of votes. As China's only representative in F1, Shulong has already shown the world the potential of the racing market in this fertile land of the East.

"Collect as much tire debris as possible and bring the car back. After parking, hurry up and weigh it. The race organizers have prepared a separate interview for you, right across from the main grandstand, with the top three drivers."

"My God, when was this decision made? Ever since I refused to have a separate parking sign?"

"Pretty much, haha! Just like you told us, this is your home turf, I hope you can enjoy it."

Just as Hamelin said, after Shu Long was the first to stop in the racing closed area, his physical trainer Elena urged him to hurry up and weigh himself.

After finishing, I took the Hans's frame, helmet, and gloves, and casually tidied up his hair, which was all messed up by the fireproof hood.

Shu Long awkwardly stepped back slightly. He had seen Gan Mengning waving vigorously at him from upstairs when he got out of the car. Taking advantage of the crowd, he pretended to interact with his fans normally and responded.

Because of Elena's slightly intimate gesture just now, Shu Long felt as if a knife was stabbing his scalp.

"Do you really not need to give me a hat?"

"Alright, alright, go on! You look fantastic now!"

Lewis Hamilton, who had just finished celebrating his 1000th F1 Grand Prix victory, had only just arrived in front of the interview host and hadn't even had a chance to interact with the spectators in the main grandstand when a deafening roar of cheers erupted from him.

Even the seasoned veteran with five championships was a little stunned. He knew he was very popular in China, but he didn't expect his popularity to be this high.

After looking around, he realized that the cheers weren't really for him. When he turned around, he found Shulong already chatting with Verstappen.

Well, no wonder.
Today, the person in charge of the official post-race interview was former F1 driver Martin Brundl, who is also a commentator for Sky Sports. It seems that he also noticed the predicament of the five-time champion and deliberately waited a while to control the situation.

Fortunately, the Chinese audience was very supportive. After the wave of excitement caused by the dragon subsided a little, they still gave Hamilton a very enthusiastic response.

It may also be somewhat related to someone's amateur interaction skills.

It's no wonder that Shulong lacked business acumen. Although it was his home turf, being treated so blatantly as a special case still made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Fortunately, there was Panzi, who wasn't very good at pronouncing "air," to help ease his embarrassment. But mainly it was Verstappen who was muttering, while Shulong was busy chugging water down his throat; he was really sweltering in the second half of the match.

To be honest, when the final results were announced, there were quite a few emotionally charged extreme fans at the scene who even thought that Verstappen had stolen the podium from Shulong.

So don't talk about whether it's appropriate or not to make special arrangements. In their eyes, Shulong's P4 is already synonymous with the podium. Tapao is simply an irreconcilable villain in the paddock, and everyone has the right to kill him!
Now look what's happened! We were just about to fight to the death, so why did Your Majesty surrender first?

Seeing Shu Long and Verstappen chatting and laughing, they didn't seem to be at odds as they appeared, which made some fans undecided.

As we all know, Toro Rosso is a subsidiary team of Red Bull. Could it be that Shu Long was forced to be hypocritical due to workplace etiquette?

In any case, since the person in question has already set an example in their attitude, let's wait and see for a while longer.
In fact, Shu Long didn't have such complicated thoughts at all; he had no objection to Verstappen's P3.

0.07 seconds sounds short, right? So short that a person might not even realize that time span.

At the speeds of racing cars at that time, this short time difference could result in a difference of about three meters, making misjudgment almost impossible.

The reason why the audience has such strong opinions is mainly related to the perspective from which they observe.

Most of the spectators on the main straight were actually behind the finish line. From their perspective, it was difficult to tell which car was in front and which was behind when they saw two cars with a large gap between them rushing towards them.

Of course, aside from the results, Shu Long also had to admit that Verstappen's performance in this match truly deserved the podium.

These two people, who seem to have nothing in common except for their connection through Red Bull, have actually known each other for a long time.

However, since the two don't interact much in front of the camera, a rumor has started circulating that Red Bull is currently very disharmonious because Shu Long may pose a threat to Verstappen's position.

Not only might outsiders believe it, but even Marco himself called Shu Long specifically about it, asking if there was any irreconcilable conflict between his two trump cards.
But in fact, among the younger drivers, besides Zhou Guanyu, the first person Shu Long interacted with was Pan Zi. Especially after Shu Long officially signed with Red Bull, their relationship was actually much closer than the media knew.

However, they had very little experience fighting each other.

The two had almost no overlap in their racing experiences in karting and lower-level formula racing. When they moved up to F1, due to the fundamental difference in competitiveness between the two teams, they mostly kept to themselves on the track.

However, based on last year's Brazil tournament and the Shanghai International Championship that just concluded today, Shu Long already has a fairly thorough understanding of Verstappen's abilities.

One thing must be acknowledged: whether it's driving skills or the courage and ability to seize opportunities, Verstappen is undoubtedly one of the top drivers in the paddock.

Aside from a slight lack of experience and mentality, his overall performance is absolutely on par with any champion-level driver.

This was particularly evident in this match.

Don't be fooled by the fact that they made a big joke in the warm-up tire lap, giving the impression that Red Bull is probably doomed in this race. How can they compete with others if they don't even dare to give gas when exiting corners?
As a result of that embarrassing incident, it seemed that Verstappen had reached the limits of the car. Dragging the extremely unbalanced Red Bull, he not only did not make a single mistake throughout the race, but also maintained a real threat to the podium position throughout the entire race.

The lockout at Turn 14, which ultimately backfired, may have had an element of luck, but that's how racing is; without skill, you don't even have the right to rely on luck.

As they were talking, Bottas's interview had already ended, and Brendel then beckoned Verstappen over.

Shu Long was a little lost after losing his conversation partner, but luckily Hamilton somehow found him again.

Hey kid!

"Huh? Oh! Lewis?! I thought you went backstage at the podium, I didn't even notice you."

Shu Long, who had just been patted on the shoulder, quickly turned around and shook hands with Hamilton politely.

The scene was somewhat comical; the old man, who was being called a child but was actually only a little over 1.7 meters tall, looked rather petite next to Shu Long.

"I don't even know how to say this. Actually, I've always treated the China Grand Prix as a semi-home event, but today is the first time I've felt like I've won but also like I haven't!"

"Ah, this, I..."

Hamilton may have been somewhat polite in the first half, but the second half was definitely his genuine feelings.

He has won many championships at other drivers' home races, but none of them have made him feel so bewildered. In addition, the huge poster of Shulong placed in the center of the interview area made the old man feel like he shouldn't be there.

Verstappen was extremely perfunctory in his attitude towards the interview. Before long, Brendel was waving at Shulong. The old man didn't tease the child any further and just gave Shulong a couple of light pats on the shoulder.

"Go on, go on. Relax a little. You're as stiff as a wooden stake right now, but with your talent and skill, you'll get used to all of this sooner or later."

"I'll try my best, but thank you for your suggestion anyway!"

The broadcast camera finally gave Shu Long a close-up shot, and the young face on the screen immediately caused the female fans at the scene to scream as if they were about to faint.

Shulong was dehydrated quite a bit in this match. Her already delicate and outstanding appearance and the beauty mark at the corner of her eye created a strange chemical reaction. Her hair, soaked with sweat, had a slight natural curl that hadn't been properly styled. Against the backdrop of the slightly regrettable outcome of the match, it seemed to bring a touch of melancholy and messiness.

Combined with the cold aura he brought from the competition, and the quirky, somewhat naive charm associated with the "empty-minded" tag, he exuded a unique and slightly clueless quality.

What to say?

He's kind of handsome, kind of pitiful, and kind of cute?

It's rare for someone to use the phrase "handsome enough to be a feast for the eyes" to describe a man, but this is almost the level that even the men present would find him undeniably handsome, not to mention the female fans whose maternal instincts were overflowing and who couldn't tell whether they were fans of the car or the man.

Then, from some unknown corner of the main stands, a loud shout suddenly rang out.

"Shulong! Come here and let Mommy hug you!"

ha? !

Just as Shu Long was about to answer Brendel's question, he suddenly stopped, his expression almost bringing to life all the questions in his mind, which drew another burst of laughter from the audience.

Incidentally, if it weren't for "Saipan," this voice would sound like it came from a rough-looking man!
"What's wrong? I think I just heard some audience members."

"No, it's nothing! Don't worry about it!"

Actually, the content of this interview was rather formulaic. However, since this was an exceptional special event held at the home venue, the main purpose was to allow Shu Long to take this opportunity to have more direct interaction with his fans.

Of course, an essential part of this is having the drivers share their thoughts on the race.

Shu Long did not offer further comment on the race, but before leaving, he left behind a message that left fans both excited and disappointed for four years.

"Perhaps next time, I will try my best to make our home stadium resound with the national anthem twice!"

　Thank you so much to the generous donor, "Awake and Dreaming 739"!
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(End of this chapter)