F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 22 Old Pan: I'm afraid I've aided the enemy.
According to Vestager's analysis, Shulong now only has two options.

One option is to choose a top-ranked club.

Large clubs have abundant resources and value strength more. Capable drivers can quickly stand out with the support of large clubs.

If you are capable enough to represent the club in matches, the average cost per match will be cheaper than hiring the club's services outright.

Of course, the disadvantages are also obvious. Big clubs pursue results, so there is less freedom once you join, and the overall cost will definitely be higher. If you can't support a full year of matches, no matter how fast you run, they won't give you priority.

Secondly, find a club that ranks at the bottom to make up the numbers.

These clubs generally don't participate in the team ranking competition. They do have some resources, but the best drivers aren't willing to participate, thus creating an endless vicious cycle.

Such clubs usually have difficulty finding enough sponsors, so they have to find their own ways to make a profit. They can basically be seen as scalpers of match qualification with their own service system.

They don't have strict performance requirements; drivers can participate in as many races as they want. Of course, the service fees for each race are much higher than those of larger teams.

Shu Xiong rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.

It wasn't that he could keep up with the pace of the conversation without Shu Long's translation, nor was he weighing which of the two options offered by Verstappen was more suitable. It was just that looking at the blond middle-aged man in front of him talking so eloquently about racing, he felt that the man's appearance was somewhat familiar.

"Hey honey, what did that foreigner's mom call this guy again?"

"I forgot too, was it 'Yaosi' or 'Qiaosi'?"

Shu Xiong pondered the two names carefully in his mind, and a look of realization slowly appeared on his face.

Joss Verstappen?!
No wonder this foreign child's name sounded so familiar; it turns out his father used to be an F1 driver, but he retired early when Shulong was only three or four years old.

Previously, the name he had heard in China was pronounced in perfect Mandarin, and given that this man had gained a lot of weight in recent years, Shu Xiong didn't recognize him at first.

Nodding knowingly, Shu Xiong remained silent.

Although he himself almost never deals with business matters, it doesn't mean he's stupid. One of the most taboo things in business is to inflate the value of your competitors.

Since the other party hasn't brought up their identity yet, they don't need to make a fool of themselves. Who knows if the other party will immediately change their attitude after they realize their identity has been recognized?

Because it was getting late, Vestapan suggested that the Shu Long family think it over carefully. If they came up with an idea the next day, he would introduce a few of them to some clubs they were familiar with.

Pan's mother didn't want to stay here with Lao Pan for long, nor did she want to ruin Shu Long's family's good deed. She just gave Zhang Xin a symbolic cheek kiss and prepared to leave.

Before leaving, she turned to Max and asked him if he wanted to go home with his mother or stay with Lao Pan. Max chose his father.

The child's maturity made Zhang Xin feel a little sorry for him. Although no one said it outright, as adults, they could all see something was off.

Max's parents' marriage may not be particularly stable, at least emotionally. Growing up in such a family atmosphere would be incredibly stressful for a child, not to mention that Verstappen's parenting style seems to be even more intense and demanding than that of most Chinese parents.

That evening, Shu Xiong called the old man back, only to be scolded by the old man who was preparing to exercise in the morning.

After hearing about the situation here, the old man pondered for a long time, then turned around and gave Shu Xiong a good scolding, telling him to make his own decisions and not to always think of asking his father for help.

Based on the usual context of this awkward exchange between father and son, Shu Xiong felt that this must be a sign that Old Master Shu had agreed, so the only remaining question was what Shu Long himself thought.

The phone was handed to Shu Long, and the old man emphasized only two things on the phone: one was that he absolutely could not fall behind in his studies; the other was that once he had decided what he wanted to do, he was absolutely not allowed to give up halfway.

Shu Long lay in bed all night without closing his eyes, and gave his answer early the next morning.

He wants to continue racing, but instead of moving to England to fully dedicate himself to racing like Zhou Guanyu, he wants to be a day student like he was in primary school.

While large teams certainly have their advantages, Shulong is confident that he can make a name for himself in the limited number of races he has participated in, and there is no need to completely copy the growth trajectory of others.

Just like what Grandpa Shu told him on the phone, when you have no ability, you have to pay foreigners to prove yourself. When you can get foreigners to voluntarily pay you to support you, that's when you'll truly have ability.

There's another point that Shu Long thinks his grandfather makes a lot of sense: at this juncture, he really can't completely put his studies aside. It's not that he's genuinely interested in studying, but the word "photographic memory" has been stuck at 85% for quite some time now.

Shu Long speculated that the problem stemmed from the elementary school curriculum being too easy, and wanted to see if the pace could be increased further once students entered junior high school.

Shu Long has always suspected that the early-appearing term "Friction Control" was not affected by the disappearance of the "Ping Pong Professional Player" career progress because it had already reached 100% unlocking.

Who knows if giving up on studies now will wipe out all the progress I've made in "photographic memory"?

It's hard to say, so I dare not gamble.

The previous term "Dynamic Vision" has truly disappeared. Although there is now a superior alternative like "Sharp Eyes," and considering that unlocking "Sharp Eyes" grants a 20% progress bonus, existing attributes won't simply decline. However, without a similar term, it might be difficult to advance further.

After listening to Shu Long's plans, Joss first offered some kind words of advice, because frequent races could accumulate a lot of valuable experience for the drivers, but considering that everyone's family situation was different, he did not insist.

However, Joss happened to know a karting club that was ranked very poorly but was determined to achieve something, not far from here, in Austria.

Since summer vacation had started, Max didn't need to rush home to go back to school. Joss decided to go along as a way of giving back and help Shulong analyze his driving skills.

After a journey of nearly seven hours, the group finally arrived at their destination.

Shu Long had taken a nap in the back seat and was now rubbing his sleepy eyes, while Zhang Xin's back ached from the long ride, but Shu Xiong, who was driving the whole time, was full of energy.

What just happened? Did he "race" a former F1 driver on the road?
Regardless of whether it's a race or not, just tell me whether you caught the F1 driver's slipstream or not!

After getting out of the car, a go-kart club with the transliteration "Leika Technology" came into view.

The store is quite nicely decorated, but there are hardly any customers.

The club is ranked at the bottom and has not been established for long. In particular, it currently only has one paid member participating in KZ2, so it urgently needs to make a name for itself.

It can be said that, from all aspects, it fully meets the needs of the Shulong family.

The boss probably knew Joss and was aware of his bad temper; his face twitched a few times when he saw Old Pan. "What are you doing here?!"

"Why are you shaking? Can I introduce you to a business opportunity?"

"I've already told you, I can't accept your son! I won't take him even if you offer me money! I'm genuinely afraid that one day Max will lose a match and you'll come here and smash up my shop to vent your anger."

Meeting Lao Pan's increasingly hostile gaze, the boss quickly lost all his strength and ability, slumping lazily in the leather chair, adopting an attitude of "do whatever you want."

"Don't be impatient here. I'll introduce you to a membership and even help you check the goods in advance. You should be secretly happy about that."

Upon hearing this, the boss was no longer sleepy. He immediately rolled off the recliner and followed along.

Although Joss has a bad temper, as a former F1 driver, he is absolutely trustworthy in terms of skill and judgment.

How long has it been since I've seen this old guy so enthusiastic towards outsiders? It seems like it's been a long time since Joss took on any new go-karting apprentices since he started training Max.

Joss acted as if he were in his own home. After confirming Shulong's age, he thought for a moment and then pushed out a Rotax Max 125cc direct-drive two-stroke racing bike, letting Shulong sit on it and try it out on the track for a few laps.

The Rotax Max series is characterized by its relatively standardized cars that require almost no tuning, making it the car series that best reflects a driver's driving style.

To be fair, Austria's natural scenery is quite distinctive, and the Reca Club's track is nestled against the mountains and by the water, offering a unique pastoral charm and beautiful scenery.

In addition, the track was spacious and there was hardly anyone else to bother him, so Shulong really had this refreshing lap experience for the first time.

The race car has moved up a class. Although the engine is the same 125cc as the domestic one, due to the change in carburetor diameter, the horsepower of the Shulong's current motorcycle should be about 5 more than that of the domestic one.

"It's so exciting!"

The only downside might be that the tires of this car, which was casually pushed out, weren't exactly new.

After testing the limits of the new car for two laps on the track, and having a clear understanding and plan for the track layout, Shu Long officially began exploring lap times.

Old Pan stood with his arms crossed, watching for a while. His slightly pouting lips tightened like chrysanthemums. As soon as Shu Long crossed the line, he quickly turned his head to look at the track timer.

50.255!
What kind of concept is this?
The club's track time leaderboard is right there! The top time is only 53.195. What does that mean?
This was only Shulong's first lap, and he probably hadn't even fully familiarized himself with the track yet. Before Jos could even open his mouth to comment on the result, Shulong's second lap time had already been updated on the timer.

49.881!

In just one lap, he improved his lap time by almost half a second! And he completed a leap into a "new world"!

Then some people might say: "Hey! Didn't they say this club is at the bottom of the rankings and doesn't have many players who can participate in the competition? Isn't it normal that the club is full of noobs?"

That's true, because Verstappen thought the same thing, and immediately told Max to go back to the car and get the equipment ready.

Max is now nearly 20 centimeters taller than Shulong and weighs about 15 kilograms more. Driving this class of race car, he can't even outrun Shulong now, let alone himself two years ago.

Despite his criticisms, Old Tapan knew his son's true capabilities perfectly well. Even with his various disadvantages, Joss still believed that Max could at least give him a convincing lap time.

Even though this track is completely unfamiliar to Max, at least there's already a prototype of the track that Shulong has run on, right?

The condition of the race cars rented to tourists is rather random. Old Tapan even picked out a race car with better tires for Max. This time it wasn't that he was being competitive or biased; the disadvantage in weight always needs to be compensated for in other ways to make the comparison more convincing.

At this point, Shulong's lap time had reached 49.263.

Even if he was somewhat reluctant to admit it, Lao Pan was fully aware of the significance of this result.

This is an incredibly alarming rate of evolution!

It's important to know that besides car control, the most crucial skill for an excellent race car driver is the ability to interpret the track, which was also the ability that made Old Tapan most nervous from the very beginning.

There is a widely accepted saying that even if a top driver comes to a completely unfamiliar track, his lap time may be faster than many veterans on that track.

Starting from the second lap, Shu Long's choice of driving line became more consistent, with only minor adjustments. This means that Shu Long has basically deduced the correct answer to the question of the track.

The most outrageous thing is that even without changing the racing line, the kid's lap times were steadily improving in the first few laps, and then became incredibly stable after the lap times stabilized.

This is what truly terrified old Tapan.

Stability is one factor, and the track conditions have indeed been improving, but the fundamental reason lies in the child's exceptionally keen reaction to changes in tire and track grip conditions.

Just as Verstappen was pondering, Max's first lap time was officially announced.

50.966.
Similarly, considering the lap times that were once overwhelmingly superior to the former leader, as well as the difference in weight and the impact of skill level, Joss basically had a fairly accurate understanding of this kid from the East.

If this little guy grows up and can get into a higher group in the future, he might become Max's strongest competitor.

Don't be fooled by Max's current lap times, which may be just a matter of 15 kilograms. Not every driver has a father who was once an F1 driver, providing round-the-clock one-on-one guidance. Not to mention, judging from their age alone, there's a real difference of more than two years of experience.

This battle, fought remotely without the smoke of gunpowder, is also not entirely fair to Shulong.

Joss called the bewildered Max back from the track, but he didn't keep his promise to help Shulong analyze the technical data. After a hasty farewell, he grabbed his son's collar and hurriedly left, citing urgent business.

Max wasn't even allowed to go back and say goodbye to Shu Long before leaving.

Max was already short of funds for running races, and Joss had initially planned to show off his skills here and then reveal his identity to see if he could get a personal coaching contract to supplement his income.

Now it seems
This coach is unacceptable; becoming one would be aiding the enemy!

　If you have tickets, please show your support; if you don't, please read on. Thank you.

　　Niche themes are not easy to come by; young seedlings need nurturing. Thank you for your support!
　　Thank you so much to aze, buyu, book friend 161103202011623, Ffortress, doudouzhuanzhuanguofenle, and the copyist mars for the monthly tickets! I'm so grateful!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)