F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 50 Big Tooth
Red Bull's decision to have Shu Long replace Ricardo in training this time is perhaps a form of protest and retaliation against Ricardo's departure.

So what seems like a great opportunity to experience the front row of race cars may actually greatly influence Red Bull's attitude toward the matter.

See? Even if you leave, we have plenty of excellent young drivers here who can replace you!

But if the lap time isn't good, well...
It can be said that the result of a single training session may, in a sense, determine the upper limit of Shulong's future career path.

Unlike Marko, who directly made demands of Shu Long, Horner, as the manager who harmonized the entire team, openly played the role of the "good cop" and offered encouragement. As a result, many engineers who had worked with Shu Long to varying degrees showed more congratulations and expectations when they met him.

Right in front of Ricardo and others
This is absolutely terrible!
As for the media outside, it was a complete mess, like Gotham City. Ricciardo, a popular driver who had been famous for many years, was the subject of almost unanimous public opinion.

Many people are criticizing Red Bull for being shameless, suppressing drivers without even putting on an act, no wonder they chose to abandon the dark side and embrace the light.

To be honest, Shu Long himself thought so too.

Despite the team's blatant display of hostility, Ricciardo's attitude towards Shulong wasn't exactly distant; in fact, it was overly friendly.

After all, Ricciardo, who came from the Red Bull system, also climbed to the top by stepping on the faces of his team predecessors. When he saw Shulong, he saw his younger self. They were both beneficiaries and victims of the Red Bull system. It's just that the same story is now happening to him.

Just like how he had a major internal conflict with his teammate Max during the season, but it didn't affect the relationship between Verstappen and Ricardo at all. After experiencing so much, he's actually become much more open-minded now.

Much of the online public opinion is also directly directed at Shulong.

Compared to Red Bull's star driver, who has already won many races, Shu Long, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, can be said to be a complete unknown.

Because of the mandatory graduation rule after winning the F2 championship, he was basically sidelined by Red Bull for the entire year of 18, and time is the most effective solvent to fade memories.

Occasionally, a few rational analyses are made based on his past achievements, but these are quickly drowned out by illogical questioning and insults that are simply for venting emotions.

Whether or not new drivers can avoid collisions has become the most discussed topic.
However, the relationship between Daniel Ricardo and Shulong, the protagonist who was hailed as the king of revenge, was not as irreconcilable as outsiders speculated.

exactly the opposite.

Until the start of the first practice session, Ricciardo didn't mind sharing some of his insights on handling certain corners with Shu Long, while also teaching Shu Long how to adjust his mindset when facing pressure.

Whether it's useful or not is another matter, but at least the intention is good.

"Go do something crazy?"

"Go do something crazy! Things you would never normally do, but don't go too far."

Ricardo could clearly feel that this atmosphere, both inside and outside the team, was putting a lot of pressure on Shulong, even more so than what he had experienced back then.

To put it a little boastfully, back then he replaced Agursuari, who wasn't particularly outstanding in Toro Rosso, but now Shulong is trying to replace the famous himself.

Red Bull might be a little more patient and expectant of Shu Long because of his consecutive F3 and F2 championships, but the difference could be whether he is worth investing a lot of resources to develop into the next number one driver, or whether he is just a consumable to support the team until the next genius emerges.

Ricardo once thought he was the first type, but when Max arrived, he realized he seemed to be the second type.

After all, it was his own choice to leave. After all these years, it was an amicable parting with Red Bull. Consider it a farewell gift for the younger generation, and also a little surprise for Max. It's not easy to secure the position of Red Bull's number one driver.

"So what's on your usual crazy list?"

"Uh, like running and swimming?"

Seeing the words "Are you kidding me?" written all over Shu Long's face, Ricardo grinned and laughed loudly, showing off his signature big teeth.

"Just kidding, just kidding. Sometimes I like extreme sports like diving and bungee jumping, and I'd also like to try running and swimming naked when no one's around, maybe even skiing?"

Skiing is not allowed! Don't think you're safe just because you're not a world champion!

"But these are not things that can be done right now."

"Of course, there are other, even simpler ones!"

As he spoke, Ricardo furtively glanced around, seemingly checking to make sure there were no media outlets with cameras nearby.

His strategic inclinations were actually quite good, but the style of the race car design was increasingly slipping out of his control. It felt like the child he had raised with his own hands had suddenly started calling someone else "Dad."

The reason this race car has become such a hybrid is largely due to the efforts of Shu Long, who has been working behind the scenes to conduct testing.

If it weren't for his willingness to grant requests, Newey's design proposal might not have been as extreme as it is now.

Get your spirits up and be at work on time on Friday.

Red Bull's decision to train Shulong was hasty, but it wasn't particularly surprising news within the paddock. With their almost omnipresent eyes and ears, there weren't many secrets here.

On the way from the hotel to the racetrack, a ton of cameras were practically shoved right in Shu Long's face every minute. Every few steps, someone would rush up to him and ask him, in a chattering tone, how he was feeling, whether he had any conversations with Ricciardo, and whether he felt confident in his ability to handle the car.

This is the first time that Shulong has enjoyed such top-tier treatment in the hunting grounds.

But to be honest, I didn't feel much vanity or happiness at all. Instead, I felt like the only examinee in a classroom with dozens of proctors, afraid that any unintentional action of mine might cause unnecessary interpretation or misunderstanding.

Fortunately, he specifically found a pair of sunglasses to wear before setting off. I'll reluctantly give Gan Mengning credit for that; maintaining an air of mystery can sometimes give you a lot of courage.

Accompanied by a press officer who was afraid he might accidentally say something wrong, he remained silent the whole way, leaving the outside world with only a mysterious and aloof impression. No one could tell that he was actually panicking inside.

This panic didn't come from internal pressure at Red Bull, but rather from those who supported him behind the scenes; he had just seen media outlets displaying Chinese text.

When it comes to international affairs, Shulong can be considered, to a large extent, China's only representative in the F1 arena. A nation's strength and vision cannot be fully captured by the performance of just one or two individuals, but this is a symbol of soft power. It stands on the highest platform of world motorsports, telling everyone – we are in no way inferior to you.

With a legitimate F1 driver from our own country, fans feel more confident going out to watch the races. What was once just watching outsiders' excitement has now become a sense that F1 is also part of our sport.

The immense pressure from this silent expectation and support made Shu Long feel that the old man's face seemed much more amiable when he heard Marco making demands of him in the P room.

This wasn't Shulong's illusion; Marco's expression was indeed quite amiable today.

Most F1 drivers have great physiques, but it's rare to see a natural talent like Shu Long. Even his racing suit can't hide his perfect inverted triangle shape, and just standing there, his aura easily surpasses that of Ricciardo next to him.

Lao Tzu has a good eye.JPG
Red Bull doesn't need restraint; it needs all-around aggression and aggressiveness. If Shu Long performs well in the race, the old man will probably like him even more.

The first training session is about to begin.

The engineer poked the engine from the back of the car and started it. With a high-revving throttle, Shulong drove out of the pit lane with a screeching sound, and with a small drift, he quickly arrived at the exit of the maintenance lane and stopped first.

The large screen at the scene clearly knew who the main character was today, providing close-up shots from the moment they exited Shulong Station, and even thoughtfully included a slow-motion replay.

"Wow~ Excellent driving skills, and a unique self-introduction."

Upon seeing this, the soldier gave a small, excited cheer. He wanted to offer more praise, but after glancing at the somewhat nervous expressions of his two colleagues and considering their somewhat sinister reputation, he decided to refrain from doing so.

Be careful with your words and actions!

Most people wouldn't dare to do this. Even professional drivers have to maintain a sense of awe when it comes to high-horsepower rear-wheel-drive race cars.

Especially now that F1 cars are so big, the pit lane space is not very spacious, and if you make a mistake, you can't recover.

This was Shu Long's first official appearance, and he wasn't afraid of messing things up and becoming the first person to need a mechanic to come and fix his car right outside his own garage.

The severity of the consequences goes far beyond what the phrase "utter disgrace" can describe; in a sense, it can be considered another form of history-making.

The atmosphere in the live broadcast room was generally relaxed and cheerful. The three commentators each added a sentence to the various rumors about Shu Long that might not be widely known from his childhood to adulthood, which gave the public a general impression of this young driver with a strong sense of mystery.

In summary, he's ruthless and doesn't talk much.

As professional, talkative F1 commentators, in order to prevent the studio from falling into awkward silences, the three commentators are constantly surfing the internet for extended periods to keep up with all the news from the paddock. Naturally, they know the current public opinion environment surrounding the sole representative of the race, Shulong.

Five-Star Sports generally doesn't commentate on practice matches, but today's situation is a bit special. They actually have no complaints about this sudden overtime schedule.

At first, they were a little worried that Shulong, who was making his debut, might have mental problems due to the heavy pressure he was under. After all, from previous interviews, they could tell that he was a rather shy kid, while everyone knew Marco's true nature without needing to explain.

But looking at his style now, he truly lives up to the outfit he's wearing; it's very much Red Bull.

I just love pushing the limits!
The red light at the exit turned green, and Shulong, as the first car in line, drove onto the track.

Following behind were Kimi and Vettel of Ferrari, and then Leclerc of Sauber and Stroll of Williams, many of whom were familiar faces.

Leclerc originally planned to greet his old teammates from last year and also wanted to test whether sitting in the F1 straitjacket would still give him the same suffocating sense of pressure he felt in F2.

However, Ferrari was ahead of them, and as the most loyal Ferrari, Leclerc behaved very obediently.

"Do you feel pressured being chased by two world champion Ferraris?"

The voice coming from TR was clearly not Simon Rennie, the game engineer; the first thing that popped into my head was two rows of bright white teeth.

"Nervous? Remember to take a couple of pictures for me. I'm leading two Ferraris on my first time on the track. I'm going to frame this photo when I get back."

The brief conversation was posted on the public screen by the troublemaking organizers, which answered the various speculations about the relationship between Ricardo and Shulong, while also raising more questions about the internal situation of Red Bull.

Reni didn't let the farce last long; he quickly regained control of the conversation.

The training session with Shu Long wasn't just about giving him a chance to showcase his speed; he also had many testing tasks to complete during that hour, including adjusting last year's settings and assessing the wear and tear on the tires during medium- to long-distance driving.

No matter how anxious Marko is, it's useless; during the race, the team's interests must ultimately take precedence.

Because the Suzuka circuit is a medium-to-high wear track with a long lap distance, Pirelli provided the tire compound for this race, which is one of the relatively hard red, yellow, and white compounds in the rainbow tires. The Shulong car is currently equipped with yellow soft tires.

His main task today is to test the yellow tires. In the last twenty minutes or so of practice, he will be put on red supersoft tires to test his qualifying limits.

How do the tires feel?

Shu Long glanced at the tire temperature display on the steering wheel screen. It was slightly lower than the ideal operating temperature, but the feedback from the steering wheel indicated that the condition was good enough.

"Not bad, the weather is great today."

"Received. Engine power (STRAT) set to 3, battery strategy (SOC) set to 6. You can start trying to advance."

This setup is roughly the most commonly used mode in the main race. The team mainly wanted Shulong to get used to the rhythm of F1 driving first, so that he wouldn't rush to push for the fastest lap and crash the car right away.

　Generally, the lower the number of an engine's power mode, the greater the power. The same principle applies to battery discharge strategies. You can understand it as SOC1 depleting the battery in one revolution, and SOC2 depleting the battery in two revolutions.

　　Seeing this hanging picture today really made me lose my temper. Lawson's name is badly chosen; his birth chart is unlucky.
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(End of this chapter)