F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 65 Fame is a heavy blow that will leave your life bruised and battered (4K9)

The week following the Brazilian leg is likely to be the busiest week for Shu Long since his birth.

Interview requests from various media outlets kept coming in, with questions that were 80% similar to the ones being asked.

"Having won the podium in your first competition, what are your expectations for your future career?"

"Can you share what you were thinking on the track at that moment?"

"Are you confident that you can become Red Bull's number one driver in a short period of time?"

Most of them are questions that are difficult to answer, and answering them could easily offend people.

Shu Long, who returned to the Red Bull team after the race, was almost stuck in Brazil and couldn't leave. It was only thanks to Horner's last-minute press conference, allowing them to ask all their questions at once, that this highly sought-after player was rescued.

The next Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is ​​in two weeks. Before that, there are a lot of issues that have arisen because of Shulong's performance, which need to be discussed and decided by the entire team and even the top management of Red Bull Group.

The reason they are in such a hurry is because several teams are secretly trying to poach their players, and they are already practically shoving their hands in Horner and Marco's faces.

The main players were Haas, McLaren, Renault, and Mercedes, who came to test the waters for some unknown reason.

On the surface, there are only a few teams, but Red Bull executives are certain that the number of teams that are not interested is probably very small, and they have just not taken action for the time being due to various factors.

Renault is probably just here to annoy them.

With Red Bull having already spent a fortune to bring in current Red Bull number one driver Daniel Ricciardo next year, and with another very strong driver, Nico Hulkenberg, who has no career starters, Red Bull has no reason to poach Shullon.

Are you suggesting I use them as a backup option?

Haas and McLaren are special cases; they are genuine customer teams, and although they use Ferrari and Renault engines respectively, they are not actually closely connected in terms of team politics.

Just like the previous relationship between Red Bull and Renault, it was simply a collaboration between the team and the engine supplier.

McLaren's two drivers this year, Alonso and Vandoorne, will not have seats next year. One was so frustrated by the terrible car that he didn't want to drive anymore, and the other was kicked out by the team because they thought he was too bad.

Among the drivers already confirmed for next year, one is Sainz, who was kicked out of Renault and immediately signed by McLaren, and the other is rumored to be Lando Norris, McLaren's new junior driver who has shone in F2 this year.

Although it hasn't been officially announced yet, all the signs from their team suggest it's pretty much a done deal. Right now, Zach Brown might just be hesitating for a moment because of Shu Long's performance in this race.

As for the other team...
Haas, who is still fiercely battling Renault for fourth and fifth place, has two current drivers who are both quite good, and the key is that their market value is not high, making them typical value-for-money drivers.

The reason Has wanted to contact Shulong was because he wanted to save money.

If you were to ask which team owner among the current teams in the paddock is the stingiest, there's no doubt that if the answer isn't Gene Haas, it would likely cause public outrage in the paddock.

Grosjean is very fast and often brings a lot of points to the team, but he has a fatal flaw – his crash rate is too high.

One reason is related to his personal driving style.

For example, there's the very fitting nickname that Chinese car enthusiasts gave him: "Gross won't give way."

Many accidents are clearly avoidable, but Grosjean seems to be in a bad mood, whether it's because he doesn't have the habit of checking his rearview mirror or he's just stubborn. He seems to feel uncomfortable unless he smashes his car to pieces.

Secondly, this person seems to have some bad luck.

Besides crashes caused by battles with other drivers, half of Grosjean's retirements seem to be due to being caught in other inexplicable accidents.

Gene Haas was already stingy with the team's finances, and Grosjean's crashes were like a knife to the boss's heart, with team principal Steiner also getting a lecture from the boss.

Compared to Magnussen, who is cheaper, more stable, and has more points, Grosjean's cost-effectiveness is undoubtedly much lower. Therefore, it is understandable that Steiner, who is looking for a new driver, would try to get in touch with him.

Mercedes-Benz is a bit confused about what this means.

As mentioned earlier, Haas and McLaren are customer teams with relatively independent team politics. However, there are also customer teams that have a deep dependence on the factory team.

Companies like Sauber and Williams are not entirely affiliated with companies like Toro Rosso and Red Bull; they are simply limited by financial resources and R&D capabilities and have to make many corresponding compromises.

Sauber is now essentially Ferrari's own youth training ground. Founder Peter Sauber was originally the kind of person who particularly liked to give newcomers opportunities, and after becoming highly integrated with Ferrari, it unknowingly evolved into the model we see today.

Of course, with Ralf Rangnick joining next year, it could also be seen as a retirement home for retired Ferrari drivers.
As for Williams, due to years of financial constraints, in addition to accepting junior drivers sponsored by Mercedes, their seats are usually reserved for traditional pay drivers, such as Stroll this year.

However, Stroll's father did something big: old Stroll bought Force India, which was in dire need of selling its team because its owner had gotten into trouble!

Next year, the big spender will run away and he will have to find another way to make a living. One of the seats is basically confirmed to be reserved for Mercedes' junior player Russell, who won the F2 World Championship this year, while the other is still pending.

From various examples, it can be seen that Sauber and Williams' attitude towards the Shulong largely represents the attitude of Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari.

One side is indifferent, while the other side has already come to the factory in person.

Ferrari currently has the lowest need for reinforcements. With the young and beloved Leclerc and the prime-age Vettel, there is absolutely no need for them to rush to add to their reserves.

Logically, Mercedes should be the same.

Schumacher is at his peak, and while Bottas is a bit weaker, he is still a very competent second driver. His speed ceiling is not low, and more importantly, he is very obedient. If Schumacher wants to challenge his seven-time championship record, then Bottas is undoubtedly the most suitable teammate for Schumacher at present.

Now, besides the young Russell who needs to be nurtured, Ocon, who will be unemployed next year due to the withdrawal of Indian forces, is also a reserve force for Mercedes. I don't know what they want to do by contacting Shulong now. Are they trying to lure him with the remaining seat of Williams?
Who do you think you are? Is it because Red Bull can't afford to provide seats or what?
So, less than a week after returning to Red Bull's Milton Keynes factory headquarters, Shu Long received a one-year contract for a full Toro Rosso driver's seat for next year. He will team up with Alexander Albon, who has already been confirmed to be backed by Toro Rosso, as his teammate for the next season.

Because of the youth training contract, the annual salary is not high, but with such a podium performance as a foundation, it is not too low. It is slightly higher than Gasly's rookie year salary of $90, with a pre-tax salary of $120 million.

Very decisive, but actually you could have guessed it; Red Bull would have to be crazy to release the dragon.

The remaining issue for the higher-ups is who should participate in the final battle in Abu Dhabi.
Thanks to Shu Long's podium finish in the last race, plus Gasly's points in P9, Toro Rosso's team points total has reached a full 50. Sauber, ahead of them, has 54 points thanks to Leclerc's P7 finish.

It may seem like a four-point difference, but it relates to at least $500 million in team bonuses at the end of the year. For Red Bull, that's just pocket change, but for Toro Rosso, it's a huge sum.

Hartley only scored four points all year, so he's probably not worth relying on.

However, if they use Shulong, and with Gasley's cooperation, the chances of turning the tide are still quite high.

The question is whether it's worth doing this.

After all, Little Red Bull is backed by the Red Bull Group, and its operating funds are actually much more abundant than many other midstream racing teams. A difference of five million or five million will not have much impact, and Red Bull has no shortage of money.

However, if they choose to let Shu Long gamble on those five million, the cost of correcting the negative public opinion behind it may be far more than that amount.

Hartley only experienced setbacks in his career after joining F1, but he was a highly sought-after and talented star driver in the WEC series, which is actually of the same standard as F1, and had a very strong fan base.

Red Bull's business is not limited to F1; they also have a lot of business presence in WEC. They can't afford to lose sight of the bigger picture for a mere five million.

In Brazil, they could at least offer an excuse that Hartley had an upset stomach, but what about in Abu Dhabi? Did Hartley suffer from heatstroke?

Car fans aren't fools. In the end, it's the brand's overall reputation that will be damaged. Red Bull relies heavily on fan economy, and treating fans like fools is simply throwing money away.

Moreover, P3 in the Brazilian Grand Prix has a large element of luck involved. Fans can revel in it without thinking, but the teams must have a rational and clear understanding of the situation.

If it weren't for the two-way race between Ferrari and Mercedes, if Max hadn't had the accident, and if the perfectly timed rain hadn't disrupted qualifying...

Based on the telemetry data for the entire race, Shulong is very likely to finish in a similar position to Gasly, around P7 or P8.

The Abu Dhabi circuit is completely different from the Brazilian round, and it's uncertain whether Toro Rosso will be as competitive there. If they fail to overtake Brazil in the points standings, it will be a complete loss.

After a series of arguments and deliberations, even though Marco was very dissatisfied with the result, Toro Rosso decided that Hartley himself would participate in the final race in Abu Dhabi.

Even though Brandon Hartley himself wasn't particularly keen on participating, and was even somewhat reluctant to compete in the tournament.
It was bad enough that he had been beaten by the complete newbie Gasly for a year, but now a complete newbie who was temporarily filling in has come up and earned almost four times his points in a single game. If he goes back now and can't get any points, wouldn't that be just humiliating himself?
Of course, none of this had much to do with Shu Long himself. From the time he signed the contract until the official announcement at the end of the season, he was basically on a semi-vacation.

Red Bull's design plan for next season has been finalized, and there isn't much for him to participate in the simulation calculations now. Marco is also unusually not watching him and finding fault all the time, and he's actually a little unaccustomed to having so much free time.

Of course, there are other troubles recently. With Shu Long's appearance on stage this time, he has made a name for himself, and his popularity in the UK seems to be a bit too high.

Foreigners might indeed have some trouble recognizing East Asian faces, but a very famous East Asian face is highly recognizable. In addition, Milton Keynes has a strong racing culture, so Shu Long is now the kind of person who can't be hidden even with a mask and sunglasses.

The short walk from my apartment to Red Bull headquarters, which used to take half an hour, has now been stretched into three hours by passersby.

Of course, with the increase in brand awareness, more and more brands are now actively seeking sponsorships and endorsements from various individuals.

Red Bull's two teams are currently saturated with sponsors. The amount required to print your sponsorship on the car is not small, and they don't accept just any random sponsorship. If you don't offer enough, you won't even get a spot.

So most of them are small sponsorships targeting individuals, many of which are tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars to add their logo to your helmet during a few races a year.

Because of Red Bull's current support, the need for sponsorship is not particularly high for the time being. Zhang Xin and Shu Xiong both felt that protecting their son's reputation was more important than making a quick buck.

Originally, Shu Long's financial affairs as a race car driver had always been handled by his parents. During this period, his family had been busy dealing with these people, not mainly because they were looking at who paid the most money, but because they were investigating in detail whether these brands had any red flags or dark histories.

Because most of the brands are foreign, Zhang Xin hired a professional foreign brokerage team at a high price to handle the initial negotiations and screening.

Domestic companies seem to be mostly in a wait-and-see mode. The unknown market returns of niche racing projects, as well as the exchange rate and tax obstacles associated with foreign sponsorships, have largely deterred a large portion of potential sponsors.
Of course, there are exceptions, such as a yogurt brand that has suddenly flourished in recent years – Anmuxi.

As an advertising sponsor that has dominated various popular variety shows and TV dramas in China for several consecutive years, Anmuxi naturally sensed the huge business opportunities in Shulong and was willing to offer very good terms. However, when discussing the details of the contract, they encountered obstacles from within Red Bull.

Having signed an official F1 driver contract, Shu Long is now considered one of the highest-ranking athletes sponsored by Red Bull, and is subject to the strictest brand image requirements, namely "exclusivity across all categories."

Yogurt may seem completely unrelated to sports drinks, but its slogans include "health," "nutrition," and even some elements of "sports." This may fall under the category of "potential competitors" in the terms and conditions, which could potentially lead to contract disputes later on.

The sponsorship deal was put on hold for the time being, but there's not much you can do if Red Bull doesn't budge on its offer anytime soon.

Putting all these messy things aside for now, before heading to Yas Marina with the team to capitalize on the exposure from their final match, Shu Long has a very important task ahead of him.

"Drive to survival?"

"Yes, judging from their tone, it seems they're preparing to create a script specifically for you, for about an episode."

Starting this year, Netflix has a major programming project for F1 called Drive to Survive, a large-scale reality documentary.

From the start of the season, members of their crew could often be seen running around collecting materials in the paddock. Previously, Shu Long had been followed closely for a long time because he replaced Ricardo in the first training session.

Red Bull Group was naturally open to anything that could increase their exposure, and they were the most enthusiastic about the project among the top three teams. Even team principal Horner, knowing he would be portrayed as the villain, could only reluctantly cooperate.

Judging from the intensity of filming and the arrangement of some scripts, the main narrative of the first season will revolve around the changing dynamics in the paddock surrounding Daniel Ricardo's future at Red Bull.

Shu Long, who was originally on the opposite side of Ricardo in the public opinion storm, can not only play a smooth transition in the plot, but also his amazing performance in Brazil will directly maximize the drama. Netflix naturally has no reason to let him go.

That's right, the key is the drama!
There have been many documentaries about F1 that have already been made, but nobody watches them. Netflix's mission is to further enhance the commercial value of F1, so the content they produce needs to be sensational.

So when Shu Long took the script they handed him, his mind went completely blank. Even with his photographic memory, he couldn't remember saying most of the lines.

However, the DTS production team's requirement for filming in Shulong was to recreate the scene as accurately as possible.
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(End of this chapter)