F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 85: The Opening Melee (5K8)

Good evening, everyone!

"Welcome to Five Star Sports' live broadcast of the second round of the 2019 Formula One World Championship, the Bahrain Grand Prix. I'm Bing Ge."

"I'm Fei Ge."

"I'm Ran-ge."

March 31, 23:00.

Gan Mengning sat down at her usual live-streaming workstation right on time. The three computer screens in front of her were already densely divided into various feeds, including race footage, lap time data, team TRs, and driver's individual in-car feeds, resembling the setup of an engineering strategy team.

Because CCTV's broadcasting contract with F1 was terminated from the 14 to 17 seasons, the only official viewing channels available to a large number of new fans were Guangdong Sports and Five Star Sports.

However, the Cantonese-speaking region is not very friendly to people outside of Cantonese-speaking areas, so even though the five-star commentary is often subpar, its unique chatty style has still attracted a considerable number of new car enthusiasts who got into the hobby because of the Shulong.

So even though CCTV resumed broadcasting the entire F1 season this year, the general public lacks a sense of identification with the new commentators, and their professionalism hasn't reached the point where people would abandon their preconceived notions about the five-star commentators.

In addition, many races on the F1 calendar are scheduled at unpredictable times or conflict with other popular races. As a result, CCTV will switch from live broadcasts to pre-recorded broadcasts. To ensure that the latest episodes are available, CCTV is still the preferred choice for most domestic racing fans.

Gan Mengning is like this now. The live stream she watches on her computer is from an F1TV membership, but she still prefers to watch the commentary on her phone simultaneously.

From getting involved in the world of motorsports to becoming a near-expert car enthusiast, it only took about half a year.

Considering that such a hobby would help strengthen the bond between the two children, Gan Mengning's current setup, including her F1TV membership, was all generously sponsored by her father, Gan Guangchen. It's so luxurious that even he, as her father, sometimes has the idea of ​​coming here to watch the games.

Unfortunately, that was impossible. After the computer was installed, Gan Guangchen was ruthlessly expelled, and this place is now the private territory of the two girls.

The computer desk was a low one. Usually, Gan Mengning would sit on a beanbag sofa on the floor to watch the games live in her rented apartment. Now, she and He Xuanyi each had one, with face masks on, ready to stay up all night to watch the game.

"I saw on your live stream that the other drivers were busy discussing issues with the engineers. Is it really okay for you to video call me here?"

"Everything that needed to be said was emphasized in the pre-match meeting. You see how serious they are, just like people who look at mind maps before final exams. It's a way to calm themselves down."

As he was talking, Shu Long suddenly looked up, smiled and bumped fists with a staff member who was passing by carrying a camera and waving to him. He then squatted down on the grass by the roadside and had a rather sturdy mechanic stand in front of him to block the camera.

Gan Mengning felt a little embarrassed by what he said.

According to this logic, talking to her before the competition would make Shu Long feel calmer? But should he be happy or unhappy?
If possible, Gan Mengning would actually prefer to hear an answer that she could inspire the other party's fighting spirit or something similar.
"Seriously, which one of you is you? You're both wearing face masks, I can't tell you apart."

Okay, I'm not happy!

He Xuanyi cleverly hid off-screen, and sure enough, the one whose head looked bigger because she was closer to the camera was Gan Mengning.

The light blue face mask was visibly wrinkled, and the girl's displeasure could be seen through the damp cloth, while Shu Long, on the other side of the camera, was smiling quite happily.

"Oh, the camera is on our young Chinese driver, Shu Long, and he seems to be in a pretty good mood right now."

"That's right. According to the recording released by the team yesterday, his starting position of P9 today was actually affected by the crosswind. Based on the first two segments of his Q3 lap yesterday, he actually had a chance to at least start in the top six."

"It is a bit of a pity, but this is racing after all. It seems that although he is young, he has a good ability to adjust his mentality."

The voices of the five commentators came through the video call into Shu Long's earpiece, and he immediately realized that he was probably in the shot again.

Dude, you're still too skinny, even this can't hide it!

Looking up, I saw it was true.

The photographer who had greeted him earlier was now standing about five meters away, trying to get a close-up shot of him by posing in a rather flamboyant way around the wall of people in front of Shulong.

I was somewhat speechless, but the word "exposure" itself is closely related to the concept of the paddock, where privacy and freedom are the least respected things.

"That's enough chatting, it's about time to get on the bus. Don't stay up too late over there either, you can always watch the replay tomorrow."

"I know, I know, keep it up!"

Shu Long handed his phone to Elena, who was helping him manage logistics, took the fireproof mask from her and put it on his head. Then he began to put on his helmet and Hans system in an orderly manner.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous. This was his first time trying to start from such a far back position, and no one could guarantee that they would be able to break through the encirclement unscathed.

The most chaotic time in every race is the start phase, and the most chaotic place is the middle section where Shulong is currently located.

When the lights go out, it will be a complete traffic jam. If someone drives recklessly, there won't be any room to avoid them. Fortunately, the Bahrain circuit is wide enough to give drivers plenty of leeway.

With a jumble of thoughts running through his head, Shu Long pessimistically imagined what would happen if someone bumped into him, and couldn't help but mentally rehearse how he should deal with such a situation over and over again.

It's like the moment when you finally receive your final exam paper; no matter if you know the answers or not, your heart instantly settles down as if it had died.

When Shu Long stepped into the cockpit that enveloped him and gave him a strong sense of security, his heart rate and breathing rate quickly calmed down at the same time.

My mind was blank; it seemed like I wasn't thinking about anything, but everything happened as naturally as an instinctive reaction.

It felt as if I had entered a state of ultimate freedom and ease.

"OK, Dragon, radio check?"

"Loud and clear."

"."

Seeing that there was no response from the other side, Shu Long repeated himself.

Is my microphone blasting?

"Maybe a little. Your voice is trembling a lot to my ears. Do you seem very nervous?"

"There might have been a little before, but not now."

"Keep it up, buddy. Although I really want to say that I believe you can keep up that magical start, this is your first time starting in the middle of the traffic. Maybe you don't need to put so much pressure on yourself at the beginning and rush ahead. There are plenty of opportunities to overtake here."

“Copy.”

"The game starts in thirty seconds."

Shu Long was not the only one to receive this instruction.

The track engineer, wearing a headset and standing in front of the race car, gestured elegantly to the side like a music conductor. The mechanics surrounding the race car busily removed the blowers that helped ventilate and cool the engine, took off the thermal blankets from the tires, and quickly and methodically moved to both sides of the track.

With the green light ahead, led by Leclerc, who had secured pole position in his second race in his second year of his career, the cars behind him gradually joined the warm-up process.

Shu Long's current position is quite delicate, neither too far forward nor too far back. He is now weighing whether he needs to slow down the cars behind him to gain a tire temperature advantage at the start.

Logically speaking, he could have done that, but there were two people among his starting line who made him hesitant.

First up is Grosjean, whose nickname "Grosjean the Unyielding" is well-known among Chinese car enthusiasts. He's done this kind of thing more than once or twice, taking down both his opponents and himself in a moment of madness.

What level of decline does a race car driver reach that is truly pathetic?

Grosjean's series of outrageous accidents have repeatedly disappointed his fans, to the point that even his own country's media are condemning him. Perhaps only Grosjean could have gone to such lengths.
Shu Long is not afraid of opponents with a set strategy; even Verstappen's seemingly reckless playing style is actually predictable.

What he fears most is a volatile individual like Grosjean. When you treat him like a novice, he can often teach you a lesson that leaves a deep impression. But if you treat him like a master, he can pull off some outrageous moves that even Jesus couldn't have imagined.

Moreover, having been a mid-table driver for many years, his experience starting from this position is definitely much richer than Shu Long's. Another point is Raikkonen behind him. Logically speaking, Shu Long, driving a Toro Rosso, wasn't afraid of Kimi driving a Ferrari last time. Now that Raikkonen is back driving a Sauber, how could he possibly be afraid of him?

It's hard to say for sure. In any case, he was a top-level cyclist who fought his way to a world championship in an era of incredible competition. Sometimes Kimi's magic is beyond reason.

Underestimating your opponent is a terrible mistake, no matter what!
You can see the signs when the tire is warmed up.

Just as Shu Long was beginning to show any sign of slowing down the car behind him, Grosson in front of him drove off without looking back. Meanwhile, the Sauber in the rearview mirror had almost simultaneously widened the gap between itself and Shu Long, giving off an impression that no matter how long Shu Long tried to slow him down, he would only slow him down harder.

Considering the power advantage of Ferrari's engine after the restrictions were lifted, Shu Long felt that he had better not be reckless, otherwise it would be too embarrassing to be overtaken by a forty-year-old man at the start.

After burning tires three times on the starting straight, I finally found my starting grid and stopped.

He finished his "Energy Special" with a Red Bull slurped down with a bit of shaved ice, then switched the racing car's engine to start mode. After dawdling for about thirty seconds, Hamelin finally announced in his headset that the last car was in position.

"Okay, we see the medical pursuit vehicle is in position, the green flag is waving, and the five red lights are lighting up one by one. The race begins!"

"The lights-out procedure was still very rushed! But we saw that Shulong's unique starting ability was still performing steadily today, and they overtook Grosjean right from the start!"

“We all know that Haas’s two current drivers have a very ‘aggressive’ style on the track, but Shulong didn’t give him any time to make any moves!”

"Oh dear, but Sainz is on guard against him. They'd rather avoid the slipstream of the car in front than let him have a chance to overtake on the left!"

Sainz was cunning; he had been keeping a close eye on Shulong's movements in the rearview mirror from the very beginning.

Renault's engine problems this year are no less serious than Honda's. Even though he managed to get a seventh-place starting position in qualifying, based on Sainz's own assessment of the car's performance, he is unlikely to be able to hold onto his position. Blocking the dragons has become his most profitable strategy at the start of the race.

The distance between the starting point and Turn 1 was not very long. As the Ferraris in the front row entered the braking zone, the line of cars quickly shrank from a single two-column formation into a chaotic mess.

The remote sensing signals were all mixed up, and Shulong, who failed to gain the inside line and was instead surrounded by a bunch of race cars, even once crossed to P1.

The wheel-to-wheel, wheel-to-wheel battle continued all the way to Turn 3. Sainz, who took the wide outside line, not only had no trouble in Turn 1, but also took advantage of the inside line in the left turn of Turn 2 to get past Magnussen and up to P6.

Magnussen's exit rhythm was clearly affected by Sainz ahead of him. He tried to cut inside at Turn 3 to regain his position, but Sainz forced him onto the kerb, and his rear end slid noticeably.

After a series of maneuvers and breakthroughs, Shu Long was just about to make his move on Magnussen, his front wheel almost parallel to Magnussen's, when a yellow light suddenly flashed beside the track, completely disrupting his plans.

"What a pity! Just a little bit short! It must have been Grosjean who triggered the yellow flag. He's now in last place. I wonder if the director can check the replay to see what exactly happened."

I don't know if the director heard it, but the replay hasn't been shown yet. The yellow flag was very short-lived; the yellow flag turned green again just as the front row cars approached Turn 9.

Before they could continue to condemn the tournament organizers' inconsiderate behavior, the commentators, who had been focusing too much on Shu Long, finally noticed the chaotic scene in the front row that resembled a world war.

This time, it wasn't just Shu Long who got off to a great start; Vettel also performed admirably.

The 32-year-old "Tilted Head Uncle" is actually on par with his younger teammate Leclerc in terms of starting reaction. The reason he was able to close in and overtake Leclerc in such a short distance is because of his extremely precise control over the power and gears of the current Ferrari car.

After all, he's a seasoned veteran who's been manipulated by Leclerc for over three years, so he understands Ferrari's cars much better than the newly promoted Leclerc.

Leclerc, starting from the front row for the first time, probably had never experienced anything like this before. He not only lost P1 at Turn 1, but also had his position stolen by Bottas at Turn 10 after the green flag race restarted.

It wasn't until the third lap that the overall situation on the track gradually stabilized, and the footage from the start finally appeared.

Although Shu Longqi was quick this time, the 0.1 difference was made exceptionally clear in the slow-motion replay, clearly showing that the front of his race car was a beat faster than everyone else's.

However, he wasn't the main character at the start this time, so the organizers didn't specifically announce the reaction times of each driver at the start. Instead, they focused the camera on the chaotic battle in the front row.

Meanwhile, a handsome young man suffered a flat tire and veered off the track in a corner where no one paid attention.

Not everyone has enough luck and ability.

Even in Formula 1, where top-level drivers abound, a driver who can keep track of the movements of two or three cars around them at the same time under intense pressure is already considered one of the best.

Racing cars are inherently fast, and drivers need to make very complex line judgments in a very short time.

The only sources of information they can obtain are the two narrow rearview mirrors in front of them, and most drivers, when they are vying for position at the start, simply don't have the energy to distinguish the dynamics of the race cars in the mirror world.

Shu Long was able to break through the car formation unscathed because of his [Fiery Eyes] and the extremely strong information processing ability brought by his nearly fully unlocked [Neural Reflexes, Recruiting Speed], which allowed him to have a clear grasp of the movements of at least six race cars around him.

So, the accident that the commentators couldn't see clearly on camera, Shu Long saw clearly at the time.

Grosjean's start was actually quite normal, but a one-body-length advantage wasn't enough to stop Shulong's incredible starting reaction. In the world of high-speed racing, 0.1 seconds is enough for a driver to do a lot.

The problem arose during a brief exchange between Shu Long and Sainz. Shu Long, whose position was blocked by the orange McLaren, could only try to break through from the open middle of the track.

However, Verstappen, whose position was directly threatened by Sainz's late braking from the outside, immediately chose to cut inside and cross the line to save his position.

However, this would be unfortunate for Shulong, which is also located next to Magnussen and is also late in the day.

Having regained his position, Sainz's immediate priority was to minimize his losses, and he opted to simultaneously squeeze outwards the driving lines of Shulong and Magnussen.

Turn 1 is a right turn, and Shu Long happened to be on the left side of Magnussen, running alongside him. With Sainz blocking the way, Shu Long naturally fell behind Magnussen by half a body length.

At this point, Grosjean, who was behind, would naturally be eager to take advantage of the two dragons that were caught in the middle. The dragons, noticing this, changed their strategy accordingly.

He slightly restrained his throttle input as he exited Turn 1, cutting off Grosjean's line to the left while simultaneously creating space for the McLaren ahead, preparing to capitalize on the wider exit line and faster exit speed to launch a counterattack from the outside of Turn 3.

The timing of this incident was extremely frustrating. It happened right at the crucial moment when Grosjean started to accelerate and shift his weight to the rear wheels. He tried to steer to avoid the obstacle but found that the front wheels had no traction at all.

This time, it's not just the rhythm that's been lost, but the speed has also been drastically reduced.

As if things weren't going to go wrong, Raikkonen showed no mercy from behind, adding fuel to the fire by overtaking Grosjean and completely blocking his exit line just before the apex of Turn 2.

This series of combos left Ge Daqi completely bewildered, and his anger flared up instantly!
Seeing that the match point had somehow squeezed in and was still trying to take advantage of the situation, the Martial Soul True Body Skill called "Gross Doesn't Give Way" started with zero frames and slammed it towards Stroul with a "crack".

The "crack" sound was the young master's front wing shattering, and the "bang" sound was Gross's rear wheel exploding.

Originally, this was supposed to be a scheme to divert the trouble from Shulong, but unexpectedly, the fire ended up burning back on their own heads.

Not only did a yellow flag disrupt his attack rhythm against Magnussen, but when the race resumed after the green flag was raised, he was right at the far apex of Turn 7.

Shu Long's original plan was to avoid Magnussen's driving lane, so that he could have a particularly clean acceleration line the moment the green flag was restored.

As luck would have it, his view of the road ahead was completely blocked by the dark rear of the Haas car.

Instead, Raikkonen, who hadn't even entered Turn 7 yet, was the first to spot the signs of the car ahead starting to accelerate. He plunged straight into the inside of Turn 7, grabbed the slipstream of Haas's acceleration, and stole the position from Shulong.

"Holy crap, that old fox!"

"Calm down and stay focused!"

Even without Hamelin's reminder, and despite his violently beating heart pumping blood into his eyes until they were bloodshot, Shu Long's hand and foot movements remained completely unaffected by his emotions.

Besides making the most of the time to catch up with the departure schedule and minimize losses, he was even able to calmly persuade his classmate, who had somehow gotten into his rearview mirror, to turn back.

After entering the super straight after Turn 10, Shu Long took a moment to count his position.

The five cars from the Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, and Buick are easy to eliminate; within the visible range, there is also a McLaren, a Haas, and an Arro.
After all that fuss and effort at the start, I'm still stuck in P9?!
Are you kidding me?!
　Thank you to Hurricane dalin, JamesDonkey, oindream, Book Friend 20180310231016231, Attic Corpse, Kingsman Agent [007], and Grave Grass for your monthly ticket donations!
　　Thank you to those who generously donated: waking up and dreaming 739 and Ffortress!
　　Even worse, my arm hurts more today than yesterday, but I'll still post a long chapter of 5,800 words to show my sincerity.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)