F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 96: The 1000th Formula 1 Grand Prix Opens at Shanghai International Circuit

After enjoying a comfortable weekend at the villa, Shu Long finally pulled Gan Mengning along and, together with Wang Jieke and the others, embarked on their journey to Shanghai.

All the content creators who filmed the video together a few days ago were present, and four classmates who were in charge of post-production and camerawork were also included.

Both the team and Red Bull gave Shulong some paddock membership slots in the paddock. After his family distributed them around, they also gave one to each of the two hosts of the Speed ​​Partners and the behind-the-scenes Da Yuzhou. As for the remaining paddock tickets for the leader and his group, they were given by Jiushi.

The Shanghai International Circuit's paddock is probably the cheapest of the 21 races on the calendar. Such a small discount, which can also promote domestic motorsport culture, is hardly a favor to them. They would rather have more social media like this to spread more F1's influence among the general public.

The plane landed. This time it was different from last week when Zhou Guanyu and I sneaked back to China. The destructive power of 1.4 billion people is something that European countries can't compare to.

Especially since it was their home ground, the entire airport exit was completely blocked by fans who came to pick them up!
He first had Gan Mengning find a less crowded spot and slip away quickly. Shu Long then turned around and hurriedly told the large group of people to move aside and make way for him. He didn't want to be on the news headlines the next day for such a trivial matter that disrupted public order.

The signature, the group photo.

I also saw a few familiar faces, like the two girls I met at the driving school, Li Yurun and Ge Miaomiao.

These two people now hold positions at Shu Long's mother's company and have become big fan leaders in several of Shu Long's fan groups. They and several other internal staff members helped coordinate and mobilize the power of fans to guide the public relations during several previous public relations crises.

And this grand welcome at the airport was also a good thing. After all, it's a home turf, and if we don't make a big show of it, those foreigners and big bosses in China might not have a real understanding of the commercial value of a Chinese driver.

"Thank you for your hard work, you've all worked so hard."

Shu Long didn't waste any time. He took a photo with the two of them separately and signed a personal autograph.

For these big fan leaders, their influence among fans isn't something that comes with their "position." Rather, it's things like these that prove their close relationship that are the true credentials that allow them to exert their influence without hindrance.

Then Shu Long spotted Gan Mengning in the crowd. She acted like an ordinary fan, holding a GoPro and filming something in one hand, while pushing forward with her other hand holding his photo.

What kind of role-playing is this?

Shulong is utterly speechless.
The reason I let her slip away first was not only to protect her identity, but also because I was afraid that this little one would get squeezed in the crowd.

It turns out that its fighting power is still quite strong. A few days ago, it was groaning and making noises after just one bite of the original flavor. How come I didn't notice it then?
"Hey, racing legend! Give me a break, will you? I squeezed my way here from all this way, it wasn't easy!"

That voice, that tone, and that familiar yet damned nickname.
Shu Long, who had just dealt with Gan Mengning, froze on the spot. His business smile turned into his signature dead fish eyes as he glanced sideways at the guy who was actually quite handsome but had an inexplicable smugness.

Teng Weifeng!
Why does signing autographs for old friends feel so awkward and embarrassing?

Shu Long resisted the urge to give this bastard the middle finger in public. He clicked his tongue and took the photo from Teng Weifeng's hand, a picture of him yawning on top of a race car during his F2 days. What kind of good person would use this for autograph?

"Tell me, what kind of flowers do you want me to sign? If you want autographs, you don't need to come all this way. Just tell me on QQ and I'll mail you a dozen!"

"Oh, you have the nerve to say that?! Since graduation, apart from that one time you went to school to apply for a leave of absence, you haven't sent a single message! I thought you'd become successful and forgotten about us old friends. I even went to the trouble of making a special episode for you back then."

"What the hell? Don't try to portray me as some cold-blooded snob, okay? You know I usually don't like sending messages unless there's something important to say!"

Generally speaking, a guy who takes up so much time signing autographs like this would have already aroused public outrage, but the fans next to him could tell that something was wrong. The two of them clearly knew each other, and their gazes toward Teng Weifeng instantly changed.

No one expected to have a private chat with Shu Long, but it was different with Shu Long's old acquaintances. They might be able to get some unknown juicy details about Shu Long's childhood out of them.

So now, instead of urging them, everyone is gathered around, listening intently.

"Hey, what does the highest-level signature look like?"

"It's just a short message like 'To so-and-so, wishing you good luck,' what, do you have some other crazy idea?"

"No, it's not that. With our relationship, you should at least get one for your buddy too, right?"

As Teng Weifeng spoke, he seemed to feel that familiar feeling of getting along with Shu Long again, and shamelessly took out five more identical photos from his bag.

"And Yu Mujie and the others too. This time, several of us old friends came together. I don't know if they managed to squeeze in. Could you sign one for them as well?"

Shu Long rolled his eyes, grabbed the bundle that could be considered his dark history, but the more he looked at it, the more something seemed off.

"Wait a minute! What did you just say about going to all that trouble to make an episode for me?"

"Huh? Oh! It's nothing, it's nothing!"

Shu Long ignored the guy's ramblings and directly opened Bilibili, entered his name into the search box, and the first video that caught his eye was the biography of someone he had experienced before, which had already reached nearly two million views.

As someone who has also experienced a period of intense self-searching, Shu Long has naturally seen this video.

Aside from the fact that the source material was somewhat limited due to having to collect it through our own channels, the overall content structure, the level of detail in the research, and the appeal of the editing are all quite good.

But generally speaking, for serious content like this, even if the cover features a handsome photo, you shouldn't use such a funny and ugly photo, right?
Now, on Bilibili, every video clip involving Shulong has this embarrassing image as its cover!

"I met a kind old man on the mountain! Good heavens, it's you! No wonder this voice sounded so familiar. A gaming content creator suddenly came to edit racing content. Look what you've done to my section!"

Teng Weifeng was about to deny it three times when Shu Long grabbed him by the back of the collar, making him let out a strange scream like a duck being slaughtered. The big man was dragged back like a duck by Shu Long, who then tortured him by pinching the sore muscles on his shoulders before he obediently showed his Bilibili account homepage. "I was just thinking of helping you increase your traffic, you know. I've always heard that sponsorship is very important in your industry, but after running around for so many years, you've never really made it big."

My buddy just casually posted a few gaming videos and already had over 300,000 followers. I was thinking of doing something eye-catching to help you get more followers, but you ended up carrying me around instead.”

Shu Long was actually a little touched. His Adam's apple bobbed a few times, but he didn't say anything sentimental. He simply said that after this race was over, they would get together for a meal and then find a chance to play games together in the future.

After letting Teng Weifeng go, Shu Long was stuck at the airport for three hours, using up several markers before finally being freed.

However, his suffering was far from over.
For everyone else, it was a carnival of pure racing fanfare, but for Shulong, every day leading up to Thursday's media day was a nightmare.

Countless interviews, photos, autographs, and various fan meetings where you have to maintain a professional smile.

Red Bull and the team also arranged a lot of extra filming tasks for him to interact with his teammates, such as taking Max, Gasly, and Albon to eat hot pot, sharing the unique culture of China, and teaching them to write their own names in Chinese with a brush, etc.

It's not over yet. When domestic investors were negotiating sponsorships, they couldn't find anyone. Now that there's a buzz, they all jump out, trying every possible way to get their artists to take advantage of the opportunity to get some screen time and attention.

However, there are also a few big-name celebrities who may be genuinely interested in racing. Just the teams and their agents who have been personally invited by Shu Long include Jay Chou, Deng Chao, and their respective wives, all of whom are big names.

It's funny, but Shu Long's fandom of Jay Chou wasn't because of his songs, but because Jay Chou had previously starred in the Initial D movie, which captivated young Shu Long for quite some time.

Two years ago, Chao Ge and Lao Deng Tou also starred in a rally-themed movie directed by Han Han, "Duckweed." It is said that he developed a strong interest in racing from that time onwards, and now he greatly admires these race car drivers.

The most important one among them was the one that Shu Xiong led Shu Long to meet, his voice and hands trembling. At that time, Shu Long could only see the profile of that prominent nose bridge from afar, and he couldn't help but exclaim "Holy crap!"

It's no wonder his father was so excited. You could say that Shu Xiong has been a loyal fan of this actor since he was a child, and many of the Mitsubishi cars in the family were bought because of him.

Jackie Chan is so big!

Holy crap! Quick, think of what we should call this guy again?

Even disregarding their respective identities, the nearly 45-year age gap between them makes it impossible for him to call Jackie Chan "Brother Jackie Chan" to his face; it would be far too disrespectful.

How about calling him Uncle Jackie Chan? That's so weird! When have I ever heard of such a title?

"Haha, I can tell you're still a kid! Our names are quite compatible, why don't you call me Uncle Long?"

"Uncle Long!"

The reason this person likes Shu Long is not because he is China's first F1 driver, but because of the race in which Shu Long won the championship after losing his arm when he was a child.

Originally, it was just a normal business activity arranged by the company, but after getting to know the young man they were meeting, Jackie Chan found Shu Long increasingly pleasing to the eye.

He originally rose through the ranks as an ordinary stuntman, relying on his own hard work and struggles. In his eyes, young people in the new era of China should be like Shu Long, with backbone, using their strength to shut up those foreigners who look down on them, and even make them willing to follow him around and fawn over him.

Unfortunately, Shu Long, the host of this stop, had to attend an external carnival roadshow event, otherwise he really wouldn't mind taking these guys to experience Hotlaps for free.

Others might simply be there to ride the wave of attention, but given the fame and influence of these individuals, it's really hard to say who's trying to piggyback on whom.
This stop can be considered a semi-home game for Red Bull, Toro Rosso, and Renault. Considering the schedule for Shulong, the organizers of the carnival simply allocated a separate roadshow for Red Bull on Thursday, the media day.

Red Bull went all out, airlifting an RB8 to the event, where Shu Long drove it and performed drifts for the surrounding car enthusiasts.

In short, it's about showing off your skills in a flashy way, letting car enthusiasts hear the roar of the V8 engine and smell the exhaust fumes from the burnt tires.

There will be another roadshow two days later on April 13th, but that will be Renault's home turf, with Zhou Guanyu driving the Renault E20 to complete the roadshow.

On Thursday evening, after Shu Long finished dealing with his last business transaction with droopy eye bags, Zhou Guanyu brought another young Chinese driver to have dinner with Shu Long.

"This is Ye Yifei. There will be a major announcement tonight."

"Oh ho~ I remember, you appeared on stage in Formula Reynolds 2.0, didn't you? So, what's this?"

This suspense, which Shu Long had already largely guessed, didn't last long. In fact, while they were having dinner, the Renault F1 team's official Weibo account in China directly announced this exciting news.

Driver Ye Yifei has officially joined the Renault Sport Academy and will compete alongside Zhou Guanyu, Huber, and others as a member of the 2019 cohort of Renault Sport Academy students.

It feels a bit like Renault is sabotaging Red Bull's business.
This 1000th F1 Grand Prix should have been Red Bull's home race, but Renault quickly signed two Chinese drivers, effectively taking away half of the attention.

There's no way around it; this race is just too special for the entire sport of F1. I imagine no team would easily let go of such an opportunity to expand their influence.

This was the reason why Ferrari's youth academy was reluctant to let Zhou Guanyu go last year.

However, as the most prestigious and established family in the paddock, since they chose to support Mike, they had no reason to bow down to Zhou Guanyu, and in the end, they could basically be considered to have parted ways amicably.

But no matter what, it's always a good thing to have more red belonging to China in the paddock.

(End of this chapter)