Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 232 The racetrack is more than just competition

The buzzing sound of the tire-changing air gun filled the ears as Chen Xiangbei's No. 13 race car had all four tires removed almost simultaneously and replaced with a brand new set of soft red tires.

Seeing HRT's tire change choice, members of several rival teams in the pit lane showed expressions of surprise.

The weather radar imagery above the track is publicly available data, meaning that every team can know when the rain will stop in one minute.

But how do we get through that dangerous minute and the water on the track when we switch to soft red tires?
Often, those who control the advantage don't need to take risks with a gambler's mentality; they already control the advantage.

Just like Ferrari, which has rarely started its youth training program or directly recruited rookie drivers into the team over the decades, trying to test the strength and potential of newcomers.

As a top-tier racing team, they can directly select the best drivers available, so why would they need to gamble?
Only the weak need to gamble everything to turn their fortunes around!
The current top three drivers belong to McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari, respectively.

Two of the top three teams and one newly emerging powerhouse team are among them. Even if they know that switching to soft red tires after the rain has given them a chance to turn the tide, they will not take any risky moves.

The reason is simple: the moment the soft red tires leave the pits, their inferior grip becomes apparent, and they will be easily outmatched by their opponents!

Only independent riders like Chen Xiangbei, who are "far from home," have enough time and space to wait for the track to dry.

While the rivals were observing the HRT team, Odette was also observing his competitors' tactics and strategies.

Except for Chen Xiangbei, all the first batch of riders who entered the pits switched to semi-weather tires, which met the psychological expectation of "seeking stability".

However, many of the drivers who pitted for tire changes in the second batch also took a gamble, switching to soft red tires to try and achieve a better ranking, including Jenson Button of McLaren.

As the reigning champion driver, he switched from Brawn GP to McLaren, one of the "Big Three," and everyone was looking forward to a powerful collaboration with Hamilton to achieve a dominant performance in the paddock and win both the driver's and team championships.

Who would have thought that Patton would be crushed by his successor Hamilton!

The team barely made it into the points zone in the opening race, and then hovered around tenth place in this race. This is undoubtedly an unacceptable result for both the team and the driver.

The worst thing between people is comparison, and the same is true between drivers, especially when they are teammates!
Even if Hamilton wins a race, Button will still only barely make it into the points bracket.

Then his strength assessment and commercial value will be greatly reduced.

Regardless, Patton must prove himself at this stop!
One race car after another roared out of the pit lane, and the two commentators also noticed the different tire strategies of each team.

When they saw Chen Xiangbei's soft red tires, Reid exclaimed in amazement.

"Chinese driver Bei, number 13, chose to exit the pits on soft tires. It's unclear whether this was a decision made by the team's strategy group or the driver's own idea."

"I can only say that young people are not afraid of tigers. After drifting through the T15 hairpin bend, North once again intends to challenge the Albert Park Circuit in an aggressive and adventurous way."

"Luck rarely favors the same person repeatedly, so let's wait and see."

Reid was not optimistic about Chen Xiangbei's soft red tire strategy. According to the weather radar, there was still one minute of rain. In addition, the water on the track would dry quickly, and even under ideal conditions, it would still take three to five minutes.

This means that for at least three laps, Chen Xiangbei was driving an "ice skate".

The controls are so difficult they're practically in hell; even the Chinese kid can't handle them!

“I can understand North’s thinking. With Vettel running off the track and retiring, he only needs to overtake Alonso ahead of him to get on the podium.”

"With the goal right in front of you, it's hard for any driver to resist the temptation, especially a young one."

Prost helped Chen Xiangbei explain that he understood the driver's desire for victory.

However, Reid, who was standing nearby, disagreed and retorted, "It's a good thing for young people to be competitive and ambitious, but they need to act within their capabilities, rather than relying on blind impulse and recklessness."

"Professor, would you have done the same?"

"will not."

This time, without hesitation or doubt, Prost gave a very definite answer.

His professional style is known for being steady and conservative; he never does anything that involves high risk and high reward.

There was even a time when, during a match, heavy rain caused Prost to refuse to leave the station for safety reasons.

It's fair to say that Prost and Sena are two extremes!
While I understand the situation, Prost wouldn't take such risks, nor would the potential gains justify them. Finishing the race steadily and securing fourth place is the optimal solution at present.

“I also think North made the wrong choice. Even if Lady Luck smiles on him and the track conditions improve quickly so he can catch up with the car in front, can he overtake Alonso?”

"Don't forget, Alonso is the best driver in the paddock, bar none!"

Red highly recognized Alonso's ability, after all, he defeated Schumacher and ended the Prancing Horse dynasty at its peak.

Chen Xiangbei is still a long way from challenging him.

That's not necessarily true.

Prost replied with a smile.

Reid was not a professional driver, and he underestimated the impact of tires on race car speed.

If driver North is truly blessed by Lady Luck again, and the track conditions improve rapidly, the soft red tires will have an absolute and overwhelming performance advantage over the semi-wet tires, and Alonso will be unable to stop them.

Of course, arguing about something that hasn't happened yet is pointless; it's questionable whether Chen Xiangbei can even survive until that point.

Chen Xiangbei's journey on the track was far from smooth; he was struggling to keep up!
The slippery road surface and standing water turned the bald tires, which lacked drainage capabilities, into nothing more than a surfboard gliding on the water, putting the entire vehicle in a precarious situation where it could lose control at any moment.

Especially when cornering, he needs to constantly adjust the steering wheel to ensure the accuracy of the line.

As is well known, the difference in F1 lap times is mainly concentrated on the corners.

After all, everyone knows how to step on the gas on a straightaway, but speed is what really matters when it comes to corners!
Any correction, even if it only wastes a fraction of a second, will add up over a dozen turns and slow down the lap time by 0.5 to 1 second.

Chen Xiangbei's initial goal was to at least keep up with Alonso's speed in the hellish three laps, and then catch up after the ground dried, using the advantage of being 2 to 3 seconds faster per lap to overtake.

The result was contrary to expectations. Not only did they fail to keep up, but they were also more than a second slower per lap!
"Please stop the rain soon..."

Mizutani Sho muttered to himself, occasionally sticking his hand out from under the sunshade to feel the changes in the amount of rain outside.

More than a minute had passed, and the rain had indeed lessened to a light drizzle, but it hadn't completely stopped!
Current weather radar and supercomputers are ultimately unable to perform minute-level rainfall calculations, making the conditions for Chen Xiangbei's plan too demanding.

Another lap passed, and when Chen Xiangbei passed through the pit lane exit again, a Force India race car appeared behind him; it was driver number 15, Sutil.

It's not that Chen Xiangbei was so slow that the other party caught up with him, but that he completed the lap of Sutil!
"Looping" is an F1 term that refers to the process where a driver in front is ahead of the driver behind by a lap or more, and then the two drivers meet again on the track.

Relying on their speed and excellent long distance, coupled with the excellent work of the technicians during the two pit stops for tire changes, the top four drivers, including Chen Xiangbei, have effectively lapped the drivers in the middle and lower groups.

Chen Xiangbei had no emotional reaction to Sutil's lap. Force India, Lotus, and Virgin were the three worst-performing teams this season, especially Virgin, which had become so bad it was practically a tractor.

As long as the leading teams perform normally, they can easily complete the laps in fifty or sixty laps. This actually has little to do with the driver's skill; it's purely because the FIA ​​is trying to meet its expansion quota, resulting in excessive performance differences between the cars. Just because Chen Xiangbei has no ideas doesn't mean Sutil has none.

He remembered the scene of being knocked off the track during practice.

Although the post-match investigation concluded that it was an accident and that Chen Xiangbei was not suspected of acting intentionally, neither party was held responsible.

But Sutil knew very well that the Chinese were accelerating strangely in order to smash his forewing.

He must avenge this hatred!

Sutil followed behind Chen Xiangbei's car, and after a few turns, he noticed that the car in front was frantically correcting its cornering line, which meant that the entire race car was skidding badly.

The soft red tires can't grip the ground, giving them a chance to catch up and overtake.

Realizing this possibility, Sutil felt his blood boil, and a sense of "revenge" swept over him.

The Force India car suddenly accelerated, utilizing the better grip of its semi-wet tires, and the speeds of the two cars were rapidly closing in.

Sensing something was amiss, Mizutani Sho asked, "Team Leader Odette, Sutil's speed seems off. Could he be trying to overtake Mukai-kun?"

Under normal circumstances, drivers who are lapped do not have the "right of way" and must give way to cars traveling normally, otherwise they will be penalized.

However, those are all scenarios where fast trains overtake slow trains. Chen Xiangbei's situation of being chased by a slow train is extremely special and rare.

After all, you've managed to lap the car, so how could you possibly be overtaken and chased by the other side?
However, such situations do not entirely not occur in reality. For example, the famous scene where Verstappen chased Ocon to the weigh-in room and almost came to blows was triggered by a ring toss incident.

At the time, Verstappen was one lap ahead of Ocon. The car behind him came out of the pit lane with a new set of tires, which gave it better grip and speed, and launched a counter-lapping attack on the Red Bull car.

Verstappen was then known as "Turret" and was at a crucial moment in the race for the title. When Ocon tried to overtake him, Verstappen was furious and believed that whoever gave way to whom should be treated like a grandson.

Since neither of them wanted to be the underdog, it was no surprise that they crashed on the corner. Verstappen lost his lead, while Ocon was penalized 10 seconds.

Chen Xiangbei's current situation is very similar to the "ring toss" incident in later generations.

The car behind, with its Sutil semi-wet tires, had a faster speed, while the car in front, Chen Xiangbei, had the advantage of lapping. In addition, the two had a history of grudges, so it was destined to be another battle of "giving way to the grandson".

"He just wants to overtake the North."

Odette responded quietly, then pressed the call button on his headset.

However, he did not speak to Chen Xiangbei alone, but instead gave the instructions to Trulli through the team's public channel.

"Truly, advance the attack on Sutil, and help the North create safe space."

Since losing the competition with Chen Xiangbei within the team, Trulli has been asked to block Rosberg, which has caused him to fall behind in both speed and ranking.

Adding to the problems were the waiting time for both cars to enter the pits, the tire change error, Trulli's long-distance disadvantage, and his weakness in rain, which caused him to plummet and fall behind Sutil, where he was also lapped by Chen Xiangbei.

Odeto wasn't worried that Sutil, his defeated opponent, could pose any real threat to Chen Xiangbei.

He was only worried that the opponent might have malicious intentions and launch a torpedo attack that would force both cars to retire from the race.

To avoid unnecessary risks, it would be best to let Trulli act as cannon fodder to delay the inevitable.

Unbeknownst to them, Odeto and Briatore had made the same choice.

This is the ruthlessness and cruelty of competitive sports!

“COPY.”

With a completely emotionless reply, Trulli sped up to attack Sutil.

Once you're at the gambling table, you have to be able to afford to lose. Since I can't outrun Chen Xiangbei, I have to accept the fate of being the second driver.

Moreover, Trulli himself knew in his heart that he had lost to Chen Xiangbei more than once.

Actually, including the winter testing competition that came to an abrupt end, I lost twice!

Chen Xiangbei, who was running at the front, heard the team's voice message in his headset and then noticed Trulli was behind him through the spray of water kicked up by the rear of the race car.

Originally, Chen Xiangbei had no intention of paying attention to Sutil. Since there was no longer any competition between them, why should he care about a roadside person?

At most, he would try to shake off Alonso and catch up with him.

However, realizing that Sutil was "unyielding" and that Trulli was following behind, Chen Xiangbei changed his mind.

He intends to "exterminate them all"!
You think you're worthy of being called a reverse lap?
"Turulli, two cars, prepare to overtake."

Chen Xiangbei reminded Trulli through the team's voice chat.

【What? 】

Upon hearing Chen Xiangbei's words, Trulli was momentarily stunned.

There is no doubt that Chen Xiangbei wanted to express that he intended to slow down and slow down his car so that he could overtake Sutil.

It's important to know that Chen Xiangbei is currently at a crucial moment in his pursuit of Alonso. If he slows down and slows down, he will waste at least 0.5 seconds of lap time.

Furthermore, if there is a miscoupling, or if Sutil grits her teeth and launches a "torpedo," it would be a complete loss for Chen Xiangbei.

From the perspective of the team and personal interests, Odeto's instructions were correct.

The second driver, or even the wingman, should be tasked with holding off opponents who pose a threat to the first driver, thus enabling the driver to achieve better results.

Now Chen Xiangbei is doing the opposite, trying to help him overtake?
"Trulli, I'll block Sutil's line on the next bend, seize the opportunity!"

A voice interrupted Trulli's surprise and shock.

"receive."

The situation on the track left no room for hesitation, so Trulli pressed the call button to respond to Chen Xiangbei.

However, after saying that, he did not immediately release the call button on the steering wheel.

Instead, overwhelmed with emotion, he added, "Bei, thank you."

F1 is a team game, and to win the final victory means that there is more than just competition and backstabbing on the track.

Often, there are teammates present.

(End of this chapter)