Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 304 Undisguised Brilliance

"Kubica, watch out! HRT team's Perez has pushed!"

The moment the track equipment detected Perez accelerating, Renault team principal Brill understood everything and immediately issued a warning to his own driver Kubica.

To be honest, at this moment, Burrell wondered if Chen Xiangbei's fierce battle with Perez was just an act, otherwise how could they have made up after only a few laps?
Furthermore, Perez not only used slipstream to accelerate Chen Xiangbei, but also sacrificed his own tire life to push and catch up with the car in front, which is completely illogical!

The problem is that, if it's acting, then Perez and Chen Xiangbei's acting is a bit too realistic, and at the same time, the risks they take are too high.

With Chen Xiangbei's speed of full throttle cornering, a slight mistake could have resulted in a fatal accident. At that time, he had no intention of giving Perez any chance at all!
[Perez push?]

Kubica had no idea what was happening when faced with this sudden order from the team.

After all, he wasn't a spectator; his attention was entirely focused on the race, and he couldn't get all the track information in real time from the broadcast cameras.

From Kubica's perspective, Perez's driving style is conservative, focusing more on his long-distance pace and intending to rely on stop-and-go tactics for undercuts rather than aggressively chasing and overtaking.

The race has now reached lap twelve, a crucial period for maintaining the tire's condition. How could Perez possibly push at this point?

Just as Kubica was puzzled, Perez caught up faster than expected, and the black and orange HRT race car was already visible in the rearview mirror.

Not one! But two!

Seeing this, Kubica was startled, and he vaguely realized something.

"Team leader Burrier, is Perez helping the driver pull the slipstream north?"

"Yes, HRT used a two-vehicle tactic."

An affirmative answer came through the earphones.

Kubica's suspicions were confirmed, and his emotions were a mix of jealousy and disdain.

The point of jealousy lies in Chen Xiangbei's position in the team. He instinctively believes that Perez's slipstream must have come from the team's orders, otherwise who would be willing to sacrifice their own tires to help someone else?
The disdain also stemmed from Chen Xiangbei's position within the team.

It is an indisputable fact that the number one driver in the F1 paddock enjoys priority resources, and with top teams like Ferrari deliberately pushing for championships, the number two driver is increasingly developing into a wingman role.

Even someone as great as Schumacher should at least have some self-respect when he's exploiting his teammates.

He won a Grand Prix with Barrichello, and he'll find a chance to get one back.

Chen Xiangbei has been using his teammates as cannon fodder at every race, relying on the team's orders. Trulli is still in the hospital after the last race. Will Perez repeat the same mistake at this race?
This approach is exactly like Briatore's style.

Absolute self-interest above all else; any means necessary to achieve victory!

"Team leader, my tires might not be able to withstand the two-car tactic."

Faced with the formidable HRT race car, Kubica did not try to be brave this time.

Whether it's envy, jealousy, or resentment, or simply a reluctance to acknowledge Chen Xiangbei's driving skills, it doesn't matter.

It is an indisputable fact that I have been defeated in numerous encounters on the track!

It would be difficult to withstand a one-on-one fight, let alone take on two HRT cars. In addition, the Kubica soft red tires had already passed their peak grip when starting, and in fact, they were already in the window of pit stop.

Without being chased, he can stay on the track using a tire-preserving running technique. If a close battle were to take place, Kubica would have no chance to stop him.

"Elton, can the racing tire data hold up?"

Instead of answering Kubica directly, Brill turned to his game engineer, Elton, and asked a question.

"It's hard."

Elton shook his head, then added, "Besides, there's no guarantee that the HRT team won't sacrifice their wingman again to threaten a crash."

At the previous Chinese Grand Prix, Trulli displayed the ruthless spirit of the paddock to the fullest, essentially acting as a track torpedo to threaten his opponents, leaving a deep impression on the other teams in the paddock.

Influenced by conventional thinking, Renault's strategy team has concluded that Perez's assistance stemmed from HRT team instructions. Given Briatore's personality, it's highly likely he will replicate the crash threat from the Chinese Grand Prix.

Sometimes, being portrayed as a "villain" isn't necessarily a bad thing; at least it can make your opponents hesitant to act against you.

"The team has given instructions for Kubica to pit for a tire change."

Without much thought or hesitation, Buril decided to let Kubica enter the station.

"NICE!"

Upon seeing the Kubica enter the maintenance lane, the HRT crew members on the outdoor control tower shouted excitedly.

There is no doubt that Kubica and the Renault team are avoiding the battle; Chen Xiangbei and Perez's two-car strategy has intimidated their opponents.

It's important to understand that F1 racing is all about momentum; if you choose to back down, you easily lose the courage to fight again. Furthermore, Chen Xiangbei and Perez's successful improvement in their starting positions will significantly boost their confidence and morale.

Perhaps Chen Xiangbei really has a chance to return to pole position!

"Hmph, the Renault team is now full of cowards."

Briatore made a sarcastic remark without any mercy, then leaned back and looked towards the Renault outdoor control tower in the distance.

He did leave the team and paddock because of the FIA ​​ban, but this also involved factional struggles within the Renault team. At least in Briatore's eyes, Brillier, the biggest beneficiary, was suspected of kicking someone when they were down.

Meanwhile, with Briatore's departure, Renault has fallen from a championship contender to a team that can't even make it into the top four, and is even ranked behind newer teams like HRT, which is an insult to the reputation of a prestigious factory team!
Perhaps hearing the HRT team's celebratory sounds, or perhaps sensing the gaze from afar, Briatore turned and met Briatore's eyes, as if a strange current had passed through the air.

From Brillier's perspective, the culprit behind Renault's collapse was Briatore!

This old rogue not only got himself banned from the paddock, but also caused a group of technicians, including design director Bob Bell, to be punished and forced to leave the field.

It's important to understand that R&D personnel are the soul of an F1 team. Without cutting-edge technology as a foundation, how fast can a race car go?

Taking over a disintegrating team and maintaining its basic structure is already quite an achievement. Briatore has no right to blame others.

“Briatoli, they have it tough too.”

Sensing the strong sense of provocation and mockery, Bob Bell offered a word of advice.

He wasn't as angry and aggressive as Briatore, and he understood Renault's current situation and difficulties. Many people believe that top factory teams should be strong, but there's an old saying: "A large ship is hard to turn around." After all, he created his career peak with Renault, and Bale still has deep feelings for his former team.

After hearing Bob Bell's advice, Briatore withdrew his gaze.

In fact, to some extent, he also had feelings for the Renault team and had a very good personal relationship with Renault's management.

After Briatore had his fill of playing around, he returned to the F1 paddock as a Renault consultant, and then resumed his role as team principal.

His relationship with Renault is similar to that of Red Bull and Marco.

It has gone beyond the main team and established a connection with the group's boss, with the two sides closely bound together.

On the track, Chen Xiangbei naturally paid no attention to these grudges and disputes. After Kubica pitted to change tires, he moved up to eighth place, with most of the drivers ahead of him starting on soft red tires.

Although theoretically the peak grip of the soft red tire is only eight laps, in reality there are too many tire masters in the paddock. Some "tire gods" can run thirty or forty laps on a set of soft red tires without any pressure!

Perez is known as "Master Perez" because at his peak, he could drive more than ten laps more than his opponents with one set of tires.

Furthermore, this ability isn't unique to him; in fact, any world champion-level driver possesses unparalleled tire-keeping skills. Pedro's fame stemmed more from his early mid-level driver abilities, yet he demonstrated tire-keeping capabilities comparable to top drivers.

Chen Xiangbei knew very well that if he didn't continue to push and put pressure on the drivers in front, the group of "tire gods" in the first group could definitely drive around twenty laps on a set of soft red tires, thus achieving the same effect as those on medium yellow tires.

Then Chen Xiangbei and Perez's long-distance advantage will be completely lost, and such an outcome is certainly unacceptable.

However, the F1 driver radio system can only communicate with the mechanics and team manager of the car; the two drivers cannot communicate directly.

If Chen Xiangbei wanted to pursue, he would normally have to communicate through the team's strategy group. This effectively became a team order, commanding Perez to accelerate at full speed and create a slipstream to catch up with the car in front.

Clearly, if Chen Xiangbei wanted the convoy to exert pressure, there would be no need for a close battle or for the vehicles to give way.

Since they don't want to go through the team, but still want Perez to understand their intentions, the only way left is through tacit understanding.

Chen Xiangbei and Perez were not familiar with each other, and the two had no personal relationship whatsoever, so the idea of ​​tacit understanding was simply nonsense. But sometimes, to achieve the same goal, no telepathy is required; actions can convey the same message.

At that moment, Chen Xiangbei used the Perez's wake to launch and overtake.

[Discarding the donkey after it has served its purpose?]

The first reaction of everyone in the enclosure when they saw this was disbelief.

Just a second ago, the two HRT riders were showing great teamwork, successfully using their slipstreams to catch up with their opponents and put pressure on them.

The next second, Chen Xiangbei took the opportunity to overtake?

Perez helped him improve his ranking by one place. Even an ingrate wouldn't turn around and bite back so quickly. Chen Xiangbei has truly inherited Briatore's legacy, treating the number two driver like he's nothing!
To be honest, not only the people in the paddock, but even Perez himself felt a little uncomfortable seeing Chen Xiangbei rapidly closing in.

Although he offered to help with the tail current, theoretically he shouldn't expect the other party to be "grateful."

But you, Chen Xiangbei, are fine not to be grateful, but there's no need to retaliate by overtaking and stabbing him in the back, is there?
Furthermore, Chen Xiangbei's move was too sudden, and Perez was completely unprepared, let alone able to make a defensive move.

At that point, changing lanes to block the car was too late; forcibly blocking it would inevitably lead to a collision. Reason told Perez he couldn't do that; he was just a substitute driver, and causing an accident within the team would seriously affect his chances of signing a contract.

The only thing to do is watch Chen Xiangbei overtake you, hoping he will teach you a lesson and make you wiser after a fall!
"Damn it, driver Bei is such a jerk, repaying kindness with enmity."

"The despicable Chinamen will stop at nothing to win."

"I thought Chen Xiangbei was full of driver spirit, but now he has disappointed me greatly."

"Chen Xiangbei already let Perez pass, why would he do something like this again?"

Numerous questions echoed throughout the stands, with everyone completely baffled by Chen Xiangbei's actions.

Even if he ultimately achieves better results than Perez, it will still lead to a collapse in his reputation. Verstappen is the best example of this; during that period, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was "condemned by everyone."

It's fortunate that the "Autobots" are truly incredibly skilled, using their driving abilities to cover up their flaws; otherwise, the media storm could have been ten times more exaggerated.

Just when everyone, including Perez, thought Chen Xiangbei was about to overtake successfully, car number 13 suddenly slowed down and fell back behind car number 14.

This scene once again left everyone dumbfounded. Chen Xiangbei had made too many "mysterious moves" in this competition, to the point that no one could figure out what he was really thinking.

But Perez understood.

Chen Xiangbei was telling himself to run faster, or he would be overtaken!

Do you think I'm too slow?

After understanding Chen Xiangbei's intentions, Perez was not angry; instead, a smile appeared on his lips.

He is not actually an aggressive driver. His career can be described as "accumulating experience and then unleashing it", and he has steadily climbed to the world runner-up position.

Given Perez's style, he would never accelerate at a time like this, knowing that pushing to catch up with the car in front causes significant tire wear and is fraught with unpredictable risks.

But at this moment he could feel Chen Xiangbei's fighting spirit and will to fight!
The opponent is not satisfied with just the points zone, and is even less satisfied with successfully reaching the podium after tactical success.

Chen Xiangbei wants an absolute victory and to win the championship!

No wonder Chinese drivers, despite facing countless doubts and ridicule as paid drivers, have created miracles all the way to become the most dazzling new stars of the 10 season.

It relies not only on the car's performance, but also not entirely on driving skills and talent.

More than anything, it's that fighting spirit of never giving up or admitting defeat!
No American driver doesn't want to carry on Senna's legacy and become a national hero.

Perez now wholeheartedly admits that Chen Xiangbei is far more like Senna than he is.

Let's go all out!

Perez silently recited a phrase to himself, then floored the accelerator and accelerated, no longer prioritizing tire preservation.

The two HRT cars, like two shooting stars, streaked across the Lingyan Circuit at top speed, closing the distance to Schumacher's car ahead by more than one second per lap.

At this moment, something completely unexpected happened: Schumacher drove into the pit lane entrance, choosing to avoid the confrontation as well!
(End of this chapter)