Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 311 Every Second Counts at the Limit

While Chen Xiangbei was battling Schumacher, the intensity of the wheel-to-wheel offensive and defensive battle in the front row was no less fierce.

Hamilton has never been a conservative driver, and Alonso is no pushover either.

There's no way the two of them could possibly coexist peacefully, one being the strongest all-around fighter currently active in the arena and the other the strongest champion of the new generation.

Even if Hamilton's goal in this match is to crush Chen Xiangbei, it doesn't mean that Chen Xiangbei is his only target.

For F1 professional drivers, the only goal is always the championship!

McLaren and Ferrari's initial pit stop strategy was actually biased towards two pit stops.

After all, each additional stop increases the chance of making a mistake.

However, the battle between these two drivers, as well as the chase with the Red Bull drivers, resulted in tire wear that was even more severe than that of Chen Xiangbei from the Midstream Group.

To avoid being undercut by their rivals during pit stops, both teams anticipated each other's tactical changes and almost simultaneously made an extra pit stop, turning their teams into three-stop teams.

As for the two Red Bull race cars, they became the ones who benefited from the situation. They quickly shook off the cars behind them by using the two-car tactic and entered a tire-maintaining cruise mode, requiring only a regular two-stop.

Alonso and Hamilton were already exhausted, but Chen Xiangbei's hard white tires could still push for five laps.

These five laps are the chance to make up for lost time at the entry window!

"COPY, I will do it."

After giving Odeto a brief reply, Chen Xiangbei felt a surge of excitement; he saw hope in overtaking Odeto and returning to the front row.

The moment the single yellow flag on the track was lifted, Chen Xiangbei went all out with pushing. Since the strategy had been changed to a two-stop tactic, there was no need to worry about cruise control or tire maintenance anymore.

What Chen Xiangbei needs to do now is to squeeze out his fastest speed to catch up with those ahead.

The roar of the engine echoed through the sky as the HRT race car slashed across the track like a black lightning bolt.

Having grown through several races, Chen Xiangbei's control over the car, understanding of the track, and adjustment of his mindset have all improved significantly.

At this race, he will completely shed his rookie naiveté and become a true championship contender!

"Bei's pace is very fast, with a lap time of 1 minute 37.327 seconds, which directly broke the record for the fastest lap in the race."

"I never expected that Bei could still squeeze out his speed and potential after resisting Schumacher's attack. It's impossible to fathom where this young Chinese driver's limits are."

"Can he replicate the miracle of the F1 Chinese Grand Prix and achieve a back-to-back victory in the Korean F1 Grand Prix?"

Reid felt a surge of excitement; his career had witnessed countless drivers who started strong but faded quickly.

It's almost unheard of to see a rookie make a mistake at the start and then come back to win!

Chen Xiangbei's advance at this moment was not only a display of his driving skills, but also of his almost abnormal emotional stability.

This doesn't sound like a rookie at all; he's a seasoned veteran of the racing world.

If Chen Xiangbei's previous pursuit of the world championship was an expectation and aspiration, it is now basically certain that Chen Xiangbei possesses all the prerequisites to become a champion driver.

He will replicate Hamilton's rookie season miracle.

Even surpass Hamilton!
Faced with Reid's passionate words, Park Dong-wook was completely speechless.

After suffering a setback, Chen Xiangbei did not collapse completely. Instead, he fought with increasing courage and showed signs of making a comeback.

It's important to understand that often, momentum can be a greater asset in turning a desperate situation than smooth sailing. Park Dong-wook's only hope is that the Mercedes team will file a complaint accusing the HRT team of malicious crashing and dangerous driving by both drivers.

In that case, Chen Xiangbei would face extremely severe penalties, or even have his results canceled!

In fact, the Mercedes team was also discussing this issue internally. Some members of the strategy team suspected that Perez's rear-end collision was intentional, otherwise it would be impossible to explain why Chen Xiangbei benefited from the accidents caused by the HRT cars in the two consecutive races.

After all, whoever benefits the most is the most suspicious.

However, some members of the strategy team felt that conspiracy theories were unnecessary.

Perez is a substitute rookie, and his debut performance will largely determine his future career development. Even if he follows the team's instructions, deliberately crashing would be a losing proposition for him.

The reason is simple: the previous driver who was suspected of listening to Briatore is still recovering in the hospital, and his seat is at great risk of being replaced.

The previous one who crashed the car was even worse off, getting their season over and being discarded like a used tool.

If it weren't for his world champion father coming forward to expose the truth, he probably wouldn't even have had the ability to speak out and would have been unfairly blamed!
With all the lessons learned from the past right there, is Perez really that stupid?
Ross Brown was also experiencing complex emotions. Although he hadn't known Chen Xiangbei for very long, his years of professional experience had given him a keen eye for people.

The Chinese boy has an inherent pride. He and Briatore are fundamentally different kinds of people. He would never intentionally do something that would damage the spirit of sportsmanship or even violate morality for the sake of results.

However, many things are just talk and no action. Moreover, as Mercedes team principal, Ross Brawn cannot only consider his personal opinion and must put the team's interests first. Even though he believed Chen Xiangbei, he still filed a complaint with the FIA.

This kind of behavior in the HRT team must not be tolerated, otherwise the second driver in the paddock will no longer be called a wingman, but will be called a "killer"!

The team politics outside the track did not affect Chen Xiangbei. He went all out and pushed his speed to a new high, with a lap time of 1 minute 37.075 seconds!

Faced with this almost visible reduction in the distance between vehicles, Chinese viewers and fans, who had been silenced by the crash time, finally had the confidence to cheer for Chen Xiangbei again.

"See that? Chen Xiangbei doesn't need to use any crashing tactics; his speed is fast enough!"

"Go for it, Chen Xiangbei! Use your strength to fiercely refute the criticism!"

"Undercut Alonso, take down two more Red Bull cars!"

"Bei, I will never doubt your strength. Remember, never!"

Chen Xiangbei's accelerated pursuit far exceeded the expectations of many team strategy groups, and disrupted the overall rhythm within the paddock.

The opposing teams have realized that HRT has changed his strategy for the day. If he continues to chase at this pace, even with two stoppages, he will undercut Alonso in the front row and move up to third place.

On the contrary, Alonso and Schumacher were certain that Chen Xiangbei would be killed by Schumacher and unable to catch up, which is why they fought each other recklessly.

"Alonso, find a way to speed up as soon as possible, and stop fighting Hamilton."

Ferrari team principal Domenicali gave a reminder via radio, as they were closely monitoring Chen Xiangbei's lap times.

"Why? My tires are in very bad condition right now."

Compared to the typical scenario of a strong team and a weak driver, even when facing a powerhouse like Ferrari, the then-dominant Alonso would not blindly follow the team's instructions.

There are currently sixteen laps left in the race, and the peak lifespan of pitting for soft red tires is eight laps, meaning there are eight laps left for tire maintenance.

Choosing to push forward at this point, even if you manage to get a good speed, you won't be able to catch up to Webber. It's better to maintain the current gap and try to preserve the slack until the last eight laps of the race.

Alonso is confident that with his peak performance on the red tires, he can be at least three seconds faster per lap than other cars on their old tires!

Even if they can't reverse the situation and win the first or second place in a race, maintaining their current podium ranking shouldn't be a problem, so there's no need to take those unknown risks.

"The north has caught up."

Domenicali knew Alonso's personality and didn't beat around the bush; he directly told him the reason.

"How far away was he from me?" "27.88 seconds."

Upon hearing this number, Alonso's expression finally changed.

If I remember correctly, a few laps ago the race engineer reported the gap, with driver North being more than 30 seconds behind me.

Is your lap time two seconds faster than mine?

Alonso wasn't entirely convinced about the speed difference. Even if Chen Xiangbei's hard white tires were more durable, given the reduced performance of the HRT car in this race, it couldn't possibly be that much faster than him.

What is the current lap time for the North?

Upon hearing Alonso's question, Domenicali glanced at the track data.

Just then, the latest lap times were released, and Chen Xiangbei's lap time was 1 minute 36.93 seconds.

As race cars consume more fuel and become lighter, their speed on each lap will theoretically increase.

"1 minute 36.93 seconds, 2.16 seconds faster than you."

WHAT?

Upon hearing this number, Alonso's expression didn't change; instead, it was filled with disbelief.

He didn't even think Chen Xiangbei could lap two seconds faster than him, but now he's outpaced him. Is the Chinese kid pushing like his life depends on it?

Domenicali is a meticulous and conservative team leader; he would never do anything joking or deliberately provocative. Alonso believes that this lap time is absolutely genuine.

At this lap pace, in just three more laps, the 24-second pit stop window will be eliminated, and he will exit the pits behind Chen Xiangbei.

At that moment, Alonso understood why he had been urgently reminded to accelerate; the driver was simply too fast!

"Received, I will proceed immediately."

Without the slightest hesitation, Alonso stepped on the gas and pushed.

Hamilton, who was following behind, sensed Alonso's change in speed. At first, he didn't know what had happened, but he instinctively followed closely behind the car in front and accelerated, and then asked the team via radio.

Undoubtedly, the McLaren team also informed Chen Xiangbei of their close pursuit.

Hamilton was stunned for a moment.

As a professional F1 driver, his primary goal is of course to win a race, and his secondary goal is to completely defeat Chen Xiangbei to prove his strength.

As a result, Red Bull's upgraded car became an absolute marvel of nature in the Korean Grand Prix. The old-model McLaren was far behind and simply couldn't be stopped. Even Alonso, with his seasoned experience, managed to overtake them, and Hamilton dropped to fourth place.

Since the primary objective was difficult to achieve, the secondary objective became Hamilton's primary objective.

Now the team is telling themselves that such a huge advantage of 34 seconds in the early stages will be undercut by Chen Xiangbei?

It's worth noting that Hamilton has already been undercut once in the Chinese Grand Prix. Does he have to experience it again?

Hamilton simply couldn't accept this result.

He had clearly done very well, taking out Chen Xiangbei at the start and forcing him off the track, but in the two races he didn't even have a chance for a head-on wheel-to-wheel battle, and was defeated by the opponent's tactics.

Hamilton could tolerate the performance advantage of the HRT car in the previous race.

Chen Xiangbei didn't even have a performance advantage in the car, yet he still managed to win a tactical victory. Did McLaren's strategy team eat shit?
To put it in Chinese terms, this is a case of not being guilty of a war, but losing in a frustrating way!

If Hamilton could travel through time, he would understand that this kind of thing is not uncommon, and that the strategic experience at Ferrari fifteen years later would be even worse.

"WHY? How can North do an undercut?"

Hamilton asked in frustration, unable to understand why.

“There was no precedent for strategy at the Lingyan Circuit. We misjudged the rate of tire wear, and three stops were not the best pit stop strategy.”

McLaren team principal Whitmarsh readily admitted the strategy team's mistake, given that a completely new track lacked reference data, and tire wear was relatively high in both practice and qualifying.

In addition, Hamilton's strong blocking of the two Red Bulls and his battle with Alonso accelerated the wear and tear on the tires, leading the team to decide to implement a three-stop strategy.

Judging from the results, it is clear that this strategy failed.

The teams readily admitted their strategic mistakes, and even though Hamilton is McLaren owner Dennis's son, he couldn't say anything more at this point.

He only had two paths to take: either Alonso's speed was astonishing, giving Chen Xiangbei no chance to catch up.

He could either overtake Alonso and widen the gap between himself and Chen Xiangbei.

It is obvious that the latter is almost impossible. If Hamilton could surpass Alonso, he would have done so long ago. Why wait until now?
In reality, there is only one way left: to stick close to Alonso!

The three cars, separated by about twenty seconds, were engaged in a battle of attrition. Although Alonso's tires had worse grip, the sheer strength of the strongest driver in the paddock was undeniable, and he couldn't possibly be slow when he pushed.

Moreover, the requirement for Chen Xiangbei is not just to reach the same speed as Alonso, but to be at least 1 second faster per lap according to the current trend in order to complete the undercut after pitting.

To be one second faster than Alonso while maintaining the same level of speed is simply wishful thinking!
A dream that isn't ridiculed has no value in being realized.

No matter how difficult it is, Chen Xiangbei will not give up.

The track control center also realized HRT team's tactics and directly placed a close-up of the distance to Alonso at the bottom of the broadcast screen.

26 seconds 63.

25 seconds 41.

24 seconds 80.

24 second 43!

24 seconds is the standard pit stop time at Lingyan Circuit, and Chen Xiangbei is currently 0.57 seconds short.

Taking into account the exceptional performance of the opposing team during the tire change, the theoretical safe time should be around 23.5 seconds.

The problem is that by the time Chen Xiangbei caught up to this point, his tires were already showing obvious signs of slipping, and he had lost his grip advantage over Alonso.

Under the same tire conditions, and with Hamilton no longer chasing, Chen Xiangbei actually lacked the hard power to lead Alonso in a single lap.

On the final lap, the two cars stopped at a time of 24.33 seconds.

It's obvious that a 0.1-second closing distance per lap is far from enough, and there's no point in continuing.

At that moment, Alonso and Hamilton chose to pit for tires, knowing that the situation had stabilized and they could continue with the team's previously established strategy.

At the same time, Oddo's voice came through Chen Xiangbei's earphones.

"North, next lap, proceed to the station."

After saying that, Odette turned around and shouted to the technical team, "Guys, get ready! North has completed its mission. Now it's the team's turn to fight!"

(End of this chapter)