Chapter 746: Chapter 302: F1 Is a Team Game (2)

In the history of F1, drivers with this level of stability are few and far between.

The second thing is Chen Xiangbei has officially promoted to the ranks of upper mid-field drivers!

There’s an old saying in F1: only by driving a bad car can you prove the true value of your performance.

Even if you win the world championship driving a Mars Rover, many will still doubt you’re a fluke.

The foundation of the HRT Racing Car is quite solid, with overall strength ranking in the upper group of the paddock. Chen Xiangbei, as the number one driver, enjoys priority in resources and parts, yet there are all sorts of "cheating" rumors spreading outside.

He needs to show his hard strength under adversity!

In this station, Chen Xiangbei’s car speed and absolute performance were clearly inferior to his teammate Perez.

Moreover, it is Perez’s first paid substitute appearance, and external evaluations of him are also not high.

If even this "cash ability" driver can’t be outrun, it’s enough to prove Chen Xiangbei’s car isn’t that great.

But surprisingly, driving a not-so-great car, he raced through Turn 11 with stunning speed, leaving Barrichello behind with a crushing gesture.

This means that even without relying on the car, Chen Xiangbei still possesses hard strength of upper mid-field drivers!

The future of Chinese drivers no longer needs boasting and hype; he is the new star of the F1 Paddock’s 10th season!

With Barrichello’s tire change in the pit stop, Chen Xiangbei entered a safe "window period".

According to normal logic, he should adopt a comprehensive tire-saving pace; otherwise, with the current consumption, he wouldn’t last over twenty laps, and his speed would drop dramatically by 1 second per lap later.

However, the lap time leaderboard shows Chen Xiangbei hasn’t entered cruise mode; he is still advancing his lap time leisurely but steadily, rapidly closing the gap with the car ahead, Perez.

"What’s Driver Bei doing, planning to overtake teammate Perez?"

Seeing Chen Xiangbei’s unusual actions, Renault Team Principal Blair muttered somewhat puzzled.

He wasn’t concerned about Chen Xiangbei but about Perez in front of Renault’s Kubica, which based on Chen Xiangbei’s past behavior, definitely isn’t one to ride quietly.

Honestly, Renault Team Principal Blair wasn’t as confident as before about whether Kubica could block Chen Xiangbei.

"A team controlled by Briatore naturally has internal fighting as tradition; he would even actively provoke conflicts, forcing drivers to fight to the victory or out, to sell the team’s official seats."

The sports manager Nelson beside him replied with a tone of disdain.

Currently, Renault Team’s management is mostly comprised of people who didn’t agree with Briatore’s philosophy or were against him.

Precisely because of opposing relations, they were not implicated by the "Crashgate". When Briatore led the original Renault management out of the paddock, this faction rose to power in Renault.

As the saying goes, different paths can’t make plans together; Nelson’s complaints about Briatore were quite normal.

"No, I don’t think it’s internal strife."

Blair shook his head. If Chen Xiangbei wanted to start internal strife, he wouldn’t have let Perez pass easily at the beginning.

"Whatever, based on Perez’s previous attacking entanglement posture, this Mexican rookie is no pushover, and Driver Bei would find it challenging to reclaim position."

"Their tire consumption this way makes it impossible to pose any threat to Kubica."

Nelson lazy to guess any psychology, only knew theoretical data.

Kubica was supposed to pit for new soft red tires but maintained a good pace for long distances, resulting in lower tire wear than expected, delaying his pit stop.

As long as HRT’s two cars tangled around for three to five laps, they couldn’t threaten Kubica even if the win was decided.

Even if the worst outcome quickly decided the win, Kubica would pit for tires after blocking for three to five laps.

Thus, exceeding expectations for the soft red tires’ persistence in time, the tire strategy from the initial red-yellow-yellow(white) became red-red-yellow(white).

Using one more set of soft red tires would result in faster speeds and better position!

"You’re right."

Blair agreed with Nelson’s view, realizing he had been worrying unnecessarily and should give Kubica more confidence.

This Polish driver never managed to race past Chen Xiangbei previously; strictly speaking, it wasn’t the fault of battling, as facts already proved Renault’s performance was inferior to HRT, struggling with a disadvantageous car was normal.

Chen Xiangbei quickly pursued behind Perez, looking at the similarly black-orange colored car appearing in his rear-view mirror, with the recognizable number 13 at the front, Perez felt somewhat unsettled.

After all, only teammates know Chen Xiangbei’s strength better.

Even if unwilling to admit it, Perez also recognized that in absolute ideal conditions, he couldn’t outperform Chen Xiangbei.

However, admitting defeat didn’t equate to surrender.

The former reflects character, while the latter reflects psychology.

Chen Xiangbei’s acceleration wasn’t given any team instructions, nor was it part of the pre-race strategy. As a professional F1 driver, Perez holds his pride and dignity.

Just like the previous attack on Chen Xiangbei, this time he would similarly defend resolutely!

As Perez prepared for all entanglement, he found that after Chen Xiangbei entered his slipstream area, he did not use the slingshot effect to overtake, instead following closely behind.

Almost instantly, Perez understood Chen Xiangbei’s intention.

The sand pit escape at the start, along with successive entanglements in two races, had caused Chen Xiangbei’s tire life to wear quickly.

No matter how hard he tries to save the tires, he still can’t meet the pit-stop standard for a one-stop strategy.

The only way to change this situation, while maintaining speed and reducing tire wear, was to "tail someone", using the slipstream!

Chen Xiangbei chose to accelerate and push, aiming to use Perez’s slipstream.

If it were an opponent or enemy, their rear car wanting to eat the slipstream and hitch a ride wouldn’t definitely be a straightforward favor.

They should either choose to accelerate away or change lanes frequently to create disturbances.

If Chen Xiangbei’s previous blocking treated Perez as an "enemy", opting to harm others without benefiting himself rather than letting the teammate pass, then Perez would likely treat Chen Xiangbei the same way at this moment. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

That’s the principle that what goes around comes around.

However, Chen Xiangbei let Perez through and even gave a friendly thumbs-up to praise him.

Even if out of the mindset of "returning a favor", Perez should repay Chen Xiangbei this favor.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Perez made a decision, running in front using standard lines, allowing Chen Xiangbei to stay entirely within his slipstream zone.

At the same time, with better tires, Perez didn’t maintain a full tire-saving pace, instead gradually increased his speed, leading Chen Xiangbei in pursuit of Kubica.

Perez knew about the criticism Chen Xiangbei faced at the Korea Station and understood this Chinese teammate had an inner fire, wishing to counter those racist remarks by conquering the track.

Since that’s the case, he doesn’t mind lending a hand.

Absolute tire-saving pace might secure more stable performance, but hardly earns a return to pole position or a victory from each race; Chen Xiangbei needed a faster speed and sharper aggression.

As HRT Team’s double slipstream strategy emerged and quickly closed in on front car Kubica, the crew members in the pit lane realized the reason for Chen Xiangbei’s prior acceleration was clear.

No one expected the two previously internally intense fighting HRT drivers to unite and advance under such circumstances; the change is truly surprising.

"Briatore, you didn’t expect to see this, did you?"

Odetto asked Briatore at this moment.

His tone wasn’t filled with the joy of a victor, nor was there any sarcasm; it was much more a sentiment and sigh.

Truthfully, even he didn’t anticipate Chen Xiangbei’s letting go would create HRT’s double-car strategy.

Ultimately, F1 is a team game; being exquisitely selfish can’t compete with teamwork!