Car Racing without Money

Chapter 750: Chapter 304: The Team’s Challenge Beyond Their League (2)

"Perez, PUSH!"

Schumacher’s concession undoubtedly served as a shot in the arm for the HRT Team, prompting even Odetto to excitedly issue an order.

A chain reaction is foreseeable, with the vehicles upfront on soft red tires likely entering the pits to change tires, giving Perez and Chen Xiangbei the chance to extend their lead and create a full twenty-second pit window for themselves.

Without the impact of the hot air and turbulence from the car in front, it’s now up to Perez and Chen Xiangbei to find the balance between speed and tire conservation!

"COPY."

Perez responded, and his voice noticeably carried a sense of excitement!

As a debutant substitute driver, being able to qualify for Q3, overtaking his teammate at the start, and forcing Schumacher to pit defensively, holding onto a points position thus far, can be described as nearly perfect.

Not only is this performance rare for pay drivers, even those super talents nurtured by team youth academies rarely achieve what Perez has done.

The number 14 car quickly progressed, and with the pit window led by Kubica and Schumacher now open, the drivers ahead were similarly unwilling to engage in battle with the HRT Team, so as to provide an opportunity for an undercut to their teammates entering the pits.

In just two laps, Perez was leading, with Chen Xiangbei in second place.

However, this temporary ranking is an illusion; if Perez and Chen Xiangbei wish to maintain these positions, they need to establish a pit window of over twenty seconds ahead of the third-place driver.

Only then, upon exiting the pits simultaneously, can they keep their opponents behind.

"Team, what’s the distance with the car behind?"

At lap seventeen, Chen Xiangbei proactively asked.

"17.53 seconds."

The car behind was Vettel from Red Bull Racing Team, and the RB6’s Mars Rover performance was fully showcased in this race, even though Hamilton put forth every effort in defense, McLaren couldn’t hold off Red Bull on the high-speed track in the second half.

Even the second driver, Weber, had surpassed Alonso to rank third.

"Vettel is on medium yellow tires, reaching optimal operating temperature might require around two laps; this is the best chance to widen the pit window gap."

Odetto reminded, simultaneously instructing Perez’s race engineer Bard to communicate accordingly.

During the race, there is no tire warm-up lap, meaning Vettel’s medium yellow tires currently have low temperature and cannot optimize speed.

The Lingyan Circuit takes an average of 23.77 seconds for a full pit-stop and tire change; for Chen Xiangbei and Perez to ensure their pit-stop happens ahead of Vettel, they need to lead by over 23 seconds.

Of course, this is merely theoretical and challenging in reality.

Even during Vettel’s tire warming phase, if Chen Xiangbei and Perez manage to lead by over 3 seconds per lap.

Still, Chen Xiangbei and Perez can’t pit to change tires on lap 19; they must continue racing on the track until after lap 25 during the best pit window.

After lap 19, the gap between HRT and Red Bull will once again shorten.

Then it’s waiting for Red Bull Racing’s second pit-stop entry, afterward calculating the distance between the cars to choose the optimal time for advancement.

This explains why F1 strategy fundamentally boils down to a mathematical problem, requiring strategy teams to frantically calculate lap differences with rivals to capture the optimal pit window.

Small teams, even when severely lagging in vehicle performance, can still achieve an undercut (strategic overtaking) using this approach.

To allow room for tire changes and tactical maneuvers, it’s best to establish one’s leadership advantage while opponents are weaker, hence Odetto issued the advancement command.

Having received clear instructions from race engineer Bard, Perez at this moment abandoned any thoughts of tire conservation, and once again accelerated.

Chen Xiangbei initially letting Perez pass prevented excessive tire wear for him, plus Chen Xiangbei holding off Barrichello’s offensive could somewhat be considered as providing "escort" for Perez.

Considering the successive avoidance from the front-row drivers, Perez had gone without intense battles throughout, complemented by exceptional tire conservation talents and car skill traits, his tire condition was far stronger than imagined.

This is a driver who can take a set of soft red tires beyond thirty laps in future races; for Perez, having traveled less than twenty laps on medium yellow tires still provides sufficient tire life for advancing!

As Perez accelerated, Chen Xiangbei caught up, riding the "east wind," quickly following as the duo sped forth.

"Perez is accelerating once more; it seems he wants to create a pit window with Vettel. If previously Perez’s tire management was tested, now it’s about testing his absolute speed."

"Both HRT Racing cars are incredibly fast; it’s uncertain how much they can pull ahead of Vettel per lap."

Red, with ample F1 event commentary experience, immediately speculated HRT Team’s strategic intentions.

The young Mexican shows excellent tire management, but races involve more than just tire conservation; winning ultimately depends on absolute speed. freewebnovel.cσ๓

If Perez excels in this aspect as well, even if Trulli returns post-injury, it might be hard to maintain his spot in the summer races ahead.

"Vettel’s Red Bull Racing car performance is strong in this race, while Perez is a rookie driver, so he may not widen the gap much."

Park Dongxu shares his viewpoint, which carries minimal personal emotion, focusing mainly from an objective angle.