Free Web NovelChapter 753: Chapter 305: A Tactical Victory (Part 2)
The reason for not choosing to swap positions was mainly because this was not the decisive moment for the championship.
Instead of strongly suppressing Perez and giving unfair treatment to the other party, it is better to maintain team unity as much as possible. Some things Chen Xiangbei did and his feedback during the race convinced Odetto that his decision was correct.
Without Chen Xiangbei voluntarily giving way, there would be no situation of both cars benefiting from draft and moving to the front row, let alone the condition of both cars entering the pit lane in the same lap.
One event leads to another, cause and effect!
"Received."
With a simple two-sentence response, Perez and Chen Xiangbei drove into the pit lane one after the other.
Watching the HRT Racing Car in the rearview mirror changing its "direction," Sutil was somewhat annoyed and a little surprised.
The annoyance was that he had already made up his mind to block the HRT Racing Car, regardless of whether the opponent was Perez or Chen Xiangbei. As long as it was an HRT driver, it was the same; the grievances caused by being interfered with and affected by them had to be avenged!
The surprise was seeing Perez’s car in front, and Chen Xiangbei was actually behind.
Although he was unwilling, he had to admit that Chen Xiangbei had already started to make his mark in the paddock with his current strength and had even joined the ranks of top group contenders for the championship.
Perez, a substitute paid driver, on what grounds could he be in front of Chen Xiangbei, and why didn’t the HRT Team let them swap positions?
What went wrong?
It’s not just Sutil who thought this; most people in the paddock, including commentators, thought so too.
"HRT’s two cars entered the pit lane one after the other. It seems they want to execute a double-car same-lap pit stop strategy. However, Driver Bei’s car is behind, which will greatly affect his tire change time with many unforeseen risks."
"Is the HRT Team so particular about fair competition?"
Faced with Red’s doubt, Park Dongxu responded, "Maybe Perez refused the team’s position swap instruction?"
"A substitute driver is unlikely to offend the team."
Red provided a negative answer.
In most situations, drivers are in a weaker position compared to the team.
Unless you reach the ranks of historical-level drivers, like Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton, or Verstappen, you have the qualification to choose teams. Otherwise, whether you can renew depends on others’ attitudes.
There are plenty of paid drivers like Perez. As long as HRT hints at it, GP2, Super Formula, Le Mans, Indianapolis 500, and a series of formula drivers would run overnight to the team headquarters to queue up and recommend themselves.
He does not have the strength or right to refuse team orders.
"Then what do you think is the reason?"
Park Dongxu asked in return.
"I think it’s highly likely that Bei didn’t want to swap positions."
"He is a very pure driver."
Red defined Chen Xiangbei with this statement.
Through the observation of these few races, Red found that Chen Xiangbei, whether with Trulli or now with Perez, has had confrontations and intense battles on the track.
Why was there internal strife between the two HRT drivers?
The answer is obvious: no driver used team politics to pressure, and everyone competed based on their abilities.
It is well known that the Chinese capital owns a majority share in the HRT Team, and the construction of the entire team had Chen Xiangbei’s involvement. The positions of team leader and manager, the two most important management positions, have close relations with Chen Xiangbei.
If the Chinese Kid wanted to play paddock politics, the number two driver would have no ability to resist.
To know this is extremely rare in the paddock. Among those historical-level drivers, only Senna and Raikkonen managed to compete based on abilities, while everyone else, including Schumacher, Hamilton, Alonso, and Verstappen, relied on team orders to pressure second drivers or wingmen. frёeωebɳovel.com
Among them, Schumacher and Verstappen’s situations differ a bit. The former had the second driver signing a wingman agreement, so team pressure was natural.
You took the money and signed the contract, so of course, you need to do the job.
For the latter, it was sheer strength overpowering the teammate, not even bothering to consider the wingman’s feelings, earning the nickname "Giant Baby" on the internet.
Chen Xiangbei and Perez naturally wouldn’t know about the discussions and voices from the outside world. The entire HRT Team’s members were very focused at the moment, with their eyes fixed on the two cars approaching from afar.
Particularly the technician team members, they had no room for errors; whether Chen Xiangbei still has the hope of regaining pole position depends on this tire change!
Accompanied by the roar of the engine, Perez precisely stopped with a brake at the designated parking spot, and over twenty technicians swarmed around to perform their tasks: the wheel gun rotated, tires switched, new tires installed...
After a complete process, Perez’s car landed out of the pit, with the time stopping at 2.59 seconds!
The people on the outdoor command platform saw this number, instinctively clenched their fists wanting to celebrate, but upon seeing Chen Xiangbei who entered the pit immediately for a tire change, they forcibly suppressed the excitement inside, avoiding disturbing the technicians at work.
Although it took 2.59 seconds, seemingly quite a gap from the team’s peak performance of sub-2 seconds tire change.
But in fact, an F1 pit stop tire change within 3 seconds is considered satisfactory, even excellent standard. Moreover, it was a double-car pit stop. The team technicians had another set of tires placed around them occupying space, which called for more precision.
2.59 seconds was absolutely top level!
However, the real test depended on Chen Xiangbei’s second car, once again completing a full tire change process, with the hundredth second’s number rapidly jumping. frёeωebɳovel.com
When the green light signaling the tire change’s end and the start of departure lit up, almost synchronizing with the jack dropping, Chen Xiangbei accelerated to grab that fraction of a second in pit exit time.
2.55 seconds!
The moment this number appeared, the entire HRT team burst into cheers, attracting the eyes of many teams in the pit lane.
Perhaps the race was not over, but this successful strategic double-car pit stop was equivalent to a win for the team.
However, for Chen Xiangbei, the situation he faced remained very challenging.
The gap between him and Perez was originally within one second, but now counting the waiting time for a tire change of over a second, Chen Xiangbei has already fallen about 2.5 seconds behind Perez.
And the over twenty-second pit window allowed the first batch of pitted cars to once again run ahead of him.
However, the effect of Perez’s draft pushing in the race’s mid-stage showed itself as Chen Xiangbei’s pit exit essentially undercut Kubica, with Perez successfully ahead of Schumacher.
If everything goes smoothly in the subsequent racecourse, with the fewer pit stops for tire change advantage, Chen Xiangbei and Perez’s actual rankings will instantly enter the top five!
Of course, this is only under the assumption of everything going smoothly; the tire wear level and single-lap speed difference cannot be measured.
But at least one thing can be confirmed: Chen Xiangbei has once again fought back into the leading group, whether he can stabilize his ranking or even win depends on his performance next!
Chen Xiangbei, entering the main track from the pit lane, did not immediately chase Schumacher but instead focused on Kubica, who was about to attack from behind.
It’s important to note, Chen Xiangbei had switched to hard white tires, the hardest material requiring the highest warming up, whereas Kubica switched to medium yellow tires, right at the peak grip stage.
During the cold tire period, Chen Xiangbei’s lap speed could not be faster than Schumacher’s, making chasing futile.
On the contrary, theoretically, Kubica’s tire advantage should make him faster than Chen Xiangbei at present.
Stabilizing the rank is Chen Xiangbei’s imminent task.
Clearly, Kubica also knew where his advantages lay; he must surpass Chen Xiangbei and continuously pull away to make up for another pit-stop window time.
Otherwise, at the next pit stop, he’d fall far behind Chen Xiangbei.
The two cars started an intense battle without suspense, Kubica acknowledged Chen Xiangbei’s strength but would not willingly become a loser.
He even attempted to prove his prowess by defeating Chen Xiangbei!
The wheel-to-wheel competition was extremely fierce, and both Kubica and the Williams Team believed that with the absolute tire advantage, they could effortlessly defeat Chen Xiangbei and complete the overtake.
Unexpectedly, the result defied expectations!
Kubica felt it wasn’t just an HRT car ahead, but an impenetrable wall. No matter what overtaking line he took, Chen Xiangbei blocked him.
In an instant, Kubica began to doubt his strength. Even facing Hamilton or Alonso didn’t give him this sense of powerlessness; could Driver Bei possibly be stronger than them?
