Free Web NovelChapter 819: Chapter 335: Schumacher’s Treatment as the King of Cars
Some people are worried, while others are happy. Consecutive accidents and retirements due to malfunctions mean that the safety car is leading the front, indicating that the Ferrari Team cannot control the pace. All cars are lined up in a long formation, driving at a limited speed.
This allows Vettel, situated between Alonso and Masa, and Kubica and Rosberg, following behind, to breathe a sigh of relief.
The only one in a less optimistic situation is Chen Xiangbei, leading the race.
The reason is simple: no matter how the Ferrari Team controls the pace, it does not affect Chen Xiangbei at the top.
On the contrary, distancing from the rear lineup means Chen Xiangbei only needs to handle an attack from Alonso. If lined up in a straight line like a train, even if the rear cars cannot directly attack the leader, both parties are always within the tire change window.
The HRT Team’s average tire change time throughout the race is 2.9 seconds, which is already an impressive achievement for a new team.
But the problem is that no one can guarantee that no mistakes will occur during the pit stop tire change process.
The tighter the lineup is compressed, the greater the loss for the leader due to tire change errors. Theoretically, the best scenario for Chen Xiangbei is to have a gap of over twenty seconds for tire change time.
This way, no matter when Chen Xiangbei stops, he doesn’t need to worry about being blocked by slower cars upon re-entry.
The safety car led until the sixth lap, with all obstacles cleared on the track. Following the instruction from the race control center, Odetto pressed the communication button on his headset.
"North, the safety car is about to exit. Pay attention to the lead rhythm; do not give Alonso any chance during the dynamic start."
Alonso didn’t attack Chen Xiangbei during the static start, so the possibility of attacking during the dynamic start increases.
Odetto must remind Chen Xiangbei not to be careless. This world’s strongest active driver hasn’t yet exerted his strength; never see Ferrari’s "weakness" as surrender. They are merely waiting for a deadly blow!
"COPY."
Chen Xiangbei replied simply; he didn’t need Odetto’s warning as his gaze never moved away from the rear-view mirror. frёeωebɳovel.com
No one understands more than him how threatening Alonso can be.
Perhaps this Spanish isn’t the highest mountain in F1, but he deserves to be the longest river!
Right after the conversation ended, the safety car exited into the pit lane, but Chen Xiangbei didn’t start dynamically immediately. Instead, he maneuvered left and right, trying to distract Alonso for an unexpected acceleration.
In fact, this little trick of Chen Xiangbei was of no use. A mere dynamic start is something Alonso has experienced countless times during his career. Previous opponents included Schumacher, Hakkinen, Raikkonen, top-tier drivers.
Chen Xiangbei trying to play tricks is like trying to show off a sword in front of Guan Gong!
As Chen Xiangbei floored the pedal for a dynamic start, Alonso quickly caught up, just as Odetto predicted. Ferrari’s "weakness" was only submission to team tactics priority.
Just one Chen Xiangbei isn’t enough for Alonso to back down!
The acceleration of both cars was extremely fast, like arrows flying off the string on the track. Despite the terrifying number of bends on the Monaco Circuit and the extremely turbulent car tail airflow, Alonso could precisely catch Chen Xiangbei’s slipstream to accelerate.
This is Alonso’s terrifying slipstream sensing talent. In the DRS era of F1, he is one of the few who still maintains strong slipstream overtaking ability, a driver who excels in traditional overtaking methods.
Of course, this doesn’t mean other drivers don’t know slipstream overtaking.
But in the DRS era, drivers basically consider overtaking on a straight line as the main method, thereby neglecting slipstream skill overtaking, reducing tire-to-tire offensive and defensive capabilities.
Simply put, as long as the car performance is comparable, if Alonso grabs your slipstream, you are likely unable to shake him off!
T2, T3, T4...
One corner quickly passed, and the car speed reached an astonishing 200km/h.
While not particularly notable on standard F1 tracks, on the Monaco street circuit, it’s equivalent to racing on country road-level conditions where side guardrails and buildings flicker past like a slideshow.
After exiting Monaco’s T4, there’s a downhill section. If not decelerating, under gravity assistance, the speed could reach a terrifying 250km/h.
Moreover, the downhill section isn’t long, demanding extremely precise judgment of braking points from the driver. The normal late braking heavy braking routine on the Monaco Circuit isn’t about entering a buffer zone but directly crashing into the wall at high speed!
Monaco’s relative safety refers to collisions after significant braking under normal circumstances.
It doesn’t mean colliding at several hundred kilometers per hour with the wall would still be safe!
To be honest, Chen Xiangbei has already pushed to extreme acceleration, but with T5 corner getting closer, he found himself pulling back in sync with Alonso, restoring to about the five-meter distance from the dynamic start.
Five meters may seem long, but it’s actually only the length of an F1 car.
At a speed of 250km/h, perhaps in the blink of an eye, the trailing car could have completed overtaking.
[Alonso is pulling the slipstream so hard?]
Seeing this, Chen Xiangbei was extremely shocked internally. On the Monaco Circuit with a bend every few dozen meters, with its many seemingly straight sections being convoluted, plus Chen Xiangbei’s deliberate maneuvering generating turbulence.
