Chapter 762: Chapter 310: Racing Against the Limits
While Chen Xiangbei was entangled with Schumacher, the intensity of the wheel-to-wheel combat at the front row was no less ferocious.
Hamilton has never been a conservative driver, and Alonso is certainly no pushover.
One is the strongest existing hexagon warrior in the paddock, the other is the strongest new generation king, and there’s no possibility of peaceful coexistence between them.
Even though Hamilton’s goal for this race is to crushingly defeat Chen Xiangbei, it doesn’t mean his only target is Chen Xiangbei.
The goal of an F1 professional driver is always the championship!
Initially, McLaren Team and Ferrari Team’s pit stop strategies leaned towards a two-stop.
After all, the more pit stops, the more possibilities for mistakes.
However, the battle between these two drivers, along with the pursuit of the Red Bull Driver, led to tire wear even more exaggerated than Chen Xiangbei’s from the midfield group.
To avoid being undercut at the pit stop by opponents, both teams targeted each other’s tactical changes, almost simultaneously adding an extra stop to switch to a three-stop.
As for the two Red Bull Racing cars, they became the ones who profited from the situation, relying on double car tactics to quickly shake off the rear cars, entering tire-saving cruise mode, requiring only a standard two-stop.
Alonso and Hamilton were already unable to push forward, yet Chen Xiangbei’s hard white tires could still push for five more laps.
These five laps were the opportunity to catch up during the pit stop window period!
"COPY, I will do it."
After a simple response to Odetto, Chen Xiangbei ignited a blazing fire within himself, seeing hope to surpass and return to the front row.
As soon as the track’s single yellow flag was lifted, Chen Xiangbei fully unleashed his PUSH; since the temporary change to a two-stop strategy, there’s no need to consider cruising for tire conservation anymore.
To extract his fastest speed and chase the cars ahead is what Chen Xiangbei must currently do.
The roar of the engine reverberated through the sky, the HRT Racing Car slashed through the track like a black lightning bolt.
Having grown through several races, Chen Xiangbei now possesses improved control over the car, understanding of the track, and adjustment of mentality, all having ascended more than one tier.
This race, he will completely shed his rookie immaturity to become a true contending driver!
"Xiangbei’s pushing speed is very fast, with a lap time now at 1 minute and 37 seconds 327, directly refreshing the fastest lap of the race."
"I didn’t expect Xiangbei, after defending against Schumacher’s attack, could still extract his speed and potential; it’s simply impossible to fathom the limits of this young Chinese driver."
"Can he replicate the miracle of the F1 Chinese Grand Prix, achieving two consecutive wins at the South Korea F1 Grand Prix?"
Red felt slightly passionate; throughout his career, he had seen countless drivers who started strong but fell off.
He had almost never seen a rookie make mistakes at the start but still turn it around!
The surge from Chen Xiangbei at this moment is not only showcasing his driving skills but also his extraordinarily stable emotional resilience.
He doesn’t even resemble a rookie but rather an experienced veteran of the racing world.
If previously Chen Xiangbei’s contention for the world championship was mere anticipation and longing, now it’s practically certain that Chen Xiangbei possesses all the prerequisites to become a champion driver.
He will replicate the miracle of Hamilton’s rookie season.
Even surpass Hamilton!
Amid Red’s passionate words, Park Dongxu had gone completely silent.
Despite the previous setbacks Chen Xiangbei faced, he didn’t completely collapse but rather fought harder and showed signs of a comeback.
Keep in mind that often the boost of momentum from a desperate comeback is greater than the benefits of smooth sailing. The only thing Park Dongxu can hope for is for the Mercedes Team to launch an appeal, accusing the HRT Team of malicious collision and both drivers of dangerous driving.
In such a case, Chen Xiangbei would face extremely severe time penalties or even disqualification!
In fact, within the Mercedes Team, this issue was being discussed, with a portion of the strategy group suspecting that Perez’s rear-end collision had intentional elements; otherwise, it was difficult to explain how successive accidents caused by HRT Racing emerged in which Chen Xiangbei benefited.
After all, whoever benefits the most bears the greatest suspicion.
However, some members of the strategy group felt there was no need for conspiracy theories.
Perez is a substitute rookie driver, and his debut performance will largely determine the future development of his career. Even if he listens to the team’s orders, malicious collisions would be a loss for him.
The reason is simple; the last driver who seemingly listened to Briatore’s words is still recuperating in the hospital, facing a significant risk of losing his seat.
The previous driver who had a crash was even worse off, having his season ended and left to bear the consequences.
If not for a world champion-level father exposing the matter, he might not even have had the ability to voice out, taking the blame solidly!
With all the past examples laid out, could Perez really be that foolish?
Ross Brown felt very conflicted inside at this moment; although he didn’t have much contact with Chen Xiangbei, years of professional experience allowed him to judge people accurately.
The Chinese Kid inherently has a sense of pride; fundamentally, he and Briatore are two different types of people and would definitely not willingly undertake actions that compromise the spirit of sports or violate ethics for the sake of better results.
However, many things are not credible by mere words, and as the head of the Mercedes Team, Ross Brown can’t just consider his personal opinions but must place the team’s interests foremost. Even if he believes in Chen Xiangbei, he ultimately still submitted an appeal to the FIA.
