Car Racing without Money-Chapter 516 - 201: I’m Not a Rookie! (Part 3)
Due to the limitations of clarity and distance, they couldn’t see the details of Alonso’s "pause," only that Chen Xiangbei slowed down and was easily overtaken by Kubica.
Just like that famous saying, competitive sports only look at results, not the process!
"Xiangbei, do you feel that people’s hearts are treacherous?"
Compared to most of the strategy team members who were indignant and felt unwilling on behalf of Chen Xiangbei.
Briatore was accustomed to such scenes.
He could understand Alonso’s intention, which was to deliberately provoke a tussle between Chen Xiangbei and Kubica, so that he could attack the car in front without distractions.
"It’s fine."
Faced with Chen Xiangbei’s calm tone, Hua Bu was somewhat surprised and asked, "Aren’t you angry?"
"This proves that in Alonso’s mind, the pressure I put on him is greater than that from Kubica."
Hearing this response from Chen Xiangbei, Briatore was stunned.
He had always been putting pressure on Chen Xiangbei, wanting to test the psychological endurance limit of the Chinese newcomer.
After all, for an F1 Driver, the true peak duel is not about driving skills, but a contest of psychological quality.
Everyone knows Rosberg is definitely not as good as Hamilton.
Yet he was able to seize the fleeting opportunity in 2016 and defeat his seemingly invincible teammate to win the world championship!
Chen Xiangbei’s psychological endurance has exceeded Hua Bu’s best estimates.
Using a modern Chinese internet slang, the Chinese Kid has "celebrated the funeral with joy."
"Very good, maintain this confidence."
Briatore said no more; to some extent, he agreed with what Chen Xiangbei said.
He was the one who discovered Alonso and even served as his Agent, so he was very familiar with his nature.
Among the "multi-champion" drivers in the paddock, there is no existence of a gentleman; Alonso, too, can do whatever it takes to win.
Chen Xiangbei’s early-stage offense, although not successfully overtaking, left a deep impression on Alonso, completely not at the level of a rookie.
He wasn’t afraid of Chen Xiangbei’s attack, but he admitted that the speed and strength of the Chinese Kid would cause him great trouble, slowing down his chase for the car in front, competing for the championship.
The deliberate blocking of a rookie is not honorable, but it is very effective!
Chen Xiangbei maintained a steady mindset, floored the gas to closely tail Kubica, attempting to find an overtaking opportunity.
Many times, the level of a driver is not necessarily reflected in their results, but more in their state at that moment.
Like future Red Bull Racing Team’s Master Pe, who could have imagined a runner-up world champion driver, whose teammate competes for pole position in every Q3, yet he gets eliminated in every Q1, and sometimes even sits at the bottom?
Compared to Rosberg’s oversight and Weber’s engine failure,
Kubica could be said to be fully prepared, giving Chen Xiangbei no hope or opportunity, to the extent of not even allowing slipstream!
With the improvement of aerodynamic kit efficiency, it’s essential to know that the slipstream in an F1 car does not just have a positive slingshot effect, but also has a negative "turbulence" effect.
Once in the turbulence of the car in front, not only does it not increase speed, but it also drastically affects the vehicle’s stability.
There’s only a slight difference between "slipstream" and "turbulence," but the effects are completely different!
Kubica displayed championship-grade top-level control, powerful enough to make an ordinary rookie feel despair.
But it’s a shame, Chen Xiangbei is not an ordinary rookie.
He was not in a hurry to slipstream and overtake; instead, he tried to stay with Kubica to conserve the tires and fight a long battle.
Of the twenty or so drivers in the F1 Paddock, at most a few are truly paid free-riders; the other dozen are not pushovers, and the seemingly easy slipstream overtakes like in lower-grade formulas simply don’t happen.
If Kubica wants to disrupt the airflow, he must constantly change lanes to destroy the "vacuum zone" formed at the rear of the car.
An inexperienced rookie might follow suit, afraid of falling behind.
However, Chen Xiangbei was not influenced at all, he very steadily maintained his lap speed, without making any overtaking actions.
"It’s already 25 laps; the soft red tires are about to pass their peak grip. Isn’t Xiangbei preparing to attack?"
"Why should the Chinese guy go on the offensive against Kubica? Does he have the ability to do so?"
"Kubica is a destined Ferrari driver; the two are completely different levels."
"Go Kubica, come on!"
Many spectators on the track stood up, cheering and clapping for Kubica.
Kubica had quite a few fans in the paddock, on one hand due to his outstanding performances in recent years, being viewed as the most gifted driver of his era, second only to Hamilton, on par with Rosberg and Vettel.
On the other hand, due to his incredibly aggressive driving style, he brings a sense of speed and passion to the fans!
In some way, he resembles Senna more as a legacy bearer than Masa, the Brazilian.
But contrary to the audience’s cheers, the situation for Kubica wasn’t as good as it seemed; he felt a lot of pressure!
Chen Xiangbei was too steady, completely different from the descriptions in the data of being adventurous and aggressive, even different from his crazy offensive display in the first half of the race.
Kubica’s original intention was to use lane changes to provoke an attacking desire in Chen Xiangbei, making him increasingly impatient.
But he never expected that the opponent would remain as steady as Mount Tai!
Lap 26, Lap 27...
The two cars were still doing a "small train," without any attacking or defensive scenes taking place.
But the soft red tires have already reached the limits of their lifespan by now.
"Kubica, prepare to pit for a tire change."
The Renault Team issued the order, saying Kubica’s tires couldn’t hold on much longer.
"Leader, Xiangbei is pursuing too tightly, there’s a possibility he could undercut during the pit stop."
The distance between Chen Xiangbei and Kubica was constantly maintained at about 0.5 seconds, they could not shake off each other.
The HRT Team had already made one pit stop mistake; they could not put their hopes on the second time.
If this time Chen Xiangbei changed tires 0.5 seconds faster during the pit stop, he would be positioned ahead of Kubica upon exit.
"There’s no way to persist; your speed is dropping too much, Xiangbei is very likely to launch an attack."
The Renault team leader, Blair, reminded with a warning that as the tires wore out, Kubica’s lap speed had already slowed by 0.8 seconds.
"Leader, I..."
Kubica pressed the communicator button, just about to insist a bit longer.
But from the corner of his eye, he saw in the rearview mirror the black-orange colored car approaching to occupy the whole mirror, then disappearing from sight!
After sticking it out for 16 laps, Chen Xiangbei finally found his opportunity and launched a deadly attack.
Seeing the HRT No.13 car appearing on the left, Kubica wasn’t slow to react; he promptly changed lanes and accelerated to block Chen Xiangbei’s overtaking route.
But Chen Xiangbei made a feint move; he did not plan to take the inside overtaking line, instead lightly braking and immediately switching to the right, using his tire-crushing grip advantage to overtake from the right outside.
Almost simultaneously, Kubica decided on the "dragon painting" maneuver to block.
But just because Chen Xiangbei could grip the road doesn’t mean that Kubica, whose tires were worn out, could hold on.
With successive quick lane changes and sharp braking on the turn, only a muffled "bang" was heard, as the right rear tire rubber fragments flew off, the whole car immediately went out of control and entered a SPIN state.
Kubica tried desperately to correct the steering wheel and slow down using the track’s buffer zone.
The last scene before the car stopped, what Kubica saw was the taillight of the No.13 car fading into the distance.
Chen Xiangbei defeated the contemporary Polish genius driver Kubica with raw, uncompromising strength, without any trickery!
