Car Racing without Money-Chapter 517 - 202: Is This the Little Hexagon?

The buffer zone at the Bahrain Sakhir Circuit is not coarse gravel, but instead uses fine sand from the desert to save construction costs.

Although the builders anticipated that the fine sand would be blown around by strong winds and the car’s wake, they used special adhesive to bind the sand.

However, to provide a buffering effect, the underlying sand cannot be made into a solid block.

Kubica’s Renault car rushed into the buffer zone, instantly kicking up dust all around. Fortunately, the Bahrain Circuit is wide enough that even sliding for dozens of meters did not reach the edge barrier.

Unfortunately, the car’s fire protection system was activated, and Kubica couldn’t drive back to the track.

"MY GOD, Kubica couldn’t block the Chinese driver’s overtaking maneuver and ultimately lost control and went off the track!"

"You should know Kubica is a candidate driver for next year’s Ferrari Team, yet he couldn’t fend off a Chinese newcomer?"

"Is this Kubica’s mistake due to underestimating his opponent, or does the Chinese driver’s strength already pose a challenge to the frontrunners on the grid?"

Commentator Emil’s face was filled with shock, as based on normal tire wear and Chen Xiangbei’s pursuit performance, he essentially had no chance to launch an attack on Kubica.

But contrary to everyone’s expectation, just when it seemed all was settled, he executed a fierce overtaking maneuver at lightning speed, and his feint was beautifully executed to shake off Kubica.

Timing, control, speed — there was no indication of a rookie apparent.

Chen Xiangbei performed too skillfully!

"Emil, do you still not acknowledge the Chinese driver’s strength?"

"This was the timing he chose!"

James responded decisively.

He had watched many races of Chen Xiangbei and knew the Chinese kid’s driving style was very aggressive and full of offensive desire.

Clearly, this silent trailing for dozens of laps, without even probing actions, did not match the Chinese kid’s character.

Unusual circumstances usually indicate something out of the ordinary, and the final overtaking validated James’ hypothesis.

Chen Xiangbei was waiting for that moment of a fatal strike!

"What’s the reason?"

Emil found it difficult to accept. He had high hopes for Polish driver Kubica, believing that just as long as he had a good car, he could be the next championship contender, which even Hamilton and Rosberg agreed with.

But now a rookie overtook him?

"The reason is that the Chinese driver obtained another pit stop window."

As if to correspond with James’s words, a single yellow flag appeared on the track, and Chen Xiangbei received command from Odetto through his earpiece.

"Chinese driver, virtual safety car deployed, pit for a tire change."

Kubica’s stalled position was close to the course’s escape route, allowing the staff to easily push the car over.

"Okay."

Chen Xiangbei responded simply. He didn’t expect Kubica to rush off the track, but this overtaking point was indeed the moment he had been waiting for.

That is, a pit stop tire change window!

Regardless of whether the fatal strike was completed, Chen Xiangbei would pit for a tire change on this lap, trying to see if he could accomplish an undercut (strategic overtaking) on Kubica.

The method to victory in F1 is not only about driving skills; strategy is equally part of it.

Only Kubica’s track incident gave Chen Xiangbei yet another progress window to shorten the time spent.

Thus, his target for the undercut shifted to Alonso up front.

This was the third challenge Chen Xiangbei initiated against the strongest rival in the same race!

Kubica had already descended from his car in the buffer zone, watching expressionlessly as staff pushed the stalled car away, then turned his gaze to the Chinese driver entering the pit lane, a sharp glimmer flashing in his eyes.

Honestly speaking, Kubica never underestimated Chen Xiangbei; from the Chinese newcomer starting to surpass Rosberg and consecutively overtaking Weber, it was indicative that these were feats no rookie could achieve.

But Kubica didn’t take Chen Xiangbei seriously either, at least didn’t view the newcomer as his competitor.

Facts proved that he underestimated the Chinese driver’s ability!

Only the "person involved" knew how precise and fierce Chen Xiangbei’s overtaking maneuver was, with the whole feint lane-switching operation executed without any delay and foreseeing the lack of grip of his car in advance.

Besides being great at offensive and defensive maneuvers, Chen Xiangbei’s tire conservation seemed exceptional.

Both having driven 16 laps with soft red tires, even though he executed many unwarranted blocking moves, his tire wear wasn’t as severely disproportionate as it was.

At least in the final overtaking and cornering footage, car number 13 didn’t exhibit any signs of skidding, suggesting the Chinese driver’s tires had far better grip than his own.

Kubica found it somewhat puzzling.

But the driver’s instinct told him the Chinese driver would become a formidable opponent!

Chen Xiangbei’s car moved into the pit stop parking spot, where the engineer team once again clustered around to perform the tire change.

This time, Chen Xiangbei didn’t use the soft red tires but switched to the medium yellow ones.

According to F1 regulations, each Grand Prix driver must use two different tire compounds, meaning apart from the soft red tires, Chen Xiangbei had to choose one set from the medium yellow or hard white tires.

Currently, with 30 laps remaining, considering the red tire plan peaks after 10 laps, the hard tires would be more stable under normal circumstances.

However, Chen Xiangbei demonstrated his ability to preserve tires during the race, and the average speed of yellow tires is faster than white ones; not to mention overtaking Alonso, but at least he could maintain the current ranking.

Note that Rosberg had also closed in, and more importantly, the King of Cars Schumacher was catching up from behind!