Car Racing without Money-Chapter 559 - 218: Chinese Rookie Shatters Expectations (Part 2)
Chen Xiangbei no longer needs to use the rear-view mirror to see the nose of the Renault car!
Faced with this standard slipstream overtaking move, Chen Xiangbei didn’t act like a rookie by flooring the accelerator to speed up and then changing lanes to block Kubica’s car.
The slipstream effect makes such a "rigid" response impossible to hold back.
Chen Xiangbei decisively counter-steered and no longer focused on the overtaking route on the right, but instead staunchly defended his entry line for the next corner.
The T11 corner is a low-speed sharp turn, requiring the car speed to be reduced to below 100 km/h to successfully navigate without going off the track.
At Kubica’s overtaking speed, it’s impossible for him to complete the overtake and change lanes to block before the corner; he will inevitably have to brake heavily at the corner’s braking point, at most leading by a car’s nose.
As long as he holds onto the best line into the corner, Chen Xiangbei could easily use a faster speed to counterattack!
As it turned out, Chen Xiangbei underestimated Kubica.
This Polish driver with championship potential has been participating in kart racing since he was a child, constantly competing against world champions like Hamilton and Rosberg, and has rich attack and defense experience in F1 Paddock.
Kubica never intended to change lanes on the short straight before the corner to block; instead, after leading by a car’s nose over Chen Xiangbei, he changed lanes to the left again, with their tires intertwined, forming a perfect "wheel-to-wheel" offensive, he too was fighting for the line into the corner!
There’s a rule in F1 that if the rear car’s front wing crosses the rear wheel of the front car, then during the corner, the front car must leave enough space for the rear car to pass, or face an FIA penalty.
This is why, when watching F1 races, it’s often seen that the leading car appears weak and gives way in an attack and defense battle. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
Simultaneously, this rule is also where many drivers, including early Verstappen, get their confidence for their "torpedo" driving style.
They rely on the fact that the front car must leave space and choose to brake late and aggressively insert their car; if the opponent doesn’t yield, they risk a collision and an FIA post-race penalty.
The rule’s original intent is actually to protect driver safety and to avoid accidents from overly aggressive competition, but instead, it has been exploited to achieve the opposite effect.
Of course, there are also some drivers who don’t yield, like Hamilton at his peak.
It’s just wheel-to-wheel torpedoing, who’s afraid of whom?
Through multiple strong collisions combined with the Mercedes Team’s "Vibranium" suspension, Hamilton earned himself the nickname "Golden Left Front."
This was the one opponent whom Verstappen’s torpedo tactics were somewhat wary of during his "Cannonball" period.
Without the Mercedes Team’s capabilities, HRT Team’s Chen Xiangbei naturally couldn’t match Hamilton’s toughness, and Kubica secured the best line into the corner.
"Xiangbei-kun was overtaken!"
In the team pit stop, upon seeing this scene, Mizutani Sho and others couldn’t help but exclaim.
They were used to seeing Chen Xiangbei overtake others; today, seeing him strongly overtaken was truly unsettling.
"It’s very normal; this is F1."
Sawano Hiroyuki, standing nearby with his arms crossed, was relatively calm.
Overtaking and being overtaken on the track are entirely normal occurrences, even the likes of Senna and Schumacher weren’t immune to being overtaken, let alone Chen Xiangbei?
Kubica is no rookie; he is also Poland’s first F1 driver, reputed as a historical genius, and having raced in F1 Paddock for years with strong championship-winning capabilities.
It’s not surprising at all for him to outrun newcomer Chen Xiangbei; it would be strange if he couldn’t.
Even though Sawano Hiroyuki very much hopes for Chen Xiangbei to win, he must still respect the objective reality on the track.
"OH, Chinese driver Bei indeed constantly surprises us; his aggressive defense against Kubica forcefully turned a qualifying session into a fencing match, with both drivers giving up on clocking flying laps."
"Now Kubica is showcasing his strength as a ’senior.’ It remains to be seen whether the first-year student Bei has any chance of fighting back."
"Or will he simply choose to give up, taking advantage of the remaining time in the third qualifying session to submit his flying lap score?"
Red, in an amazed tone, marveled at such occurrences happening directly in qualifying, which are now quite rare in today’s F1 Paddock.
If not for the date and time on the big screen being covered, one might think it’s the nineties, full of passion and tension on the track.
In his view, Kubica completing the overtake signifies that the outcome between them is already decided, with Chen Xiangbei having almost no chance to retaliate.
Having been outrun, it would be wise to decisively cut losses and set a flying lap, as the race is truly where performances are decided.
"If Bei desires to become a driver filled with the spirit like Senna, he must surely not concede."
"Being outrun is one thing, surrendering means showing fear."
"Fear leads to lifelong defeat!"
The intense attack and defense scene on the track brought back many memories for Prost.
The 1989 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit, when Prost and Senna were still teammates at McLaren, were the only two championship contenders.
Heading into the final race, Prost was leading Senna on points; meaning he just needed to tie with Senna in Suzuka Circuit to easily win the drivers’ championship.
This "tie" included both of them crashing out of the race.
Undoubtedly, the calculating "Professor" Prost directly performed a corner torpedo on Senna, meaning if both retired, he would declare himself the world champion.
Prost’s plan was good; he did crash himself out but didn’t expect Senna not to give up the race, driving his shattered car back through the escape road to the pit lane, changing to a new front wing, and stubbornly catching up to first place to surpass Prost’s points!
