freeallnovels Chapter 36 Threat
Chapter 36 Threat
Why didn't Perez form a team before?
There was definitely an emotional factor at play – Perez has had a tough time against Tontard this season, especially at this race, where he was outmatched by Tontard from qualifying to the sprint to the first 16 laps of the race. Perez was furious and eager to prove himself.
There was also rational thinking – Perez assumed that Tangcher would be 0.6-0.7 seconds slower than him on dry courts and tires, just like in the previous races. Perez even thought that Tangcher's dry court and tire lap times might be slower than in the previous races, because he judged that Alfa Toli had made a negative upgrade for this race based on Tangcher and Gasly's qualifying performances on dry courts. Therefore, Perez was very confident that he could catch up with Tangcher before Verstappen caught up. As long as Perez overturned Tangcher before Verstappen caught up, then his previous disobeying of team orders would be a minor issue.
As he continued the chase, Perez realized that the upgrade to AT03 was actually quite effective. The current AT03 was no longer the same Earth car from the previous rounds, and he could no longer catch up with Taunter before Verstappen caught up.
But with no other option, Perez had to bite the bullet and chase after Taunter for now, and deal with the rest later when Verstappen caught up.
By the time Verstappen closed the gap, Perez's intelligence had completely prevailed, making him deeply understand that it's best not to make another wrong decision after making one.
Perez readily gave way.
Verstappen would have a much easier time pursuing Tangcher than Perez.
On lap 33, Mattia reported in the radio: "0.3 seconds ahead of Verstappen."
Verstappen can make his move now!
Verstappen didn't make a move in any of the corners; he patiently waited until the DRS zone.
Even though the DRES were still unavailable, Verstappen's attack in the DRES zone was still extremely threatening - when entering the DRES zone, Verstappen was almost right next to the rear of Tontatta's car, and he made a U-turn in the middle of the straight!
Without DRS, the wake effect of the tap is indeed not as strong, but the straight-line performance of the RB18 is stronger than that of the AT03, and Verstappen still managed to outmaneuver Tontatta!
However, the straight section was not long, and neither car was able to fully utilize its performance on the straight. The difference in speed between the two cars at the end of the straight was not significant.
Tang Che hasn't been taken away yet!
Tangche still has a chance to fight back at Turn 2!
To grab the inside line into the corner... Verstappen has taken over the inside line at Turn 2!
Tang Che cut to the outside without hesitation! His cornering speed is incredibly fast! Is he going to launch another outside attack at Turn 2? It's dry now, the success rate of an outside attack isn't high!
Exiting the corner... Verstappen is half a car ahead! Tanger cuts into the inside of Turn 3!
Crossover! Tanger took the lead back by crossing over at Turns 2 and 3!
But Tontatta's lead was not secure! Due to the car's performance limitations, Tontatta was unable to pull away from Verstappen after overtaking!
Verstappen can launch a counterattack at any time if given the opportunity!
Verstappen let out a lewd laugh in TR: "Come on, Tom, give me more pressure."
Verstappen clearly enjoyed his battle with Tanger.
GP: "Focus on the game, Max."
Verstappen: "..."
Verstappen: Would you believe me if I said I forgot to mute my microphone?
Although he couldn't hear Verstappen's TR, Tanger was definitely doing his best to put pressure on him.
He deliberately slowed down his entry speed slightly in low-speed corners in an attempt to disrupt Verstappen's braking rhythm, but it didn't work very well.
The performance gap between the cars was too large; even though Verstappen was forced to brake early and lost time, he could catch up in the blink of an eye.
Mattia/GP reminded Tangche/Verstappen in the TR: "DRS can be used on the next lap."
This means there will be a huge attacking opportunity in the next lap. Will Verstappen wait until the next lap?
Turn 14... You can try overtaking here!
Verstappen didn't make a move! He was probably waiting for an opportunity on the straight, just like before... Verstappen made his move at Turn 17! That was truly unexpected! A last-second brake to cut inside! Just like the tactic Tangche used to overtake Verstappen in the wets!
An eye for an eye! A tooth for a tooth! Verstappen is in the lead again!
Tangcher is in trouble! He has absolutely no chance of fighting back at Turn 18! He has virtually no chance of fighting back at Turn 19! And on the straight after Turn 19… Tangcher is even more helpless… Tangcher spins out before Turn 19! Tangcher and Verstappen are side-by-side in the corner!
Tancher squeezed Verstappen's exit space! Verstappen's exit speed was slow! Tancher led by half a car head in the first half of the straight!
This small lead is completely insufficient to bridge the performance gap between the two cars on the straights! Verstappen completely outpaced Tanger in the latter part of the straight!
Tangche wasn't pulled away! His aggressive attack on the outside of Turn 19, squeezing out Verstappen's exit speed, was precisely to prevent Verstappen from having the tail speed to completely pull away from him at the end of the straight!
Tanger sucks in Verstappen's slipstream! He spins out before Turn 2! He forces his way into the apex of the corner!
Verstappen is going to shoot from the outside; will he retaliate in kind this time?
Tangche has shut down any possibility of overtaking on the crossroads! He's back in the lead!
Verstappen didn't make a move on any of the corners during this lap; he stayed close to Tontatta, waiting for the moment to unleash a decisive DRRS strike.
Verstappen has drs through the drs detection point.
Using the DRRS activation point, Verstappen activated DRRS, immediately pulled out the head, and in the blink of an eye, he overpowered Tonte, kicking him away with a single kick!
The performance difference between the cars was already significant. Before entering the Drs zone, I was closely followed, but after entering the Drs zone, I was bound to be overtaken.
The difference in top speed brought by DRRS is enormous, far surpassing that of Taunter!
Although he lost the lead, fortunately, Perez was tied up by Leclerc and had no chance to come up and take the lead from Tanger for the time being.
Tangtler's point 2 position is currently secure, and if Leclerc continues to keep Perez occupied, Tangtler's point 2 position could even remain secure until the end of the match.
But none of them were as stable as Verstappen's P1. Verstappen pushed hard, quickly widening the gap between himself and the cars behind him, and even lapped Hamilton, who was in P14, on lap 42.
Hamilton, who had moved from p14 to p11 in the first 18 laps, dropped back to p14 after exiting the pits, right behind Tontatta's teammate Gasly.
Since lap 18, Hamilton has been trying to overtake Gasly, but he hasn't been able to.
"This is Hamilton's twentieth attempt to overtake Gasly (and fail), he must be in agony right now." — Sky Sports commentator Nico Rosberg.
On lap 46, Mattia reported in the radio: "Leclerc's tires are chipping badly, and he's almost losing track of Perez. Perez should completely break away from Leclerc in two laps, at which point he should be 5-6 seconds behind you."
Tanger immediately had an idea: "Prepare for red tires, I'll pit on the next lap."
Mattia: "Why?"
I tested it in yesterday's second practice session, and a set of yellow tires can last for about forty laps. Tang Che changed to these yellow tires on lap 17, so they should last until the end of the race.
佩雷兹大概在第48圈摆脱勒克莱尔，那时离这场63圈的比赛结束就只剩15圈，按之前的圈速表现，佩雷兹不太可能在15圈内追掉5-6秒差距。
Tang Che: "Our tire wear is higher."
If Tontard wears out his tires more, it means that the tire gap between Tontard and Perez will widen over the remaining dozen or so laps, and the lap time difference will also widen accordingly. Perez is very likely to catch up with Tontard in the last few laps of the race.
Once Perez closes in on Taunter, Taunter, whose tires are worn out, will be very difficult to defend.
Mattia: "This is not enough to support entry into the station."
Perez might overtake Tancher late in the race, but Leclerc, whose tires are already in terrible condition, is unlikely to do so! Tancher will at best slide to P3, which is still a podium finish.
If Tanger pits for tires on lap 47, he will be at least 20 seconds behind Perez and will likely fall behind Norris, who is currently in p5. Even with the huge advantage of the new soft tires, he may not be able to overtake Norris, Leclerc, and Perez to return to p2 in the remaining 16 laps.
For Alfa Romeo, P2 or P3 makes little difference as long as they can make the podium. Unless pitting gives them a chance to secure the podium and contend for the championship, the team won't let Tangcher risk falling off the podium.
Toncher: "If I go into the station, Charles will definitely go into the station, and Perez is also very likely to go into the station."
Once Taunter enters the pits, Leclerc will move up to P3, but facing Taunter's new red tires, Leclerc has little chance of holding his position with his old yellow tires.
If Leclerc also pits, although he will be a few seconds behind Taunter, Ferrari's car is much stronger with the same tire conditions. He has a high chance of overturning Taunter and returning to the podium, and might even undercut Perez.
Given the risk of being undercut, Perez will likely follow him into the pits, and Verstappen might follow as well.
AlphaTori's strategy team is quite capable; they grasped the concepts quickly and immediately approved Tanger's pit stop strategy.
Mattia: "OK, box, box."
On lap 47, Tangche pitted for red tires, taking... 1.9 seconds!
This is all the result of hard work. After the Bahrain Grand Prix, the team often practiced tire changing in order not to hold Tangche back.
Team principal Franz: I don't want Tom to lose points because of the poor performance of the car team, those are all dollars!
After leaving the station, Tanger landed behind Norris.
Mattia reports in the TR: "0.6 seconds behind Norris."
On this track where overtaking is difficult, this gap would mean that most drivers would have to wait until the DRS zone to make their move.
Everyone knows that Tang Che is no ordinary driver.
Taking advantage of his superior tires, Tanger quickly closed in on Norris and braked late at Turn 14, cleanly and decisively overtaking him!
Mattia: "13 seconds behind Leclerc."
A 13-second difference may seem like a big deal, but Tangcher's new soft tires have a greater advantage over Leclerc's yellow tires that he's been wearing for almost 30 laps!
Even the strategists at the Wolverhampton Wanderers could see that Tontatta would definitely be able to catch up with Leclerc before the end of the match! At that point, the aging Leclerc would definitely not be able to stop Tontatta!
On lap 48, the Wojnarowski strategy group called Leclerc to pit for red tires, and Taunter moved up to P3.
Last time Leclerc came to the pits, VfB's tire change was not very efficient. Will he be able to do it this time?
2.4 seconds! Wojnarowski held on at the crucial moment!
Leclerc exited the station and was positioned right behind Norris, trailing Norris by 1.3 seconds and Tanger by 6.5 seconds.
Leclerc is very likely to close the gap on Tangcher before the end of the match! He could potentially pose a threat to Perez!
The pressure was put on Red Bull's strategy team.
On lap 49, Red Bull called Perez to pit for tires, and Tanger moved up to P2.
Perez exited the station and found himself right in front of Leclerc. At that moment, Leclerc used the DR to overtake Norris and quickly closed in on Perez.
Now the situation has returned to how it was before Tontatta entered the pits: Perez in P3 and Leclerc in P4 are locked in a fierce battle, while Tontatta in P2 and Verstappen, who are leading, are enjoying a peaceful coexistence.
Although Verstappen was nearly 30 seconds ahead of Taunter and was almost not at risk of being undercut by Taunter, Red Bull still called Verstappen to pit for red tires on lap 50.
Verstappen came off the track one second in front of Tanger.
By the time he reached the DRS detection line on this lap, Verstappen was already 1.4 seconds ahead of Tangcher.
Tanger had absolutely no chance to attack.
If there are no opportunities to attack, then there are no opportunities to attack. Take advantage of the peaceful times and just play at your own pace.
On lap 52, Mattia reported in the radio: "3 seconds behind Verstappen, 7 seconds ahead of Leclerc."
On lap 53, Mattia reported in the radio: "3.7 seconds behind Verstappen, 6.6 seconds ahead of Leclerc."
Leclerc has clearly overtaken and shaken off Perez and is now moving forward at full speed.
On lap 54, Mattia reported in the radio: "4.35 seconds behind Verstappen, 5.9 seconds ahead of Leclerc. Leclerc just got a purple and pushed very hard. He could very well catch up to you within a second in the last one or two laps."
Tang Che: "copy".
Tang Che: There's not much to say. We'll deal with whatever comes our way.
On lap 55, Mattia reported in the radio: "5.2 seconds ahead of Leclerc, 5.1 seconds behind Verstappen."
On lap 56, Mattia reported in the radio: "4.5 seconds ahead of Leclerc, 5.76 seconds behind Verstappen... Leclerc spun!"
Toncher: "Did Charles push it too far?"
As everyone knows, Leclerc is the paddock's undisputed king of pushing limits. He can not only push the limits, but also push them to their limits.
Mattia: "He took too many kerbs at Turn 15 and spun off the track... The race officials showed him the black and orange flag, and he had to pit."
After Leclerc dropped to ninth after his race, he certainly couldn't threaten Tanger in the subsequent races.
The only one who could potentially threaten Tanger behind him is Perez.
On lap 57, Mattia reported in the radio: "5.6 seconds ahead of Perez, 5.8 seconds behind Verstappen."
On lap 58, Mattia reported in the radio: "5.2 seconds ahead of Perez, 6.48 seconds behind Verstappen."
On lap 59, Mattia reported in the radio: "4.83 seconds ahead of Perez, 7.1 seconds behind Verstappen. Perez shouldn't be able to close the gap before the end of the race... Oh! Latifi crashed! Safety car! Safety car!"
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Bonus Chapter: F1 Anecdotes (5)
At 16:33, Sky Sports reported that Leclerc repeatedly went off the track at Turn 15 of Imola because Verstappen's tires were coated with ethane.
Ferrari has performed strongly since the start of the season, while Red Bull's performance has been less than satisfactory. Verstappen predicts that Red Bull is unlikely to beat Ferrari at Imola.
In order to win the race, Verstappen took the ethane left over from the last Bahrain Grand Prix and disguised himself as a tire changer to sneak into the Ferrari pit garage, where he secretly smeared ethane on Leclerc's tires.
This ultimately led to Leclerc going off the track during the race.
Once reported, this incident instantly became a trending topic on F1 social media, with fans expressing their utter fury and outrage, exclaiming, "Oh my god, how could Verstappen be so wicked?"