"Team leader, Mr. Xiangbei's condition isn't exactly conservative, he hasn't shrunk back for the championship, is it really necessary to provoke him like this?"

Listening to Odetto's instructions, Sawano Hiroyuki felt somewhat puzzled.

If there was some hesitation from Chen Xiangbei when overtaking Barrichello earlier, when he overtook Jenson Button, you could feel the return of his previous decisiveness and boldness.

He practically utilized the entire width of the curve, and the curb was pushed to the extreme limit.

The team leader's directive seemed like a last-ditch effort, but it's important to know that the race hasn't even reached ten laps, and Hamilton is only ranked fifth, far from the final moment of battle.

I've heard of celebrating with champagne midway, but never a last stand; what if the tire grip isn't enough to overtake?

For Sawano Hiroyuki's inquiry, Odetto did not respond.

Instead, he continued to ask Chen Xiangbei: "Bei, did you hear me?"

"COPY, I'll immediately chase Hamilton." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Chen Xiangbei didn't hear Sawano Hiroyuki's words, and even if he did, he would have made the same decision as Odetto.

Leading the mid-field group meant nothing, lacking sufficient cooling air to boost engine performance or tailwind from the car in front to reduce wear, and followed by Jenson Button, the tire management master.

To be honest, in terms of race tire management, Chen Xiangbei isn't bad, but he admits he can't surpass someone as exceptionally skilled as Jenson Button.

Or put it another way, in F1's history, the number of drivers whose tire management ability surpasses Jenson Button's is few; even if you let Verstappen challenge others in their strong suits, he'd likely be defeated.

China has an old saying, use one's strengths to target others' weaknesses.

Never fight in the area of others' strengths; instead, pull them into the domain of your own strengths.

Chen Xiangbei's advantage lies in car feeling and absolute speed, not long-distance tire management.

Therefore, he must showcase speed as much as possible!

With a press on the accelerator, the TF110 "old mate" understood, as Chen Xiangbei left the mid-field group's lead position and pursued ahead.

Watching the rear lights of the car in front gradually vanish, Jenson Button felt somewhat puzzled.

The Chinese rookie also started with medium yellow tires, meaning he's likely on a one-stop or two-stop strategy. Chasing the car in front with a heavy fuel load is taxing on the tires; does he plan to pit around ten laps?

Or is the HRT strategy group gambling on a safety car being deployed?

The problem is that the newly built East Sea track has ample buffer zones and wide track dimensions, drastically reducing the odds of collision between cars.

Additionally, the wide buffer zones provide plentiful escape routes, meaning that even if a car malfunctions, it won't stop on the track to block traffic, allowing the race to continue uninterrupted.

Without using soft red tires to gamble on a safety car during the start phase, the chances of winning with such a gamble now are small!

HRT is a new team, yet their strategy group is composed of seasoned veterans.

Renowned former Renault member Briatore, former Ferrari team member Odetto, former Japan Honda team member Sawano Hiroyuki, and former Toyota team member Sote, collectively setting the standard for at least starting as a mid-field team.

Jenson Button doesn't believe the HRT strategy group would make such a foolish decision, leaving only one possibility: HRT is heavily backing Chen Xiangbei, disregarding the second driver Trulli, expecting him to trigger an incident and deploy a safety car!

In truth, HRT has already shown this inclination, having Trulli, in a more favorable starting position during the start phase, sacrifice himself, changing lanes and slowing down to shield Chen Xiangbei from other cars.

Moreover, considering Renault's "Crashgate" precedent, it aligns with Briatore's usual "profit-first" approach to stir up some illicit operation.

Now it's up to the HRT team to see if they dare to overtly repeat such a scenario.

In terms of guts, the old Italian rogue certainly has it.

But in terms of benefit, the current stage isn't adequate.

Chen Xiangbei hasn't reached the contention for the championship; risking the second driver for a crash is really not worth it.

Moreover, Trulli isn't as compliant as Piquet, his fiery temper and willingness to openly clash with team management make relying solely on team orders to induce a crash ineffective.

It's not just Jenson Button who harbors this thought; many experts in the paddock share these suspicions.

They don't understand why the HRT team would issue orders for Chen Xiangbei to progress at this moment, so instinctively, they suspect Hua Bu, the notorious villain.

To be honest, this is indeed one of the clichés within the paddock...

"Purple sector! China's Chen Xiangbei completed the last lap in 1 minute 35 seconds 362, clinching the fastest lap in the paddock so far, while narrowing his gap with Hamilton to 3.2 seconds!"

Accompanied by the commentary announcement, the McLaren team's outdoor command post is where Boss Dennis and Team Leader Whitmarsh remain relaxed.

"Driver Bei is really swollen with arrogance, he actually fantasizes about chasing Hamilton."

Dennis's tone carried a hint of disdain.

Hamilton is his personally discovered and nurtured new-generation championship driver; no one understands this guy's speed and potential better than Dennis.

It is no exaggeration to say he will be the next Senna or Schumacher!

In fact, it proved true, as Hamilton became one of the only two seven-time champions in F1 history, marking him as a milestone-level driver who dominated an era.