"Oh, the start at the Monaco Circuit was somewhat unexpected. We all thought Alonso would fiercely compete with Driver Bei for the best racing line at Turn 1. Surprisingly, Alonso chose to hold back at the start, deliberately slowing his cornering speed, causing the cars behind him, Vettel and Kubica, to slow down as well."

Just as Red’s words fell, an unexpected scene unfolded in the corner dynamics.

Masa, the Ferrari driver who qualified sixth, very "keenly" avoided the car pack in Turn T1 to seize the best cornering line, instead taking an outward line, which is theoretically less advantageous.

Then, the path on the inside was blocked, while the outside path was clear, allowing him to easily overtake Kubica in fourth and Rosberg in fifth, moving directly behind Vettel in third.

"We all overestimated the ’arrogance’ of the Ferrari Team and Alonso. Their tactical strategy is more pragmatic; the first goal wasn’t to overtake Driver Bei but to let teammate Masa catch up, facilitating the execution of the upcoming double-car tactics!"

"Clearly, this was a tactic where they lost some face but gained practical benefits."

Next to him, Henry analyzed Alonso’s motive for this maneuver—Ferrari Team caught everyone off guard!

One must know that Chen Xiangbei had taken pole position at Monaco and even taunted Alonso in the pre-race interview. According to external perceptions, would the grand Ferrari Team and the strongest active driver in the paddock allow this Chinese kid to get away with it?

From the start, they should have assertively shown the Chinese guy some strength, making him understand who the real king of Monaco is!

In fact, many Ferrari and Alonso fans did nothing in the face of the cheering and applause from Chen Xiangbei’s fans, filled with confidence in their hearts that the race would decisively smack back.

The ridicule and humiliation at that time would be the most satisfying!

However, the trend turned out completely different; Ferrari Team and Alonso actually conceded!

He did not choose to confront directly over overtaking Chen Xiangbei but blocked the cars behind to create overtaking opportunities for Masa, clearly intending to win the final victory with tactics.

In truth, there’s nothing wrong with using tactics and strategy to win a race; on the contrary, this is a common practice in the F1 paddock.

But for the strongest active driver, Alonso, to choose tactics over direct confrontation against a rookie, this was somewhat unexpected and somewhat unacceptable for the fans.

Yet it was this unexpectedness that ensured the success of this tactic.

Kubica and Rosberg were both baffled; if it weren’t for Vettel being far ahead, he too might have been overtaken.

"FUCK, FUCK, Ferrari is still unscrupulous in pursuit of victory!"

In the Renault Team’s outdoor command post, team leader Briatore slammed his headset heavily in anger.

During practice and qualifying, the camera was mostly focused on Rosberg. In fact, during the third qualifying session, it wasn’t just Chen Xiangbei who set a ’star circle’.

Kubica also ran his own ’star circle’ in the final stages.

But in competitive sports, even the runner-up doesn’t usually get their due attention—who cares about the fourth place’s performance?

But for the Renault Team, this was proof of the driver’s pure strength, Kubica being the only contemporary rival according to Hamilton!

In fact, in the historical 2010 Monaco Station, Kubica’s performance was even more impressive; he directly secured second place in qualifying and also stood on the podium, finishing third in the race.

This is why, despite their pride, the Ferrari Team unprecedentedly pre-booked a driver’s signing.

Driving cars ranked around fifth or sixth in the paddock and achieving the second-best result on the toughest track, doesn’t that sufficiently prove speed and potential?

Unfortunately, Renault Team’s joy was short-lived, as Alonso played a ’shameless’ trick, blocking the inside line while the outside driver picked up the big leak.

In the Monaco Circuit, dropping a position makes it as hard as climbing a mountain to regain it. Going from fourth to fifth inexplicably at the start, Briatore naturally couldn’t accept it.

"I didn’t expect Bei to grow to a point where even Ferrari would compromise."

The sports manager Nelson beside him sighed.

To think that when they first saw Chen Xiangbei, he was just a rookie, and the team management only willing to sign him for the third driver’s seat.

In just one year, even the Ferrari Team has to avoid his sharpness.

"In the face of a championship, what is compromise?"

Briatore replied reluctantly.

Although he felt very aggrieved and angry, if he were in Ferrari’s strategy group’s position, he would undoubtedly make the same choice.

The value brought by a world championship far outweighs any face issue.

Meanwhile, Mercedes Team also feels quite uncomfortable.

The highly anticipated Rosberg only qualified fifth in the end, his Q3 lap time wasn’t even as perfect as his Q2.

Of course, such situations are common in F1; not every qualifying session speeds increasingly. Some drivers run incredibly fast laps in Q1, only to be directly eliminated in Q2, which happens often.

However, even at fifth, Mercedes Team’s strategy group remains confident, believing that Rosberg will definitely rely on long distances to catch up.

Even if the Monaco Circuit is hard to overtake, Rosberg’s long-distance is better than his single lap, plus familiarity with the home track. In the seventy-eight-lap race, he will eventually find an opportunity to make a move.

But now things are looking bleak; if Ferrari’s dual-car tactic involves blocking other cars, the gap between the mid-field and front racers will widen more and more, and Rosberg won’t just have a hard time sprinting for the championship, even the hope of reaching the podium will be slim.

The only variable is a track incident!

Just as Ross Brown predicted, after the seven or eight front runners passed the corner, Perez, in tenth and Hockenheim, in eleventh from the mid-field, fought for the line, causing the latter to crash into a barrier and retire, and the event center immediately deployed a safety car.

At this time, Schumacher, a Mercedes driver who was eliminated in Q2, immediately chose to pit in and change tires, altering and transferring the fate that originally belonged to Alonso.

"The Mexican kid is quite tough."

Briatore saw the moment Perez was wheel-to-wheel and said meaningfully to Odetto.

Before the race, their trash-talk content was essentially about how to pressure Perez to entirely give up on the Monaco Station results and act as Chen Xiangbei’s wingman.

Odetto hoped it would happen naturally, given the apparent positional gap between the two drivers, not necessarily running together to be effective.

Briatore, however, didn’t care and intended to have Perez slow down to the point of being lapped; by then, whoever was in front of Chen Xiangbei would shield the track against the blue flag warnings to create overtaking chances.

If Perez was unwilling, they would use the season’s contract to pressure him.

The Italian old fox hadn’t announced a driver’s contract for a long time, partly to raise funds and partly to better control the drivers.

As for union spirit, sportsmanship, and so on, in his eyes, they are nothing but crap.

If you don’t want to do it, get lost—there’s always someone else wanting to run in F1!

Briatore’s words meant to tell Odetto that Perez’s character is actually tougher than imagined; relying solely on letting things go wouldn’t necessarily make the Mexican kid obedient.

"Tough is better than being a wimp."

Odetto replied, understanding Briatore’s point, but overly squeezing a wingman is not a long-term solution.

To this, Briatore only showed a mocking smile, believing time would prove he was right.

The safety car was brought out on the third lap, and Red Bull Racing Team’s Weber retired due to engine failure.

This scene shocked the whole audience, knowing Weber currently ranked second in the points standings, trailing only Alonso and ahead of Vettel.

If he retires and scores no points, he will be completely out of contention among championship drivers.

A veteran, competing for over ten years, closest to a world championship this time, ending his contention this way is somewhat cruel, to be honest.

So much so that Weber sat in his broken car’s cabin and couldn’t initially respond to the track workers’ inquiries, with two tear streaks silently flowing beneath his visor.

This is F1; until the last moment, nobody knows what the outcome will be.

Regret is inherently a part of the race!