Car Racing without Money-Chapter 508 - 198: Far Beyond Expectations—Attack and Defense (Part 3)

Chapter 508: Chapter 198: Far Beyond Expectations—Attack and Defense (Part 3)

Overtaking at the start of a fifty-seven lap race is just the beginning.

Rosberg is full of confidence, believing that he can take back the lead!

In the face of Rosberg’s attack, Chen Xiangbei keeps glancing at the rearview mirror, synchronously switching lanes to follow a defensive route, firmly blocking the opponent behind his car.

To be honest, compared to overtaking before, this scenario of being chased puts more pressure on Chen Xiangbei.

After all, in lower-level formula races, Chen Xiangbei is either the attacker or leading far ahead, rarely facing such continuous defense situations.

A slight carelessness might lead to oppressive mistakes.

But Chen Xiangbei quickly adjusts his mindset; he knows very well that as a professional driver, he must adapt to and get accustomed to intense offensive and defensive battles.

In the F1 Paddock, the lap time for the first place might be ahead of the last by a significant margin, but it’s challenging to dominate an entire group of drivers!

This means facing the pressure of overtaking and being overtaken every moment.

Only with absolute calm judgment can one remain unbeaten!

The car speeds through the T2 and T3 turns one after the other, and Chen Xiangbei, in order to block Rosberg’s overtaking, doesn’t have the spare capacity to avoid the bumpy sections of the track, causing sparks as the chassis scrapes against the asphalt surface.

Of course, Rosberg isn’t faring much better; both are engaged in a gamble.

"F1 competition is so fierce; I wonder if Xiangbei-kun can hold his position."

Sawano Hiroyuki, seeing this scene, shows a worried expression on his face.

Even though Japan’s Super Formula is reputed as the second fastest racing series on the planet, it still has an insurmountable gap with F1.

This gap refers not only to speed but also to the distinction in driver capability.

The offensive and defensive battles between top drivers are like dancing on a knife’s edge, competing over centimeters at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per hour.

Any slight mistake, and overtaking becomes the least of concerns; it can easily lead to a collision.

"Xiangbei’s defense is much stronger than I anticipated."

Odetto doesn’t give a direct answer but instead offers indirect praise to Chen Xiangbei.

Over a year of working with him, Odetto rarely sees Chen Xiangbei in wheel-to-wheel battles; lower-level formula races usually end swiftly without much grappling.

Chen Xiangbei’s current ability to firmly fend off Rosberg is indeed an impressive performance!

On the track, the intense duels aren’t limited to Chen Xiangbei; McLaren’s front-row driver, Hamilton, is also launching fierce attacks on Ferrari Team’s Masa.

Masa is considered a celebrity in F1; as a South American, his driving style is extremely aggressive and wild, with absolute speed teetering on the edge of control, and Brazilian fans even regard him as the next Senna.

However, although Masa’s strengths are long, his weaknesses are equally short!

His attribute as a "landlubber" dooms him to difficulty in becoming a world champion, let alone a legend like Senna.

Besides, while Masa’s starts are strong, he isn’t good at overtaking, especially not adept in melee, and his offense and defense are not sharp enough.

From the 2010 to 2013 seasons, he often got overpowered by Hamilton!

To some extent, Masa’s style is very well-suited to being a number two driver, and in the year he partnered with Schumacher at Ferrari, he perfectly replaced Barrichello’s ecological niche.

Unfortunately, with Schumacher’s retirement, the team elevated Masa to the number one driver’s position, leading to the historic "10-second champion" incident in 2008.

The final race of the 2008 season took place in São Paulo, Brazil; Masa was leading in the standings with a high probability of claiming the world champion title in his home ground.

Spectators on the ground were eagerly witnessing the birth of another world champion from Brazil!

For this moment, Brazilian fans had waited for fourteen years, countless days and nights hoping for a Brazilian driver to follow in Senna’s footsteps and uphold the South American racing banner.

On track, Masa crossed the finish line first on the last lap, throwing the entire arena into madness, including all the Ferrari crew members who were celebrating the Brazilian’s acquisition of the world champion title for the year.

However, just a dozen seconds later, Hamilton overtook Timo Glock, who had gambled on dry tires in the rain, at the penultimate turn, reversing Masa by one point to become the world champion!

From then on, the title "Heroic Senna, Tragic Masa" became synonymous with Masa’s career.

It was from that moment that Masa completely lost the courage and strength to compete against Hamilton.

But F1 Paddock races are not one-on-one duels; behind Hamilton, there’s another king launching an offensive, preventing him from fully attacking Masa.

He is Alonso from the Ferrari Team!

At the peak of his powers, Alonso is another hexagonal warrior and a formidable mountain standing before the relatively young Hamilton.

Drivers at the front are tangled in fierce battles, and those in the mid-rear positions are equally competitive.

In the midfield group, there’s Button and Schumacher, two world champions!

Even though the current absolute speed of the veterans isn’t on par with the "new kings" in the paddock, they are still forces to be reckoned with.

In just the short opening lap, the rankings are almost constantly changing.

It wasn’t until the second lap that an unexpected scene unfolded on the track.

Initially behind Chen Xiangbei, Kubica seized on Rosberg’s mistake in his offensive line, successfully overtaking and moving up to the seventh place.

Meanwhile, Chen Xiangbei used this moment to pull away slightly, stepping on the gas to catch Alonso’s slipstream.

He also wants to show his prowess to this "evergreen" of F1 history!

He also wants to show his prowess to this "evergreen" of F1 history!