On the starting grid at the Silverstone Circuit, twenty race cars were neatly parked, with the pole position on the far right occupied by Chen Xiangbei’s white-painted No. 13 Renault car.
"Xiangbei, drink so water to calm your nerves."
At this mont, Lu Xiaoman handed over a water bottle. Since the Renault junior series did not have the water supply systems like those in F1 cars, drivers could only hydrate before the race.
Drinking water at this ti also served to regulate one’s emotions.
"Mm."
Chen Xiangbei took the water bottle and sipped it gently through a straw.
"Xiangbei-kun, the air and track temperature are currently quite low, so completing the warm-up lap may not achieve optimal tire temperatures."
"The battle at the first corner of the track is often very intense. You need to keep an eye on your opponents’ positions through the rearview mirror to prevent them from intentionally or unintentionally causing track incidents, understand?"
Sawano Hiroyuki held a tactical board with reminders for the drivers to note during the race.
Particularly, the start and the first corner were highlighted at the top.
It must be noted that Chen Xiangbei was starting from pole position, so any track incident would be the most disadvantageous to him; he had to find a way to avoid collisions.
Opponents often exploited this mindset with a "barefoot don’t fear those with shoes" tactic, directly going into the first corner with a do-or-die attitude, forcing the pole sitter to brake and yield the best entry line.
In the early days when Japanese drivers competed in Europe, they often suffered losses over fears of car damage and compensation.
Until aggressive drivers like Sato Takuma, Ino Yuji, and Nakajima Ikki appeared, emphasizing a "crash if you must, whoever brakes is a coward" ntality, did the European drivers’ pressuring behavior slightly recede.
Then with strength differences, Japanese drivers took a more "aggressive" stance.
If you don’t crash , I’ll actively crash into you on the track!
Ino Yuji needs no ntion; this guy is just... naive.
Sato Takuma, hailed as a historic genius from Japan, also entered F1 with reckless and crash-prone behavior. Even King of Cars Schumacher had been torpedoed by him several tis, nearly leading to an all-out brawl on the track.
To Chen Xiangbei’s outside was Magnussen, known during his karting days for being impulsive and rough, with high incident rates and penalties, yet impressively fast in single laps.
Sawano Hiroyuki was genuinely worried that the opponent might put strong pressure on Chen Xiangbei, forcing the pole position to surrender the line.
Even though team leader Odetto has pointed out Chen Xiangbei’s psychological shortcomings, urging him to be tougher on the track, it’s still uncertain whether he would habitually yield in such wheel-to-wheel situations.
Even if Chen Xiangbei has overco the psychological "fear," Magnussen is not one to fake intimidation; he’s truly willing to clash with the pole sitter.
Without giving way, Chen Xiangbei would also suffer, seemingly creating an unsolvable dilemma.
Furthermore, with insufficient tire temperatures, grip would naturally be reduced.
Even without the intention to crash, the full-throttle acceleration down the long starting straight often leads to late braking incidents.
Even F1 isn’t short of iconic "torpedo" monts, let alone such a lower-tier Renault series.
"Understood, I will hold my own through the corners."
Chen Xiangbei nodded, not showing much concern.
As long as my start is fast enough, the cars behind won’t catch !
Besides this crucial point, Sawano Hiroyuki advised Chen Xiangbei on several key considerations.
For instance, pay attention to long-distance tire wear and prevent brake disc overheating, among others.
In terms of professional issues, Sawano Hiroyuki had no equal, after all, being a two-ti champion of Japan’s top-tier races.
However, being of the older generation and considering Japanese national character, he couldn’t be as free-spirited or rule-breaking as Odetto.
Soon, the countdown sounded, reminding non-essential personnel to leave the track.
At this mont, Liang Chi ca to Chen Xiangbei’s side, patted his shoulder, and said, "Kid, go for it, strive to make the national anthem play on the podium."
"Uncle Liang, I will."
Chen Xiangbei smiled and nodded, then lowered the visor of his helt, hiding his face in shadow.
As team mbers and staff withdrew from the track, the rcedes CLK55 safety car positioned itself at the back of the grid to lead the cars, while the drivers fixed their eyes on the lights above the crossbar.
When the five red lights went out, Chen Xiangbei took the lead, starting first and weaving on the track to warm up the tires.
The warm-up lap during a race and that during qualifying differ. In qualifying, it is not really called a "warm-up lap," just tire warming.
Drivers can exit the pit and overtake at will, with no order restrictions regarding the cars ahead or behind.
During the race, however, tire warming must strictly follow the qualifying order, with overtaking prohibited throughout the process.
As everyone weaves back and forth on the track, overtaking can easily lead to collisions, which can be considered dangerous driving by race officials.
Moreover, theoretically, this overtaking holds no aning; post-warm-up, you’d still line up according to your starting grid, unable to better your starting position.
Of course, exceptions happen. There are many famous incidents of overtaking during warm-up laps.
For instance, in 2018, Perez indiscriminately overtook Hartley and was directly penalized with a ten-second penalty by the FIA.
The most famous warm-up lap overtaking incident in history would be in 1994 when Schumacher overtook twice at this very Silverstone Circuit, challenging British driver Damon Hill, who later beca an F1 world champion, in front of tens of thousands of ho fans.
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