But Rosberg, in order to regain his position, was so close to Chen Xiangbei’s car that their distance could be asured in centiters, and on the broadcast footage, it looked as if the two cars were about to collide.
Under normal circumstances, this kind of "zero distance" wheel-to-wheel battle puts enormous psychological pressure on rookies.
Whether for performance, considering car damage, or purely instinctive reactions, rookies often instinctively hit the brakes and steer to avoid.
But as soon as they dodge, they’re bound to give up their racing line, allowing the opponent to overtake!
The biggest difference between top racers and ordinary drivers, or even ordinary racers, is their ability to restrain many instinctive reactions.
Chen Xiangbei showed no signs of backing off, he hesitantly walked the tightrope alongside Rosberg, ensuring that he wouldn’t commit a foul by crossing the white lines with all four wheels.
At this mont, Chen Xiangbei was very aware that if he backed off, Kubica would seize the opportunity. Unless he could use tire strategy to undercut Rosberg, chances to chase and overtake were slim.
Rosberg, of course, didn’t understand Chen Xiangbei’s psychology, his mindset at this point was to use continuous wheel-to-wheel fighting to force Chen Xiangbei into oppressive errors.
No matter how outstanding Chen Xiangbei’s start or how precise his gear shifting acceleration timing, he couldn’t change his identity as a rookie.
Car skills can explode, but psychological state takes the grind of countless races.
Don’t ntion a rookie, even many seasoned racers often make mistakes under opponent pressure, especially under the massive ntal pressure of contention for the championship.
Rosberg’s greatest asset was his stable mindset.
He believed there was no problem in overpowering a rookie!
Reality, however, delivered Rosberg a harsh slap, as Chen Xiangbei showed no signs of backing off despite the cars having already touched noses.
The competitive pressure and the mounting oppression from the opponent’s attack indeed surged towards Chen Xiangbei.
But emotional stability was also Chen Xiangbei’s asset!
The two cars braked and steered in synchrony, and in terms of control techniques and speed, they almost reached a consensus.
However, Chen Xiangbei, relying on his line advantage, achieved a faster exit acceleration, and once past the T1 corner, he officially completed the overtake on Rosberg, moving up to sixth place on the track.
"NICE!"
The strategy team mbers at the HRT Team’s outdoor command post almost jumped up from their seats in excitent.
Odetto and others had set Chen Xiangbei’s starting goals just to hold his position.
After all, F1, unlike lower-level formulas, has an extraordinarily intense scramble at the start.
Even well-known drivers often drop positions at the start.
For a rookie, front and back threats and still managing an overtake was nothing short of a miracle!
Compared to lower-level formulas, the F1 command system had significant changes, where the team set up an outdoor command post on the opposite side in the pit wall position.
An outdoor command post usually has seven positions, with a row of screens to display teletry data. The team’s race engineers, competition director, sports director, team leader, and other strategy group mbers would sit outside to observe the track more closely.
However, so frugal teams would reduce the scale of the outdoor command post, like the Haas Team’s MINI command post with only three positions.
Additionally, there’s no mandatory requirent for strategy group mbers to be at the outdoor command post. Future rcedes team leader Toto Wolff would watch races only from inside the pit room.
According to him, he preferred being part of managent and didn’t want to interfere with strategy group decisions.
Of course, it also might be because the pit room has air conditioning.
With all cars past the first corner, the chaotic scene of parallel battles in the start phase ended, and more than twenty F1 cars lined up in a snake formation, relying on stronger control and line advantages to solidify their leads.
Simultaneously, the rankings on the track beca clear, and the entire audience could see from the broadcast screen that Chen Xiangbei had moved ahead of Rosberg, taking the sixth position!
"The new driver Xiangbei is sowhat unexpected, climbing up the ranks right at the start."
"After all, he’s a driver who jumped levels to enter the pit, Xiangbei is stronger than many perceive."
"Still, he’s just a Chinese rookie, Rosberg will overtake him back!"
"Co on Rosberg, take down the Chinese guy!"
The European fans in the stands couldn’t contain their emotions, furiously cheering for Rosberg.
They absolutely couldn’t accept that the top echelon of German cars would lose to a Chinese rookie.
Not only couldn’t the fans accept it, Rosberg himself felt the sa.
Beneath his helt visor was a face full of shock!
Throughout his four-year career, regardless of highs or lows, Rosberg had never suffered such a blow as today.
Despite starting without any mistakes and imdiately reacting with blocking lines and wheel-to-wheel fighting, the Chinese rookie stood firm under pressure!
This was almost beyond Rosberg’s comprehension; the last ti a driver was this competitive, his na was Hamilton!
However, the shock was short-lived, as Rosberg quickly adjusted his mindset, sticking close to Chen Xiangbei’s rear, constantly launching fierce attacks through changes of line and driving paths.
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