Red nodded in agreent, not optimistic about Perez’s ability to open up a distance.
The Toyota engine roared deafeningly, yet Perez’s expression was very serious. He knew this was the mont to show his absolute speed, which would greatly help in replacing Trulli to secure a full-ti driver seat.
Since arriving with the team at the Lingyan Circuit on Thursday, Perez had been continuously practicing on the simulator and learning, but the approach of showing absolute speed is completely different from the long-distance tire managent strategy.
One is fast, the other is stable!
Perez’s lap tis earlier weren’t slow, and he could keep up with Chen Xiangbei’s tail, as he was a pursuer.
Now as a leader, he needs to create his own cutting corner paths and challenge the limits of each corner of the track, which demands exponentially higher driver reactions, skills, proficiency, and even courage.
Perez couldn’t help but admit that the psychological pressure was imnse.
At this mont, he sowhat admired Chen Xiangbei; this Chinese teammate had only raced a few more races, yet how did he achieve such "tranquil as water" pressure resistance, never allowing personal mistakes or external pressure to breach his psychological defenses?
17.95.
18.33.
19.07...
Track monitoring data continued to update, and the gap in lap tis between Perez and Vettel kept widening.
After one lap, the gap had reached just over 20 seconds, basically achieving the team’s expected 3-second single-lap lead.
Just as everyone thought things would develop in a good direction, the gap widened dramatically in the next lap as Vettel’s tire temperature rose and he began pushing, stagnating when it reached 21.5 seconds.
Seeing Vettel’s speed increasing, Bard couldn’t help but urge, "Perez, can you push a bit faster?"
Bard is Perez’s race engineer, and aside from their personal relationship, he is extrely hopeful that this young xican can seize the opportunity to showcase his strength.
Absolute speed is the benchmark for judging a driver’s potential.
Only with absolute speed, even if the results are poor, others will believe you still have untapped potential.
If not, even if you score well and rank high all season, you might still be eliminated by the team.
"I can."
Perez agreed without hesitation.
A driver who fails to seize opportunities will be eliminated even if they have abilities.
Biting his teeth, he floored the accelerator to speed up again, but sotis just wanting to go faster doesn’t an you can.
The entrance speed exceeding the limit caused Perez’s car to skid, disrupting the previously smooth line into utter chaos, even leading to frantic corrective maneuvers.
Chen Xiangbei, watching all this from the car behind, did not seize the chance to overtake, but rather reported Perez’s tire situation to the team.
The reason is simple: Chen Xiangbei’s tires were also at the end of their lifespan, and without using Perez’s slipstream, he couldn’t increase his speed even if he overtook.
If that’s the case, why take advantage of a teammate’s weakness to eliminate them?
Fortunately, Perez’s basic skills were solid, and he managed to steady the car precariously without crashing into the barrier.
However, this incident made Perez imdiately revert to a conservative speed, making it impossible to pull away from Vettel.
The only thing that could be done now was to avoid Vettel’s rapid approach as much as possible.
"Liang, prepare for a double-car pit stop."
Odetto promptly issued a command to the team’s technical group, with the original strategy planned for about twenty-five laps being expedited. Otherwise, the tire gap would allow Vettel to catch up at about two seconds per lap, making it impossible to open up a pit stop window!
But this mont brought another severe test, which was the double-car pit stop.
This is an advanced pit stop operation that even top factory teams can’t guarantee completing smoothly, and for a new team like HRT, it’s almost a leapfrog challenge!
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