All-round Athlete

Chapter 722: The Boss' Reward

Saturday afternoon is the race time for the F1 European Grand Prix.

The Valencia track can accommodate more than 100,000 spectators, but today, the stands around the track are already full.

Of course, the vast majority of Spaniards are Alonso fans, so there are many Alonso supporters at the scene. They wave the Spanish flag and support their own compatriots. Almost all foreign audiences want to witness Schumacher's comeback. It can be said that this race, as Schumacher's comeback battle, has already touched the hearts of sports fans all over the world.

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the green light in the maintenance area came on, and the first qualifying session officially started.

When Schumacher appeared on the track driving the red Ferrari, it immediately attracted the attention of all spectators. At this time, no matter the other drivers running on the track or the drivers waiting for the car in the maintenance area, they all became For Schumacher's foil, the TV broadcast camera also followed Schumacher's picture throughout the whole process, and followed Schumacher's timing circle.

"Schumacher looks young. Although he is forty years old, his speed is not behind those young people."

"After a three-year absence, I thought Schumacher had lost his sense of the game, but now it seems that he has at least returned to the level of an ordinary driver."

On the track, Schumacher refreshed his fastest single-lap speed lap after lap. From within 1 minute and 42 seconds, to within 1 minute and 41 seconds, and then to within 1 minute and 40 seconds, Schumacher has touched the second row. The threshold of the position match.

Finally, Schumacher ran out of brother Lu Yu's time of 1:39.082, which was enough for him to enter the second qualifying session at the Valencia circuit. The car king was also very satisfied with this result. He did not Continue to hit better results, but choose to return to the maintenance area.

In the second qualifying session, Schumacher's performance was still stable. Not only did he successfully run within 1 minute and 39 seconds, but he also ranked in the top ten and successfully entered the third qualifying session. The first goal I set for myself has been achieved.

Ferrari's car was relatively competitive in Valencia, but not the strongest. At the Valencia circuit, the two strongest teams are China Force and McLaren. It is worth mentioning that both teams use Mercedes-Benz engines.

The Mercedes-Benz engine is very suitable for this track. Even in the third qualifying session, the car has been filled with race fuel, and their car can still run within 1:39.5. For example, Barrichello, his score is exactly 1 minute 39 seconds 500, this lap speed is 0.289 seconds faster than the fifth place Vettel.

However, Barrichello finally only took the third place, and the defending champion Hamilton surpassed Barrichello by 0.002 seconds. However, there is a gap of nearly 0.1 seconds between Hamilton and Zhang Guan who is the first. Zhang Guan, who has not tasted the championship for two consecutive races, once again got the pole position.

China Force and McLaren took the top four places, Vettel ranked fifth, Ferrari's two cars ranked sixth and seventh respectively, followed by Renault's Alonso.

As a local Spanish player, Alonso only ranked eighth in the home game. This is obviously not good for a world champion driver, but with Renault's level this year, he can get eighth. The name is also pretty good.

As for the car king Schumacher, he gave everyone a surprise. He ranked seventh. For a 40-year-old veteran who has been away from the car industry for three years, he can drive a It is not a small achievement for a racing car that does not belong to him to defeat a group of young people who can be his sons and enter the top eight points.

Moreover, in tomorrow's main race, Schumacher and Alonso will start on the same row. The rematch between these two old enemies after three years is enough to cause a lot of topics in the media.

...

On August 23, the main race of the F1 European Grand Prix kicked off.

Hamilton sat on the car with high spirits, and the second place in qualifying was his best qualifying result this season. And this ranking also made him look forward to winning the championship of this station.

After all, Hamilton was the world champion last season. Originally, he was full of confidence and wanted to win two consecutive championships. However, the rise of Chinese power and Red Bull made him only ranked fifth in the standings. Now that the season is halfway through, Hamilton has missed the championship, but he very much hopes to win a championship to prove that he is not a flash in the pan.

Benefiting from the engine of Mercedes-Benz, the McLaren team showed strong competitiveness in this race, but the beneficiary is not only McLaren, but also Chinese power, and Zhang Guan still won the championship The biggest competitor of the sub-station champion.

"I want to win. I must win this race. I finally got the chance to start on the front row. I will try my best!" Hamilton couldn't help but encourage himself in his heart.

Five red lights went out, the race started, Hamilton started immediately, and Zhang Guan next to him was not far behind.

"The corner is mine!" Hamilton tried hard to seize the route into the corner, and he almost collided with Zhang Guan's car.

"Danger!" Even the commentator couldn't help shouting.

Zhang Guan was also surprised by Hamilton's aggressive grabbing. He knew that Hamilton had a criminal record of dangerous driving. This black kid really dared to fight for both sides, and Zhang Guan, who had never tasted the championship in two races Guan obviously didn't want to be knocked out at the beginning of the race, and he chose to give up the corner position to Hamilton.

"I succeeded! Entered the corner first and grabbed the first place!" Hamilton felt ecstasy in his heart. He felt that his first championship of this year had begun to wave to him.

However, Hamilton's joy did not last long, because the next second he found that Zhang Guan had been posted, and began to try to overtake.

"Want to overtake? I won't let you overtake." Hamilton immediately began to recall Zhang Guan's overtaking technical characteristics, and then prepared to make targeted defenses. Know nothing.

...

Every driver has a different driving style and has different technical characteristics when overtaking. Some drivers like to steal the line, others like to brake late, and some drivers like to use tactical shakes to confuse opponents. And if you know that the opponent is good at using that method to overtake, you can carry out targeted defense, which can reduce the defender's disadvantage in offensive and defensive battles.

Among the eight F1 championships that Zhang Guan has won so far, except for the rainy race with a set of tires in the Malaysian race, the others all finished the race in the lead, that is, the first place on the grid, and then led all the way to the finish line . As for the champion of the Malaysian Grand Prix, he mainly relied on not pitting to change tires to gain an advantage, which can be regarded as a strategic transcendence.

It can be said that Zhang Guan showed an excellent leading level, but he did not show much in terms of overtaking. Therefore, Hamilton does not have Zhang Guan's technical characteristics in overtaking.

"That guy Zhang Guan has always been the leader, even if he overtakes, he is a slow car that is caught in the lap. Damn it, F1 has passed more than half of the season, and I still don't know how the number one driver overtakes! "Hamilton felt an absurd feeling in his heart.

Zhang Guan began to put pressure on Hamilton, put pressure on and wait for the opponent to make mistakes, which is what some experienced drivers often do. Hamilton also knew this very well, but he was helpless, because he didn't know Zhang Guan's technical characteristics when overtaking, so he couldn't judge when Zhang Guan would overtake. He could only be on guard all the time.

The so-called not afraid of being stolen by thieves is afraid of being missed by thieves, especially knowing that you are being missed by thieves, you will always think about how to prevent thieves. The same is true for Hamilton now. Although he is the leader, he can't play according to his own rhythm. Zhang Guan is always hanging behind him, so he has to devote a lot of energy to defend.

In an F1 race, it is easy for the leader to get rid of the drivers behind him, because there are no other cars in front of the leader, and he can run at his own pace without worrying about being suppressed by other cars. While the person ranked second is subject to the leader in front, he will also be attacked by the third behind. The second defending the third will consume some energy, so the speed will slow down and be thrown away by the leader.

However, Barrichello is ranked third today. It is obviously impossible for Barrichello to overtake his boss, and he has to help his boss to block the cars behind him as much as possible, so Zhang Guan does not have to worry about overtaking behind him at all, and can concentrate on it against Hamilton.

Behind Barrichello is Kovalainen. This young player is very aggressive, but his experience is much worse than that of Barrichello, who has more than ten years of experience in F1 competitions. Experience can play a double role in defense. It is difficult for Kovalainen to surpass Barrichello when the gap between the two cars is not large.

The cars running in front are fighting, and the cars behind will naturally catch up, just like driving on the road. On a road with a speed limit of 50 kilometers, the car in the front must run at 30 kilometers, and the car behind Crashing is inevitable. In the competition, pressing the car means the opportunity to surpass, means more chasing, means more fighting.

...

The track is full of fights between cars, you overtake me, I overtake you, almost every car is in the midst of fierce competition, which makes the audience dazzled, and the director of the broadcaster does not know what to do. Whoever the camera is aimed at can only insert one slow motion after another.

And on the track, the drivers are also full of passion. The most attractive part of motorsports is not the speed, but the exciting feeling when overtaking, which is true for the spectators as well as for the drivers. Any racing driver has a heart to surpass the car in front, otherwise he cannot be a racing driver. But now the distance between the cars is very close, allowing the drivers to find room to play, each of them is staring at the front, trying to overtake.

Only Hamilton did not feel the passion brought by speed. Everyone else was trying to overtake the car in front, but he was the only one who was always guarding against Zhang Guan who was behind.

Hamilton looked in the rearview mirror, estimated the distance between him and Zhang Guan, and felt a little irritated.

"In the two laps just now, the route I took was already at the limit, but I still didn't distance myself from Zhang Guan. It seemed that I couldn't get rid of him at all! No, I have to run to the limit. I must get rid of him. he!"

Hamilton was originally a driver who liked to use the shoulder of the road, that is, his line would go to the limit, so his speed was very fast, but what followed was that he sacrificed his tires, and his running method also Very tire consuming.

Moreover, in Spain in August, the weather is also very hot. For example, today, the temperature reached 30 degrees, and the temperature of the track even exceeded 40 degrees. It also makes the tire wear much faster.

Sure enough, on the 16th lap, Hamilton's headset sounded a reminder from the team's strategy engineer.

"Lewis, your tires decay quickly. If you don't want to stop too early, you should run conservatively!"

"Conservative? How is this possible? Zhang Guan is chasing so closely, and his car is very fast." Hamilton retorted.

However, just as Hamilton finished speaking, he saw Zhang Guan throwing the front of his car out.

"Is he going to overtake? Is it a test?" Hamilton immediately made a defensive move, but his car did not go to its proper position as he expected.

"Oops! Has the grip of the tires begun to decay?" Hamilton only felt a red figure chasing him, and then overtook him.

"Zhang Guan, passed it. On the 16th lap, he passed Hamilton and regained the first place!"

...

Barrichello, who is ranked third, is in very good condition today, and because the fuel load of the car is getting less and less, the weight of the car is getting lighter and lighter, and his speed is getting faster and faster. Got the fastest lap time.

Around lap 20, the light-laden car started its first pit stop, but the ranking did not change much, and the distance between the drivers was not widened too much. It is possible to leave opponents behind on a high-speed track, but it is impossible to lead too much.

On lap 24, Vettel's car exploded. His engine was replaced at the German station in early July. After passing the German station and the Hungarian station, it came to the European race. The high-speed track and hot weather made the engine overwhelmed and Vettel had to quit. After the game, the gap between him and Zhang Guan will also widen.

On the 37th lap, Barrichello set the fastest lap time again. On the same lap, Hamilton pitted, but the technician made a mistake in changing the tire. Hamilton's tire changing time reached 13.4 seconds, which was four times slower than the estimated time. Seconds, while Barrichello, behind, used the light car to continuously refresh the fastest speed.

On the 40th lap, Barrichello came into the pit to refuel. When he walked out of the maintenance area, he was just four seconds ahead of Hamilton. That is to say, the four seconds lost by the McLaren technician's mistake in changing tires allowed Barrichello to complete the race against Hamilton. beyond. After passing, Barrichello ran faster and faster, slowly widening the gap with Hamilton.

Going on like this, Zhang Guan is first, and Barrichello is second, and Chinese power will once again sweep the top two.

...

On the 42nd lap, Zhang Guan also chose the second pit stop to refuel, and it took 10.3 seconds.

However, what Zhang Guan didn't expect was that when he ran out of the maintenance area, a red racing car just passed him.

"Red, Ferrari?" Zhang Guan took a closer look, but found that it was his teammate Barrichello.

"Hey, did the old Barrichello beat me up today? He ran so fast that he even passed me!" Zhang Guan thought to himself.

"There is Barrichello in front of you. I will let him slow down and let you pass at the end of the next straight." Ross Brown's voice came from the headset.

Team orders are an integral part of motorsports, and it is normal for the second driver to give way to the first driver, not to mention that Zhang Guan is the owner of the team, so Barrichello will naturally give up the first place.

But Zhang Guan said: "Let him run with all his strength!"

"What?" Ross Brown asked incredulously, and he didn't know if he didn't hear what Zhang Guan was saying clearly, or didn't understand Zhang Guan's meaning, or both.

"I mean let Barrichello run with all his strength! He is also a member of the team. He has been working hard and contributing to the team. He should taste the taste of the championship once." Zhang Guan silently looked ahead, his face But involuntarily there was a relieved smile.

...

Barrichello looked carefully at the rearview mirror and recognized that Zhang Guan was running behind.

Subconsciously, Barrichello felt that he should give up the first position, so he spoke to the radio and said: "I will brake earlier at the end of the next straight to give up the turn-in position."

"No, run with all your strength!" Rose Brown's voice sounded.

"What?" Barrichello also asked the same word inexplicably. It is unknown whether he did not hear what Zhang Guan was saying clearly, did not understand Zhang Guan's meaning, or both.

"I mean let you run with all your strength and compete for the championship!" Ross Brown continued.

"Let me take the first? Are you kidding me?" Barrichello said.

"It's not my decision, it's Zhang Guan's decision!" Rose Brown explained.

"Is there something I did wrong? Maybe I'm going to be fired!" Barrichello panicked.

"Zhang Guan said that you have been working hard and paying for the team, so you should taste the taste of the championship." Ross Brown then added: "Well, these are his exact words!"

"Boss, what do you mean by that?" Barrichello was stunned for a second before he asked. At this time, he even called Zhang Guan "Boss".

"What do you mean? Hehehe, it means that the European championship is yours! You can treat it as a reward from the boss!" Ross Brown laughed while talking.