All-round Athlete

Chapter 725

"This is really a race without peeing. Schumacher and Zhang Guan fought from the beginning to the end of the race. The two contributed a wonderful offensive and defensive battle. In the end, the car king still failed to surpass Zhang Guan. , Zhang Guan crossed the finish line with a lead of 1.8 seconds. 1.8 seconds is not even considered a gap on other tracks, but on the high-speed track of Spa, it is really difficult to open up such a large distance between drivers. But in the press conference after the race, Zhang Guan didn't think he was the winner, and Schumacher praised Zhang Guan's performance in the race." - "Racing" magazine.

At the press conference after the Belgian Grand Prix, three people in red racing uniforms sat on the podium. At first glance, they even thought that these three people were from the same team.

"Zhang Guan, congratulations on winning the Belgian Grand Prix. This is your ninth championship this year, and you beat Schumacher in today's race. Do you have any special feelings to share? For everyone?" A local reporter asked first.

"I am honored to be able to compete with Schumacher, but I think I did not win this game. At best, I and Schumacher were tied. I was in a defensive position during the game. Everyone should know that defense requires It's easier than attacking, if I was attacking and Schumacher was defending, maybe I would have been far away by him." Zhang Guan replied with a smile.

Schumacher's fans are obviously very satisfied with Zhang Guan's answer. Racing is different from other sports. In many people's eyes, racing drivers are more gentlemanly than athletes in other sports. It seems to have become the unspoken rule of this sport to flatter each other after the game. Sometimes two people Even if there is hatred, they will not blame each other. This is different from boxing, where the fighters are always fighting each other, whether it's before or after the fight, it's like gunpowder.

...

With the end of the Belgian Grand Prix, Zhang Guan firmly stood at the top of the standings with 103 points. Comparing the points of other drivers, the media have played the banner that Zhang Guan has won this year's championship ahead of schedule.

There are still five races left in this year's F1 race, which means that the drivers can get up to 50 points. The current second place is Zhang Guan's teammate Barrichello, who has 58 points, and he is also the only driver who is theoretically possible to surpass Zhang Guan in total points, but as the second driver of China Force Team, Barrichello Even if Luo withdraws forcibly, he will not surpass Zhang Guan.

The third-ranked Vettel currently has 51 points. Even if Vettel won the championship in the last five games, Vettel's points can only reach 101 points. Will be two points more than Vettel. Therefore, it is impossible for Vettel to surpass Zhang Guan in total points.

It is impossible for Vettel in third place to surpass Zhang Guan, and of course the drivers behind him are even more impossible. Therefore, Zhang Guan has actually won this year's F1 championship five races ahead of schedule.

The championship has lost its suspense, but the attention of Formula One races has greatly increased. Schumacher's comeback is one reason, and the contest between Schumacher and Zhang Guan is another reason, especially the huge Chinese audience. It is to bring unlimited business opportunities to Formula One.

...

On September 11th, a special day, various commemorative activities were held in the United States, while on the other side of the Atlantic, the Monza circuit in Italy, the F1 Italian Grand Prix also started Friday's practice session.

The Monza track is the fastest track in F1. This kind of high-speed track is also a very dangerous track. The danger is not because there are more car accidents, but because once an accident occurs, there will be many accidents. Larger ones may cause casualties.

For example, in the bad weather of the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, there will be accidents in almost every year, but it is unlikely to kill people, so that kind of track is not considered dangerous. The newly built track after the 21st century is in the The first thing to consider at the beginning of the design is safety. Only those old tracks in Europe, almost every one will bear the lives of drivers.

The safety requirements of F1 races are getting higher and higher. After the misfortune of Senna, no F1 driver died due to a racing accident. The worst thing is the Paralympic champion introduced earlier. leg. Around 2000, Schumacher's broken leg was considered a very serious accident. But in Monza, even in the 21st century, people still die in accidents. In 2000, a five-car collision killed a track worker who was hit by debris from the car.

Ferrari is an Italian brand, and the Monza circuit is obviously Ferrari's home field. Ferrari has accounted for 40% of the previous champions of the Monza circuit. Since it is Ferrari's home court, of course it is also Schumacher's home court. Schumacher has driven a red Ferrari and won five championships here. It can be said that the king of this track is still Schumacher.

In fact, in those old tracks in Europe, Schumacher will always be associated with the track king. In modern F1, Schumacher's achievements are indeed unparalleled.

For Ferrari, they can give up any race, but they must not give up Monza. Even if their car is bad, they will sacrifice everything to get a podium in Monza. And the car fans here are also the craziest in Europe. When Schumacher won the championship here for the first time, the car fans rushed into the track excitedly even before the end of the race, celebrating for Schumacher, and the final celebration turned out to be There was a riot throughout the show, and hundreds of fans were taken to the hospital, and hundreds more were taken to the police station. The performance of those car fans is not even much better than the British football hooligans, and the fans can become as crazy as the fans, which is enough to see the influence of Ferrari here. And for fans, no podium is complete without a red figure.

Returning to Monza, Schumacher is of course aiming to win the championship. Ferrari even hopes to get two positions on the podium, but their road ahead is not so smooth. There will always be strong competitors and competitors in Monza. The sudden spoiler blocked Ferrari's dream of winning the championship.

On the Monza track, McLaren is Ferrari's traditional competitor. McLaren's cars are also very suitable for running on high-speed tracks. Half of the previous champions on the Monza track belong to Ferrari, and the rest Of that half, two-thirds belong to McLaren.

The spoiler is different every year, but this year's spoiler is obviously Zhang Guan. The ability of China Power's racing car on the high-speed track is not inferior to that of Ferrari. Zhang Guan is also close to Schumacher, which adds a lot of gunpowder to the game.

The results of the practice session seem to confirm this. On Friday morning, Ferrari's traditional rivals took the lead, McLaren found a suitable car configuration, and their two drivers took the top two positions in the practice session.

In the afternoon, Ferrari finally found some sense. Schumacher successfully won the first place in the practice session on Friday afternoon, but the Renault team suddenly appeared, and Schumacher's old enemy Alonso won the second place.

The practice session on Saturday morning belonged to Power China, and Zhang Guan successfully grabbed the top spot. The three teams, Ferrari, McLaren and Power China, took turns in the practice session and each won the top spot in the practice session once. .

The Monza track has only seven curves. Compared with the twists and turns of other tracks, Monza can be said to be going in circles. The competition here is speed. As long as the speed is fast enough, overtaking is relatively easy, and the same is true between drivers. There will not be a very large distance between cars. In this kind of track, although a good starting position is very important, a suitable strategy is even more important. Site strategy can be easily achieved. Because of this, the importance of Monza qualifying has been weakened a lot.

In qualifying, perhaps affected by the hopelessness of the championship, Vettel's performance was not ideal, and he was behind Alonso. In front of Alonso is Barrichello, ahead of Barrichello is Ferrari's Raikkonen and McLaren's Hamilton.

Schumacher, the car king, won the first place on the grid. Under the eyes of everyone, Schumacher played a strong role and got his first pole position after his comeback. Zhang Guan ranked second with a gap of only 0.066 seconds. Compared with the last stop, the starting order of these two people was just reversed. Previously, Zhang Guan was in front of Schumacher, but now it is Schumacher in front and Zhang Guan in the back.

...

"The F1 Italian Grand Prix is ​​about to start, and the drivers have already started to enter the tire warm-up lap. In the last race, Schumacher was behind Zhang Guan, and he tried to overtake Zhang Guan throughout the race, and today The two of them switched positions and switched offense and defense. I think Zhang Guan will continue to challenge Schumacher. The battle between Zhang Guan and Schumacher has continued from Spa to Monza!"

The commentator looked at the track, and then said: "The driver is ready, when the five red lights go out, it is the time to start!"

The entire audience held their breaths, including the commentator, and did not make a sound. They watched the red lights light up one by one. When the fifth red light was turned on, the next second, five red lights simultaneously off.

"Start!" The commentator yelled, and the roaring engine sounded on the track.

The start at the Monza track is a very long straight, and the Tribene Turn at Turn 1 is also a high-speed corner. For the driver, the accelerator can be pressed to the bottom at the start and the speed can be increased to nearly 300 kilometers. And this moment is also a good opportunity to try to surpass the opponent.

"Zhang Guan, come to Schumacher's side, he wants to surpass Schumacher!"

There was a lot of exclamation at the scene. Many people did not expect that Zhang Guan initiated the first overtaking at the beginning of the race, and everyone's eyes were focused on the first turn, where the result of Zhang Guan's attack might be told to everyone. .

The seasoned Schumacher held his first position and took the lead to enter the narrow No. 1 turn. However, Zhang Guan's overtaking did not end there, because after No. 1 turn there was a straight road, as long as he had an excellent cornering speed , can still surpass Schumacher.

Zhang Guan's cornering speed remained very good, but Schumacher's cornering speed was also very good. After the two came out of the No. 1 turn, they were still walking side by side, and Schumacher led by more than half of the car. .

"Zhang Guan is very aggressive!" The narrator clenched his fists, and the two of them reached a speed of 300 kilometers from the start, but there was still no winner.

"Do you want to overtake me with speed? The second turn ahead is a left turn, and Zhang Guan's position will be more favorable." Schumacher gritted his teeth, but still did not slow down.

"Schumi should brake! Why don't you brake?" In the command center, Ferrari's manager Domenecali was already in a cold sweat. The data showed that Schumacher's speed had exceeded 330 kilometers at this time. If he didn't brake , is likely to run off the runway at Turn 2.

I saw Schumacher brake with a big foot, and the lock of the tires caused the car to shift for a short time. The vibration on the shoulder made the front suspension of the car shake up and down, but Schumacher succeeded in grabbing the car. Better corner exit position.

"Beautiful defense!" Applause sounded from the stands next to Turn 2.

Schumacher's defense made Zhang Guan miss this opportunity. Before turning 3, Zhang Guan had to slow down and let Schumacher pass first. Turn 3 is called Logia, and it is a very dangerous corner. It was here that the five-vehicle collision that caused the death of the track staff happened.

There is a big uphill ahead, and there is only a big downhill, and then uphill and downhill again. These are not conducive to overtaking, and Zhang Guan's attack can only come to an end.

"Huh!" Schumacher let out a long breath. The offense and defense just now made him break out in a cold sweat. If it wasn't for his bold defense, perhaps Zhang Guan would really surpass him.

"This overtaking is really fierce, and his car is fast enough. If it were someone else, maybe Zhang Guan would have overtaken it. It seems that this race should not be taken lightly, otherwise it will really lose .” Schumacher was pondering, but the team’s voice sounded in the earphones.

"There was an accident. Weber of the Red Bull Racing team behind you was rear-ended, his car hit the protective wall, and a yellow flag was shown in the second stage." The strategy engineer reminded.

Schumacher breathed a sigh of relief. Overtaking is not allowed in the stage where the yellow flag is shown. On a high-speed circuit like Monza, showing the yellow flag in the second stage with the most curves basically means severing the race. In addition to the possibility of technical overtaking, in the other two stages, in terms of pure speed competition, Ferrari did not fall behind.

And it will take some time to clean up the car debris on the track, it may take four or five laps, that is, during this period of time, Schumacher will be in a safe state.

On the sixth lap, the track was finally cleared up, but Zhang Guan had not had time to start overtaking. On the ninth lap, BMW driver Kubica's front wing end plate fell off, and the race showed a yellow flag for the second time.

After another three laps, Zhang Guan evaluated the condition of his tires, temporarily gave up and launched an attack, and on the seventeenth lap, Zhang Guan took the lead in entering the maintenance area to refuel and change tires.

"Schumi, Zhang Guan has just entered the station. What is certain is that he has the same strategy as ours, a two-stop strategy." The engineer's voice suddenly stopped, and he said quickly: "Shumi, run faster and try to To a pit window, you have to come back on the next lap too, repeat, come back on the next lap."

"I should be able to run another three laps with enough fuel, and I can last until the nineteenth lap." Schumacher answered.

"Zhang Guan changed to a new set of soft tires, once his soft tires work, the speed will increase a lot, so you have to come back, we also have to change to new soft tires, and we need a short pit stop, Let you get ahead of him." The team engineer said.

"I see!" Schumacher sighed softly: "It seems that the second game between us has just begun!"