novelODS Chapter 20 The Northern Expedition!
Chapter 20 The Northern Expedition!
"You're 0.7 seconds behind Ocon. You can activate DRS." Mattia reminded Tangche in the TR.
Thanks to Toni's lion-like defense, Tontard was able to close the gap to Ocon by 1 second just before the second DRRS detection line on lap 15.
Aokang launched DRRS, Tangche launched DRRS, and the second DRRS zone saw another DRRS high-speed rail!
As the competition has progressed to this point, everyone knows that overtaking in the second DRRS zone is useless; whoever takes the DRRS in the third DRRS zone will truly have the initiative.
O'Conn followed the car in front without overtaking, just like Toncher before him, while Toncher followed the car in front of him with his head down, just like Norris and Magnussen before him.
The third DRS zone is still the DRS high-speed rail zone, but this time Aokang couldn't stand it!
But before O'Con could act, Tang Che made his move first!
Why was Tanger able to make the first move on the straightaway? Because Tanger was faster on the straightaway! Tanger had already caught up with O'Connor before O'Connor could even get into the attack range.
The two cars had similar straight-line performance, but Ocon's yellow tires were severely worn out, while Tangcher's white tires were in their prime working window. This time, Tangcher's tires performed better, resulting in a faster car.
Tang Che surpasses Aokang! Reaching P7!
Every driver who gets overtaken in the third section of the Dresden zone knows that Turn 1 is the perfect counterattack point. Ocon attacks Tangcher at Turn 1! Tangcher displays lion-like defense! He gets out! He gets them all out!
P7 is stable for now!
Given Tangche's tire advantage, defending against Ocon shouldn't be difficult, and he might even be able to attack the frontcourt leader.
Rookie vs. Rookie! Let's see whose wheel-to-wheel skill is superior!
"Virtual safety car! Virtual safety car!" Mattia alerted in TR, "Latifi is on the wall!"
Tang Che couldn't hold back: Director La, Director La, wasn't directing one qualifying match enough? You seem to be getting a little too dramatic, Director La!
Now the question is, should Tanger go into the station?
Not pitting will definitely improve your position, but it will put you at a disadvantage in terms of tires, and you may not be able to hold onto your position.
Even if you hold your position, you will still have to pit at least once to change tires – the rules stipulate that each driver must pit at least once per race and each driver must use at least two different compounds of dry tires per race.
What tire should I change to when I enter the station?
White tires? Then you'll have to go to the pits again to change to tires with a different compound.
Yellow tires or red tires? Then we'll need to pit again, because neither of those tires will be enough to complete the remaining 34 laps.
Tang Che: "Box! Box!"
Since we'll have to pit again later in the race anyway, it's better to pit now so we don't end up at a tire disadvantage.
Tang Che pulled into the station to change to yellow tires... 2.5 seconds... which is considered fast in this wave of train arrivals.
Because he changed tires almost a second faster than the leader, Tang Che successfully overtook the leader and got stuck at P8 after leaving the station.
The penalty for entering a pit is very small. The penalty for entering a pit during a virtual safety car or safety car is always much smaller than the penalty for entering a pit normally. This is why drivers always enter pits during virtual safety cars or safety car periods.
In front of Tanger is Hamilton, the cupping king who starts on hard tires but doesn't pit, and behind him is Alan, who once had a sweet time with Hamilton at McLaren.
Two WDCs serving one person, Tang Che, isn't Tang Che incredibly lucky? (doge)
Before Tangcher left the pit, the FIA had already upgraded the virtual safety car to a physical safety car. This was good news for Tangcher, because the physical safety car would compress the car formation, making it easier for him to take over the position after the physical safety car left.
Uncle Melander: Children, follow me as I drive the train.
Leclerc, in the lead: Uncle, you're driving too slowly!
Leclerc is doing better now; he can even complain about the safety car being too slow in P1.
On lap 20, the safety car left the track, and the race entered the dynamic start phase.
Because the starting straight has a strong headwind, it is easy for following cars to catch the wake of the car in front. Therefore, it is the optimal choice for the lead car to start at the end of the starting straight. This can minimize the wake that following cars can catch, and thus maximize the difficulty for following cars to keep up.
Leclerc made the best choice, but still allowed Verstappen to get a bit of the slipstream and failed to pull him away.
After Verstappen, Perez and Sainz also started to stick together.
Red Bull and Ferrari are truly a pair of star-crossed lovers!
Then, racing legend Russell took off steadily, while Magnussen, who had been outmaneuvered twice by Toncher, lurked behind the emperor, eager to make his move.
Magnussen pitted to change to hard tires before the lead car was deployed. After the lead car was deployed and a wave of pit stops ensued, Magnussen went straight to P6.
Magnussen was sniping at Turn 1... The Emperor blocked it! He blocked them all!
Those who frequently engage in assassinations know that assassinating the emperor is extremely difficult; once an opportunity is missed, the next one is practically impossible.
For the time being, Magnussen could only follow behind the emperor and absorb the dragon's aura.
Behind Magnussen was Hamilton, who also failed to pit and secure a position. The "cupping king" had come up from P17, but due to the car's poor performance, he struggled to get a good position.
It's very difficult to defend against Tanger now.
Tangche pays homage to Magnussen by assassinating the cupping king at Turn 2!
The Cupping King thwarted the assassination attempt! But he went too far into the bend, giving Tang Che another chance to assassinate the King!
The opportunity lies at Turn 2! Tang Che, who was more relaxed exiting Turn 1, seized the initiative when entering Turn 2 and controlled the line!
Although he was still alongside Hamilton in the corner, he had already gained the upper hand when exiting the corner!
Turn 3, Townche entered the corner with a half-car lead! Exiting Turn 3, he completely took the lead over Hamilton!
On the straight after Turn 3, Hamilton could only watch helplessly as the distance between him and Tanger widened.
Hamilton's Mercedes was practically ruined by tuning; its performance was nowhere near as good as Townche's AT03, and Hamilton's performance on white tires over 21 laps was also inferior to Townche's newly fitted yellow tires.
In racing, the car always takes precedence; even the king of cupping can't turn the tide if he drives into a shitbox.
DRS is disabled for two laps after the safety car leaves the track. Without DRS, Hamilton will have a hard time closing the gap on Tangcher during these two laps, and Tangcher's P7 will hold for the time being.
Two laps later, after passing the DRS checkpoint, Mattia reported: "0.3 seconds behind Magnussen, DRS can be used."
Hey, guess what? The DR S high-speed rail is here again!
Townche and Magnussen, Hamilton and Townche.
At the third DRSC testing line, Magnussen, learning from Tanger's previous operation, slammed on the brakes.
Tangche won't hold back; if Magnussen lets him pass, he'll overtake him!
As for Magnussen's DR counterattack, Tanger has nothing to fear!
Drs is amazing on the straightaway; Magnussen pulls off on the straightaway and overtakes Tanger.
Even Hamilton tried to surpass Tanger by using DR.
Tanger, however, calmly sucked up Magnussen's tail.
So, Townsend and Magnussen were right next to each other, while Hamilton was on the side of Townsend and Magnussen, more than half a car length ahead of Townsend.
On a straight road, such a position doesn't count as a position; only after passing a curve does a position become a position.
Who can get a spot at Turn 1 at the end of the straight?