RoleplayNovel Chapter 24: Plans Changed, Preparing for the Championship?
Chapter 24: Plans Changed, Preparing for the Championship?
For this race, the official organizers provide two pit stop strategies for reference: yellow-white one-stop and yellow-white-yellow two-stop.
The first eight drivers all started on yellow tires, while Sainz and Alonso, who dropped to p9 and p10 after failing in Q3, started on white tires.
Leclerc started from pole position in the Mars group, Verstappen p2, and Perez p3.
Earth group: Norris p4, Townche p5, Hamilton p6, Russell p7.
It is foreseeable that there will be a battle for the top four positions in the Earth group, perhaps right at the start of the race.
With the five red lights off, the 2022 Australian Grand Prix race has officially begun!
Tomjanovich starts the game! Hamilton starts the game!
Tangcher surpasses Norris! Hamilton surpasses Norris!
Tangcher surpasses Perez! Hamilton surpasses Perez!
Perez's start was absolutely dizzying!
But Perez stayed close behind Hamilton, closing the distance and waiting for an attacking opportunity.
Hamilton is now in a dilemma – should he defend against Perez?
Go ahead and defend. It's hard for the Earth rover to defend against the Mars rover, and there's Tontard in front of him. Every time he defends Perez, he's just helping Tontard solidify his position.
Hamilton and Towne... Hamilton had no obligation to help Towne, whether directly or indirectly, either publicly or privately.
It's a shame to lose a position you worked so hard to get.
Hamilton made a quick decision and let Perez pass.
While losing his own position was regrettable, Tamer's lead was even more painful for Hamilton.
Therefore, Hamilton let Perez go and beat Tanger.
In addition, Hamilton had another plan – Taunter would definitely defend Perez aggressively, and Hamilton would likely have a chance to reap the benefits.
Although Tanger will eventually be overtaken by Perez (the difference in car quality is too great to be overcome by human effort), given Tanger's wheel-to-wheel skill, he should be able to make Perez lose a few seconds.
Those few seconds that Perez lost were Hamilton's chance.
Perez overtook Hamilton and was 0.7 seconds behind Taunter. With DRS banned for the first two laps, Perez would likely need to chase for a little over a lap to get into attack range.
The race consists of 58 laps; one or two laps are nothing to him, Hamilton can just wait.
Just as Hamilton predicted, Perez caught up and entered attack range in the third timeout of the second lap.
Hamilton, who was 0.8 seconds behind Perez, perked up and was ready to seize the opportunity.
Just as Perez was about to attack Taunter, Hamilton's race engineer, Bono, suddenly reminded Hamilton in the TR: "Yellow flag in the third timeout, watch your speed."
Hamilton: "What?"
"Sainz went off the track at Turn 9, the out-of-control car reversed across the track and got stuck in the gravel," Bono added. "Now we've upgraded to a virtual safety car, so watch your position and speed."
Hamilton: "Hesitant and incoherent."
The King of Cupping Therapy has seen it all; this little setback will pass in a flash.
On the fourth lap, the virtual safety car was upgraded to a physical safety car, and the car formation was compressed.
During the safety car period, Verstappen had a sudden inspiration and almost sat alongside Leclerc, his front wing nearly level with Leclerc's.
Leclerc was completely baffled: "Dude, isn't this against the rules?"
Leclerc's race engineer, Javier Markos Palodos, replied on TR: "The team has appealed. Focus on the race, Charles."
The FIA rejected Ferrari's appeal: Although it was difficult to maintain, it was not against the rules.
Leclerc: "Man, what can I say?"
Seeing that Verstappen hadn't been penalized for doing that, Perez immediately followed suit, blocking Taunter's side with his front wing almost level with Taunter's.
Tang Che: Okay! Okay! Okay! Is that how it's going to be?
Tang Che stepped on the gas and rammed into the side of Verstappen, falling half a car length behind him.
The track wasn't wide enough, so Perez also moved up to play the four-car ladder, leaving Perez stuck behind Tontatta.
But Perez wasn't alone, because Hamilton and Russell came up to play alongside him on the stairs.
The race cars behind them followed suit, forming a three-car ladder formation.
The audience exclaimed that they had never seen anything like it before.
The FIA has broken its rules: "All cars, immediately spread out! The front wing of the following car must not extend beyond the rear wing of the car in front; violators will be penalized with a 5-second penalty!"
Verstappen was very unhappy: "Didn't you say it wouldn't violate the rules?"
FIA: "It's not against the rules right now, but there's a huge safety risk, and we can't allow such a huge safety risk to continue on the track!"
The car formation gradually dispersed, and only after all the other cars had dispersed did Verstappen reluctantly retreat behind Leclerc.
Leclerc was relieved: the FIA is still a decent company!
On lap 6, the safety car left the track.
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#2022 F1 Australian Grand Prix Commentary (F1 TV)#
"In the third race of the 2022 season, we finally got to see a direct confrontation between Tontatta and Sergio Perez again."
"In the first race of the season, Tontard defended Sergio Perez extremely aggressively on the first lap, leaving Perez helplessly saying, 'This Alfa Toli won't let me through.' Can he still leave Perez helpless this time? Or will it be Sergio Perez's turn to get revenge?"
"The renovated Albert Park circuit is still not easy to overtake, and I think Sergio Perez should also understand this, so he only made one attack attempt in the two laps after the safety car left."
"Perez has DRES on this lap, which is an excellent overtaking advantage; he's definitely going to make a move!"
"After passing the DRRS activation point, Sergio Perez activated DRRS, and the gap between the two cars is constantly narrowing... Is Perez going to make a move at Turn 1? No chance!"
"But Turn 3 is possible!"
"The Red Bull car pierced the inside like a bullet! Their offensive approach was incredibly decisive! Tangcher took the outside line and braked late into the corner... He successfully squeezed Perez's exit space, maintaining his lead with a faster exit speed!"
Is Sergio Perez going to launch an attack at Turn 9? That's a dangerous overtaking point; one wrong move and he could go off the track.
"A powerful outside attack! Perez is clearly trying to use the Red Bull car's performance advantage to overtake Tontatta! But Tontatta says, 'No way!' and maintains his lead!"
"After passing the DRRS activation point, Sergio Perez activated DRRS again, but the DRRS zone between Turn 10 and Turn 11 is not suitable for overtaking."
"Perez launched an attack, and he almost overtook Taunter just before Turn 11! But Taunter cut into the apex first! Taunter's braking on the way into the corner was so extreme, I almost thought his tires were going to lock up!"
"Tanter's lead is not secure. The next DR section is a long straight. If Tanter cannot create enough distance from Perez in the corners before the DR section, he will definitely be overtaken by Perez on the straight."
"Given the performance gap between the Red Bull and Alfa Romeo cars, once Tontatta is overtaken by Perez, it will be almost impossible for him to regain the lead."
"Out of Turn 14, Tontard leads Perez by 0.29 seconds, which is a dangerous gap."
"Perez activates DRES! The gap between the two cars is rapidly closing... Perez completely overtakes Tanger at the end of the straight!"
"Tanter wasn't pulled away! He sucked in Perez's slipstream! Is he going to brake and grab the inside line before Turn 1?"
"Perez has taken over the inside! Tontard has been forced to the outside, and he may have completely lost his chance to fight back... Tontard takes the crossover! He hugs the apex at Turn 2!"
"Out of the corner...Tanter is in the lead! But Sergio Perez still has DRRS! There's another battle at Turn 3!"
"The two cars are side-by-side before Turn 3... Who will get the line? Tontatta goes into the corner first! Sergio Perez dives hard to the inside! Oh my god! They collide in the corner!"
"This is clearly a dangerous wheel-to-wheel matchup that will definitely attract FIA arbitration."
"Sergio Perez's front wing is damaged, and Tontatta... doesn't appear to have any obvious damage."
"The damage to the front wing will inevitably affect Sergio Perez's lap time. You can see that he has now been pulled away by Tontatta at a safe distance."
"Sergio Perez has clearly lost his mind. He has a better car, and it's only a matter of time before he surpasses Tontaffer."
"Tanter held his position in the last lap, but he was clearly struggling to keep up. Perez only needs to wait a little while, and he will have an almost certain opportunity to overtake Tanter in the next lap."
"Perhaps Sergio Perez really wanted to surpass Tanger to help Max Verstappen, but he shouldn't have launched such a dangerous attack."
"In the final game of last season, Tontard tenaciously defended Lewis Hamilton, ultimately helping Max Verstappen win the World Championship. Now, even though Tontard is only defending for his own position, he has also helped Max Verstappen's opponent, Charles Leclerc, to some extent... It's quite dramatic."
"Oh, let's look at the FIA's ruling... Sergio Perez is penalized with 5 seconds."
"The damage to the front wing and the 5-second penalty have almost eliminated Sergio Perez's chances of winning a podium finish, let alone helping Verstappen."
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Hamilton smiled.
Because of Russell's entanglement, Hamilton did not benefit from the battle between Toncher and Perez. He was even a little angry and complained in the TR: "George's attacks against me are meaningless. They only give our opponents more and more of a lead."
No sooner had he said that than Bono told him in TR that Perez had been penalized with 5 seconds.
Although plans can't keep up with changes, the cupping king still profited, so he smiled.
He only laughed for a short while, because Russell was still looking for an opportunity to take his place.
Toilet Wolf: I think I've seen this episode before.
Fifteen-time champion: Thinking about me?
Before Mercedes could even process the internal turmoil, the next thing to rush to the stadium was the excitement of Alfa Romeo's pit wall.
As is well known, the pit wall usually seats two race engineers, the team's strategy director, and the team principal. These people can communicate with the driver through the TR (Training Manager).
Tomchi's game engineer, Mattia, was in a frenzy: "Incredible! Tom! You're a god of war!"
The team leader and strategy director burst out laughing: "To hell with the Mars rover! We have soup!"
Even Gasly's game engineer got fired up, but he couldn't connect to Tanger's TR, so he had to hold back.
In contrast, Horner's expression on the Red Bull pit wall...
"Guys, guys," Tanger poured cold water on their enthusiasm, "it's only lap 12, the race's far from over!"
It's a 58-lap race, and who knows what will happen in the last 46 laps!
Perhaps Perez will pit to switch to the front wing and then catch up, or perhaps Hamilton and Russell will come up to compete with Tontcher for position... In short, Tontcher's P3 is not stable.
With such formidable enemies surrounding them, the situation is extremely unstable.
Reminded by Tang Cheyi, the guys at the pit wall also calmed down.
Mattia immediately got to work: "You're 2.9 seconds ahead of Hamilton. Hamilton is locked in a battle with Russell and can't make any progress in the short term. Keep up the pace and try to extend your lead as much as possible."
Mattia completely ignored Perez, who was 1.2 seconds behind Tanger.
Logically speaking, Perez was driving a car with a damaged front wing and no longer had a lap time advantage over Towntcher. How could he possibly overtake Towntcher and leave him 5 seconds behind?
Even if he pits, changes the front wing and tires to complete the penalty time, it won't be a matter of one or two laps to catch up with Tanger.
After a few laps, the pit stop window for yellow tires opened, and riders starting on yellow tires began to enter the pits.
On lap 19, Verstappen pitted, and Tanger moved up to P2.
On lap 21, Perez pitted for white tires and incurred a 5-second penalty. After exiting the pits, he fell behind Zhou Guanyu (p11).
On lap 22, Leclerc pitted, and Tanger moved up to p1.
Hamilton pitted on lap 23.
What about Tangtler? When will he pit? The team wants Tangtler to maintain his position and run as long as possible in this stint, so that it will be easier to hold onto his hard-won podium position.
If a virtual safety car or a safety car is deployed, that's a different story, but then it depends on luck... Vettel crashed!
"Safety car! Safety car!" Mattia exclaimed excitedly, "Box! Box!"
Tangche pitted to change to white tires, and Russell, who hadn't pitted yet like Tangche, also pitted to change to white tires.
汤彻出站后掉到p2，正好卡在勒克莱尔（p1）和维斯塔潘（p3）之间；拉塞尔出站后卡在p4，领先率先进站的汉密尔顿（p6）两个位置。
They both made a fortune!
It's worth mentioning that the player stuck between Russell and Hamilton is none other than Alonso, who once spent a sweet time with Hamilton at McLaren.
Before the driver who started on hard tires even reached the pit window, those who started on yellow tires entered the pits, and he automatically moved into position, directly to P5.
The safety car compressed the car formation, with Verstappen poised to pounce behind Toncher.
Verstappen's track engineer GP: "Be careful that your front wing doesn't go over the soup's rear wing."
FIA: You think you're the smartest one?
Verstappen: Man, what can I say?
On lap 26, the safety car left the track after Leclerc made a big mistake at Turn 14, which prevented him from taking Taunter away at the start.
Tanger thus got an attacking opportunity at Turn 1.