ctnovel Chapter 65 Stay out! Stay out! & Two Haas!
Chapter 65 Stay out! Stay out! & Two Haas!
The Wojnarowski strategy team informed Sainz: "Verstappen will pit on the next lap, and we need to pit on the same lap as him."
There are two common ways to break the undercut: either the car in front with the old tires runs faster than the car behind with the new tires, or you pit together with the car behind you. If you are far ahead of the car behind you, you can pit a lap or two later.
When the Wojnarowski strategy team saw that the former was not satisfactory, they immediately chose the latter. Since Sainz's lead over Verstappen was only 0.6 seconds, the Wojnarowski strategy team required Sainz and Verstappen to pit in the same lap.
The nesting strategy group only needs to apply the formula, while the Sainz strategy group has to consider many more factors.
Sainz: If we pit now for wet tires, we'll have to pit again for dry tires later. We might as well wait for the dry tire pit window. Verstappen is more than 20 seconds behind me after he comes out of the pits. Even if he's faster on wet tires, it'll take him several laps to catch me. By the time Verstappen catches up, the track conditions will probably be suitable for a dry tire change, and we can pit together then. He'll still be behind me!
Sainz said on TR, "I want to wait for the dry tire replacement window."
The strategy team was very firm: "Pit in the next lap! Pit in the next lap!"
Sainz, who had been tricked once by the "bedtime strategy" group, was also very tough: "Don't call me to pit again before the dry tire window arrives, or I will cut off the radio!"
If the driver doesn't pit, the strategy team is helpless. They can't exactly reach onto the track and grab the car for the pit lane, can they? They don't have that capability!
On lap 17, Verstappen pitted for partial wet tires. After exiting the pits, he dropped two positions, landing between Norris and Gasly, just a little bit in front of Gasly. He was lucky to avoid being overtaken by Gasly.
The difference in tire quality is so great that even a slight lead can be insurmountable.
Verstappen floored the accelerator, leaving Gasly far behind.
Verstappen was 3.2 seconds behind Norris after his exit from the pit, but he erased those 3.2 seconds in just half a lap!
Verstappen's semi-weather tires are ridiculously fast!
Wofa Strategy Group: Shouldn't Norris be able to hold off Verstappen?
On lap 18, Perez and Norris pitted.
With no obstacles in his path, Verstappen went on a rampage! His lap time was 6 seconds faster than Leclerc's!
The French strategy team was terrified: if Verstappen runs two more laps, Charles will be undercut!
The Wofa strategy team immediately called out to Leclerc: "Pit stop next lap! Pit stop next lap!"
Leclerc: "Why?"
The strategy team: "If you don't pit for wet tires, you risk losing your position! You must pit on the next lap!"
Leclerc: "Okay, I'll pit on the next lap."
Even though Leclerc was tricked by the tactical group far more often than Sainz, he still failed to develop the same toughness towards the tactical group as Sainz. Leclerc may not trust the tactical group, but he will still follow their instructions.
On lap 19, Leclerc pitted for partial rain tires.
This pit stop went very smoothly! Leclerc exited the pit and was positioned right in front of Verstappen, leading him by 1 second.
The head of the strategy team breathed a sigh of relief.
Now it's Alfa Romeo's team's CPU going into overdrive: taking the lead for free is great, but with the cars behind them pitting to switch to semi-wet tires, and the lap time advantage of semi-wet tires being so significant, this lead is unstable! If they drop, they might not only fall out of the lead, but they might fall off the podium.
Should they stay on the track and wait for the dry tire window to try for P1, or pit for wet tires to secure a podium finish?
Alfa Romeo's team is determined to secure a podium finish.
Mattia: "Tom, stop for the next lap! Stop for the next lap!"
Tang Che: "Wait a little longer. The racing line is gradually drying out, and the dry tire window will be here soon."
Mattia: "Leclerc switched to semi-wet tires, and his lap time is more than 6 seconds faster than yours!"
Alfa Romeo's strategy team believes that after Leclerc and Verstappen close in on Sainz, Sainz will most likely allow Leclerc to attack Tangcher, and then help Leclerc block Verstappen. In other words, before the dry tire window opens, only Leclerc has a chance to attack Tangcher.
Tanger: "Calm down, bro. The dry tire window will be much earlier than you expect. He won't catch me. And even if he does, so what? This is Monaco. Besides, I'm your driver."
Alfa Romeo's strategy team was relieved: Indeed, even if Leclerc could catch Tontatta before the dry tire window, so what? Overtaking in the intensified overtaking hell was still no easy feat! Moreover, he was facing Tontatta, the man known as the Himalayas!
The next question is, when will the dry tire window appear?
It certainly came much earlier than the AlphaTori strategy team had anticipated!
Just two laps after Alfa Romeo's strategy team called for Townter to pit for tires—on lap 21, Townter pitted for white tires and dropped behind the four Martian cars of Volta and Red Bull after exiting the pits.
Everyone in the paddock is watching Tang Che's entry circle... The first timer segment saw a large number of purple circles! The second timer segment saw a large number of purple circles!
Red Bull urgently called up Verstappen and Perez to the pits.
Following suit, Wofa summoned Leclerc and Sainz to the station.
Sainz first station.
After Sainz pitted, the VfL strategy team suddenly realized that the distance between Sainz and Leclerc was not large enough to support both cars pitting. If Leclerc pitted on the same lap as Sainz, he would likely have to wait for Sainz to finish changing tires before he could change his own, which would be a complete waste of time.
The strategy team quickly reminded Leclerc, "Stay out! Stay out!"
But it was too late; the Leclerc had already entered the pit lane.
Leclerc immediately transformed into a telegraph operator: "******! *****! ****! ****!"
Leclerc indeed had to wait for Sainz to change tires in front of the pit box, which cost him a lot of time.
Verstappen, who entered the pits after Leclerc, immediately fouled him and nearly fouled Sainz as well. Perez, who entered the pits behind Verstappen, also fouled Leclerc.
Leclerc was absolutely furious, his anger blazing and his hair standing on end: "****! What are we doing?!"
After Sainz left the station, he was stuck between Toncher and Verstappen, in position p2.
Tanger, in the lead, is 4.5 seconds ahead of Sainz – an advantage gained from pitting earlier and running on white tires.
Sainz was only 0.5 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
After Leclerc left the station, he dropped directly behind Norris, ranking p6.
The Monaco circuit doesn't wear down tires much; a set of white tires can easily go all the way to the end—all four cars from Red Bull and Volvo were fitted with white tires.
On this track where overtaking is difficult, not changing tires almost means there will be no position exchange.
Leclerc's hopes of winning the title at home have been almost completely dashed, and even standing on the podium has become a distant dream.
It's heartbreaking for Leclerc, but not so bad for Sainz. He's currently stuck in point 2, and Tanger in point 1 isn't as fast as him. He has a chance to win the championship.
Although the chances of overtaking Tangcher on the extremely difficult Monaco circuit are slim, there is at least a sliver of hope. Verstappen and Leclerc, who are behind him, have virtually no chance at all.
Moreover, even if he can't get to P1, P2 is still a solid result, and he's still quite good... Latifi, who has already lapped Sainz, has completely blocked his path! Sainz's line has been completely blocked off course! He's also lost a lot of time!
Verstappen is here! Verstappen seized the opportunity! Verstappen has passed by! Verstappen has created a safe distance!
Director La has leveled up! Now he can direct big productions without having to worry about conflicts with other directors! (Scratch that)
Sainz was absolutely furious, his anger blazing and his hair standing on end: "*****! Latifi did it on purpose! Latifi definitely did it on purpose! This must be punished! ******!"
FIA: "The incident involving Sainz and Latifi has been documented."
The message is simple: I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush, let us investigate first.
After getting past Sainz, Verstappen led Sainz by 0.7 seconds and trailed Tanger by 4.2 seconds.
4.2 seconds, even Verstappen would have to lap that twice.
With 0.8 seconds remaining and DR's unavailable, Sainz not only couldn't catch up, but was also being pulled away by Verstappen.
Perez was 1.8 seconds behind Sainz. Perez couldn't close the gap on Sainz, and Sainz couldn't shake off Perez.
Leclerc was able to catch up with Norris, but before he could get close, Norris had already entered the station.
Leclerc moved up to p5, 4.3 seconds behind Perez. Leclerc was faster than Perez, but he still had to make several laps to erase the 4.3-second gap.
For now, no one can catch up with anyone else. The five cars in the front row will have to go through at least eight or nine laps before there might be a battle for positions.
After a brief period of investigation, the FIA ruled: "The incident involving Sainz and Latifi will not be further investigated."
The methods and background of Director La... it's terrifying to think about, truly horrifying! (crossed out)
Sainz: Man, what can I say?
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#2022 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix Race Commentary (Five-Star Sports)#
"The race is now on lap 26, and Verstappen should catch up with Tangcher on lap 30 or 31."
"The battle for position between Verstappen and Tom Cruise should be the only suspense in the remaining races, but there isn't much suspense. It's difficult to overtake at the Monaco circuit, and Tom Cruise is one of the top defensive masters among active drivers. Verstappen's chances of overtaking Tom Cruise are slim."
"That's right... Oh no!!!! What happened? What happened? Little Tom's race car suddenly slowed down!"
"This position is dangerous! It's very dangerous in the tunnel! Xiao Tang is right in the blind spot of the car behind! It could easily cause a collision!"
"Verstappen is coming! Oh no, he's going to crash... Verstappen dodged it! That was close! He almost crashed!"
"The organizers at the event displayed a yellow flag."
"Sainz is here! Sainz is going too... Tom's car suddenly regained power! Sainz couldn't overtake Tom!"
"Tanter told the team that his car suddenly jumped to first gear on its own, and then the gearshift got stuck. The team said it might be a software malfunction in the steering wheel and asked Tanter to restart the steering wheel to try. Tanter said that after restarting the steering wheel, the car could shift gears again, but only up to sixth gear. The team asked Tanter to pit and change the steering wheel. Tanter said he didn't want to lose his position. The team said it was too dangerous to stay on the track with this kind of malfunction, and he had to pit. Tanter said he would wait and see."
"Software glitches? That's such a rare problem!"
"If it's just that you can't shift into 7th or 8th gear, it shouldn't have a big impact on the race. Ricciardo could only shift into 6th gear at most, but he still won the championship. The problem is that he might suddenly switch gears and get stuck. I think we should pit immediately and change the steering wheel. After all, losing gear is much better than having an accident."
"The stability of the AT03 has dropped too much after the upgrade! I heard that the previous station's reliability decline was due to excessive weight reduction, and this time... will they also reduce the weight of the steering wheel?"
"Given the F1-style pursuit of perfection in research and development, it is indeed possible to make the steering wheel lighter."
How can a steering wheel be made lighter?
"That's not so clear. Maybe a lighter integrated circuit system will be used..."
"No matter how lightweight you make it, you need to ensure consistency! You've squandered the championship that Little Thompson was about to win..."
"Ah!!!! It shifted to a lower gear again! Sainz has passed by! Perez! Perez is coming too! The power is back! Tom has blocked Perez!"
"We have to stop here, otherwise the race can't continue!"
"Little Tom told the team he was pitting soon...there's a yellow flag in the third timeout!"
"Ahhhhhh!!!! A serious car crash! Mick!"
"Haas! Two! Two Haas! How come two Haas crashed?"
"Virtual safety car! The opportunity has arrived! Little Tom can pull into the pit to change the steering wheel!"
"Little Tang has arrived at the station."
"New white tires? Not the steering wheel? Oh, you're replacing the steering wheel too!"
"Changing the steering wheel is quick; it can be done at the same time as changing the tire, and it won't affect the tire change."
"Little Tang changed the tire in... 2.1 seconds! Amazing! Now we can see his position after exiting the station!"
"Perez is over! Leclerc... is over too! So Tom has fallen to P5! Right in front of Norris."
"This result is acceptable, considering that if it had entered the station normally, it would have dropped even more."
"The virtual safety car has been upgraded to a safety car. The safety car will compress the vehicle formation. It can't be said that Xiao Tang has no chance of improving his position at all, but it can be said that there is still hope."
……
"Matthew has cleared most of the debris from the track and is now repairing the barriers. The race should resume soon."
"Ah, the red flag!"
"Hongqi Xiaotang is losing money big!"
"That's not necessarily true. If Xiao Tang continues to wait and see, the Hongqi might have already had an accident."
"The red flag isn't entirely without its advantages for Xiao Tang. With a red flag, the car might have to start from a standstill, and Xiao Tang might be able to grab a good position during the start. Xiao Tang's start is excellent."
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During the Red Flag incident, Leclerc got out of the car in a huff and rushed into the P room to compose himself.
Tang Che was different. He was already laughing in anger before he got off the bus, and by the time he got off, he had basically let it go.
Tanger and Leclerc are not the same thing.
Alfa Romeo's engineers had inspected the car countless times before the race. They were working very hard to ensure the car's stability, almost burning out one by one. But the car just had to break down in unexpected places. What could the team do? What could Tontatta do?
All I can say is that it's all fate!
During the Red Flag period, the team fitted both Townche and Gasly with brand new yellow tires.
The rules stipulate that the race must be completed within two hours of its start. The red flag is raised after 30 laps. After the red flag is removed, there is not enough time left to complete the remaining 47 laps. At most, you can run about 30 laps. The yellow tires can run to the end.
Red Bull also fitted both drivers with brand new yellow tires.
Wojnarowski also had the two drivers run on old white tires.