Zhang Yifei stepped on the accelerator to the end, and the Prost car let out a roaring sound, desperately squeezing his performance.

Renault's small gear range only has an advantage in the low-to-medium speed track, and the shift ratio gap will be evident when facing top speeds. It's like last year's Prost's JS53 racing car, which can wrestle with other cars at low and medium speeds, and once it enters the crazy acceleration stage on the long straight, the weakness of insufficient performance is instantly exposed, and it is eaten hard at every turn.

Of course, the Renault car is not as weak as last year's Prost car, and its weak power is compared to the top Mars rover, which is compensated for by the engine angle layout and aerodynamic advantages.

However, compared to the "tractors" of other small teams, Renault racing cars are similar to the "Mars rover" class, otherwise future generations will not be able to win two world championships in a row, which is impossible to rely on the strength and luck of the driver alone.

So Zhang Yifei stepped on the accelerator, and when the speed came to the limit of 300km/h on this straight, the Renault car behind it like "yellow lightning" finally showed fatigue and did not continue to quickly close the distance with Zhang Yifei.

It may seem like a long process, but after only a few seconds, the two cars sprinted to Turn 1 of the track.

Turn 1 of any track can be described as a battleground, and whoever can get into the corner first means that they will have a clear advantage in the rest of the race.

Not to mention the first turn in the street race, coupled with the premise of overtaking difficulties, it pushed the value of entering the corner to the top. So no matter what, Zhang Yifei will not give Helio any chance at Turn 1, no matter how fierce the opponent's attack is!

This time, Zhang Yifei did not cut the edge line and turn the corner in the traditional way as before, but stubbornly held his middle line. Because the tire temperature does not reach the optimal working condition temperature so quickly by relying on the tire warmer ring, coupled with the rainy weather, the road surface temperature is much lower than normal.

The combination of these two reasons has slowed down the rate of tire temperature rise, and now the tire grip is not very strong.

In addition, there may be areas of stagnant water at the edge of the track, which is not a large puddle in the conventional sense. But for the speed of the F1 car, even if there is a thin layer of water mist at that position, it is possible to isolate the adhesion between the tires and the ground, and the four-wheel power imbalance rushes off the track in an instant.

The meaning of rain tires is to rely on the groove pattern on the tire to let the water flow out along the pattern, but now the rubber on the surface of the tire is not thawed enough, and the drainage pattern is relatively deep, which may not be able to play the best drainage role.

So Zhang Yifei was unwilling to take this risk, and gambled on luck at the first turn of the first lap, after all, he got the pole position and was considered the dealer of the track, so why should he play the same way as the player?

And more importantly, Zhang Yifei is completely sure that Helio does not dare to cut the first corner to the limit.

I don't dare to guarantee the grip of the half-rain tires, does Helio have a better face, relying on a soft slick head tire to bet that he will not slip?

However, on the eve of entering the corner, Helio suddenly began to change lanes, no longer following Zhang Yifei's driver, and made a move to change lanes to overtake. But no matter what kind of action Zhang Yifei made in the rear car Helio, he never changed a single bit, and implemented the strategy of holding the middle line to the end.

If this American kid really plays extreme trimming, and he hasn't skidded and overtaken, it can only mean that God forbid, this kind of extreme shit luck players have exceeded the normal theoretical range, and they are not wronged.

Seeing that Zhang Yifei did not change the line to block the car, Helio immediately changed lanes and came back to follow Zhang Yifei's car after making this fake action. If it were a few milliseconds later, the midline of the track might be occupied by Ferrari Schumacher behind!

Although being overtaken by the start will not make the mentality of a driver of Schumacher's level collapse, it does not mean that he can accept it all calmly!

As the current F1 paddock leader, last season's world champion, and against F1 rivals Indy, Schumacher will have to find a way to surpass and win races to prove himself.

If the final result is still to Helio, it will really have a big impact on Schumacher's reputation.

So when Helio was frantically chasing Zhang Yifei, Schumacher also bit Helio to the death, looking for all overtaking opportunities, to prove that he is the first person in the F1 paddock!

Looking at Helio in the rearview mirror back to the middle line, a sneer appeared at the corner of Zhang Yifei's mouth.

Isn't it awesome to prepare to change lanes, tangent corners, and overtake? Why not keep running?

American boy, you are not a newcomer in the standard sense, and I, Zhang Yifei, am not a track chick, this kind of method is useless to me!

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhang Yifei clicked the brakes and turned the steering wheel, and entered Turn 1 with a leading attitude. But at this moment, he suddenly felt a force from the team, and the entire car instantly shook violently.

Originally, the tire grip of the slippery track was not good, and it was still in the process of steering, and the rear wheel was directly hit, and it was easy to appear in the "American-style stop" in the movie, and the whole car turned sideways.

The car began to play uncontrollably, Zhang Yifei hurriedly hit the steering wheel, and now the previous brake has been changed to refueling. If you want to save the car at this moment, you can only rely on the engine strength and tire grip, if you want to restore the grip by stepping on the brakes, it will only become completely out of control!

And Zhang Yifei knows very well in his heart that if he can't save the car instantly, according to the intensity of racing in the starting stage, it may be that if he is delayed in just one or two seconds, he will be overtaken by more than a dozen cars, and completely fall from the pole position to the back row!

“FUCK！ The Yankees couldn't get past it, so they just crashed the car? ”

When the team leader Henry saw this scene, he shouted on the spot, and he was like Zhang Yifei before, seeing that Helio's feints had no effect, and he was laughing at the Indian champion in his heart.

As a result, I never expected that in just a blink of an eye, there was a scene of joy and sadness. In the process of seizing Turn 1 on the track, Helio's front wheel touched Zhang Yifei's rear wheel, which was not a very violent collision, but for the F1 car that was fighting through the corner in the rain, a little external force could easily cause the car to lose control.

Now Zhang Yifei's No. 13 car is swinging violently, and it is obvious that he is on the verge of losing control!

"It's not good, Schumacher, Helio and Barrichello have all overtaken, and now the Ferrari duo are in the front row, and the situation has taken a turn for the worse!"

Yamamoto Youkyo next to him also exclaimed, and at the moment when Zhang Yifei's car swung, several cars in a row overtook him. What's more, with both Ferrari drivers in the front row, Barrichello will undoubtedly protect Schumacher, which will be doubly difficult to come back!

Zhang Yifei on the track, the corner of his eye also felt that he was desperately trying to regain control of the car, and several cars rushed in next to him. It's just that at this time, he has no spare energy to block the car, and it is already very good to be able to recover control of the car as soon as possible.

This scene is a bit like the scene during the rain war in Singapore in '17, when Red Bull driver Verstappen crashed into the right rear wheel of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in the process of scrambling for the line, and directly knocked the latter completely out of control, and the whole car went sideways.

It's just that at that time, Verstappen was caught by two Ferrari drivers, and Vettel was a little too strong to press the line, so that Verstappen really had no room to dodge, and finally collided when there was no way to avoid it.

And when he turned the corner just now, the space between himself and Helio was not so tense, could it be that this American boy deliberately hit himself?

This question flashed through Zhang Yifei's mind, but he was quickly vetoed by himself, because with the structure of an F1 car, the tires are exposed, and there are not related protective equipment such as front bumpers like ordinary cars.

Therefore, when an ordinary car collides, it can ensure that it is hitting the rear of the opponent, and there will be no situation where you will kill 1,000 enemies and lose 800 yourself.

But if the F1 car wants to play the "American stop", it can only hit the front nose or tires to hit the opponent. The front nose wing is a carbon fiber part, which is not very strong, and it is also very brittle, which has no effect when hit, and it also loses air downforce.

If you use the front wheel to hit the rear wheel, it is not a killing of 1,000 enemies and 800 self-damage, but killing 1,000 enemies, and self-damage may have to be 2,000. Because the front wheel has a steering mechanism, even if the damage degree of both sides is the same, the front wheel has an additional probability of deviation.

In the simplest way to understand, it is the four tires of ordinary family cars, under normal circumstances, if there is any problem with the tires, I really don't want to change them or have no money to change them, so try to put the good tires on the front wheel, and put the bad ones or the ones with the risk of puncture on the rear wheels.

It is because the front wheels have a steering mechanism, and the front wheels pay more attention to stability than the rear wheels in high-speed driving conditions. As long as you are a F1 driver with a normal head, you will not use your front wheel to touch the rear wheel of the porcelain car in front of you at Turn 1 on the first lap of the race, unless you don't want to run.

Although Zhang Yifei hates Helio very much, and even a kind of hostility, he must also admit that this American guy has a very strong desire to win and a mentality of honor.

Helio will do the same thing, but at least in the championship competition, like this kind of meaningless one-for-one, Helio will not do, because he has the same heart as himself!

So Zhang Yifei could only attribute this crash to an accident, or that Helio came back late from changing lanes, and he entered the corner too fast to control.

In fact, as Zhang Yifei guessed, Helio did an overtaking feint, and after seeing that Zhang Yifei did not take the bait, he could only be forced to quickly return to the middle lane to prevent Schumacher from grabbing the middle line position.

It's just that at that time, they were already in the corner, and Helio stepped on the brake point later than Zhang Yifei, and more importantly, his tires currently gripped, which were not as good as Zhang Yifei's semi-rain tires on slippery roads.

So after changing lanes and coming back, the speed could not be controlled, and finally the front wheel touched Zhang Yifei's rear wheel.

The impact wasn't too serious, and if it was in a straight line, it probably wouldn't have had much impact on either side. But it was precisely on the way to the corner, so Zhang Yifei almost lost control, but Helio was a blessing in disguise, Zhang Yifei deviated from the track and gave up the middle line position, giving Helio the opportunity to overtake!

Not only did he overtake, but Schumacher and Barrichello also overtook him, and Zhang Yifei changed from pole position to fourth on the track in an instant.

The only thing to be thankful for is that Zhang Yifei's rescue operation is very perfect, and the advantage of young people's quick reaction actions is also undoubtedly revealed, and he finally controls the car and is in front of Montoya, avoiding falling one place in the rankings.

"I'm a sloppy horse, can't the American kid afford to lose?"

"Lao Tzu's heart almost jumped out of fright just now, if Zhang Yifei's reaction is a little slower, his comparison will be over!"

"Indy's wild racing style, don't put it in the F1 paddock, this is the real top race in the world, it depends on the driver's skill and handling!"

"I don't know if there is a problem with Yifei's car, if there is a breakdown, this race has just begun, what should I do later!"

Zhang Yifei's supporters on the track also began to be excited after seeing this scene!

The pole position victory in qualifying gave them hope that Zhang Yifei could win the opening race, and these supporters were waiting to see Zhang Yifei reach the top of the podium!

As a result, I never expected that the first turn would almost rush out of the track, if it wasn't for the middle line, there was enough space on the left and right sides, maybe just now when the pendulum at the end of the car, it had already hit the protective walls on both sides of the track.

Helio and Zhang Yifei have a grudge, and of course fans think that the American driver is deliberate, so all kinds of scolding voices are endless.

At the same time, the concerns of the audience in the stands were also transmitted to Zhang Yifei's headset, which was just asked by Kossel.

"Fly, how is the condition of the rear wheel of the car, do you want to make a pit stop for maintenance?"

As a race engineer, Kosel did not substitute more personal emotions, or that Kosel had always pursued performance crushing, rather than talking invincible.

"I don't think it's a big problem, I don't need to make a pit stop."

Zhang Yifei replied, if the collision just now, what is the luck in the misfortune, it can only be said that the rear wheel did not appear serious damage. At least at this stage, Zhang Yifei didn't feel too much of a problem.

"Okay, hold your mind."

Korcell opened his mouth to remind, he was worried that Zhang Yifei would fall into a kind of revenge thinking because of this crash.

In fact, in addition to stimulating potential at critical moments, anger is a superfluous emotion most of the time, and on the contrary, it will affect the calm judgment of the driver. For drivers, being an emotional racing machine on the track is not a joke at all, but it is indeed more conducive to running well.

"Don't worry, I'm not new to the track anymore."

Zhang Yifei replied lightly, and then quickly passed the 2nd and 3rd corners, pressed Montoya to the back of his car, and bit Barrichello in front of him, preventing him from throwing himself away from driving.

In this year's opener, I am no longer last year's Chinese newcomer, time has changed a lot of things, and I have also changed my mentality and goals.

Now that Zhang Yifei is on the track, he doesn't need to be too obsessed with proving himself, because he has already used two sub-championships last year, as well as the identity of the conqueror of the IndyTrack, to prove that he is the strongest newcomer in F1.

Just as Schumacher would not be ashamed of Helio's overtaking, he would not be carried away by anger because of Helio's accidental crash.

After all, the goal of the newcomer is only to put it in the points area or on the podium, and Zhang Yifei's goal now is to aim for the final world championship title. In a sense, even the strength of one or two sub-station events is difficult to affect Zhang Yifei's state of mind.

Without absolute psychological quality, it is impossible to become the strongest king standing at the peak, this is the transformation that Zhang Yifei must experience.

Zhang Yifei successfully rescued the car at Turn 1, and then perfectly blocked Montoya's move, which was also seen by other teams on the track.

"Although I don't like this Chinese kid very much, I have to admit that he is stronger now."

Minardi stared at the broadcast monitor and spoke to Willy, the technical director beside him.

Just now, Zhang Yifei not only saved himself from the edge of losing control, but also avoided the other cars speeding behind him very extremely.

If Zhang Yifei was just blindly guarding the protective wall of the track and rushing to the center line without lifting the speed. Helio is more than fine, maybe one of Schumacher and Barricella in the back will collide with Zhang Yifei.

The most likely is Barricella, the third car, after all, the first turn is a 90-degree right-angled corner, because of the high wall of several meters, coupled with the mist of the night battle, his perspective can not see what is happening in front of him.

So after Zhang Yifei came back from the rescue, he could still make a calm judgment, and even let Barricella go, which is really not something that ordinary newcomers who have only been running for a year can do.

"Yes, no wonder he dared to say that he wanted to win this game in his pre-match press conference, and now it seems that he has the strength."

Willy, the technical director next to him, agreed, and did not belittle in the past, but faced Zhang Yifei's strength.

Because this year's Minardi team is completely collapsed, the strength of the No. 1 driver Yang Long itself is not very good, and the No. 2 driver is Mark Webber, a test driver who was exchanged from Renault, and he is half a pound and two pounds and two pounds with Yang Long.

What's more, the team started to fall into financial crisis, and the new cars were completely uncompetitive. Therefore, the current Minardi team is completely different from the Prost team, and the two sides do not have such a strong conflict of interest as before.

After all, the current Prost team has already competed for the status of a giant, and Minardi is destined to be at the bottom, so he is naturally much more objective.

"And Alonso, the Spanish boy, has also started to surpass one place, is there really going to be a Prost twin star to challenge the Ferrari duo scene?