Chapter 240: A Difficult Start (3)

On the Leah Albert Park circuit, many people who were overtaken by Alonso on the track questioned Ye Feng's ability. And it's interesting to note from the past record that, according to the stats, the first race in Australia seems to be somewhat indicative of a championship season ahead. In five of the last eight times, the winner of the Australian tournament ended up winning the year. This has also made many people very interested in Renault's trend this year.

And in Ye Feng's own heart, he was indeed annoyed by this matter. However, it was not the fact that he was overtaken by Alonso per se, but rather the Williams team's inability to do anything about the wind tunnel repair.

It's been a full 5 years since that damn wind tunnel broke down, but the repair team led by Williams Sr

Time waits for no one, though. Regardless of whether everyone wants to or not, and whether Ye Feng walked out of that shameful overtaking. This year's F race at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia on 319 was finally put in front of everyone, and Ye Feng and Massa had to continue to drive the old cars.

Like the Albert Park Circuit in Australia. Ye Feng also came to Sepang for the first time in his career. The first time he came to this track, which only became the official F1 competition venue in 1999, Ye Feng's first feeling was the width of the track. In fact, it does hold the record for the widest section of an F1 circuit. However, what made him a little puzzled was that his fellow Wells and Massa both told him that although the track was fast and wide, it was not easy to overtake here. And when the two realized that maybe they mentioned a word that shouldn't be mentioned, Ye Feng's heart was really angered by the two words "overtaking" that seemed a little shameful now. Maybe Williams doesn't have a strong competitiveness right now, but judging by Lao Ye's clenched fists, he hopes to get revenge on this tropical circuit with a hot climate......

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As everyone knows. Malaysia is the second largest country in Southeast Asia after Singapore in terms of the proportion of Chinese population. Although Ye Feng has not been in good form recently, and although the Williams team has gradually lost its former influence, when Ye Feng, the first Chinese driver in F1 history, appeared at this year's Malaysian Grand Prix, it still caused a wave of local Chinese watching the car. There is actually no difference from the 150,000 Chinese viewers in Shanghai last year, and the Chinese fans who came to Xuewan at this time also carried a feeling of pride for Ye Feng and enthusiasm for their compatriots. Moreover, compared with most compatriots who have no experience of living abroad, these wanderers in a foreign country send the most sincere welcome and blessings to every compatriot from the motherland who brings them honor and joy.

So, when several huge five-star red flags and flags with Ye Feng's huge portrait were waving in the wind on the Sepang circuit, Ye Feng could also proudly announce to each of his opponents that this was his other home stadium outside of Shanghai. And he, Ye Feng. Even if there is no more powerful car, he will fight for honor in this land full of rich homeland plots, in front of these tearful compatriots who can easily move him......

Soon, the qualifying session of the Malaysian Grand Prix came to an end in the unique tropical climate and the fiery passion of the 100,000 spectators. It's almost exactly the same as the last stop in Australia. With the new qualifying rules, Renault, who seemed to be more comfortable with the change than their rivals, finally took a very good starting position again, and Alonso got his wish to take his first pole position of the season with a strong R25. Ferrari, on the other hand, showed great discomfort with the new rules, with the red duo only finishing twelfth and thirteenth.

As for Williams, it was a mixed bag. The good news is that their newest Brazilian driver, Massa, has finally swept away the slump of the last race, and even with last season's old car, he has secured a valuable fourth place on the grid for the blue team. However, the tens of thousands of Chinese fans at the scene continued to feel a little disappointed, and Ye Feng was undoubtedly the one who made Ye Feng. The driver, who vowed before the race that he would go all out to win this race, still had no special surprises, and his lack of adaptation to the new rules even allowed him to earn a pitiful 10th grid position, but a word from the team's technical director Michael still gave those who followed Ye Feng confidence in the next day's race......

"Both drivers played very well today and didn't make any mistakes. In addition to the impact of the new rules, our two drivers also have different pit stop strategies. Let's find out in the afternoon game! ”

……

Ye Feng did use the tactic of heavy fuel in the qualifying round of this race. In fact, it was an experiment for him and the team. Let Massa go lightly and fight against those tough opponents. Let's see how big the gap between the current team's cars and other opponents is, and let Ye Feng adopt a heavy load tactic, hoping that Ye Feng, who has been training hard in the off-season, can have an excellent performance at the start of the race and in the middle of the race to achieve a reversal. Michael's calculations are hard to say, but the outlook is not particularly satisfying. Williams' gap in the car was still evident, and although Massa grabbed two starts, he managed to achieve it with a very light load. As for Ye Feng, his pressure is even greater, in addition to facing the test of too many unknown factors in the middle of the start, no one can say to what extent the F-25 in the heavy-duty state can catch up with the opponent......

But. Either way, with the fiery midday sun shining in Southeast Asia. The 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix was finally held in the midst of a boiling crowd of 100,000 fans, with the extinguishment of the red court.

Perhaps it was the high temperature of the track that made the drivers extra careful to avoid emergencies and car breakdowns, and when the red light went out, everyone saw more of a tepid start. No more thrilling overtaking, no blood-pumping ones

Everyone just held on to their positions. Therefore, after a lap of the opening distance, people found that except for the seventh and eighth Coulthard and Klein who did not play well and were successively overtaken by Barton, Ye Feng and others behind them, the ranking of the other drivers almost did not change much from the starting time. At this time, the British and American Patton in front of Ye Feng, and behind him happened to be Montoya, who was a former teammate who had now piloted the silver sword. So when Ye Feng kept trying to surpass Barton. You have to keep an eye out for the Colombians behind you.

At the beginning of this season, it was not only Ye Feng, a newcomer who played last season, that was disappointed. Last season's two-tier runners-up, Barton and Anglo-American team, failed to show the momentum they had in catching up with Ferrari last season. And now their new season car is not too competitive. Therefore, although Barton, who was ranked ninth, wanted to block Ye Feng's overtaking behind him, Ye Feng and F-26, who had already run close to 3, still finished their own strength. Therefore, even if there was no problem at the start, Barton was still quickly caught up by Ye Feng from behind.

At this time, perhaps because Ye Feng's pursuit forced Barton's speed to maintain a very high level. So when he was caught up by Ye Feng, his car gradually caught up with another McLaren driver in front, Jimmy. Raikkonen's race car. So without the slightest hesitation, Barton, who was pushed to the extreme, stepped on his accelerator hard. At the end of the third lap, he took advantage of a small space to force a pass over Raikkonen......

However, while all the supporters of Barton cheered at this, and Barton himself was glad that he had completed the overtake and used Raikkonen to block Ye Feng's tactical success, the Anglo-American car that had just completed the overtake emitted a puff of green smoke without warning. The speed of the car also dropped all of a sudden, and it looked like the British lad had paid a terrible price for his extremely risky tactics......

Soon, as Raikkonen and Ye Feng passed past the retired Barton car, another fierce battle officially began between the Finns and the Chinese. This is also the second time that Ye Feng has had a real heads-up with Raikkonen on the track. Because it is also a reloaded state, when the audience at the scene pays attention to the tense competition between the two, they are also constantly thinking in their hearts about who will enter the pit stop before the opponent.

Ye Feng remembered that in a casual conversation, Schumacher once said that among the current F1 drivers, the most impressive one is the Finn. The king also said that if this guy's luck wasn't always that bad, then Raikkonen would definitely be the most dangerous opponent. Actually, in the first heads-up. Ye Feng had already appreciated the opponent's almost terrifying strength in terms of speed. At that time, even if Ye Feng tried his best, he couldn't surpass Raikkonen without the other party suppressing him. And now, under the heavy load, the weight of the body has become the biggest obstacle for Lao Ye to try to surpass the other party. Although the Finn was also in a state of overload, after making a few useless attempts, Ye Feng quickly put his efforts on trying not to be widened by his opponent......

At this time, Ye Feng has moved his ranking from tenth to seventh after successively surpassing Klein, Kurthard and suffering Patton's retirement. If he can surpass Raikkonen's difficult opponent, then the long-awaited reversal of Ye Feng will also be staged. However, as for whether Ye Feng can catch up with the three opponents in front of him, judging from the current situation, there may be little hope, at least in terms of Alonso's indomitable momentum and speed, as well as the gap with his opponent, Ye Feng is unlikely to find a chance for revenge at least in this battle......

However, it soon became clear that letting Ye Feng surpass Raikkonen also seemed to be a difficult task to complete. As the other drivers pit one after another, the two cars, one silver and one blue, are still in fierce struggle. Both men also moved up one place, past Schumacher and Massa, who had already pitted, and behind Fisichella, who had just come out of the pit lane at the time.

In the cheers of 100,000 fans at the scene, the faster and faster the two of them became the theme of the track at this time. Up front, Raikkonen was still trying his best to set the fastest lap record of the race. And Ye Feng behind him was also trying his best not to be left behind by his opponent. The gap between the two people has remained within 1 second. Xu didn't know, but for Ye Feng, keeping up with Raikkonen was really a big progress. But this is clearly not enough......

"Leaf! OK! Our car is running out of gas, so let's get ready for a pit stop! Just when Ye Feng felt that his speed was getting faster and faster and wanted to overtake Raikkonin as soon as possible, Michael's voice came out of his headphones at an inopportune time. At this time, Ye Feng, who had recovered from the fierce battle, was depressed in addition to being unwilling, and it seemed that Raikkonen and his McLaren car had a greater advantage! He himself couldn't surpass the other party with a lighter amount of oil than him. However, disappointment to disappointment, Lao Ye still chose to pit as soon as he received the order, and the competition between him and Raikkonen finally came to an end......

Once again, it turns out that it is often himself who wins over Raikkonen. When Ye Feng made an early pit stop in the twentieth circle, he announced that he had successfully blocked his opponent. Just when everyone thought that the in-form Finn was going to challenge Fisichella, who had been in third place since the first pit stop, to further secure a better position before the pit stop, Raikkonen's right rear tyre blew out again without warning on lap 23......

……

"Oh! Although the Finnish driver had an accident before he even pitted, Raikkonen's accident actually brought Ye Feng's position forward by one place. Now Ye Feng has fought from the tenth starting position to the fifth! He is behind last year's teammate Schumacher Jr., and before the German is Ye Feng's current teammate Massa, let's see if Schumacher Jr. can withstand the front and rear attacks of Williams...... "Lao Sha is still seriously commenting on the game as usual. The lightness in his tone could already be heard in his unexpected gratification for Raikkonen's formidable opponent. It can also be seen that Lao Sha and many other people are in their state of mind at this time. It is that after Ye Feng suffered setbacks one after another, they have abandoned their previous blind trust and optimism in Lao Ye, and everyone has become more and more objective

When the leaves of the maple are gone. The so-called objectivity is to realize that there is still a certain gap in Ye Feng's strength at this time, so when Raikkonen had an accident. Everyone was glad for Ye Feng......

"Now in lap 30, we can see that Fische has some problems and after the first pit stop he is very slow. Not only is he now unable to keep up with the two leading riders in front of him. And Massa and Schumacher Jr. behind him, as well as Ye Feng, also quickly narrowed the gap with him. Perhaps, it was only a matter of time before he lost third place. ”

While Lao Sha was still explaining, the race had entered the 31st lap. After following the tactics, Schumacher Jr. finally tried to overtake Massa at the last corner! The German entered the corner very quickly, but there was not enough space in the corner, so he had to brake sharply to control his speed after overtaking Massa in the front half of the car, so that the front wheels of the Toyota car locked. The car slips sideways on the track.

Massa scrambled to the right to dodge, but Toyota made contact with Williams. Although the racing of the two drivers was not affected, Ye Feng behind him immediately seized the opportunity to overtake Schumacher Jr.! Lao Ye, who surpassed Schumacher Jr., also wanted to overtake his teammates at Turn 1, and Schumacher Jr. saw this opportunity to overtake Ye Feng. However, under the block of Massa in front, Ye Feng, who regained the advantage in speed, overtook Schumacher Jr. at Turn 4.

"Oh! Unbelievable grappling! Too nervous! It's so exciting! Ye Feng finally surpassed his former teammate Schumacher Jr.! And have consolidated their position! And the grappling of these three drivers can also give Fisichella a breath of relief! Renault's luck at the start of the year was not ordinary! ”

It's no wonder that Lao Sha is so excited at this time, the series of dazzling overtaking and overtaking just now simply shouldn't appear in the F1 field! Among them, at the most critical moment, Massa was still in a hurry to help Lao Ye. If he hadn't decisively braked on the ground at the moment when he found out that Ye Feng was overtaken by Schumacher Jr., he would have let Schumacher Jr. recover from overtaking and lift the car to speed. So how could Ye Feng not win the last chance to surpass Schumacher Jr. so quickly.

Now, Ye Feng blushed a little because of his hasty action just now that he was eager to overtake his teammate Massa. Although as a driver, this is not to blame. However, it is very stupid to overtake your teammates regardless of the situation on the field, only to be overtaken by the opponent behind you. At the same time, looking at Massa's racing car not far in front, Lao Ye also realized for the first time how happy it is to have a teammate who supports him wholeheartedly. It is conceivable that if Montoya had been replaced in the scene just now, people would have wished that Lao Ye would be surpassed by the opponent behind him......

However, it didn't take long for Lao Ye to blame himself for his reckless behavior just now. The situation on the track, which had just calmed down, was once again in turmoil. Again, it started with Fisichella's car that couldn't start due to a breakdown. After seeing his teammates firmly establish their position, Massa immediately chose to attack Fisichella in front. All the Brazilian was thinking about was taking advantage of his rival's faults to take third place. I didn't have that opportunity at Sobo before, but now it's different, Massa is really hungry to get on the podium!

The race quickly entered lap 35 and, like many riders, Massa decided to take the final corner to overtake Fisichella. However, maybe it was too eager to win, or maybe it was forgetting the low-level mistake that his teammate Ye Feng had made just now, and the red-eyed Massa quickly paid a heavy price for his rash moves.

The Brazilian kid overtook the car from the outside track first, while Fisichella chose the brake point late. After braking hard, Fisichella's rear wheel pressed against the Williams car, and Massa's car also braked quickly, at which time Fisichella's rear end swept past Williams's head! In the midst of the flying debris of the car, such a violent collision caused the two drivers to retire from the race in third and fourth positions! And Ye Feng, who was behind them, suddenly ranked third......

Now that he has witnessed the collision between his teammates and former teammates, Lao Ye really doesn't know his mood at this time. The more I participated in so many competitions. Lao Ye also has an intuitive understanding of the uncertainty of the game. Schumacher said that he himself was a lucky man, and it really seemed to have a point. Take Lao Ye himself, when he was unlucky, even if he won pole position in Shanghai, he could eventually retire because of extremely bad luck. It's like today. Originally, when he was only ranked tenth, and at the same time the car was an old car that did not have any advantage, with the opponent's successive mistakes and failures, he actually mixed into the third position now!

Is this his Ye Feng's true strength? No, Ye Feng knew very well that this was just the result of several accidental superimpositions. In fact, if Barton, Raikkonen, Schumacher Jr. and Massa had all remained normal, he would not have been able to occupy his current position. But that's racing, that's racing with a lot of variables. There will be times when it is sad. At the same time, there will be such a dramatic and comic ending......

However, Ye Feng, who was trying to control his car and maintain his current position, didn't like the feeling that everything was out of his hands. And Massa's withdrawal also made Lao Ye unhappy. You must know that his current 6 is still not as much as the nine points he can get by keeping his original position with Massa and finishing the game together. Now in Lao Ye's mind, he vaguely feels that there are quite a few problems in the Williams team now. But now he doesn't have any other energy to think about these things, the game is still going on, although there is no hope of surpassing the opponent in front of him at all, but Lao Ye still has to try his best to get this 6 points back safely......

So, in the shouts of hundreds of thousands of spectators, in the constant scenes of defending champion Ferrari being overtaken and ringed, Alonso won the second championship trophy of his career. And to the delight of most Chinese, their Chinese leaf finally fought for them a precious third place at the last moment......

Perhaps, many people now think that Williams' very difficult start may be gradually reversed......