608 I Don't Owe Favors (Chapter 2)
It's a little unstoppable!
Zhang Yifei silently said in his heart, being able to block Helio's attack in this state is indeed his limit.
This time, Blake, who is recuperated and has better tires, will come to the joint attack, which is completely beyond his ability, and he can't stop it!
In the remaining laps, either he was overtaken by them, or he rushed out of control and rushed out of the track, and Zhang Yifei couldn't think of a third ending for himself.
But at this moment, Zhang Yifei actually has one last way, that is, to ask for help from Schumacher in front of him and ask him to slow down and cooperate with him to block the car.
In fact, this kind of joint attack on the track has long been expected before the race, and it will inevitably go to the last moment, which is the struggle between the two major formulas for victory, rather than the battle of a single driver.
This is why Zhang Yifei and Schumacher will become "teammates" and establish a team voice to deal with this situation.
But this kind of temporary "teammate" is not a real teammate after all. And according to the rules and atmosphere of the formula, even if they are teammates of the same team, standing in front of victory, there is no emotion to talk about, and the championship is eternal.
The same was true of Helio's previous moves, and he thought that he had a chance of victory, so he didn't let Blake and Rezzie interfere, because he wanted to win the race and become the king of the equation.
In fact, the American Automobile Association also instructed the other two Indian kings to ensure Helio's victory at all times. After all, he is the youngest and strongest driver of IndyCar and represents the future of IndyCar!
In comparison, Zhang Yifei does not have such treatment, and even the situation he faces is the opposite.
In Formula 1, Schumacher is the strongest driver, and he represents the strength and honor of F1. In any case, in the face of the FAA's challenge, the FIA has to ensure that the Schumacher flag cannot fall.
So even if two people are "teammates", it is very unrealistic to want Schumacher to give up the lead to help at such a critical moment. The so-called last resort has no basis or possibility to be realized.
No teammates, only on your own!
"It's hard to stick with the last few laps."
At the Pits of the Prost team, Henry looked at the scene on the track and said in a heavy tone.
He knew that Zhang Yifei had reached his limit at the moment, but he was going to face a more dangerous offensive than before. As for Schumacher helping to block the car, they never counted on it.
And from the perspective of the overall situation, Zhang Yifei can lose, but Schumacher can't lose. He is the first person in F1, the only active quadruple winner, and is known as the strongest driver in Formula 1.
If Schumacher loses and the ultimate victory is not for the F1 driver, the impact on Formula 1's reputation will be immeasurable.
For the sake of the development of the entire racing league and for the sake of the future of all F1 drivers, Henry agrees with the FIA's decision. If it is necessary to sacrifice a driver to ensure victory in the battle of the Formula Century, then this person can only be Zhang Yifei.
Many things in this world are so cruel that there is no fairness or reason to talk about.
"Yifei-kun, you can only rely on yourself."
For the judgment of the situation, the entire team strategy team knew it very well in their hearts, and Yamamoto Ukyo could only pray silently for Zhang Yifei in his heart.
He no longer expects Zhang Yifei to win, as long as Zhang Yifei does not have an accident in the last few laps, he has already done his best.
It is no exaggeration to say that no F1 season newcomer can do better and run better than Zhang Yifei!
Korsell listened to the silent thoughts of the crew members behind him, and as the chief race engineer, he was also powerless at the moment. After all, Schumacher is a member of the Scuderia Ferrari, and he can only communicate, not give orders.
And this situation, even if a directive is issued, does not make any sense. Scuderia Ferrari will refute and Schumacher won't listen.
It can only be said that Zhang Yifei provoked the entire formula war with the strength of one person, and he still couldn't defeat the entire IndyCar on his own after all. Manpower is limited after all, and Zhang Yifei should have a clear conscience.
The tense situation made the American spectators in the stands forget to shout, and an alternative cheering sound sounded.
"Zhang Yifei, come on, don't give up!"
A Chinese spectator also saw the scene of Zhang Yifei's two fists being invincible to his four hands on the track, and he couldn't change anything, so he could only let out his own shouts to cheer for Zhang Yifei.
"Fly, stay the course, come on!"
"Death flies, victory belongs to F1, glory belongs to you!"
"Zhang Yifei, for the dignity of Chinese drivers, defeat them!"
"The victory belongs to the Chinese drivers!"
All kinds of crazy cheering voices sounded, and even the most amateur audience could see how much pressure Zhang Yifei was under.
It can even be said that after the whole game, Zhang Yifei was purely the identity of the "wingman", withstanding all the attacks of the Indy champions, blocking the back car and allowing Schumacher to maintain the lead.
This kind of thing cannot be said that Schumacher is selfish, after all, equation warfare determines that there will inevitably be "victims". It can only be said that Zhang Yifei's qualifications and identity are destined to be unable to replace Schumacher and enjoy the fruits of victory.
On the penultimate lap, at Turn 3 of the track, Blake finally caught Zhang Yifei's loophole, crossed Zhang Yifei's defensive line in one fell swoop, and reached a position alongside him.
At the same time, Helio on the other side also frantically grabbed Zhang Yifei's fastest corner tangent, so as not to give him a chance to resist. Lei Qi at the back directly used the wake to resist Zhang Yifei's back, reducing the space for him to change lanes.
The three Indy champions, showing a triangular attack state, plan to take Zhang Yifei in one fell swoop this time. This Chinese kid has been blocking the car for too long, which has exhausted their patience to the extreme!
In the face of such an offensive, looking at Blake next to him, who was about to overtake, Zhang Yifei was already lacking in skills, and he couldn't even think of a way to block it. I can only say that I am alone, and I have never been able to resist the attack of three people, so I tried my best.
Just when Zhang Yifei felt hopeless, Schumacher, who had been far ahead before, suddenly appeared in front of him, just blocking Blake, who was about to overtake.
Schumacher came to help me?
Seeing this kind of scene, Zhang Yifei's first reaction was that he didn't believe it very much.
Because he knows Schumacher's professional deeds and his racing style. Schumacher is a driver who can do anything for the sake of the championship, and the outside world's discussions, criticism, accusations, etc., do not affect his decision in the slightest.
Champions are everything to Schumacher, champions are his life!
The battle of the century between the Indies and Formula 1, the winner's title, may not be an official world champion. But there is no doubt that it will be one of the highest honors for a driver, even the out-of-print kind.
With Schumacher's character, he definitely didn't want to let go of this victory, and Zhang Yifei's crazy grappling with the Indy champion and blocking the car also created an opportunity for him to win. How could he give up an almost close accolade and choose to slow down to fight side by side?
"Boy, you're very tenacious, in this situation, you don't ask for help."
Schumacher's voice came from inside the headphones, and it was the first time in more than two hours of the race that the two sides communicated through the team's voice.
"I just don't think you're obligated to help me."
Zhang Yifei replied in a tactful way, in fact, what he really thought in his heart was that Schumacher would not come to help him block the car.
"You also have no obligation to help me block the car, and I don't like to owe someone something."
Schumacher replied lightly.
In fact, Zhang Yifei's difficult scene, he has always seen it, if this Chinese kid asked for help, he might have slowed down to help.
It is true that two people are not "teammates", but precisely because they are not teammates, there is no such thing as having to be a wingman. He occupies the advantage of the starting position, so that Zhang Yifei will inevitably face the attack of several Indy champions, which is unwilling to take advantage of Schumacher himself.
Because Schumacher is a "lone wolf" in his bones.
The famous "give way to the car" incident in later generations was the pinnacle of the notoriety of Schumacher's team's "cancer".
Playing big names, suppressing teammates, selfishness, lack of sportsmanship, and other scoldings almost filled the media at the time.
But in fact, Schumacher himself did not think about winning the championship by letting the car, even if he was saddled with notoriety to crash and win the championship, he was unwilling to accept this kind of "charity" in his heart, so he later made all kinds of favors.
He and Zhang Yifei are not even teammates, and they are even more reluctant to owe this kind of favor, but because of their identity and status as the strongest driver, Schumacher plans to wait for Zhang Yifei to take the initiative to ask for help.
As a result, I didn't expect that this Chinese kid was tough enough, even to the point where he couldn't bear it, he didn't say anything for help.
Seeing that the Indian driver was about to overtake Zhang Yifei, Schumacher finally decided to take the initiative to slow down to block the car and resist the attack of the Indian champion together. In any case, he and Zhang Yifei are both F1 drivers, fighting for the honor of F1!
With Schumacher's help, Zhang Yifei's pressure can be said to have decreased sharply, and Schumacher's actions are far from being as simple as helping him resolve the crisis, and even directly changing lanes and slowing down to block Helio on the other side, making Zhang Yifei unexpectedly the first car.
"Schumacher, you ......"
Zhang Yifei didn't know what to say at this time, is Schumacher planning to become his wingman?
"It's nothing, I just want the Indynades to feel what absolute defense is in the last few laps, otherwise they really think they're the best in the world."
Schumacher really wanted to win the game, but Zhang Yifei helped him block 196 laps, and Schumacher didn't want to take advantage of it to the end.
In addition, there is a more important point, that is, after talking to Zhang Yifei in the championship lounge, combined with the situation on the track, he gradually understood why Zhang Yifei insisted on fighting to the end.
He was just the icing on the cake, and Zhang Yifei was fighting for his dignity against the Chinese drivers.