Chapter 1428 - 537: Chaos Ends
Perez, who was taking the outside line, was very fast, as the angle of entering the corner was wider than the inside line.
As a result, Perez, who cut into Gasly’s outside line, completely lost the proper path into the corner, because Gasly was right in front of him. If Perez forced his way into the corner, he couldn’t avoid a situation where his right front wheel would hit Gasly’s left rear wheel.
Meanwhile, Gasly himself also faced issues due to Alonso’s sudden turn, his braking distance was insufficient, coupled with a slight tire lock, it was inevitable for Gasly to run off the track.
In an attempt to avoid Gasly,
Perez was also dragged off the track, plowing the field with Gasly.
Upon entering the buffer zone, Perez directly cut through the entirety of it, yet the deceleration effect was too intense. Thus, by the time Perez returned to the track, he had fallen to the last position.
On the other side, Alonso, who escaped the ordeal, entered the corner normally from the outside line.
However, during this process, it remained unclear whether Sainz, who was on Alonso’s inside line, was inexperienced or what.
Upon entering the corner, Sainz slightly scraped Alonso’s right rear wheel with his left front wheel, but even a light scrape was enough to cause Alonso’s car to lose all rear grip.
Then Alonso’s car lost control, for indeed, during the corner, no F1 driver wants to see their car not being at the limits of grip.
As a result, Alonso spun 360° on the spot and slid to the track’s edge, with his right rear wheel gently contacting the barrier.
The good news was that Alonso’s car was already at a slow speed when the collision occurred.
Although Aston Martin’s rear suspension isn’t ordered from Mercedes, Aston Martin has essentially been a disciple under Mercedes, since they use the same engine.
Therefore, this collision was relatively mild and didn’t cause Alonso’s car’s rear suspension to break.
Some might wonder why there isn’t a red flag despite the accident being spectacular and grim, since no driver exploded into pieces or parked on the track because of the chaotic start.
But do not overlook Gasly.
Due to Gasly running off track, he lost many positions when he returned, landing directly in front of his teammate O’Kang.
Moreover, because he was returning from off track, Gasly’s car wasn’t fast enough.
As a result, his teammate O’Kang managed to pull out on Gasly’s outside line, laying the foundation for the upcoming red flag.
𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
France is an abstract and mysterious country whose biggest feature is playing tricks.
This country delights in concocting all sorts of big and small mischief.
Back in June 1940, it staged an ultimately unbeatable spiral explosion trick, shocking everyone.
Transferring this characteristic to drivers, especially in competitive sports arenas, it often translates to internal conflicts.
Whether in CS’s palace intrigue or F1’s internal conflict, it seems that French drivers especially excel at this.
O’Kang certainly has a record of this, having driven away the veteran Brother Tou, who now ranks fourth on the points leaderboard.
And now on the race track, O’Kang, initially trailing behind, seizes the chance to chase his teammate Gasly, suddenly seeming to awaken some innate trait, transforming into a lion with an explosive surge in combat power.
After pulling out on Gasly’s outside line, O’Kang was ready to use his speed to surpass his teammate.
Then upon exiting the corner, Gasly squeezed towards the outside line, as exiting the corner requires finding a smoother acceleration path to fully unleash the car’s engine performance.
However, at this moment, O’Kang was wedged in Gasly’s car’s right side.
Thus, O’Kang on Gasly’s outside line delivered a classic American PIT maneuver.
The front wheel met the rear wheel; although O’Kang did not simply catapult Gasly away... perhaps O’Kang initially intended to send Gasly flying, but it just didn’t succeed...
In any case, this perfect American PIT maneuver caused Gasly’s car to lose control on the spot, crashing headlong into the right barrier.
And O’Kang himself fared no better, as there was no space ahead to evade, coupled with basic high school physics knowledge: forces act reciprocally.
Since O’Kang hit Gasly’s car, naturally, Gasly’s car exerted force back onto O’Kang’s car.
As a result, O’Kang’s car also collided with the right barrier due to reciprocal force, instantly breaking the right front suspension.
A direct withdrawal for both Alpine team drivers ensued.
Debris littered the ground.
The grass in the buffer zone’s edge was also sliced up comprehensively by the two.
The most expensive pair of lawn mowers in human history for sure.
This collision between the two was the main reason for the red flag.
Given that this collision caused significant damage to the cars, both were rendered powerless, stalled on the track, surrounded by scattered debris, and with no nearby Matthew entry point.
Compared to the red flag just now, this red flag was much more warranted.
Besides these two drivers who withdrew, two other drivers also retired from the race on the track.
Unexpectedly, there were skilled drivers here!
During the T1 braking point in the starting phase, Russell, who started last, rear-ended De Vries.
Indeed, a rear-end collision scarcely seen on the F1 track, at this moment, Russell seemed to be inspired by some guidance from Director Lado, performing somewhat abstract maneuvers.