F1: I was born to be useful, and you are all destined for greatness.

On lap 16, Tanger asked in the radio, "Is there any chance of rain coming?"

The safety car had previously mentioned that the rain would arrive in 20 minutes, and 20 minutes have definitely passed now, but not a single drop of rain has fallen; instead, the driving lanes are getting drier and drier.

Mattia: "Looking at the current weather data, it's still possible that it will rain before the end of the match, but the chances are very small."

"The track is mostly dry now, I think it's time to switch to dry tires," Tang Che said. "Get ready for yellow tires, I'll pit next lap."

Mattia: "It's best not to be the first person to change to a dry tire."

In this situation, the first person to pit for dry tires is generally called the dry tire tester. Other teams will decide their pit stop strategy based on the dry tire tester's performance on the dry tires. Regardless of whether the dry tire tester's performance on the dry tires is good or bad, other teams will benefit to some extent.

For dry tire testers, good dry tire performance does not necessarily mean a profit; poor dry tire performance will definitely result in a loss for the tester.

This meant that dry tire testers were not a popular role.

"Trust me, dry tires will work," Tang Che said. "Besides, my semi-weather tires are already worn out."

How could there be no cost to using AT03 to defend against two RB18s?

The cost is high tire wear.

What could Mattia say? "OK, box, box."

On lap 17, just as Verstappen and Perez were gearing up for another attack, Tanger casually turned into the pit lane.

Seeing the lead driver volunteer to act as a dry tire tester, the other teams instantly woke up: Tang Che is a really honest guy!

Tangche changed the tire in just 2.1 seconds! The team was demonstrating the tire-changing skills of a championship-winning team!

After leaving the station, Tangche dropped to P7, with Magnussen ahead of him and Vettel, the four-time champion, after him.

Mattia reports in the TR: "2.3 seconds behind Magnussen, 0.7 seconds ahead of Vettel."

Tang Che: "copy".

Tangche caught up with Magnussen in the middle of the second timeout lap!

The tires hadn't even reached their working condition yet, and Tancher had already erased a 2.3-second gap in less than half a lap! What does this mean? It means Tancher has a huge tire advantage! It means the current track conditions are suitable for dry tires!

In the blink of an eye, Tang Che overtook him thanks to his huge tire advantage.

Mattia: "7 seconds behind Bottas."

If it were dry tires against dry tires, a 7-second difference would require dozens of laps to catch up, but now it's dry tires against heavily worn semi-wet tires, one or two laps are enough!

Tontard didn't even push deliberately; he was simply running at his own pace. The front-row drivers would pit eventually, and Tontard's lost position would return sooner or later, so he didn't need to rush to overtake. The gap between Tontard and Bottas was rapidly narrowing.

However, before Tanger could catch up with Bottas, the pit lane rush had already begun.

On lap 19, Perez pitted, Russell pitted, Bottas pitted, and Tanger easily moved up to P4.

Judging from Russell's performance, Mercedes, who were sprinting for ethane yesterday, seemed like a different story.

In yesterday's sprint race, both Mercedes cars were stuck in the middle of the pack and were unable to improve their positions. Hamilton finished in P14 and Russell in P11.

Russell, who started the race at p11, had already reached p5 before pitting, which can be considered a form of helium-magnesium combination (given Mercedes' current form, reaching p5 is already quite remarkable, and can be considered a form of helium-magnesium combination).

Judging from Hamilton's performance, Mercedes ethane.

Hamilton started the race on p14 and struggled outside the points zone for the first 19 laps, feeling utterly hopeless.

A bold guess is that W13's dolphin jump made the two Mercedes drivers look different.

"To withstand the impact of the dolphin jump, I strengthened my back muscles." — Russell

On the other hand, what good can targeted training do for Hamilton, who is almost forty? He certainly can't outlast a younger man.

Perez was 6.5 seconds behind Taunter after exiting the pits—a lead that Taunter had created by pitting early on dry tires.

Now that dry roads and dry tires are in use, Perez has regained the advantage of the RB18 over the AT03.

However, even with the RB18's performance advantage over the AT03, it won't be easy for Perez to close the 6.5-second gap.

Perez was not able to fully unleash the speed of the RB18; when he drove the RB18, he was only 0.4 seconds faster than Tanger in the upgraded AT03.

The difference in lap times is still significant, but far less than the chasm that a Mars rover should have to overcome to reach an Earth rover.

This lap time advantage is basically the same as Perez's lap time advantage over Russell.

The upgrade to the AT03 was effective, and with Tonter's technique, the lap time has reached the level of the Moon Group.

Without DR's, it would take Perez at least sixteen or seventeen laps to catch up with Tontard.

On lap 20, Verstappen pitted, Leclerc pitted, Norris pitted, and Tontatta returned to the lead.

Verstappen and Leclerc both started behind Perez, with Verstappen trailing Perez by 1.2 seconds and Leclerc trailing Verstappen by 0.4 seconds.

(What should you say when you see a Leclerc P4?)

Given the distance between Leclerc and Verstappen, how could there not be wheel-to-wheel wrestling after leaving the pits?

How could Red Bull's strategy team sit idly by and watch Verstappen and Leclerc go it alone? Red Bull has two cars on the track!

Hugh Bird: "Chek, we need you to help Max get rid of Leclerc."

How to help? Perez should slow down the car slightly, let Verstappen pass, and then defend Leclerc.

Perez: "I think now is the best time to take the lead."

Hugh Bird: "Chek, we..."

Perez immediately cut off the radio.

Hugh Bird's heart sank. Oh no, Perez is at odds with Tanger again.

Horner's expression next to him...

Verstappen caught up with him before Perez caught up with Taunter.

At Imola, the Red Bull cars were more dominant than the Ferraris, and Verstappen, despite having a positional advantage, ultimately pulled away from Leclerc.

This is completely different from the previous time when Verstappen led Towntcher. That time it was on wet roads, and the speed difference between the cars was not so despairing. Towntcher was able to immediately take huge risks to follow and overtake the car to regain the lead.

On dry ground and with dry tires, Verstappen could easily swerve and leave the car behind him in the dust, making it impossible for Leclerc to keep up.

Verstappen's RB18 and Perez's RB18 are not the same thing. Driving the same car, Verstappen's lap time is 0.26 seconds faster than Perez's!

Even after being entangled by Leclerc, Verstappen was only 2 seconds behind Perez, and without DR, he caught up to the attacking range in seven or eight laps.

On lap 29, Verstappen caught up with Perez and entered his attacking range.

Normally, in situations like this, driver number 2 should give way to driver number 1.

However, considering that Perez did something very unteam-like on lap 20, it's hard to say whether Perez or the onlookers should have given way.