Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 145 Real F1 Professional Training
On May 6, three days after the conclusion of the Australian Grand Prix, Chen Xiangbei and his team boarded a plane from Hong Kong Island to London, England.

To be honest, Chen Xiangbei hadn't originally planned to set off so soon. Now that he had decided to enter F1, it meant giving up the Renault European Championship, which gave him more time to return to his home in Guangzhou and Shenzhen to share his joy of winning the championship with his mother.

Unfortunately, as the media's influence has expanded, more and more fans have been crowding the hotel where Chen Xiangbei is staying, which has caused him some trouble. This may be the price to pay for fame.

Before leaving Australia, Chen Xiangbei met with Qin Lianjie and Hoshino Yoshimi and made an appointment to go to Europe in the future to watch his performance in the F1 paddock.

Although Chen Xiangbei is only qualified to run in a support race at most, he has at least "crashed" into the F1 Grand Prix weekend, so it's good to join in the fun and experience the atmosphere.

As the plane took off, looking at the city outside the window growing smaller and smaller, Chen Xiangbei suddenly felt a sense of melancholy and emotion for some reason.

Things that were unattainable in the past life seem to be within reach in this life.

Formula racing is indeed a stage only for geniuses!

"Xiang Bei, the sponsorship funds from Brother Cheng Long and Jiuli Sports have been transferred to your bank card in large amounts."

"According to your contract with the Chaomeng Racing Team, Jiuli Sports needs to print its logo on the front of the racing suit, which means it will share 50% of the profits. Brother Cheng Long's side is a private sponsorship, and there are no advertising requirements for the time being."

"However, if you want the 'Dragon' logo printed on your racing suit, you will also have to pay the Super Dream Racing Team 50% of the revenue."

Lu Xiaoman is still "part-time" as Chen Xiangbei's agent and needs to explain the detailed accounts to him.

If a third-party brand logo appears on Chen Xiangbei's racing suit, it means that he has used the team's promotional influence, and he should naturally pay the corresponding fees.

Even now, the Chaomeng Racing Team's brand value may not be as high as that of Chen Xiangbei personally.

"Brother Cheng Long's 'Dragon' logo will not be printed for the time being, but Jiuli Sports' share will be paid as usual."

Chen Xiangbei gave an answer, saying that he was indeed not well-off, and five million was no small sum.

But as he said long ago, cooperation should be a win-win situation, and "business" partners who don't make concessions won't last.

Not to mention that Chen Xiangbei also needs the team from Super Dream to provide him with technical support for the competition. He doesn't want to experience the kind of situation where he can't even find enough tire changers at the Grand Prix again.

The value of the Super Dream team is far more than five million RMB.

As for Brother Cheng Long's lack of urgent need for advertising and promotion, coupled with the fact that this ten million sponsorship involves personal friendship factors, it is fundamentally different from a purely commercial act like that of Jiuli Sports.

It's perfectly reasonable for Chen Xiangbei to take it himself.

"OK, we'll do it your way."

Lu Xiaoman nodded without saying anything more.

After settling the sponsorship revenue sharing, Chen Xiangbei suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Staller in the back row.

"Staller, how exactly did you convince the Brawn GP team board?"

It should be noted that Chen Xiangbei's current performance and status are far from sufficient to negotiate with F1 teams, especially since the Brawn GP team has shown signs of becoming a championship contender after the first two races.

In just one night, Staller had completed the testing. Chen Xiangbei was curious about what methods the old British man had used.

"We agreed to their capital increase and share expansion."

Staller gave a calm response.

"Capital increase and share expansion" is a financial term. Simply put, it means that a company raises funds from the outside world to dilute the original share ratio, expand equity, and increase capital.

Of course, if existing shareholders have enough money, they can also subscribe to all newly issued shares to ensure their shareholding ratio.

Brawn GP is not a publicly traded company and is not required to disclose financial statements to the public, so Chen Xiangbei naturally did not know the specific shareholding ratio. He only knew that Ross Brawn, Stahler, Mercedes, and Honda were the team's four major shareholders, and some original minority shareholders formed the board of directors.

"Staller, have you diluted your stake?"

Chen Xiangbei instantly understood the price he had to pay for persuading the team's board of directors: Stahler had diluted his shareholding in the team.

"Ah."

“Staller, I…”

Upon receiving this response, Chen Xiangbei was momentarily speechless.

Stahler invested tens of millions of dollars to complete the acquisition of the former Honda F1 team, creating the current Brawn GP team. As the team's second-largest shareholder after Ross Brawn, he wields considerable influence.

If he dilutes his equity stake, it would mean relinquishing control of the team.

"North, this is actually quite normal. Brown GP has already demonstrated its value, and it is destined to attract more capital."

Staller, however, was quite composed. Now, Brawn GP has won consecutive races and is showing signs of becoming a dominant championship team. It is no longer the bankrupt Honda F1 team that no one wanted back then.

The high profile of a championship-level team naturally attracts the attention of investors. Furthermore, to ensure the Brawn GP team remains competitive, continuous upgrades require substantial financial investment, making capital increases and share expansions inevitable.

Chen Xiangbei's plan to enter F1 is simply to bring forward the timeline.

To put it another way, if it weren't for Chen Xiangbei's recommendation, Staller would never have invested in acquiring the Honda F1 team. His tens of millions of dollars investment has already yielded substantial returns during this round of capital increases.

As an investor, Staller didn't see anything wrong with it, and Chen Xiangbei had no reason to feel indebted.

"Thank you, Staller."

Chen Xiangbei expressed his gratitude, acknowledging that many business transactions should not be viewed through an emotional lens.

"Bei, I should be thanking you."

Staller replied very seriously.

The emergence of Chen Xiangbei, this young Chinese man, not only enabled him to make a successful investment, but also rekindled his long-lost passion for racing.

Stahler is very content to have such an experience in his twilight years.

……

After more than ten hours of flight, the plane landed at London Airport, and it was nearly midnight.

Compared to their first time in the UK, Chen Xiangbei and his group were now quite familiar with the place and took a taxi straight to the headquarters of the Chaomeng Racing Team.

Let's rest for the night and recharge before heading to the Brawn GP team headquarters tomorrow.

However, Chen Xiangbei's plan to get some rest was thwarted the moment he arrived at the team headquarters.

The team members who stayed behind had already prepared a celebration, and they were very happy that Chen Xiangbei had won the Grand Prix.

After two months of working together on Formula Reynolds, a genuine team atmosphere has already formed. The shadow of the former Mega Aguri is becoming increasingly blurred, and the members are more accepting of their new identity as Mewtwo.

Even Kobayashi Takatoshi, who was both a teammate and a rival, participated in the celebration, showing that Chen Xiangbei's strength and performance had impressed him.

To avoid spoiling the fun, Chen Xiangbei had no choice but to join in the revelry.

When I finally dragged my tired body to bed to rest, it was already four in the morning.

There was no other way but to postpone our trip to the Brown GP headquarters by one day.

It can only be said that foreigners think differently from Chinese people; they really love to throw parties.

The next morning at 10:00 AM, Chen Xiangbei and Odette went to the Brawn GP team headquarters to discuss the allocation of resources.

Chen Xiangbei is not simply a contracted test driver; he receives full technical support from the Brawn GP team. On the contrary, he has his own Super Dream team, and the entire team works well together and has developed a strong sense of cohesion.

This is why Odeto needed to bring the Honda Group into the discussion with Stahler. Only Honda could integrate the resources of both teams, allowing Chen Xiangbei to use his own crew members as well.

Upon arriving at Braun GP's R&D headquarters again, Staller was already waiting at the entrance. However, this time, standing beside him was not Ross Braun, but a middle-aged man with a full beard.

After Chen Xiangbei got out of the car, Staller took the initiative to introduce him: "Odette, North, this is Mr. Salman from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the new financial director of the Brawn GP team."

Brawn GP team acted quickly to increase its capital and expand its shareholding, and it could even be said that it had been preparing for this for a long time.

Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are the main subscribers of the newly issued shares. The latter controls 24.9% of the Brawn GP team, making it the single largest shareholder.

Therefore, Salman took on the important position of financial director in the team's management.

The two exchanged a brief handshake and introductions before entering the research and development base together. Since Chen Xiangbei had visited before, the tour and introductions were skipped, and they went directly to the office to discuss the next steps.

"North, according to the agreement from Tokyo, the Brawn GP team will provide you with equipment and technical support, while the Super Dream team will provide the personnel. Is that alright?"

Salman asked a direct question.

"no problem."

Chen Xiangbei nodded.

"The R&D base will provide accommodation for the Mewtwo team members, and you will be responsible for all personnel expenses. In addition, according to the FIA's testing restriction order, only the Catalan circuit and the Bahrain circuit are qualified for testing."

"You will still be responsible for all testing costs incurred at that time."

Before the FIA ​​banned private testing, most major racing teams had their own private tracks. For example, Suzuka was Honda's test track, and Subaru was Toyota's test track.

As for established top-tier racing teams like Ferrari, their private test tracks are located all over the world to meet the needs of testing different terrains, materials, and temperatures.

After the "testing restriction order" was issued, the FIA ​​only allowed car testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain and the Circuit de Sakhril in Bahrain.

In the last decade or so, only the Bahrain circuit has been used for winter testing.

Resuming racing tests outside of the winter break is a major undertaking that requires significant financial and human resources.

Currently, the Brawn GP team's crew members are all focused on the ongoing F1 Grand Prix, and the R&D base is staffed with a group of technicians. Where would they find the resources and manpower to help Chen Xiangbei conduct old car testing?
Salman's words clearly implied that the Brawn GP team would simply wash its hands of the business, leaving all expenses to Chen Xiangbei!

"can."

The answer was still simple, just as Chen Xiangbei had expected.

It can only be said that no matter how bad the foundation of the Dream Team is, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse.

Apart from Liang Chi and a few other Chinese technicians, the other members all have experience in repairing and tuning F1 cars, so there is no learning cost involved.

"OK, let's do it that way."

"Staller, the arrangements are now in your hands."

After saying this, Samar stood up and left the office, his attitude quite cold.

"Heh, this newly appointed CFO doesn't seem very easy to get along with."

Odeto sneered.

Although test drivers are far less prestigious than regular drivers, Salman's arrogance was still quite evident.

They haven't even won the F1 team championship yet, but they're already acting like champion teams.

Faced with Odtor's mockery, Staller shrugged helplessly and laughed.

"Increasing capital and expanding shares means a change of power, which is part of the politics of the paddock, you know."

Wherever there are people, there is politics, and even motorsports like Formula 1 are not immune to paddock politics.

For the newly emerging major shareholder, Chen Xiangbei and the Honda camp behind him are entities that should be eliminated.

In addition, he is just a test driver. It is already a great honor for Ross Brawn and Staller to receive him personally. Did they expect him to be all smiles all the time?
"It doesn't matter, just get everything sorted out as soon as possible so that North can start training."

Having spent most of his life in F1, Odette certainly understands what paddock politics is.

In the last two years alone, two major incidents have occurred: the McLaren spy scandal and the Renault crash scandal.

However, Odette was not interested in paddock politics. He didn't care how Brown GP's shareholders and management fought for power; as long as they could provide Chen Xiangbei with the training equipment he needed, that was enough.

"Okay, I'll go arrange it now."

Staller nodded; he also knew the sincerity of Odette and Chen Xiangbei.

At 2 PM, the crew members of the Chaomeng Racing Team, belonging to Chen Xiangbei, collectively moved to the Brawn GP Team's R&D headquarters with their luggage.

As a world-class automaker, Honda Group spent a lot of money to build this R&D base, with complete supporting facilities, including dormitories for its employees.

It can be said that the overall conditions are far superior to those of the former "Honda Second Team" Super Aguri.

While the members of the Super Dream team were adapting to their new environment, Chen Xiangbei was already doing physical training in the gym at the R&D base.

Physical fitness is the foundation of any sport, even a seemingly mental sport like Go, and motorsports are no exception.

Chen Xiangbei's physical requirements have now jumped from the F3 driver level to the F1 driver standard. This means that he needs to meet the physical requirements before he can actually drive an F1 car.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be a joke if an F1 driver couldn't control his own F1 car?

Compared to the standard equipment in a regular gym at the Super Dream Base, the Brawn GP team has many professional equipment for driver physical training, the most important of which is the "G-Force Simulator".

This is a device similar to a racing car cockpit, except that the driver sits in it not to simulate driving, but after putting on a special racing suit and helmet, elastic bands will bind the arms and shoulders of the racing suit, and several steel wires will hang on the anchor points of the helmet.

The cockpit also contains a steering wheel. Whenever the driver turns the wheel, various sensors detect the data and then pull on different parts of the driver's body according to the angle, simulating the effect of lateral G-forces similar to those during racing.

Furthermore, to increase training intensity, the pulling force is adjustable and often exceeds that of a real racing car.

Just a moment later, Chen Xiangbei was drenched in sweat.

"Too weak, you're too weak!"

Odeto watched this scene without offering any encouragement; instead, he mocked it without any restraint.

The G-force generated by the cornering speed of an F1 car is several times that of a Formula Renault car. Especially when cornering at high speeds, the neck will experience a force of 20 to 30 kilograms, which is almost the weight of an elementary school student.

Chen Xiangbei's previous shoulder and neck physical training mainly relied on bodyweight exercises for "neck bridge" movements. It wasn't until he arrived at the Honda Suzuka Racing Academy that he received a helmet with extra-heavy weight plates and auxiliary equipment such as resistance bands.

Strengthen your cervical spine and shoulder muscles by continuously stretching and restoring the muscles.

However, Chen Xiangbei's previous training intensity involved increasing the force of the iron helmet and resistance rope by about 10 kilograms. Now, Oddo's intensity has increased by two or three times, which is indeed beyond his tolerance.

“Odette, physical training is a gradual process. Xiangbei has been a professional for less than a year and cannot withstand this intensity!”

Standing to the side, Lu Xiaoman couldn't bear to watch any longer; she also had the identity of a "part-time" physical trainer.

Physical training, unlike driving skills which have the potential for "sudden enlightenment," has no shortcuts and can be understood as fitness for ordinary people.

Unless you use performance-enhancing drugs, muscle growth takes time.

If it exceeds the body's capacity too much, it might lead to a repeat of the muscle strain Chen Xiangbei suffered during his previous racing accident.

“Bei isn’t a baby; he can’t handle it and he’ll talk about it.”

"Remember this: motorsports is a paradise for madmen; it's a game only the fanatics can enter!"

Odette did not back down and maintained a strong stance.

Chen Xiangbei doesn't have much time to take it step by step now; he will soon be driving a real F1 car.

Compared to a muscle strain, Odette wouldn't want to see Chen Xiangbei break his neck on the track!
"Sister Xiaoman, I can manage!"

Chen Xiangbei gritted his teeth and uttered these words.

He ran in F2 in his previous life and knows very well what physical fitness means to a driver.

Let alone a newcomer like myself, even established top drivers are constantly increasing the intensity of their physical training.

Just like Hamilton, his collar size was 35.5 centimeters in his rookie season in 07, but by the time he became a seven-time champion, his collar size had skyrocketed to an astonishing 45.7 centimeters!

The change in neck circumference of more than ten centimeters and the resulting muscle mass can only be described as terrifying.

The most outrageous one is Alonso, whose head is already big, but his neck is even thicker than his head, taking up a third of his shoulder width. He even filmed a video of himself cracking walnuts with his neck.

Chen Xiangbei may not reach the level of Brother Tou, but he should at least not be below average!
(End of this chapter)