Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 152 Welcome to the Realm of Geniuses
Upon hearing Chen Xiangbei's "arrogant" words, Ross Brown realized that his attempt to comfort him was somewhat unnecessary.

This Chinese kid has a big heart; he doesn't need any comforting.

"Bei, it's true what you said, how can you be an F1 driver if you don't have confidence?"

"If you need technical support from the Brawn GP team, please feel free to contact me."

Although Chen Xiangbei has confirmed that the Super Dream team will participate in the F3 series, compared with the genuine F1 team Brawn GP, ​​the former Super Aguri "remains" are still a bit lacking.

Anyway, Chen Xiangbei didn't care about the doubts and criticisms from the outside world, so he simply maximized the support behind him.

Let the world see that Chinese drivers also have substantial resources!
"Mr. Brown, thank you for your kindness, but Team Mewtwo is more than enough."

Chen Xiangbei politely declined, then turned his gaze to Odette beside him.

The two exchanged a glance, both with faint smiles on their lips, everything understood without a word.

……

After visiting the Brawn GP team, Chen Xiangbei did not linger in the pit garage for long before turning around and leading his crew to the Campos team's pit stop.

Compared to the bustling scene at the Brawn GP team, the Campos team's pit garage could only be described as "desolate and sluggish," with only a dozen or so engineers and mechanics assembling equipment, almost as desolate as Chen Xiangbei at the Australian Grand Prix.

The problem is that F3 in Australia does not require mandatory pit stops, which can reduce the number of mechanics and tire changers.

The Spa F3 race process and rules are much more rigorous and complex, and it is difficult for a team of ten or so people to keep running.

Upon seeing Chen Xiangbei and his group arrive, a slightly balding middle-aged man walked over and introduced himself, saying, "Hello, I'm Ekola, the operations director of the Campos team."

"Hello, I am Chen Xiangbei."

"North, welcome to Campos team."

Ekola was very enthusiastic, and Chen Xiangbei's arrival was a win-win situation for the team.

And Campos team won twice!
It's important to understand that Campos is not a weak team. A truly subpar low-level Formula team would never have any hope of advancing to F1.

The reason it has fallen to this state is that its strength is not commensurate with the ambition of the team's founder, Campos.

Last year alone, Campos team won the GP2 Constructors' Championship title thanks to the performances of its two drivers, Di Grassi and Petrov.

It was this achievement that made founder Camps determined to sell his GP2 racing rights to raise funds and transfer some of his F3 team's assets, investing everything in F1 in hopes of securing a racing seat.

09 was a transitional year for the Campos team, with management focusing all their efforts on building the F1 team.

The GP2 team and its qualification have been sold, leaving only the F3 team in a state of neglect.

The F3 teams were already struggling to survive, but Chen Xiangbei's donation of 50,000 euros, along with his own team, not only gave Campos a much-needed boost, but also potentially helped them make a name for themselves at Spa.

If this isn't winning twice, what is?
For the reasons mentioned above, Operations Director Ekola naturally greeted Chen Xiangbei with a smile.

"Thank you, I'm also very happy to work with Campos team."

After exchanging a few polite words, Chen Xiangbei got down to business.

"Ekola, can we officially take over this P room now?"

With the team on the verge of disbanding and everyone in a state of panic, Chen Xiangbei distrusted the working conditions of the Campos team's engineers and technicians.

Since the decision has already been made to involve the Mewtwo team, let's just take over completely.

"of course."

Ekola readily agreed. They hadn't planned to debug the equipment for Chen Xiangbei anyway; the engineers and technicians here were there to serve another driver in the team.

Without much small talk, the twenty-odd members of the Mewtwo team entered the P room and immediately got to work.

Even though he's been away from the paddock for over a year and is a bit rusty, he still has the foundation of a former F1 team, and under pressure from Odette, he's recovered a lot of his form through high-intensity practice at the Catalan circuit.

Their actions and efficiency were overwhelming compared to the Campos team members.

This is the source of the advantage of a "specially tuned car"—F1 is F1 after all!

"Bei, let's go to the track."

Odette said something and then walked out of the P room.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiangbei didn't say much and followed along to the Spa main track.

Compared to other less popular circuits, Chen Xiangbei is quite familiar with the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

The reason is simple: he actually ran there in his past life!

Spa-Francorchamps was added to the F1 calendar 50 years ago, and its layout has not undergone any major changes since 1979. This means that Chen Xiangbei only needs to remember the minor changes and the track surface conditions.

To be honest, even with his experience from his previous life, Chen Xiangbei still can't compare to some European local drivers in many aspects of the competition.

But this time, Chen Xiangbei won at the starting line.

"Xiang Beijun, I believe I don't need to go into too much detail about the corners and layout of the Spa circuit."

"The only challenge is that you need to withstand the G-force pressure from the racing car's suspension tuning."

Hiroki Sawano didn't just recite the script to Chen Xiangbei; he simply pointed out the current shortcomings.

Ultra-high-speed tracks with large elevation changes inevitably require the suspension to be set to its stiffest settings, demanding that drivers withstand the lateral G-forces during cornering.

Racing simulators can never replicate the real track experience. Chen Xiangbei's physical fitness has improved significantly in the past two months, but it's still not enough to meet the challenges of the Spa circuit.

Hiroki Sawano still feels some lingering fear from a past shoulder muscle tear injury.

He fears that history will repeat itself.

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

Chen Xiangbei replied firmly that he might still have some concerns about F1 racing.

For Chen Xiangbei now, an F3 car is just a "toy"!
Through private testing at the Catalan circuit and training at the Blackley headquarters factory, Chen Xiangbei has undergone a transformative improvement and change.

He now understands why the FIA ​​strictly prohibits private testing, even for rookies testing older cars, as it can still greatly improve a driver's skills.

If it were a new car, then the small teams wouldn't stand a chance.

Odette listened to the conversation between the two without saying much, his gaze sweeping over the many F1 drivers and their teams who were also on the track.

Compared to Chen Xiangbei's small group, the F1 team had at least seven or eight people, including the driver, race engineer, and a professional public relations and media team filming.

The F1 team promotional materials you see on TV and online are filmed in this way.

Of course, Odeto's focus wasn't on the other party's public relations and media team; he seemed more lost in a memory.

Whether it was my time at Ferrari or my time as team principal at Super Aguri, it all feels like yesterday.

However, with the arrival of Chen Xiangbei, it might reappear tomorrow!

Following Odette's gaze, Chen Xiangbei also noticed the F1 drivers on the track.

Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Raikkonen...

These renowned drivers, whose names will be familiar to future generations, are now appearing before Chen Xiangbei.

They almost all represent an era, or a dynasty of a racing team.

For example, Hamilton's Mercedes dynasty, Vettel's Red Bull dynasty, and Alonso's Reno dynasty.

Even Kimi Räikkönen was Ferrari's last world champion.

The gathering of numerous F1 drivers makes Spa-Francorchamps a realm of geniuses!

At this moment, Chen Xiangbei was nothing more than a small fry in their eyes, and he didn't attract any attention at all.

The fact that F1 drivers didn't pay attention to Chen Xiangbei doesn't mean he was just an unknown "passerby" in the paddock.

F3 drivers of the same level have placed Chen Xiangbei in the position of their strongest rival!
Compared to Formula Renault, the FIA's F3 series main series can be described as a "gathering of elites".

Five or six drivers made it to the F1 team, including well-known drivers such as Bottas, Ricciardo, and Bianchi.

Bottas and Ricciardo need no introduction; both were hailed as top talents from the start and were once considered contenders for the championship.

He just happened to meet Hamilton and became the number two driver, just like Barrichello.

The other was a classic case of starting strong but ending weak. Red Bull defeated the aging Velt, and just when the world thought the next world champion had been born, it rewarded Ricciardo with his historic genius teammate Verstappen.

Without a doubt, Ricardo was crushed...

Bianchi is best known for an accident during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, when he crashed into a crane that was removing his wrecked car in heavy rain. He suffered a severe head injury and fell into a coma. After a marathon nine-month treatment, he ultimately succumbed to his injuries. Formula 1 racing, you might say it's dangerous, but it certainly is quite dangerous in many ways.

During the "wild west" era, one in five drivers died on the track, a proportion that surpasses almost all other sports.

Three-time F1 champion Stewart once described F1 racing like this: "In that era, my best friend and the best drivers didn't survive, which is why I was able to win the championship."

However, this high casualty rate mysteriously came to an abrupt end in 1994 with the death of Sena.

For the next twenty years, there were no fatal accidents involving drivers, until Bianchi appeared.

At this moment, Bianchi is at the peak of his career. He won the Formula Renault championship in 07, finished third in the F3 European Series in 08, and is back at the top of the standings this year.

Historically, he also beat Bottas to win the championship in 09!
Of course, these are all things to be discussed later, and it is still unknown who will win the championship.

Chen Xiangbei's test results at the Catalan circuit were not a secret, at least within the paddock, due to the postponement of the rookie winter test.

Being only 0.2 seconds behind the team's official driver is undoubtedly an astonishing lap time.

However, based on this kind of performance alone, it can at most put pressure on Bottas and others, but it is impossible to make them "fear".

It's important to know that these are all talented drivers who have won their way up, and they have long been reserved by the youth training teams of various F1 teams. Many of them have already gone through F1 rookie testing.

Ricciardo, in particular, belongs to the Red Bull Racing youth academy, and his test drive speed is rumored to have reached a "terrifying" level.

To some extent, because Chen Xiangbei's test results were made public, he was essentially a "big boss" standing in the open.

In fact, there are other test drive results that are just as good as his, even in the shadows.

Unfortunately, Chen Xiangbei has a god-like perspective; Bottas, the "single-lap king," and Ricciardo, the "gifted monster," were already on his list of opponents.

While his opponents were studying Chen Xiangbei, Chen Xiangbei was also studying them!

After completing the seven-kilometer race, Sho Mizutani's whiteboard was already covered with dense notes on the track features and road conditions.

As the saying goes, a bad pen is worse than a good memory. No matter how good Chen Xiangbei's memory is, Mizutani Sho, a data analyst, will still make a record.

With the pre-match preparations completed, the day quickly passed and Friday arrived.

Because F3 has two races, practice and qualifying sessions were scheduled for Friday.

Compared to yesterday when Spa was mostly filled with team members and staff, today it was packed with people, and the track was filled with Prancing Horse flags.

Michael Schumacher once won the championship here six times, and now Raikkonen has won the Spa title three times.

In 09, he achieved an incredible championship victory while driving a Ferrari F009 that was practically a tractor, once again winning the Spa Championship.

During their post-race celebrations, the Ferrari team spelled out "The King of Spa" on signs, thus earning Kimi Räikkönen the title of "King of Spa"!

"Odette, this is the red ocean of Ferraris."

Looking at the flags of prancing horses all around, Chen Xiangbei said something to Odette with an envious tone.

"The Schumacher era was the true Prancing Horse dynasty."

Odette, however, seemed quite calm; he wasn't underestimating Raikkonen.

Having experienced Ferrari's glorious five-year championship run and witnessed that insurmountable peak, the current scene no longer stirs much emotion in him.

However, Chen Xiangbei then spotted his own piece of Chinese red amidst a sea of ​​red flags with prancing horses!
Today is the first F3 race after Chen Xiangbei's victory at the Grand Prix sparked public outcry. Many overseas Chinese and tourists from Europe rushed to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit after learning about the substitution news.

While expressing their support for Chen Xiangbei, they also wanted to witness firsthand the strength of this rising Chinese driver.

Let's see if, as the domestic media claims, Chen Xiangbei has already reached the pinnacle of F3 racing!
"Brother Bei, we have a lot of supporters this time. It feels different from when we competed in Europe before."

Looking at the Chinese supporters in the grandstand, A Yong felt a little excited.

The home advantage in Australia was somewhat accidental; Chen Xiangbei's consistent mainstream image is that of a villainous "public enemy" on the European track.

Today is different, with supporters far exceeding expectations, and they have actually managed to carve out a niche for themselves in the sea of ​​Prancing Horse fans!
"Of course, I'm no longer a neglected newbie."

Chen Xiangbei replied with a touch of arrogance, regardless of whether or not he acknowledged her identity.

At least now in the European Formula racing world, most people have recognized its strength!

Odette paid no attention to his supporters; to him, they were all trivial matters.

Upon arriving at the Campos team's pit garage, he went straight to Hiroki Sawano and asked, "Is the race car maintenance finished?"

"It's finished, and all the parts have been replaced with brand new ones."

If you want to achieve a stunning effect, then some money cannot be spared.

Theoretically, the performance difference of a standard vehicle with brand-new parts can reach about two percent.

Don't underestimate that two percent; in qualifying, it could mean a one-second lead in a single lap!
Of course, these are just theoretical figures; the actual performance depends more on the driver's skill.

Hiroki Sawano learned from a rumor that almost all the competitive drivers in the F3 teams participating in the Spa Grand Prix had replaced parts, including their engines.

One reason is that the Spa-Francorchamps circuit puts immense pressure on the high power output of racing cars, and using old mechanical parts results in a high failure rate.

On the other hand, the F3 teams and drivers are well aware that this is a race to determine who is the true ruler of F3, and no one wants to lose to a Chinese driver who is using a substitute driver!

Upon hearing Hiroki Sawano's reply, Odeto turned his gaze to Chen Xiangbei and said, "Get ready, the preliminary match is about to begin."

The pre-race events are essentially warm-up races for the F1 Grand Prix.

Just like serving two appetizers before the main course.

F1 teams have a long preparation period, so to avoid boring the audience, they can take advantage of this downtime to hold a support race.

On the one hand, it can attract spectators to enter the venue in advance and enhance their viewing experience.

On the other hand, it can leverage the popularity of F1 to provide a platform for young drivers to showcase their talents.

In order not to take up F1 practice time, F3 practice and qualifying sessions combined only last one hour, meaning you have to get to the track and prepare to start.

"Ah."

Chen Xiangbei responded, then changed into his racing suit and sat in the cockpit.

Almost simultaneously, the pit lane received instructions from the track control center that the practice session would begin in five minutes.

The fluid had been preheated, and Liang Chi connected the starter motor from the rear of the vehicle at the precise time.

As the engine flywheel turned, the roar of the engine filled the pit compartment.

"Keep going, head north."

"Run the fastest lap, Head North."

"Brother Bei, crush the opponent!"

"North, welcome to your Showtime!"

The members of the repair station offered Chen Xiangbei their blessings and encouragement.

"no problem."

Chen Xiangbei made an OK sign, then released the clutch, shifted gears, and stepped on the gas to drive the F3 race car out of the pit lane.

As the first F3 car to leave the pit lane, the track broadcast camera naturally focused on Chen Xiangbei, sparking various discussions among the audience.

Is car number 13 driven by Chinese driver Bei?

"That's right, he's the driver Bei who won the Grand Prix!"

"I heard that his private test results at the Catalan circuit were amazing. I wonder if it's true."

"I don't know if it's true or not, but I do know that Bei will become the king of F3!"

"SHIT! F3 racing can't be dominated by a Chinese driver!"

For most viewers who only follow F1 races, Chen Xiangbei's identity is somewhat unfamiliar.

Even so, he remains famous, because the Grand Prix is ​​a very prestigious event.

Chen Xiangbei was unaware of the various discussions outside the track; he was more focused on warming up his tires. The reason he was the first to emerge from the pit lane on time was to ensure a smooth and unobstructed track environment.

Later, Haas team's rookie Duhan applied his simulator tricks to the real track, resulting in a crash during practice.

To be honest, Chen Xiangbei also wanted to try to see if he could replicate the simulator operation and lap times in real life.

Since you've decided to make a name for yourself, then make your opponents despair from the very beginning!
(End of this chapter)