Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 157 Dominant Level Strength

"This Chinese kid is using an F3 car to follow Schumacher's line; he's really not afraid of death."

Sir Williams, seeing this familiar scene, also muttered a word to himself.

Although Williams has gradually faded into a mid-tier team in recent years due to private funding issues.

But the foundation of the former "Big Three" is still there; even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse.

Not to mention Sir Williams has been a part of the paddock for many years, and he has witnessed many classic races and races.

Schumacher's run in 06 is unforgettable once you've seen it.

Sir Williams once thought that after the track layout was changed, he would never see it again in his lifetime.

Unexpectedly, a Chinese rookie has replicated this.

Staller has a great eye; he discovered driver North's talent and potential early on.

"Nakajima, what do you think of Kita's strength?"

Sir Williams asked a question to the Japanese driver, Kazuki Nakajima, who was sitting next to him.

He had read the materials recommended by Stahler and knew that Chen Xiangbei had graduated from the Honda Suzuka Driver Academy, thus receiving technical support from the broader Honda camp.

If I remember correctly, the principal of the Honda Suzuka Driver Academy is Satoru Nakajima, who is also the father of my own driver, Kazuki Nakajima.

Sir Williams subconsciously assumed that Nakajima Kazuki should be very familiar with Chen Xiangbei.

Faced with this question, Kazuki Nakajima did not know how to answer it.

The main reason is that his performance this year has been terrible; he has not scored a single point so far, and the team management is very dissatisfied with Kazuki Nakajima's performance.

In addition, the Toyota F1 team has followed the same path as the Honda F1 team last year, with rumors circulating that they intend to withdraw from the paddock completely.

It is common knowledge that there are no "rumors" in the paddock. Without the support of this world-class car company, Kazuki Nakajima's position next year would be very unstable.

Sir Williams' question clearly showed that he was interested in Chen Xiangbei.

To truthfully acknowledge Chen Xiangbei's strength would be tantamount to creating trouble for oneself.

However, to deny Chen Xiangbei's strength would be utterly ridiculous and self-deceptive.

Just over six months ago at the Australian Grand Prix, this Chinese rookie was still watching his own race videos and learning the cornering lines of the Guia Circuit.

Nakajima Kazuki never expected that in such a short time, Chen Xiangbei would have the qualifications to challenge him.

This rate of growth is truly frightening...

“It’s very strong.”

After a moment's hesitation, Nakajima Kazuki ultimately chose not to deceive himself.

To be honest, Kazuki Nakajima was once the center of attention.

He's the kind of driver who starts slow, rises high, and then falls to rock bottom.

As the son of Japanese hero Satoru Nakajima, Kazuki Nakajima grew up under the spotlight, but also under immense pressure.

To prove himself, he left the Honda camp and chose to "defect" to the Toyota camp.

His grades in lower-level formulas were mediocre, nothing particularly outstanding, and he couldn't compare to his senior, Kobayashi Kamui.

However, Kazuki Nakajima seized the opportunity in 07, driving a Williams car and finishing tenth in the Brazilian Grand Prix, which, according to later point standards, is equivalent to scoring points in his debut race.

It was this performance, coupled with the strong support from the Toyota Group, that earned Kazuki Nakajima a formal driver contract with the Williams team in 08.

That year, Kazuki Nakajima achieved excellent results, going toe-to-toe with another "second-generation" teammate, Nico Rosberg, nicknamed "Princess" and "Fifteen-Time Champion".

However, in 09, things collapsed instantly, with teammates completely dominating the game.

Rosberg finished seventh all year with 34.5 points, while Nakajima Kazuki finished with 0 points, tied for last place!

Such a precipitous collapse, coupled with the loss of Toyota's backing, naturally led to its inevitable demise.

"Did driver Kita really not have any experience in karting or lower-level formula racing in Japan before joining the Honda Suzuka Driver Academy?"

Sir Williams pressed further, saying he still couldn't understand Chen Xiangbei's professional resume.

If there is any suspicion of forgery, Europe certainly cannot hide the traces of training, and China does not have that capability or foundation. The only remaining possibility is that they were trained in Japan.

"I don't know, probably not."

Kazuki Nakajima shook his head. He had received go-karting training in Japan since childhood, then raced in Toyota's primary Formula, and then raced in the All-Japan Formula 3 for two years.

If Chen Xiangbei had raced in Japan under an assumed name, his talent would have been widely known. At least Nakajima Kazuki had never heard of another super genius in Japanese Formula racing besides Kobayashi Kamui.

Upon hearing this reply, Sir Williams' expression became complicated.

He was weighing the risks and benefits of recruiting Chen Xiangbei!
The team management has already made a decision to cut Kazuki Nakajima next year to free up a seat for a regular driver.

The problem is that the Williams junior driver competing for this seat is very, very strong; his name is Nico Hulkenberg!

That's right, it's the same Hulkenberg who later became known as "The Hulk" for the Sauber racing team.

Hulkenberg's resume in low-level equations is absolutely that of a historical genius that is visible to the naked eye.

Starting as a German karting champion, he won every race he participated in.

These include the BMW Formula Championship, the F3 European Championship, and the GP2 Championship.

Furthermore, this GP2 championship makes him the second rookie to win the title after Hamilton, and the first to win it ahead of schedule.

This resume is simply phenomenal; in later generations, it would be equivalent to someone like Leclerc or Piastri—a true core prospect for a racing team's future development.

That's why Sir Williams showed no interest whatsoever when Staller recommended Chen Xiangbei.

The rookie ace he holds is so powerful that he no longer needs to consider anyone else.

But now, Chen Xiangbei's performance has won him over.

Compared to 22-year-old Hulkenberg, it is clear that 19-year-old Chen Xiangbei has more potential!
It's a decision even the most audacious gambler would struggle to make: simply giving up a revealed S-class rookie card to open a potential S-class rookie lottery.

Sir Williams wanted it all, but the Williams team lacked both the resources and the appeal.

On the track, Chen Xiangbei was still speeding along. After passing the Red River Bend and the long straight, Ricciardo, who was in second place, could no longer catch his slipstream and had to face attacks from Bottas and other drivers behind him.

This means that as long as Chen Xiangbei stays calm at this moment, he will enter "cruising mode".

"Xiang Beijun, the tires and engine are under a lot of pressure. Also, pay attention to brake cooling. It's best not to continue pushing."

Hiroki Sawano's timely reminder came through TR: the mechanical stress brought by the full-force push of heavy fuel is obviously greater than that of light fuel during qualifying.

The tire and brake temperatures are now noticeably off, and even the engine power is being pushed to its limit.

If Chen Xiangbei pushes it any further, there is a high probability of mechanical failure.

In the upcoming races, he will need to showcase his long-distance cruising ability.

"receive."

Chen Xiangbei gave a simple reply, and even without Hiroki Sawano's reminder, he had no intention of continuing to push things forward.

The reason is simple: even the "Schumacher line" just now was a huge gamble for Chen Xiangbei, and he didn't really have much confidence in it.

After all, an emulator is not the same as reality, and there is no chance to restart.

If you lose the bet, at best the game will end prematurely, and at worst there will be injuries or fatalities.

Now that he had won the gamble, Chen Xiangbei certainly wouldn't gamble a second time.

As the saying goes, you're bound to lose if you gamble for a long time!

The reason he chose such an aggressive plan was that Chen Xiangbei was not as arrogant and "conceited" as he appeared. In fact, he knew the strength of Ricardo, Bottas, and others better than anyone else.

If you don't use 120% speed to leave the back row behind at the start, you will definitely become the primary target of attack.

Spa is a track where it's easy to overtake, and the car behind that gets caught in the slipstream has a huge advantage.

Unless Bottas and Bianchi are stupid, they certainly won't rush to attack Ricardo first. They will definitely "watch" Ricardo fight them and wait for an opportunity.

Chen Xiangbei knew that once he got into a tug-of-war with Ricciardo, it wouldn't be so easy to shake him off. If Ricciardo really unleashed his potential, his lap speed, aided by the slipstream, wouldn't be inferior to his own.

The only option then is to use an unexpected tactic, employing an aggressive approach beyond everyone's expectations to instantly widen the gap between himself and Ricardo behind him.

Without their own target to focus fire, the drivers in the back row will be forced into a situation of "fighting each other".

Before Chen Xiangbei filled in, Ricardo, Bottas, and Bianchi were very close in points and were all favorites to win the F3 championship.

Even with Chen Xiangbei's emergence, he could at most win a single race, but the most prestigious annual championship would still have to be decided among these three drivers.

There is no doubt that they will not maintain "peaceful coexistence".

As Chen Xiangbei predicted, after car number 13 gradually drove away, Bottas realized that he had no chance of catching up in a short time, so he immediately adjusted his tactics and tried to overtake Ricciardo.

Ricardo was also prepared; he began to take a defensive approach, giving his opponent no chance.

"In just half a lap, two groups have already emerged on the track. Chinese driver Bei, with his extremely aggressive full-throttle cut, has left his opponents behind and is now in the lead."

"The drivers in the second group are now locked in a fierce battle of offense and defense, especially Ricciardo in the front row, who no longer has the strength to chase after driver Bei."

"If this situation continues, as time goes on, a scenario in which the northern fault leads the way will emerge."

Will this Spa Grand Prix become a battle for F3 dominance in the North?

James sounded somewhat excited; he had already anticipated that Chen Xiangbei had a very high chance of winning the championship.

But no one expected that Chen Xiangbei would eliminate the suspense so quickly!
Sitting next to him, guest Claes felt conflicted upon hearing these words. He wanted to refute them, but couldn't find any arguments to support his claim.

He could only reply dejectedly, "F3 doesn't offer much room for tactical maneuvering. If this were an F1 race, we might be able to consider an undercut."

"Undercut" is a professional tactical term in Formula 1, which roughly means using the advantage of new tires during pit stops to overtake the car in front.

Theoretically, due to the presence of aerodynamic wakes, the car behind should always be faster than the car in front.

However, this is not necessarily the case in actual competitions.

Because of the complex aerodynamic components in F1, turbulence and engine efficiency must also be considered.

If two race cars are simply running on the track, they will form a stable "air path", and the following car only needs to run into the wake of the car in front.

However, if there are several race cars "training" ahead, the "vacuum zone" of the wake will not be so stable. In this case, the air will become turbulent, which will affect the efficiency of the aerodynamic kits of the cars behind and will not have the effect of acceleration at all!
Meanwhile, racing engines, due to their high RPM and high efficiency, have extremely high requirements for air intake.

Cold air and air with high oxygen content will improve the combustion efficiency of the engine, generating more powerful kinetic energy and faster speed.

If the car is consuming the exhaust fumes of the car in front, which is called "dirty air" in F1, the high temperature of the waste heat will affect the power of the car behind and reduce its cooling efficiency.

If a race car gets stuck in traffic and "drives like a train," unable to overtake, it will be constantly emitting exhaust fumes.

You can choose to pit directly, change to newer tires, and come out with fresh air. Theoretically, this can improve your lap time by one to two seconds!
Use this one to two-second lap advantage to quickly close the gap. When your opponent pits and comes out, you'll find yourself inexplicably behind, and the positions of both players will have changed hands.

This tactic is known as "undercut".

The problem is that F3 cars only run fifteen laps, and the performance and speed of standard cars are not significantly different. Furthermore, the aerodynamic kits and engines are far less sensitive to "clean air" than F1 cars.

Similar tactics are meaningless against F3.

The reason Klass brought it up was simply because he couldn't find any way to turn the tide, so he was just trying to salvage the situation by arguing a little.

"But this is not an F1 race."

This time, James did not compromise. He felt that Chen Xiangbei's strength and speed should be acknowledged!
"Yes, this is not an F1 race."

Faced with James's "toughness," Claes gave a self-deprecating laugh.

On the track, Chen Xiangbei ran further and further ahead, and by the seventh lap, his lead had reached 3 seconds.

It's important to know that because F3 cars are standard-issue and have fewer laps, the time difference between the top few drivers at the end of the race is often less than 3 seconds.

Chen Xiangbei has already secured his lead in just half the season.

On the one hand, his long-distance leading performance is also excellent.

On the other hand, the opponents at the same level are very strong.

That's right. It was precisely because the opponents of the same level were so strong that Ricardo felt immense pressure on his defense and completely gave up the idea of ​​catching up with Chen Xiangbei.

If his opponents were any weaker, Ricardo would probably have already pulled away from them and accelerated at full speed to compete with Chen Xiangbei for the championship.

"North, pull into the station to change the tire."

Just then, Odette's entry command came through TR.

The supersoft tires have already completed seven laps, and with the added boost from the heavy-load phase, the grip has already passed its peak.

Chen Xiangbei should have entered the station in the previous lap, but the entry window was not in good condition at the time, so it was delayed by one lap.

After giving instructions to Chen Xiangbei, Odeto turned to the mechanics and said, "This is a real battle, not a drill. I want to see the speed of an F1 team. Do you understand?"

"YES, team leader!"

The technician team responded in unison, and then a large group of more than a dozen people, carrying tires and various tools, entered the workstation to wait for orders.

Meanwhile, other crew members, including the F1 team, came out of the pit lane when they heard Chen Xiangbei's command to pit, wanting to see the coordination between the Super Dream team and the driver.

It's important to know that pitting is not an easy task for many rookie drivers.

When Kazuki Nakajima made his debut, he lost control of his speed during his first pit stop for a tire change and crashed into two mechanics who were changing the left front tire.

The ability to stop accurately at high speed also tests a driver's skills!

Chen Xiangbei's race car drove into the pit lane. Compared to the empty pit lanes during previous tests at Spa, this time the entire row of pit bays was filled with crew members.

To be honest, if Chen Xiangbei didn't have racing experience from his previous life, he really wouldn't be able to tell where the Super Dream team's pit garage was, and he could easily drive into someone else's pit lane.

This is not an uncommon occurrence; even F1 drivers frequently stop at the wrong pit lane. This is especially true when they've just switched teams, as they can easily and subconsciously drive into their former team's pit lane.

For example, Hamilton once drove a Mercedes race car into McLaren's pit lane.

Show the car team at my former employer how cool my new Mercedes looks...

Chen Xiangbei had practiced pitting for tire changes multiple times at the Catalan circuit. He parked in the pit lane with extreme precision, and the entire crew did not need to make any adjustments to their positions.

"The Chinese kid has really good control over his speed."

"The braking force is also controlled very precisely."

"He doesn't look like he's only raced two F3 events."

"Could a genius driver from China really emerge?"

The members of each vehicle crew were discussing it animatedly, with most praising Chen Xiangbei.

Only industry insiders can truly understand the technical sophistication of Chen Xiangbei's skills; the young Chinese man's performance was truly unlike that of a newcomer!
Despite the praise from the outside world for the driver, Odette's expression was very serious.

The pit stop tire-changing practice of the Mewtwo team is mostly static practice, which means repeatedly disassembling and assembling on a stopped Formula One car.

After all, the engine life of an F1 car is too precious during testing at the Catalan circuit, and the cost of using it for dynamic tire changing practice is too high.

Let alone Chen Xiangbei's private test drive, which he can't afford to pay for himself, many small teams can't afford to do hundreds or thousands of dynamic tests. This is the "patent" of large teams or factory teams.

The Mewtwo team changed a tire in 3.7 seconds.

It's important to know that F3 cars have smaller tires, so theoretically tire changing should be faster. Odette thought the minimum standard should be under 3 seconds, but he didn't expect it to be close to four seconds.

If this were a close F1 race, that one second or so of delay in changing tires would be enough to cause the opposing team to crash out!

Of course, it's pointless to talk about this now; the only way to improve teamwork and tire-changing speed is through countless repetitions of mechanical practice.

As the tire change was completed and the green light came on, Chen Xiangbei stepped on the gas and drove away from the maintenance lane.

Although the Mewtwo team took a "high" 3.7 seconds to change tires, other F3 teams were even slower, with no record of being the slowest.

The number of engineers dispatched by F1 is limited; they are only assigned to adjust the car and will not act as a team of technicians to assist with tire changes.

No matter how bad an F1 team is, they are still F1 level, and F3 teams can't compete with them.

Chen Xiangbei was already ahead in speed, and with the advantage of changing tires, the outcome of the race was no longer in doubt.

Even after the subsequent crash and the yellow flag prohibiting overtaking, which allowed Ricciardo to catch up, he still had no chance to overtake.

The reason is that Chen Xiangbei maintained tire wear too well while cruising, and Ricciardo had already passed the peak grip during the intense battle, resulting in a huge speed difference between the two cars in the corners.

"The race has come to the last lap, and Chinese driver Chen Xiangbei is in a commanding lead. Ricciardo, the British Renault champion in second place, has fallen behind by nearly 2 seconds again!"

“There will be no safety car this time, and even if there is, it will be impossible to overtake Chen Xiangbei on the last lap.”

"I think the result of the race was definitely unexpected by many people. No one would have thought that a Chinese rookie who was using a substitute driver would show his dominant level of strength in the F3 series."

"Ladies and gentlemen, the checkered flag is now in effect on the track. Let us congratulate Chinese driver Bei on becoming the champion of the first round of the F3 Series Spa Grand Prix!"

As commentator James finished speaking, the Chinese supporters in the stands erupted in cheers, with almost everyone waving their arms wildly and applauding and cheering in Chen Xiangbei's direction.

"Chen Xiangbei, champion!"

"That's fucking amazing! European drivers are nothing special. Chen Xiangbei is the real racing genius!"

"The Australian Grand Prix victory proves that Chen Xiangbei is the strongest F3 driver in Asia. I feel that he can now be called the strongest F3 driver in the world."

"Don't open the champagne halfway through, there's still the second round of the reverse main event tomorrow."

Exclamations of amazement rang out, and even though they knew it was only the first round of victory, the audience couldn't contain their excitement.

Chen Xiangbei once defeated European drivers at the Renault level, and now he has defeated European racing prodigies at the F3 level.

This time, Chen Xiangbei, representing Chinese drivers, has one foot on the world's pinnacle!
At this moment, Chen Xiangbei pushed off the visor on his helmet, looked at the enthusiastic audience in the stands and the waving red flags, and raised his fist high in response.

He kept his promise in this match, giving his opponent no hope whatsoever!
"Xiang Beijun, that was a beautiful run!"

"GOOD JOB, North."

"Brother Bei, you're the best driver ever!"

Congratulations came through the headphones from the members of the Super Dream P RV team, their voices filled with barely suppressed emotion.

Chen Xiangbei won more than just an F3 race victory; he may have earned himself a ticket to F1!
"Bei, he has truly proven himself."

Ross Brawn stood in the pit lane of the Brawn GP team and said this meaningfully.

Before the race, he comforted Chen Xiangbei about the super license issue, hoping the young Chinese driver wouldn't be affected.

At the time, Chen Xiangbei was very calm and made a boastful statement that he would eliminate all the F3 opponents so that the FIA ​​would have no excuse to refuse.

It's normal for young people to make bold statements to encourage themselves, and Ross Brown was impressed by Chen Xiangbei's strong will.

In retrospect, this was not just empty talk. Chen Xiangbei had absolute confidence in this match and was fully prepared to prove himself.

As it turns out, the Chinese kid did it!

(End of this chapter)