Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 160 Let Me Feel Your Speed
【How can it be! 】

Bottas was deeply shocked when he saw the No. 13 car appear next to him!
Throughout his career, Bottas has never been an aggressive driver in terms of personality or driving style. He was able to achieve top lap times without competition, which earned him the nickname "top driver".

However, once caught in a traffic jam or in fierce wheel-to-wheel competition, Bottas often struggles to gain an advantage.

His characteristics are almost tailor-made for the second driver, with the ability to test the car's tires, engine, fuel level, and even act as a "mobile roadblock" in a single lap.

Without the ability to compete, it means he cannot challenge the number one driver for the championship.

That's why Hamilton has such a great relationship with Bottas, despite having so many teammates.

Which driver wouldn't like a teammate who poses no threat?
Besides the characteristics of the second driver, Bottas's start was also not strong.

In the early days when I drove Williams and Mercedes Mars rovers, the shortcomings were not obvious. At most, I couldn't start or overtake. I was able to hold my position by relying on the performance of the race car.

If a car's performance is similar or inferior, the standard of "qualified" is no longer sufficient in F1.

Because some drivers are bound to have a "rocket start".

In comparison, Bottas's start appears to be "fainted".

Bottas's start today wasn't slow; in fact, it could be said he was even stronger than the passing standard. Given the limited performance of the standard F3 car, surpassing him wouldn't be easy.

Ricciardo was able to surpass him because he was really good in his early days, and his talent was considered to be that of the next WDC-level driver.

Bottas never expected that Chen Xiangbei could keep up with Ricardo and surpass him in the same time!

Keep in mind that Bottas had already shifted gears and accelerated by this point, making it even more difficult for Chen Xiangbei to overtake him than for Ricciardo. Just how amazing was the Chinese kid's reaction?

"Ladies and gentlemen, the second race of the F3 Spa Grand Prix has just begun, and there have already been some very exciting overtaking moments."

“Ricciardo from Australia and Bei from China overtook Bottas almost simultaneously. And Bianchi, who was in seventh place, also overtook his opponent at the start.”

"It seems that starting in reverse order can't stop a genius from performing. I'm really curious and looking forward to seeing what kind of visual feast driver Bei will bring to the audience!"

James was very excited; starting in reverse order was indeed a better way to test a driver's all-around abilities.

It's worth noting that Bottas is no novice; he has won the runner-up title in the British Formula Renault and the European Championship title in Renault.

In this year's F3 European Series, he was considered one of the biggest favorites to win the championship, and he fought closely with Ricciardo in all seven races.

Rumors circulate that Bottas has caught the eye of Sir Alex Ferguson and is about to be officially announced as a backup driver for the Williams team, a level above Chen Xiangbei's status as a test driver.

James has always been well aware that Chen Xiangbei, this Chinese kid, is very strong.

He just didn't expect that Bottas wouldn't even make it to the T1 corner before being overtaken by driver Bei. Where exactly is the potential limit of this Chinese kid?
"What's wrong with Bottas? Why is his starting reaction so slow?"

"It's not that Bottas is slow, it's that Chen Xiangbei is too fast!"

"Driver Bei truly deserves to be called the strongest F3 driver; it feels like he has no rivals in this class."

"Don't be too quick to praise him, Ricardo also completed the overtaking maneuver."

"Overtaking alongside another car and overtaking from behind are not on the same level of difficulty; North Biricard is much stronger!"

"Bullshit, Ricciardo is the best F3 driver!"

The tension between the spectators in the stands was no less intense than the competition on the track.

Chen Xiangbei's performance has completely overturned the perceptions of many Formula One viewers.

They went from questioning to accepting, and finally to admiring and worshipping.

The Spa Open, with its three events over two days, has led to a surge in Chen Xiangbei's European supporters and fans.

Now his popularity is no less than that of Australian driver Ricciardo. Chen Xiangbei is about to complete his transformation from Renault's "King of Popularity" to F3's "King of Popularity"!

After overtaking Bottas, Chen Xiangbei did not hesitate at all, and turned the steering wheel to change lanes and block the other car.

To be honest, thanks to the later Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu, Chen Xiangbei had an intimate understanding of his teammate Bottas' driving style.

This successor to the golden age of Finnish motorsport has inherited Kimi Räikkönen's consistent composure. He will never make any rash moves easily, and his overtaking and battling abilities are relatively weak.

To put it bluntly, they're easy to bully!
That's just how it is in the hunting grounds; kind people are often bullied, and good horses are often ridden.

Your driving style is clean and disciplined, which will make your opponents take advantage of you when you're locked in a close battle, giving you a huge psychological advantage and making them feel like they've got you cornered!
Conversely, if you have a "fierce reputation" in the paddock, and anyone who dares to challenge you, you can force your opponents to behave themselves, at least they won't dare to take advantage of you.

Why did Kimi Räikkönen win a world championship by only one point, yet receive countless accolades and recognition worldwide?

The key is that he can win the game with the cleanest and most beautiful style, making his opponents admit defeat wholeheartedly!

To some extent, Chen Xiangbei's actions at this moment were somewhat excessive. After overtaking, he blocked Bottas's entry line into the corner, giving the other party no chance to overtake.

Regardless of morality, this is the cruelty of competitive sports.

The roar of the race car engine echoed through the sky, and the revs had been pushed to their maximum.

After Ricciardo overtook Bocas, he and Bianchi did not stop their progress. Taking advantage of the chaos of cutting into the corner, they overtook two more cars and successfully secured the best entry line on the right.

Taking advantage of this brief respite, Ricardo glanced at the rearview mirror out of the corner of his eye, wanting to see if Bottas had blocked Chen Xiangbei and how much of a distance advantage he could gain.

The image in the rearview mirror made Ricardo wonder if he was hallucinating.

The car following behind him was not Bottas; the number 13 sticker on the front of the car indicated that its driver was Chen Xiangbei!
Bottas was overtaken by two cars in a row?

As the saying goes, no one knows you better than your enemy. As Bottas's longtime rival, no one knows the Finnish driver's strength better than Ricciardo.

Bottas's early game is certainly not his strong suit, but he shouldn't have been overtaken by two cars in a row.

What exactly happened in that brief moment after the train departed?
There was no time for Ricciardo to think; the T1 corner was right in front of him.

This time, the front row drivers almost unanimously learned from Chen Xiangbei's extreme late braking in the first round of the main race, hoping to increase their exit speed by braking in the middle of the corner and not give their opponents the opportunity to overtake them in the corner.

However, there is a famous Chinese saying: "Those who learn from me will live, those who imitate me will die!"

Most F3 level drivers simply cannot have Chen Xiangbei's car feel, and naturally cannot perceive the changes in tire grip in corners, and adjust their braking force at any time.

They were just crudely "imitating" others, thinking they could handle cornering at the limit.

One, two, three...

At the start of the race, at Turn 1, three cars in the front row went straight off the track. If Spa hadn't been a traditional circuit with a wide enough gravel run-off area, this could have resulted in a serious accident with injuries or fatalities.

The scene, resembling the Calabash Brothers, startled the other riders following behind, but not Bianchi and Ricardo.

Over the past few days, they have conducted "pixel-level" observations of Chen Xiangbei's line selection and technical characteristics.

Furthermore, compared to smaller teams, they have the data and technical support provided by the F1 team, enabling them to perfectly navigate curves on a computer simulator.

Extreme late braking challenges the limits of tire grip.

Even if they go off the track, they still can't be overtaken by Chen Xiangbei at turn 1!

As the race cars roared past, only five cars remained in the front row, meaning Chen Xiangbei had essentially moved up five places.

"Williams, this game was really intense. The North has brought a catfish effect."

In the VIP box with the best viewing position above the track, Sir Williams and Prost stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window watching the track scenery.

The two were very close; in fact, it could be said that Sir Williams once gave Prost a chance to prove himself!

Back when Senna and Prost were teammates, they were evenly matched, with one win and one loss.

However, when McLaren sided with Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna during a period of internal conflict, Prost felt betrayed and chose to leave in anger.

Furthermore, public opinion at the time largely favored Senna, believing that Prost was a fraud who defeated Senna to win the world championship by playing "political tricks."

Faced with external doubts and humiliation, Prost made a bold statement: if he could beat Senna once, he could beat him a second time!

Prost kept his promise, winning the 93 World Championship in a Williams car, and announced his retirement.

At the final stop, Sena and Prost embraced goodbye, seemingly burying the hatchet.

Prost didn't forget Sir Williams' help. After leaving the Renault pit lane, he went to the VIP box above the pit lane to watch the game together.

"Bei is not just a catfish, he might even become a shark."

Sir Williams replied casually, but his eyes revealed a glint of appreciation.

"Sometimes having too many cards to play can be a problem."

Prost replied with a smile, knowing that Sir Williams thought highly of Chen Xiangbei and understanding why the other party did not sign a contract.

Rosberg and Hulkenberg are both considered super rookies, and Williams simply couldn't afford a third seat to sign Chen Xiangbei.

"I have never been troubled by this. On the contrary, it is Bei himself who does not understand the rules of F1, which is why he is struggling to find a team to sign with."

"What do you mean?"

"F1 is ultimately a commercial sport."

Sir Williams gave this meaningful reply.

F1 teams have massive strategy teams and data analysis capabilities, and Chen Xiangbei's demonstrated strength and potential cannot be ignored.

In a sense, he has already gained the approval of the F1 team.

The problem is that the stories of "prodigies failing to live up to their potential" are just as numerous within the F1 paddock. To put it bluntly, even the worst F1 drivers are still among the top twenty on Earth.

Even if Yuji Ide is so bad that his super license is revoked, he can still win the championship in the Super GT series in Japan as long as he doesn't drive in F1.

Chen Xiangbei has only participated in four races so far, and his "sample size" is so small that no team would dare to gamble on him with their official driver seat.

It's important to understand that this represents more than just a driver's seat; it also includes sponsorship, advertising revenue, points sharing, year-end bonuses, and so on.

The difference in annual team revenue between a top-tier rookie and a complete novice can reach hundreds of millions.

In the eyes of management during the financial crisis, Chen Xiangbei's potential was considered "unknown" until he achieved good results in F1 racing.

Only sponsorships and commercial value bring real benefits!

"No, I think quite the opposite."

"If he goes north to play the commercial game, he will never become an F1 driver!"

This time, Prost did not agree with Sir Williams' idea.

Years later, he finally understood why public opinion sided with Senna back then.

Why did this driver, who only won three world championships, surpass himself, who had four championships, and Fangio, who had five, to obtain the world-renowned title of "God of Speed" and be hailed as the greatest driver in history?
Because he had no distractions, he was purely pursuing the freedom of the wind and the limits of speed.

If Chen Xiangbei weren't this kind of person, given China's foundation in Formula racing, he simply wouldn't have been able to make it, let alone compete for an F1 seat on a European track.

Now Prost understood why he felt as if he saw the shadow of Sena when he first met Chen Xiangbei.

They are the same kind of people!

Opinions are often neither right nor wrong, and neither Prost nor Sir Williams wanted to try to persuade the other.

The two wisely chose to keep quiet and turned their attention back to the track.

At this point, the first five cars in the front row had already completed the first lap.

Whether it was Bianchi, Ricciardo, or the drivers in first and second place, their cornering lines were basically the same as Chen Xiangbei's previous lines.

The only difference is that Bianchi and Ricciardo were able to keep their cars in place, while the first and second drivers, under the pressure of being chased, made significantly more control errors, and if this trend continued, they would soon be overtaken.

Indeed, halfway through the third lap, the second driver couldn't withstand Bianchi's pursuit, and another car went off the track.

Fourth lap, fifth lap, sixth lap...

After three more laps, the top four rankings remained largely unchanged.

Sometimes revealing your hand too early isn't a good thing. In pursuit of a stunning debut, Chen Xiangbei pushed the car to its limits on most of the curves.

Now he not only wants to surpass his opponents, but also challenges his own trajectory.

So much so that several times he managed to take advantage of the "slingshot effect" of the wake to pull away, with the front wing of his car going over the rear wheels of Ricciardo's car, but he exhausted the potential of the corners and had to give up in order to avoid going off the track.

"Team leader, Ricardo's defense is very tenacious. The tire grip has now exceeded its peak. Should we issue an order to pit north for a tire change?"

The race was nearly halfway through, including the warm-up lap, and the tires were worn out due to the heavy fuel consumption in the first half.

Now that the grip has passed its peak, the risk of overtaking will be greater. Hiroki Sawano is thinking of having Chen Xiangbei pit to change tires, and using the teamwork of the Super Dream crew to overpower the Ricardo Prima mechanics team.

If the tire change time can be reduced by just one second, then the overtaking maneuver can be successfully completed upon exiting the pits!

"If you have to change tires to overtake your opponent, what will Bianchi do?"

Oddo replied with a serious expression, unsure whether he had overestimated Chen Xiangbei's strength or underestimated Ricardo's.

After all, they don't have a god's-eye view; Ricciardo is just an excellent F3 driver.

According to the strategy team's plan, Chen Xiangbei should overtake Ricciardo before entering the pits, and then use his tire-changing speed advantage to take down Bianchi.

As for the other drivers who started in reverse order, Odto never paid them any attention!

With that in mind, Odeto pressed the call button on his headset.

“Bei, you’re driving a Super Dream Special Edition car, not some kind of tractor.”

"I don't want to see you following behind Ricardo. Go a little faster and let me feel your speed."

"Remember this, this race is your key to entering the F1 paddock!"

Odeto did not issue a pit stop order, but rather a forceful overtaking order.

Chen Xiangbei's tire grip had exceeded its peak, and Ricardo, who had been under constant attack, would only experience more severe tire wear.

With both sides having new tires, it would mean returning to a level playing field, which is unacceptable to Odette.

He hadn't asked Chen Xiangbei to be radical in a long time, because the Chinese kid had been acting crazy enough.

But today is not enough.

Only madmen can create miracles and achieve greatness in the paddock!

"You will feel my speed."

Chen Xiangbei replied indifferently, his gaze fixed on the T8 corner of the Spa circuit, a hairpin bend that perfectly replicates the downhill slope of a mountain road.

To put it simply, it's similar to a semi-circular ramp leading down a steep slope.

Due to the high-speed inertia, the driver needs to brake while maintaining the track throughout the corner, and also turn while going downhill.

Let alone Formula One cars, even those who drive family cars know that braking at high speed in a corner and then constantly swerving the steering wheel will almost certainly result in a loss of control.

If the Red River Bend represents the limits of speed and courage, then the T8 Bend represents the ultimate challenge of the Spa circuit.

Throughout all those laps, Chen Xiangbei had been launching probing attacks against Ricardo at this bend.

On the one hand, this "crying wolf" tactic is used to lull the opponent into a false sense of security.

On the other hand, it is to find out Ricardo's mistakes in control by probing attacks.

Under pressure, even young, top-tier F1 drivers like Leclerc and Norris are not immune to making stressful mistakes, let alone Ricciardo, who is currently just an F3 "rookie".

Soon the two race cars arrived at the T8 bend. Chen Xiangbei, having mastered the left shoulder, caught the slipstream of Ricciardo's car and made an aggressive overtaking maneuver, just like before.

Seeing Chen Xiangbei's actions in the rearview mirror, Ricardo, as usual, changed lanes to defend and block the car, then firmly guarded the outside cornering line, not giving the other party any chance to overtake.

With tire grip now significantly reduced, Ricardo doesn't believe Chen Xiangbei can break through the physical limits.

As long as they occupy the best cornering line, Chinese drivers can only follow behind!
This time, however, Chen Xiangbei didn't follow the line through the corner. Instead, he turned the steering wheel to the right, using the wake effect to accelerate and cut into the inside lane, making it seem like he was going to overtake aggressively from the inside.

Ricciardo remained unfazed by Chen Xiangbei's maneuver. The tires were now struggling to maintain grip on the outside of the road, making sharp turns on the inside almost impossible.

If Chen Xiangbei really dares to do that, he will definitely veer off course and run out of the track.

Ricciardo believes that Chinese drivers, given their skill level, would not make such a basic mistake.

In fact, Chen Xiangbei really didn't intend to take the inside line when cornering; to be precise, he never intended to corner at all.

Using the advantage of the front wing to get past Ricciardo's rear wheel, the two cars were now running side by side. Chen Xiangbei did not make any special moves, as if he was determined to go off the track.

Although the rules for double lane changes are vague in this era, there is one clear rule for overtaking.

That means when the front wing of the following vehicle passes the rear wheel area of ​​the vehicle in front, the vehicle in front must give way to overtake, otherwise it will bear the main responsibility in the event of an accident.

The problem is that there's no room to overtake on this bend unless Ricciardo slams on the brakes and backs off, or he runs off the track with Chen Xiangbei. Is the Chinese kid planning to go down in flames?

Chen Xiangbei's blatantly aggressive move directly ignited Ricardo's competitive spirit.

They're all in their early twenties, full of youthful vigor. The Chinese guy, the champion of the first round of the main race, wasn't afraid to go off the track, so what do I have to be afraid of?

At worst, Bianchi or Bottas can reap the benefits and win the title based on their overall ranking advantage over the two rounds.

Anyway, Ricardo is not going to step on the brakes; whoever does is a coward!

Just as the two passed the last braking point, Chen Xiangbei slammed on the brakes without hesitation.

With the powerful braking force of the Formula One car, Chen Xiangbei made a sharp turn and rushed into the T8 corner. In a slightly fishtailing "drift" manner, he managed to find the apex point of the cornering line again, and the scene of losing control and rushing off the track that he had imagined did not occur.

Chen Xiangbei didn't lose control, but Ricciardo couldn't stop his car.

At the last moment, he gave up on trying to save the car, and just stared incredulously at Chen Xiangbei as he drove away around the bend.

This is impossible!

Chinese driver Bei seemed to have anticipated his response, and Ricciardo also had a feeling about it.

That is, Chen Xiangbei's cornering maneuvers were very skillful, not like a last-minute rescue move, but as if he had practiced before.

The question is, who would use a Formula One car to practice drifting through corners?
Even when Verstappen drove Red Bull cars in later years, he would occasionally oversteer and drift, but this was mostly due to errors in the research and development direction that forced him to do so.

The F3 standard car doesn't have this problem, so why would Chen Xiangbei do something like this?
No one could answer the shock and confusion in Ricciardo's heart. As the front of the car went out of control and crashed into the tire wall, a yellow flag was waved on the side of the track.

"North, the time's up, proceed!"

Oddo's voice came through the earpiece: Chen Xiangbei had defeated Ricardo with his skill.

Next, the Super Dream team will use tactics to defeat Bianchi!
(End of this chapter)