Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 162 Now It's Time to Talk Money

Chen Xiangbei parked the F3 car in front of the championship sign. The members of the Super Dream team had already arrived from the pit lane. Even Odette was there this time. The two sides hugged tightly across the barrier line to celebrate.

Seeing this, the reporters handed over their microphones and asked Chen Xiangbei about his experience of winning the championship.

"Mr. Chen Xiangbei, you won the F3 Series race as a substitute driver. What are your thoughts on this?"

"Bei, you showed absolute dominance in this race. Will you fulfill your promise to advance to F1?"

"Driver Bei, besides the Renault team management, have any other F1 teams had private contact with you?"

"Bei, if you had the chance to join F1, which team would you like to join?"

This time, the focus of the reporters' questions was not only on Chen Xiangbei's championship win, but also on his future career plans and whether he could become a formal F1 driver.

To be honest, Chen Xiangbei's performance has already made it clear, even to ordinary media reporters, that this young Chinese man is poised to become a rising star in the racing world, without even needing the expertise of F1 management.

Signing a contract with him at this time would be the most cost-effective option.

When faced with reporters' questions, Chen Xiangbei didn't say much, nor did he want to make any grand pronouncements.

He simply took Hank's microphone and then found the camera on the track's broadcast screen.

Then he said, "I'm all ready to become an F1 driver, and I'm just waiting for the team to send me the official contract."

"Choosing me will be the best decision you've ever made!"

After saying that, Chen Xiangbei tossed the microphone to Hank.

Some things only need to be said once; what follows is for you to enjoy the glory of being the victor!

"Team Leader Ross, are we really not going to consider this?"

On the Brawn GP team's P side, upon seeing Chen Xiangbei's "invitation" through the camera, the team's test engineer, Field, asked a question with mixed feelings.

As the team manager for Chen Xiangbei's test drive at the Catalan circuit, he witnessed firsthand the extraordinary talent and potential of this new Chinese driver.

To put it bluntly, given the rate of growth he has shown during the testing phase, surpassing Barrichello is just around the corner, and it's not impossible for him to surpass Jason Barton as well.

After all, an F1 driver's career, like the grip of a tire, also has a "peak".

Once you pass your peak, you start to decline. No one can escape the erosion of time, not even Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton, and others. Even gods who stand at the top will eventually have to descend.

If the two drivers of the Brawn GP team represent the present, then Chen Xiangbei represents the future.

Field thought it was worth the gamble!
Ross Brown felt conflicted about what the strategy team members had said.

To be honest, he was the first F1 team management to think that Chen Xiangbei had potential. At the same time, Ross Brawn's decision to let Chen Xiangbei skip a level was, to some extent, intended to cultivate him as a reserve F1 driver.

At the normal pace of a genius like Chen Xiangbei, who can jump once a year, he can at most finish F3 this year, and if he does well next year, he can run GP2. If he does poorly, he can save money and run the famous Renault 3.5 of this era.

Anyway, the fastest speed I can get to stand in front of the F1 paddock will be the year after next.

As a result, the Chinese kid got it almost two years ahead of schedule!

Ross Brown believed that, based on the help he had given and the friendship between Stagler and Chen Xiangbei, this would be a good opportunity.

If Brawn GP offers a contract, Chen Xiangbei will definitely agree without hesitation.

But the price of this high-stakes gamble will be the fate of the entire team!
The reason Ross Brawn agreed to the investment from Daimler and the Abu Dhabi consortium was that although the team had survived, it had not secured a major sponsor.

The operating costs from the beginning of the year to now have all come from emptying our savings and borrowing money.

If they don't accept outside investment, the team will still be forced to pay off its debts, so it's better to take the initiative to negotiate a good price.

Some people may wonder why the Brawn GP team, which is already competing for the championship, is so short of money and doesn't have any major sponsors.
The reason is simple: F1 sponsorship is delayed.

The vast majority of sponsorship contracts were signed in advance last season. Apart from Chen Xiangbei, who has a god-like perspective and knows that Honda's legacy will be a Mars rover, no one outside the team is optimistic about the Brawn GP team, which is barely "surviving".

By the time Brawn GP achieved its results, the team's operations were already in dire straits.

Then, due to a lack of funds, the team couldn't keep up with the season upgrades. When a major sponsor finally decided to invest, they discovered that the Brawn GP team's performance had plummeted, so they chose to wait and see again.

Many smaller teams, including Brawn GP, ​​have fallen into this vicious cycle.

Ross Brawn carries the fate of the entire team on his shoulders. He desperately needs the 09 Drivers' Championship to turn things around, and he dares not gamble!
"Team Leader Ross?"

Seeing that Ross Brown did not respond, Field called out softly.

Faced with Field's expectant gaze, Ross Brown sighed but still did not give an answer.

At this moment, the award presenters had already presented trophies to the top three drivers on the podium. Immediately afterwards, a bright national flag appeared on the large LCD screen behind Chen Xiangbei, and the national anthem also played over the track's loudspeaker.

Chen Xiangbei looked ahead with a solemn expression, listening to the familiar melody in his ears, his mind filled with countless thoughts.

He finally fulfilled his promise to "rectify his name", climbed the last step on the road to the F1 hall of fame, and once again stood in front of the pinnacle paddock.

Chen Xiangbei had fallen before, and he would never allow that to happen again.

Chen Xiangbei hopes the next time the national anthem is played, it will be on the F1 podium.

As the awards ceremony came to a close, the fans watching from below the track erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers once again.

However, this celebration did not last long, as it was soon overshadowed by another event: the F1 drivers' parade.

The glory of this event ultimately belongs to F1, not to Chen Xiangbei, the F3 support race champion.

Back at Campos' pit garage, the team members relaxed as the race ended, except for the mechanics, who had to take on the heavy responsibility of post-race maintenance.

Chen Xiangbei did not leave early this time; he stood in the team's pit garage, enjoying the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.

The 09 F1 season was full of highlights, mainly because no major team formed a monopoly, and many small and medium-sized teams emerged and performed exceptionally well, making almost every race full of suspense.

For example, the pole position at Spa was surprisingly taken by Force India driver Fisichella.

Kimi Räikkönen, once known as the "King of Spa," finished only sixth in qualifying.

But this race made Chen Xiangbei truly realize why Raikkonen was called the "King of Spa" and why he became the last glory of the Prancing Horse!
Chen Xiangbei's start, following Ricardo's overtaking of Bottas, was already a very quick and beautiful move.

Compared to Raikkonen's starting point, it's like a drop in the ocean!

When Raikkonen overtook Barrichello, who was ahead of him, the other car had moved just one car length, or about five meters!

Chen Xiangbei didn't know whether to say Raikkonen was invincible or Barrichello was "senile." After all, how could a championship contender be beaten like this?

The following footage proved that beneath Raikkonen's serious exterior lies a passionate racing heart.

In his attempt to brake late at the T1 corner, he drove into the run-off area and "cut the watermelon" out of the corner. However, when he returned to the main track, he had already overtaken others from sixth to third place.

He then crossed the long straight at the Red River and overtook Trulli, who was in second place. Only Fisichella, in pole position, was ahead of him.

He overtook four cars at the start and through two corners, and all of his opponents were front-row F1 drivers. I couldn't believe it could happen if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

Many people once marveled at Chen Xiangbei's speed and talent, but now the audience at the track is going crazy for this historic talent monster, with Ferrari's Prancing Horse flags waving everywhere.

"Holy crap, Bei Ge, is Raikkonen even human?"

Ah Yong, who was inspecting the race car, happened to see this scene on the monitor screen hanging on the wall.

He stopped what he was doing in surprise, swallowed hard, and asked the question.

A Yong was not familiar with Raikkonen before, only knowing that he was a very strong Finnish driver. In addition, during the pre-race interview, the reporter compared him with Bei Ge, which made A Yong feel very dissatisfied.

What's wrong with Bei Ge saying he's better than Raikkonen? Didn't you see how he dominated in lower-level formulas?

Now A Yong understands why the audience in the stands were so indignant when Chen Xiangbei made his bold statement that he would surpass Raikkonen.

This Finnish guy's speed is fucking like he's dominating the F1 paddock!

There's no doubt that everyone who makes it to the F1 paddock is a genius, but even among geniuses, there are differences. Raikkonen is one of the most talented of geniuses; his only shortcoming was a lack of self-discipline!
"It is quite strong."

As the saying goes, one should not lose face even if one loses the game. Even though Chen Xiangbei was very reluctant to admit it, Raikkonen's overtaking maneuver at Spa was absolutely a god-level start.

The problem is that there are more than one monster like Raikkonen in the F1 paddock, and there are even some stronger ones.

Conquering the domain of geniuses is indeed no easy feat...

"Only a little?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaoman laughed and retorted, "This kid is really stubborn."

On lap 13, Raikkonen overtook pole-sitter Fisichella with a spin move from the outside.

Upon seeing this, Odeto said calmly, "There's no suspense anymore. Kimi truly deserves to be called the King of Spa."

Actually, even without Odeto saying it, Chen Xiangbei already knew the outcome of this match.

Kimi Räikkönen secured Ferrari's only victory of the year with his win at Spa.

Due to Ferrari's poor competitiveness, Kimi Räikkönen chose to negotiate with McLaren, hoping to join them next year.

However, the negotiations ended without a resolution, and then the guy announced his retirement from F1 to become a rally driver in the WRC.

It can be said that Raikkonen has always been so carefree and unrestrained. He doesn't care about the opinions of others and only lives the life he wants.

His free-spiritedness gave him mental freedom, but limited his professional potential.

After 44 laps, history remained unchanged, with Kimi Räikkönen claiming the Spa Grand Prix title.

Brawn GP serves as a negative example. This championship contender, which showed "kingly aura" at the beginning of the season, is now showing signs of decline.

Button retired due to a car malfunction, and Barrichello, who qualified fourth, only managed a seventh-place finish. Vettel and Webber from Red Bull Racing were closing in, and the mid-season upgrade had made the BGP001 car uncompetitive!

Looking at the final rankings displayed on the big screen, Ross Brawn, after much deliberation, finally made up his mind. He left the Brawn GP team's pit garage and headed to the Campos team's pit stop.

The Mewtwo team has now completed its post-match maintenance and is preparing to return to the hotel.

Seeing Ross Brown suddenly appear, Odeto guessed that the other party must have something important to discuss, so he patted Chen Xiangbei on the shoulder and told him to stay, while he led the crew members away first.

The two went to the drivers' lounge and sat down. This time, Ross Brawn did not hesitate for long and said, "North, your performance at Spa showed me your unlimited potential for the future."

“I’m willing to take the gamble and offer you a regular driver’s seat.”

Ross Brawn made a firm decision: after the 09 season, the driver ranked lower between Button and Barrichello would not renew his contract, freeing up the spot to sign Chen Xiangbei, thus forming a "veteran-mentor-rookie" succession model.

To be honest, Chen Xiangbei wasn't too surprised when he heard Ross Brown's decision.

Perhaps the expression on his face told the whole story the moment he appeared in the Campos team's pit garage.

"Mr. Ross, what do I need to give in return?"

In his previous life, Chen Xiangbei made many efforts and conducted many negotiations in order to obtain an F1 driver's seat.

He knew there was no such thing as a free lunch, not even for drivers supported by his own country's factory team, who were doing it not for profit but for fame.

Racing is a sport, but F1 is a commercial operation. Chen Xiangbei is not a naive teenager. A seat as a formal driver requires an equivalent exchange.

"Twenty million US dollars, that's the lowest price I can offer to convince the board."

Ross Brown came with great sincerity this time, and to some extent, he still owed Chen Xiangbei a favor.

If Chen Xiangbei hadn't persuaded Stahler to invest, even if they had eventually acquired the Honda F1 team, the process would have been far from smooth.

So without any commercial negotiation, Ross Brawn directly revealed the team's bottom line.

Chen Xiangbei had little objection to this number.

Before Liberty Media operated Formula 1, paying drivers were a common phenomenon in the paddock, far from being considered shameful or disgraceful in later generations.

Unless a very rare genius emerges out of nowhere, and their household registration or family background is extremely strong.

Even if a driver like Chen Xiangbei, who has no connections, no skills, and no experience, performs exceptionally well in the paddock, he still needs sponsorships.

In this era, the starting price for a seat on a bottom-ranked team is ten million US dollars, and there is no upper limit.

Take Petrov, the Russian driver vying for a Renault seat, for example. He offered a fee of $20 million, not including advertising investment from Russian oil and banks, bringing the total to at least $50 million.

This is why Chen Xiangbei remained calm and easygoing during negotiations with Renault team principal Brill, and did not believe that Brill was trying to "trick" him by only offering the contract for the third driver.

He knew very well that Petrov had gone all out, and Renault's team leader had also shown the utmost sincerity, unless Chen Xiangbei could exceed that price.

While Brawn GP may not have the same foundation as Renault, it still cannot be considered a new team, given its existing Honda base.

At the same time, with Daimler Group and the Abu Dhabi consortium now investing, it's clear that these two giant shareholders are not short of money. $20 million is indeed the bottom line that Ross Brown could offer to convince the board of directors; any lower would be considered lowering his own status.

The problem now is that Chen Xiangbei doesn't have twenty million US dollars...

He had previously secured 20 to 30 million in advertising sponsorships, which he has already spent most of during his trial training at the Catalan circuit.

The only clear source of funding for competing for an F1 seat is the 50 million RMB promised by Peng Sheng of Jiuli Sports.

Based on the current exchange rate of 6.8 RMB to USD, Chen Xiangbei needs to secure sponsorships totaling 136 million RMB, leaving a funding gap of over 80 million RMB.

To be honest, getting this money isn't too easy.

“Mr. Ross, thank you for your invitation, but it will take me some time to raise the money.”

Chen Xiangbei also spoke frankly, saying that he lacked a stable super sponsor, especially a car manufacturer like Honda or Toyota.

Earlier, Chen Xiangbei set his sights on Huali Automobile, which is currently the only car company in China with ambition and racing genes.

However, the acquisition of Volvo Cars has already drained the Huali Group's coffers.

Of course, Chen Xiangbei knew very well that with Huali Automobile's background, they could always "squeeze out" some money if they wanted to.

However, he was unsure whether his "help" in brokering the acquisition of Volvo would give him enough influence to persuade Huali Automobile to invest.

In addition, several potential sponsorships that Chen Xiangbei had planned for a long time also require time for negotiation and communication.

In short, mobilizing hundreds of millions of yuan at this point in time in 09 was truly an astronomical figure.

"I can understand."

"North, I hope we can truly fight side by side."

Ross Brown stood up and extended his right hand toward Chen Xiangbei.

He hasn't been this excited about a newcomer since the Ferrari team's trio disbanded.

If Chen Xiangbei can successfully join the team, and with the financial and technical support from the Mercedes-Benz Group next year, Ross Brawn is confident that he can once again create a brand new "Prancing Horse Dynasty".

"I hope so too."

Chen Xiangbei shook hands with Ross Brown, which was his honest opinion.

According to historical trends, barring any major changes, the Brawn GP team should be renamed Mercedes team next year.

Although the period of about 10 years was the era of the Red Bull dynasty.

But as a newcomer to the F1 paddock, Chen Xiangbei has nothing to be dissatisfied with, being able to join a top factory team like Mercedes right off the bat. It's impossible to start as a championship contender.

Even if Chen Xiangbei wanted to join Red Bull and seize Vettel's "luck," no one would accept him...

The stage of discussing strength is over; now it's time to discuss money.

(End of this chapter)