Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 200 Historical Driver Strength

"North's speed was extremely fast, completely exceeding the expectations of many viewers before the race. Taking advantage of Rosberg's defense on Kubica, he immediately accelerated, shook off the cars behind him, and caught Alonso's slipstream."

"And judging from North's actions, he also intends to launch an attack on Alonso."

"Oh, Bei is so young and impetuous!"

James's words carried a hint of amazement. Even though he knew Chen Xiangbei relatively well, he believed before the race that the Chinese rookie was definitely not the "paid" driver that outsiders thought.

I still didn't expect Chen Xiangbei to be this fast.

Overtaking Rosberg at the start and catching up with Alonso on the second lap—it's rare for a newcomer to do that.

After all, F1 paddock cars and drivers complement each other, and often even if a newcomer has the ability, they can't overcome the car's slow speed.

Historically, very few rookie season drivers have been able to drive fast. Chen Xiangbei's speed proves that the Toyota prototype TF110 is at least not slow. Could it be that Chinese drivers are about to overturn the outside world's perception?
This time, Emil did not agree with James's praise.

Instead, he said with a slightly sarcastic tone: "The Chinese kid seems a bit too confident, actually thinking he can challenge the strongest driver in the paddock on the first lap. He's overdrawing the potential of his tires in advance."

Compared to normal cruising, offensive and defensive maneuvers cause significant tire wear.

Or to put it another way, any unrelated lane change, acceleration, or braking action is a premature drain on the lifespan of an F1 car's tires.

This is why you hear the phrase "train" during F1 broadcasts, and why many drivers get stuck in traffic and can't get out.

The reason is that tire management standards are very strict. If drivers are not absolutely certain of overtaking, they would rather follow behind and suffer from the slipstream to save their tires than risk wearing out their own tires.

Once your tires are worn out, you'll fall behind not just the drivers in the front row, but all the drivers in the entire pack!
Chen Xiangbei launched a series of attacks, but his soft red tires might not even last eight laps. Each additional pit stop would result in a 22-second window of opportunity, and even more if he made a mistake while changing tires.

In addition, Alonso in the 10 season was undoubtedly the strongest driver in the paddock, without a doubt!

Hamilton and Vettel are on the rise, while Schumacher, who returned after three years of retirement, is past his prime.

Barton is somewhat mediocre, while Massa and Webber have obvious weaknesses.

The only player who could rival him while still in his prime, Raikkonen, left the F1 paddock to compete in the WRC rally.

Many people have heard the claim that Verstappen has a 0.5-second advantage, but they don't know that this boast originally came from Alonso.

At his peak, Alonso could compete for the championship if he had the third fastest car in the paddock!

Emil really couldn't understand who gave Chen Xiangbei the courage to launch an attack on Alonso on the second lap.
If it were a typical sarcastic remark, James might have retorted with a couple of comments.

Facing Alonso, the "dragon slayer" who ended Ferrari's reign and defeated Schumacher at his peak, no matter how much James thought highly of Chen Xiangbei, he believed that the Chinese newcomer had no hope of challenging him.

"Alonso, watch out for the car behind you closing in."

Ferrari's race engineer, Stella, issued a warning to Alonso based on the vehicle's position information on the track.

The Ferrari team of this era still possesses the "elite" foundation of the Prancing Horse dynasty. The management and strategy team are relatively competent, avoiding frequent blunders and various "clown" behaviors.

However, Ferrari cars of this era were pushed to the limit, often falling into the "tractor" level, fighting neck and neck with mid-table teams in the paddock, and never reaching the standard of competing for the championship.

Otherwise, given Alonso's peak performance, if he had been given a car that consistently ranked in the top three in the paddock, he would have won more than two world championship titles!

Although Ferrari's race engineers do not believe Chen Xiangbei has any ability to challenge Alonso, the paddock is full of unpredictable variables.

With Alonso locked in a fierce battle with Hamilton, it's easy for a third party to benefit.

Listening to the team's voice prompts through his headphones, Alonso glanced at the rearview mirror out of the corner of his eye, his expression unchanged, still focused on Hamilton in front of him.

In his mind, the black driver in front of him was his biggest rival!

Just as the "dragon slayer" eventually becomes the dragon himself, when the once invincible racing king Schumacher fell, Alonso became the target that the young drivers in the paddock wanted to challenge.

Hamilton was the only young driver to succeed!
However, unlike Schumacher, who was disheartened by his consecutive defeats in the "red vs. blue" battle and chose to retire and return to his family, Alonso believes that he is still in his prime and did not lose because of his ability, but because the gap in car performance was too large.

Give me a fast car, and I can still dominate the paddock and stand on the highest podium!

Given this, he absolutely could not tolerate Hamilton becoming the next "dragon slayer".

The two drivers' offensive and defensive maneuvers were incredibly exciting, representing the pinnacle of F1 driving skills in this era. The tens of thousands of spectators in the stands were thoroughly entertained, and the entire broadcast camera was focused on the Ferrari and McLaren cars.

Even Vettel of Red Bull Racing, who was leading the pack, couldn't compete with this team's lead.

While everyone's attention was focused on Alonso and Hamilton, off-camera and unnoticed, a black and orange race car had quietly arrived behind the Ferrari.

On the fourth lap, Chen Xiangbei finally seized the opportunity, floored the accelerator to release the kinetic energy of the flywheel, and then used the slingshot effect brought by the wake to gain faster acceleration to change lanes and overtake!

[This Chinese kid is so fast?]

Alonso was taken aback by Chen Xiangbei's aggressive attack.

It's worth noting that Chen Xiangbei had already caught the slipstream on the second lap, but Alonso was very fast, and even though he was engaged in a battle with Hamilton, he still didn't give the cars behind him any chance to catch up or overtake.

After two laps, Alonso thought that the Chinese rookie was too afraid to overtake, or that his speed limit was just that. But Chen Xiangbei's decisiveness and speed surprised him.

The Chinese kid wasn't unable to catch up, nor was he afraid to overtake; he was waiting for the perfect opportunity!

"He's pulled away! After following for two laps, driver North finally launched an attack on Alonso."

"You can tell from the speed increase that the Chinese newcomers are very proficient in the use of kinetic energy recovery systems and wake blasting, which requires extremely solid basic skills."

"The front wing of car number 13 has already passed Alonso's rear wheel, making it impossible for him to change lanes and force Chen Xiangbei to slow down by using his driving line. Now the two are neck and neck heading towards the corner, and whoever can seize the best cornering line will be in the lead!"

Chen Xiangbei's aggressive overtaking maneuver on the track ignited the atmosphere at the scene.

"Holy crap, Chen Xiangbei can overtake Alonso? Am I dreaming?"

"If Chen Xiangbei can really surpass Alonso, it means he can also surpass the drivers ahead of him. Could it be that he will make his debut on the podium?"

"Go on stage? That image is too beautiful, I can't even imagine it!"

"If Chen Xiangbei can do this, he will make Asian history!"

"Go for it, racing god Bei!"

The Chinese spectators who had traveled from afar to watch the game were finally able to shout their support without restraint.

It's important to understand that, whether in practice or qualifying, international audiences generally held Chen Xiangbei in low regard, often displaying coldness and ridicule. Chinese audiences, constrained by the history of Chinese motorsport and Chen Xiangbei's status as a newcomer, dared not have high expectations, let alone launch a bold counterattack.

Now, Chen Xiangbei's performance and speed have given his supporters confidence.

They can cheer and jump for joy just as loudly, and they can also be unrestrained and flamboyant. Chinese drivers are not weaklings at the bottom of the pack.

Chen Xiangbei has already reached the point where he can challenge the strongest player in the F1 paddock!

Inside the cockpit, Chen Xiangbei couldn't hear the frenzied cheers. His ears were filled with the roar of the engine, and as the RPM and speed increased, it felt like his blood was being ignited.

Just like the audience at the scene, he didn't expect that he would be able to challenge Alonso so soon.

I never expected that overtaking would be right in front of me!
However, ideals are often lofty, while reality is often harsh.

Even if the cars were running side by side, once the Ferrari F60 was at full throttle, Chen Xiangbei couldn't gain a speed lead even with the accelerator floored. In fact, he could even see Alonso gradually overtaking him.

The appearance of this image means one thing: the Ferrari F60 is faster than the HRT team's TF110!

The reality is that the big teams can easily beat the "earth" cars in most F1 paddock situations.

The TF110 race car does indeed have the added benefits of advanced technology, which is why it can rival the F60.

Unfortunately, the upgrade of the racing car parts was stopped during the winter testing period, which made TF110 just one step away from advancing from the Earth Group to the Mars Group, just like Chen Xiangbei can't surpass Alonso now.

With the bend right in front of him, if he didn't brake and slow down soon, he would go out of the run-off area. No matter how unwilling he was, Chen Xiangbei had no choice but to step on the brakes and slow down, following behind Alonso through the bend.

"Want to challenge Alonso? That Chinese guy is really overestimating himself!"

"Remember this: the Chinese kid's all-out effort was just Alonso's warm-up!"

"Thinking about going on stage just because you've improved your ranking by one place is just wishful thinking."

"Kubica has caught up. North should consider whether they can hold on!"

The voices of rebuttal rose again from the stands, but compared to the overwhelming ridicule before the match, the doubts about Chen Xiangbei were surprisingly much smaller now.

The reason is simple: mindless and discriminatory car enthusiasts are ultimately a minority.

Many people could see that Chen Xiangbei, who launched himself with a slingshot effect, failed to overtake Alonso on the straight before entering the corner, which was not a matter of driving skill.

As an F1 driver, even if you're not very good, surely you can floor the accelerator on the straight?
If Chen Xiangbei didn't know this, he would never have appeared in the racing hall of fame, let alone compete with Alonso.

We couldn't overtake them because the car was too slow; it wasn't our fault!
"We were just a little bit faster; if we had gone any faster, Xiang Beijun would have overtaken us."

Sho Mizutani, who was at the outdoor control station, spoke with a tone full of regret upon seeing this scene.

Chen Xiangbei did his best, seizing the fleeting opportunity when Alonso and Hamilton were locked in a fierce battle, but ultimately lost due to the car's performance.

If TF110 were any faster, Chen Xiangbei would have created a miracle.

"Yes, it's a real pity."

Hiroki Sawano also shook his head helplessly. Surpassing Alonso would definitely be a sensational feat, and it was a pity that he failed at the last minute.

"There's nothing to regret; this is very common in the F1 paddock."

Odeto’s tone was very flat, even somewhat indifferent.

Having worked in the paddock for decades, he knows all too well that there are inherent differences in many things, and it's normal for private car teams to be unable to outrun the factory teams of big clubs.

And this was just one overtaking maneuver. Throughout history, how many drivers have competed for the championship in slow cars only to ultimately fail, and they still had to accept it?

If Ferrari could easily surpass it, would it still be called Ferrari?
The game continued, and there was no point in regretting or complaining. Odttor pressed the call button on his headset and gave instructions to Chen Xiangbei: "Bei, the continuous attacks have caused a lot of wear and tear on the tires. The remote control data shows that the grip has been exceeded."

"The car in the back garage is very fast, so adjust your mindset and hold onto your position first."

According to the broadcast footage and the car's GPS positioning data, Kubica has closed the gap with Chen Xiangbei to within 0.5 seconds, putting him within range of being able to attack at any time by drawing in the wake of the drift.

Thinking about surpassing Alonso and improving one's ranking now is undoubtedly very unwise.

What Chen Xiangbei needs to do now is to adjust his mindset from the offensive setback and switch to all-out defense!
"receive."

Listening to Odette's instructions and looking at the Ferrari race car in front of him, Chen Xiangbei took a deep breath to calm himself down.

He was indeed very unwilling, but Chen Xiangbei understood the importance of rationality and calmness. The main race was a 57-lap race, not a single overtake!
Just as Chen Xiangbei finished relaying the instructions and turned his attention to Kubica behind him, an accident occurred in the race car ahead.

Webber, who started strong thanks to the performance of his Red Bull RB6, overtook others to take second place. However, his car engine inexplicably emitted a plume of black smoke, causing his speed to drop instantly, and he was overtaken by Massa, Hamilton, and Alonso in succession.

Based on his incredible starting speed, the strategy team members of each team guessed that he had most likely switched the engine to overpower output mode, and now it was risky to blow up if it couldn't handle it.

"North, Webber appears to have a racing car malfunction. Be prepared to overtake without losing speed."

Odette's voice came again: overtaking slower cars and giving way in the F1 paddock is an art in itself.

New drivers lack sufficient experience and are easily overtaken by drivers behind them.

Kubica's driving style is particularly aggressive.

Upon hearing Odette's reminder, Chen Xiangbei's first reaction wasn't to overtake, but rather to think about how he could pick up a wallet in his very first game.

In the automotive community, this kind of bargain hunting is commonly referred to as "picking up a wallet."

Often, the best way to get ahead is to wait for a breakdown or accident ahead, rather than risking your life to overtake.

Just when Chen Xiangbei thought he was in luck and was about to surpass Weber ahead of him to improve his ranking.

The other vehicle showed no intention of yielding and blocked Chen Xiangbei's overtaking lane.

What does that mean? Not letting the car pass?

Chen Xiangbei felt somewhat confused. The cars in front of him had all let the cars pass, but when it was his turn, he was the one being blocked. Was it possible that he was being targeted?

And at that very moment, Kubica caught up with the car from behind, leaving Chen Xiangbei sandwiched in the middle like a sandwich!

(End of this chapter)