Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 219 Chinese Newcomers Overturn Perceptions
[Take down Kubica?]

Upon hearing Briatore's urging, Chen Xiangbei's first reaction was one of surprise.

After all, as a team manager, encouraging drivers to engage in aggressive racing on the track seems to go against the natural order.

But then Chen Xiangbei's lips curled up slightly, and a hint of anticipation even surfaced in his heart.

Since Kubica is not convinced, then I'll make him submit!
Perhaps, just as Briatore believed, the Chinese boy is inherently aggressive and has a strong desire to win; he will not be afraid of any provocation or challenge.

On the contrary, the stronger the opponent, the more excited he becomes.

"Odeto, isn't it a bit excessive for the manager to issue such an order?"

"If Xiang Beijun were to go head-to-head with Kubica in this situation, he would not only total his Flying Spur, but he might even cause damage to the car."

Hiroki Sawano asked with some concern, noting that the older generation of Japanese drivers were inherently conservative, a stark contrast to Briatore.

In his view, Chen Xiangbei's attempt to "eliminate" Kubica at this time would be a losing proposition.

"No, it's normal."

"what?"

Hiroki Sawano was somewhat surprised that Odette was also on Briatore's side.

"This is not the North confronting Kubica; on the contrary, it is Kubica provoking the North."

"The other side has a higher Q2 ranking and they're not worried about vehicle damage, so why should we be so concerned? Weakness means being bullied!"

Briatore does indeed often issue some unreliable instructions, which seem quite bizarre to outsiders.

Even this time, inexplicably instructing Chen Xiangbei to kill Kubica seems like an old rogue throwing a tantrum in the street, which is completely out of character for an F1 team manager.

However, Odette understood Briatore's meaning from Briatore's seemingly "crazy" instructions.

To use an old Chinese proverb, it's like "killing the chicken to scare the monkey!"

After the opening match, Rosberg's accusations served as the trigger, coupled with the Kovalainen club incident and the instigation of various media forces, making Chen Xiangbei's tournament seem to be plagued by negative news.

As a result, several drivers blocked the way during the first qualifying session.

The F1 paddock operates on the law of the jungle, meaning that you can be weak, but you can't be soft.

Even a player like Latifi, Verstappen and Hamilton would have to give him a wide berth. Who knows, this bastard might cause a collision that could directly affect the championship outcome.

The problem with the soft Sargent isn't just about being overtaken or having your lane cut off; it's that you're not even fit to drive!

A great man once said, "A single punch can prevent a hundred more."

Kubica was the punch Chen Xiangbei threw in retaliation.

If the game is played aggressively and beautifully, criticisms from within the paddock, such as those directed at Rosberg, will either disappear entirely or at least be much quieter.

Just like in the 25 Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen was basically blatantly going to crash, but afterwards the comments from the drivers in the paddock were all very polite.

If this were a weak driver, they'd probably be furious.

His fearsome reputation, coupled with his strength, certainly made many people afraid to mess with him.

On the track, Chen Xiangbei was unaware of the conversation inside the pit lane. His entire focus had shifted from setting the fastest lap to defending Kubica.

Kubica can easily use the slipstream to close the distance and even bite at the rear of the car to make provocative moves. The reason is that Chen Xiangbei's racing line on the flying lap is predictable, since there is basically only one fastest cornering line.

However, once he switches to a defensive driving style, Chen Xiangbei will frequently change lanes to disrupt his slipstream and will not take the optimal cornering line, making it impossible for Kubica to predict his movements and turning the game into a complete offensive and defensive battle.

Sensing the change in Chen Xiangbei's running style, an excited expression appeared on Bika's face behind the mask in the back garage.

He is actually a racing fanatic filled with "fighting spirit". The reason he suffered a car accident and became a "one-handed driver" is that Kubica used the off-season to participate in rally races and not let himself stop.

This is similar to Verstappen, who also treats racing as his whole life.

However, with the development of racing simulators in later generations, Verstappen no longer needs to drive on the track to maintain his skills, while Kubica can only improve himself by participating in different races.

Kubica was still bothered by his off-track performance in the opening race, feeling that he hadn't performed to his full potential.

Today, Chen Xiangbei accepted the challenge, and Kubica finally felt his blood boiling as he thought about it. This was the excitement and charm that competitive sports pursued!
The so-called strongest rookie is about to become his defeated opponent!

The two race cars sped along at full speed, their engines roaring through the sky. Chen Xiangbei, driving the car in front, kept turning the steering wheel and changing lanes, trying to disrupt the airflow at the rear of his car.

But Kubica, when he gets serious, is far stronger than I imagined.

His peak performance allowed him to react with great sensitivity, accurately detecting Chen Xiangbei's racing line and quickly closing in on the "vacuum" area at the rear of the race car.

Given Kubica's aggressive nature, and considering Chen Xiangbei had already accepted the challenge, this time he didn't follow closely behind the car. Instead, he floored the accelerator, using the "slingshot" effect of the car's wake to maneuver and overtake Chen Xiangbei's car on the right!
Kubica's entire overtaking maneuver was clean and crisp, even smooth.

The speed boost from the wake effect meant that Kubica was going faster than Chen Xiangbei at this moment. The front of the car gradually passed the rear wing, then the rear wheel, and then arrived at the side box.

Chen Xiangbei no longer needs to use the rearview mirror to see the front of the Renault race car!
Faced with this standard overtaking maneuver, Chen Xiangbei didn't act like a novice and try to accelerate by flooring the gas pedal and then changing lanes to the right to block Kubica's car.

The wake effect means that this rigid approach will not be able to stop it.

Chen Xiangbei immediately reversed his steering wheel, no longer paying attention to the overtaking route on the right, but instead sticking to his entry line for the next bend.

Turn T11 is a slow, sharp turn; you must reduce your speed to below 100 km/h to navigate it smoothly and avoid going off the track.

At Kubica's overtaking speed, it's impossible for him to overtake and change lanes before entering the corner. He would have to brake hard at the braking point to slow down, and at most he would be one car length ahead.

As long as Chen Xiangbei maintains the optimal line for entering the corner, he can easily overtake Chen Xiangbei by using his higher speed!

As it turned out, Chen Xiangbei underestimated Kubica.

This Polish driver, who has the potential to win the championship, has been involved in karting since he was a few years old, constantly competing against world champions Hamilton and Rosberg, until he entered the F1 paddock. He has a wealth of experience in both offensive and defensive battles.

Kubica never intended to block Chen Xiangbei on the short straight before the corner. Instead, after taking the lead by a car length, he changed lanes to the left again, with the two cars' wheels intersecting to form a perfect "wheel-to-wheel" attack. He also wanted to take the lead through the corner!

In F1, there's a rule that if the front wing of a following car passes the rear wheel of the car in front, the car in front must give the following car enough space to corner, otherwise it will be penalized by the FIA.

This is why, when watching F1 races, you often see the car in the lead appearing weak and taking the initiative to back down during the offensive and defensive battles.

This rule is also the source of confidence for many drivers, including Verstappen in his early days, to use the "torpedo" method.

They knew the car in front would leave space, so they aggressively braked late and cut in. If the other car didn't give way, an accident would happen, and they would face post-race penalties from the FIA.

The original intention of the rules was to protect the safety of drivers and prevent accidents caused by excessive competition, but they have been exploited to create the opposite effect.

Of course, some drivers are tough and won't back down, such as Hamilton in his prime.

It's just a torpedo wheel to wheel, who's afraid of who?

Through numerous high-impact collisions, coupled with Mercedes' "Vibranium" suspension, Hamilton earned himself the title of "Golden Front Left".

This was also the only opponent Verstappen, during his "turret" era, was somewhat hesitant with torpedoes. The HRT team lacked the strength of the Mercedes team, so Chen Xiangbei naturally couldn't match Hamilton's toughness, allowing Kubica to seize the best entry line into the corner.

"Xiang Beijun has been overtaken!"

Inside the vehicle's repair shop, upon witnessing this scene, Mizutani Sho and the others couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

In the past, we always saw Chen Xiangbei overtake others, but today we saw him being overtaken by someone else, which was really unusual.

"That's normal, that's F1."

Hiroki Sawano, standing next to him, had his arms crossed over his chest, appearing much calmer.

Overtaking and being overtaken are perfectly normal things on the track. Even someone as strong as Senna and Schumacher can't avoid being overtaken, let alone Chen Xiangbei.
Kubica is no rookie; he was Poland's first F1 driver, hailed as a historical prodigy, and had several years of experience in the F1 paddock, giving him the hard-earned ability to contend for the championship.

It's not surprising that he can outrun Chen Xiangbei, a newcomer; it would be strange if he couldn't.

Even though Hiroki Sawano desperately wanted Chen Xiangbei to win, he still had to respect the objective facts on the track.

"Oh, Chinese driver Bei is always surprising us. His strong challenge against Kubica turned a qualifying session into a battle of offense and defense. Both drivers gave up on the time trial."

"Now that Kubica has shown his strength as an 'upperclassman,' I wonder if the freshman North still has a chance to catch up."

"Or perhaps he'll simply choose to give up, and while there's still time left in the third qualifying session, concede defeat and try to achieve a flying lap time?"

Raide clicked his tongue in amazement; indeed, such a direct confrontation during qualifying is quite rare in today's F1 paddock.

If the date and time on the big screen were covered, he would have thought it was a racetrack full of blood and gunpowder from the 1990s.

In his view, Kubica's overtaking maneuver meant that the outcome of the game was already decided, and Chen Xiangbei had almost no chance of overtaking him again.

Since you can't outrun it, you should cut your losses and do some speed laps, since the main race is the real arena that determines your performance.

"If Bei wants to become a driver as passionate as Senna, he will never admit defeat."

"Being outrunner is one thing, but admitting defeat means being afraid."

"Fear is the key to a lifetime of defeat!"

The intense battles on the track brought back many memories for Prost.

At the Suzuka Circuit in Japan in 1989, Prost and Senna were teammates at McLaren and were the only two drivers vying for the championship.

With Prost leading Senna in points on the eve of the final race, it meant that if he could tie Senna at Suzuka, he could easily win the drivers' championship.

This "tie" includes situations where both teams crash and retire from the race.

Without a doubt, the shrewd "Professor" Prost will use a cornering torpedo against Senna, and if both of them retire at the same time, he will declare himself the world champion ahead of time.

Prost's plan worked out well; he did crash his car and retire from the race, but he didn't expect Senna to not give up. He drove the wrecked car back to the pit lane through the escape tunnel, replaced it with a brand new front wing, and managed to catch up to first place and complete the points comeback!

However, just as Senna was celebrating his victory, Prost had already reached an agreement with the FIA ​​president, who was also French, to declare that Senna's profiting from the escape route was illegal and to cancel his race points.

If this had continued as it was going, it would have simply become a scandal involving politics in the paddock.

However, fate brought the two drivers together again in the final race of the new season, but this time it was Senna who took the lead.

Logically speaking, Senna had already suffered from the cheating once, so he only needed to maintain his lead and finish the race to win the world championship without any controversy.

But compared to being a world champion, Senna still cares about getting revenge!

As expected, Senna chose revenge by ramming Prost off the track, even though such a dangerous driving maneuver risked being penalized by the FIA ​​again and losing the world championship.

But Senna did it anyway.

The desire to win, coupled with a relentless fighting spirit, is what made Senna great and legendary.

If he hadn't done that, he would never have become the world's revered racing legend!

Prost once sensed the style and influence of Senna in Chen Xiangbei.

If he hadn't misjudged the person, driver Bei would definitely not have chosen to admit defeat.

Soon the two race cars arrived at Turn 12, one of the last few corners of the Albert Park circuit.

Beneath his helmet, Chen Xiangbei remained expressionless, his gaze fixed intently on Bika's movements in the front garage.

When he saw the other car change lanes to take over the regular entry line into the corner, Chen Xiangbei made a prediction and followed behind, successfully catching the Renault race car's slipstream.

HRT racing increased its top speed on the straights in this race, meaning that with the slingshot effect, Chen Xiangbei was actually almost 10 km/h faster than Kubica, enough to complete the spin maneuver before entering the corner.

Using the same tactic against him, Chen Xiangbei floored the accelerator, and the race car slowly passed Kubica's rear wheels. He planned to use the same move to overtake.

We'll win back the way we lost!
However, the straight before the bend wasn't long enough, and Chen Xiangbei only managed to get the front wing of his car over the rear wheel of the car in front of him, unable to overtake the entire racing god before entering the bend.

However, that's enough. According to F1 rules, Kubica can no longer change lanes at will, and at least he can't stop Chen Xiangbei from entering the corner.

Often, it doesn't matter how fast you enter a corner; as long as you're faster than your opponent, that's enough.

The two race cars entered the corner one after the other, and Chen Xiangbei, who had a faster cornering speed, gradually caught up in the corner and finished running side by side.

Kubica showed no sign of backing down, stubbornly sticking to his optimal cornering line and even deliberately steering closer to Chen Xiangbei.

He knew that the HRT team did not have enough spare parts and could not afford any damage to the car during qualifying.

Since that's the case, then let's strike while the iron is hot and take your life!

Seeing Kubica's pressure tactics, Chen Xiangbei sneered. To be honest, this was within his expectations.

The reason is simple: Chen Xiangbei has a historical God's-eye view and is very clear about Kubica's personality and driving style. He can guess many of the other party's fixed four dimensions.

On the contrary, Kubica knew nothing about Chen Xiangbei!
Faced with Kubica closing in on him, Chen Xiangbei slammed on the brakes, slowed down, and swerved, his car almost brushing the rear of the Renault race car as he reversed lanes.

Due to inertia, Kubica hadn't even realized what Chen Xiangbei was going to do when he discovered that the other party had already accurately found the apex point of the corner and directly followed him through the cross line to overtake.

Chen Xiangbei's entire deceleration, lane change, and overtaking maneuver can be described as "complete in one smooth motion." There were no mistakes throughout the process; his understanding and control of the car and the track were flawless!
In fact, Chen Xiangbei never intended to overtake on the curve; his move was simply a feint exploiting Kubica's strong mentality.

Overtaking at an intersection is Chen Xiangbei's real killer move!
Only the TF110 race car with its oversteer characteristic can complete the emergency braking and turning in the corner. With its understeer characteristic, Chen Xiangbei simply couldn't do this maneuver.

Kubica was stunned as he watched the HRT race car pass by; he could hardly believe his eyes.

Chen Xiangbei's reaction combined with his driving skills and his control over the timing of overtaking completely exceeded the standards expected of a newcomer.

Even more astonishing is that Chen Xiangbei had anticipated his manipulation!
The Chinese newcomer seemed to have anticipated all of his defensive moves and then responded with a smooth and efficient set of countermeasures.

Honestly, if their positions were reversed, Kubica believes he couldn't do it.

Chen Xiangbei's strength has surpassed Kubica's expectations at this moment; the Chinese newcomer is terrifyingly powerful!
(End of this chapter)