Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 231 I Choose to Challenge the Limits
Sitting in the Red Bull cockpit, Webber watched the "black lightning" flash past his eyes. The impact he felt at that moment was far greater than that of Massa of Ferrari.

He never expected to be overtaken.

Even if we are overtaken.

I never imagined I would witness an F1 drift, cornering, and overtaking maneuver on the track!

To be honest, this is no longer a matter of driving skills. Just to think of using this method to overtake, you have to have a really big imagination to dare to test it in a race.

The level of exaggeration is no less than that of Du Han driving a DRS through a corner in later generations; it's like bringing the operation of a racing simulator into reality!
It's fair to say that the newcomers to F1 in recent years have been increasingly outrageous...

"Horner, historical data from the Albert Park Circuit, does the T15 hairpin turn have this kind of drift line?"

After hesitating for a moment, Weber pressed the call button to ask.

Even though he was the home driver for Australia, he still didn't have any recollection of him.

"No."

Horner's affirmative voice came through the headphones.

F1 does involve drifting through corners, but this did not occur at the Albert Park circuit.

This is the first time a Chinese newcomer has set a precedent!

Upon hearing Horner's reply, Weber fell silent, a wry smile unexpectedly appearing on his face.

He took a deep breath to calm the jumbled thoughts in his mind, then stepped on the gas and sped off.

The competition is only halfway through, and it's far from over!
At the HRT team's maintenance depot, the team members celebrated wildly after seeing Chen Xiangbei successfully overtake another vehicle.

After following him for so many laps, everyone thought Chen Xiangbei had no chance of overtaking Webber. Who would have thought that he would bring an unexpected surprise at the most difficult overtaking turn, T15?

Even Briatore, the "hands-off manager," couldn't contain his curiosity as he watched the overtaking scenes on the big screen and asked Liang Chi, "Liang, does Bei have any drifting experience?"

Faced with this question, Liang Chi didn't know how to answer for a moment.

He first witnessed Chen Xiangbei's driving skills on the mountain road of Nanyun Mountain in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Who would have thought that just over two years later, mountain drifting would be applied to F1 racing?

"Xiang Bei used to be a street racer."

Liang Chi could only tell Chen Xiangbei's identity before he became a professional, and his drifting experience could only come from that.

[Street racer?]

Upon hearing this answer, Briatore's expression became quite strange.

Don't forget, he's an Italian gangster, so street racing isn't something new or unfamiliar to him.

Can you really have this kind of driving skill on the street?

At that moment, test engineer Mazzola spoke up: "I feel more like a rally driver."

"Yes, I feel the same way."

"It was reported in the ROC National Cup that Bei defeated Button and Schumacher by drifting, which is a move that only top rally drivers can do!"

When an engineer mentions the ROC Nations Cup, many people immediately recall the past. Indeed, driver Bei relied on his track drifting skills to outrun two F1 world champions, Schumacher and Button.

However, the ROC National Cup results are more of an honor and a symbolic achievement. No one realized just how amazing Chen Xiangbei's drifting skills were. Today, it seems that this guy can completely rival the smoothness of top rally drivers!

"Looks like we'll have to ask this kid how much he's been hiding after the match."

Briatore said with a playful tone that he was becoming increasingly interested in Chen Xiangbei.

Meanwhile, the strategy team members at the outdoor command post weren't so "gossipy" about Chen Xiangbei's past.

Their attention was now focused on how to catch up with the drivers ahead.

From a historical perspective, the top four drivers at Albert Park Circuit can be considered the four true gods of F1 in the 21st century!
There is no one that Chen Xiangbei can challenge now.

"Xiang Beijun, your overtaking performance just now was outstanding. Congratulations on making it into the top five."

"The driver ahead is Schumacher of Mercedes Group. The leading group of cars he is in is moving very fast. He is currently more than 10 seconds ahead of you and has surpassed your average lap time."

"Unless you can push yourself to the speed required to catch Webber on every lap, the chances of catching up are slim."

After congratulating Chen Xiangbei on his successful overtaking maneuver, Hiroki Sawano truthfully informed him of the current situation on the track.

The top four drivers have already created a significant gap between themselves and the midfield group, making it much more difficult for them to improve their ranking!
This is a common sight in the F1 paddock, where big teams and top drivers engage in a battle of titans, occupying key positions in the points standings.

Mid-table teams and ordinary drivers have little hope of scoring points in most cases. They can only hope for a track accident or a car malfunction at the front to gain a point or two by "picking up the pieces".

As for the paid peripheral drivers of the downstream groups, unless they cause some major accident, they will basically be invisible throughout the entire race, with very few broadcast shots, and they are just there to accompany the others.

After two races, Chen Xiangbei was in the mid-to-upper tier of competition, and did not reach the battle for the podium.

Today, he has finally arrived at the threshold of the "God War".

How are the tires?

Chen Xiangbei asked the same question again.

The maximum speed that can be achieved depends on whether the tires have the lifespan to support it.

"The peak grip has been reached."

Propelling at full speed wears out the tires a lot, and Chen Xiangbei also pulls off drifting corners.

Although the wet track conditions during rainy races prevent tires from locking up and causing them to reach the point of being unusable, the rainy conditions do not.

However, it will still affect the peak grip strength.

That's why Hiroki Sawano told the truth that the hope of catching up was slim.

"It's man-made."

Chen Xiangbei replied with these four words, then released the voice call button and tried his best to increase his speed to close the distance with Schumacher in front of him.

Thirty laps, thirty-one laps, thirty-two laps...

The number of laps gradually increased again, and the gap between Chen Xiangbei and Schumacher narrowed from 10 seconds to 7 seconds.

However, as the tire grip was further depleted, Chen Xiangbei could feel obvious slippage on the wet road, especially when cornering, and had to make several corrections to maintain the line and vehicle stability.

"Bei is still working very hard to catch up with Schumacher, and I can even feel his desire to stand on the podium."

"To be honest, I really empathize with his never-give-up spirit. It's just a pity that his opponent was Schumacher. You can't defeat such a strong opponent with willpower alone!"

Prost described Chen Xiangbei's current state with a regretful tone.

As a four-time champion driver, he could understand Chen Xiangbei's frustration. He had already surpassed several strong opponents to reach fifth place, and the top-tier drivers were right in front of him, but he found that he could not catch up no matter what he did.

That's how competitive sports are; willpower may earn sympathy, but it won't win results. Fifth place, or perhaps that's Chen Xiangbei's final ranking for the second leg.

"The performance at the North Station was truly outstanding."

The commentator, Reid, nodded in agreement. If there were post-match ratings, as long as the principles of fairness and impartiality were upheld, Chen Xiangbei would definitely be ranked in the top three.

"Based on the current tire wear, the front row drivers will need to pit for another tire change. It remains to be seen which team will make a mistake, and this could be an unexpected opportunity."

Reid thought of a possible reason why Chen Xiangbei could overtake him: a mistake during a tire change at the repair shop.

Upon hearing this, Prost smiled.

"Even if it's a mistake, the probability of the HRT team's mechanics making a mistake is far higher than that of Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes."

"Don't forget, they are a new army."

To this, Red could only shrug and spread his hands, saying, "Well, it seems only a miracle is left."

Indeed, a 7-second difference in everyday life might just be a fleeting moment.

In F1 racing, 7 seconds is an insurmountable gap!
It's important to know that F1 timing standards are accurate to the millisecond, and even so, similar scenarios have occurred more than once during qualifying.

For example, at the Canadian Grand Prix in the 24 season, Mercedes driver Russell set a pole position time, and Verstappen made the same lap time on the last lap, exactly the same in milliseconds!
Ultimately, according to the rules, whoever makes a score first wins, and Russell narrowly secured pole position.

No miracle occurred; Chen Xiangbei couldn't catch up in those 7 seconds.

The race went on forty-three laps, and the tires of the front row drivers were basically worn to the limit.

However, no one was the first to enter the pit, because with such a close gap, it was easy for an undercut to occur during the pit entry process.

Imagine how hard you work to maintain your ranking, only to find yourself inexplicably behind your rivals after leaving the competition – it would be hard for anyone to accept that.

At this point, a driver is needed to break the deadlock, and a scene of everyone pitting for tires will appear on the track.

No one expected that the deadlock would be broken by Vettel running off the track!
Relying on the Red Bull car's superior performance, Vettel, who qualified second, kept close to pole-sitter Hamilton while also firmly defending against Alonso's attack from the waiting grid.

However, Vettel is not yet a four-time Red Bull champion, and his skills and mentality are far from reaching the level of a dominant force.

Even after competing for the championship last season, they are still no match for Alonso, the winner of the "red vs. blue" rivalry!
The relentless pursuit, like a mountain pressing down on him, kept Vettel on edge, leaving him no room for defensive lapses.

He knew very well that once Alonso found a weakness, he would definitely be overtaken!
Fortunately, Alonso has his old rival Schumacher behind him, who also needs to focus on defense and cannot go all out on offense.

But there's always a moment when nerves snap, especially as the number of laps increases, tire grip decreases, and handling becomes increasingly difficult.

On lap 44, Vettel made a critical mistake, his car spun out and veered into the run-off area, becoming stuck in the muddy grass soaked by rain. Unable to get out, he had to retire from the race.

At the same moment he skidded and lost control, Alonso, in order to avoid him, gave way to Schumacher, who had been lying in wait, to seize the opportunity to overtake and take second place.

This is a duel between masters, where no mistakes are allowed!
"North, yellow flag at the track, pit stop for tires."

The pit stop instruction was given to all the drivers almost simultaneously as the yellow flag outside the guardrail waved.

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Xiangbei turned directly into the maintenance lane.

Meanwhile, Odette's gaze was fixed on the satellite cloud image on the screen.

The image above shows that the cumulonimbus clouds are leaving the Albert Park circuit, and the rain will decrease and stop after one minute.

"North, the rain will stop in 1 minute. You have two tire options: either continue on the semi-rain tires for the rest of the race, or switch to the soft red tires to catch up. The choice is yours."

On their first visit to the station, Hiroki Sawano helped Chen Xiangbei decide on a semi-rain tire option, which proved to be a very correct choice.

Now, for the second time, Odeto is leaving this important decision to Chen Xiangbei.

Often, race strategies are decided collectively by the team's strategy group, with the drivers mostly following suit.

But truly top drivers often need to learn to make their own judgments!
The reason is simple: strategy team members can only see various virtual data from various monitoring devices.

Only the driver can truly know the specific conditions of the track.

"I choose to challenge the limits."

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Xiangbei made his choice.

There is a significant advantage in crushing performance between dry tires and wet tires; it is normal to be two or three seconds faster per lap.

Of course, the grip in wetland environments also varies drastically.

After Schumacher's successful overtake, Chen Xiangbei is now 7 seconds behind Alonso.

Compared to Schumacher, whose performance became inconsistent in his later years, Alonso, who was in his prime, was the strongest driver in the paddock today, without a doubt!

Chen Xiangbei can't even catch up with Schumacher, let alone surpass Alonso.

The soft red tire is the only hope for a comeback.

In addition to fulfilling pre-race promises and having a strong desire for results.

Chen Xiangbei had an even more direct reason, which was his identity as a race car driver!
A racer should chase the freedom of the wind and challenge the limits of speed.

If you don't even think about challenging the strong in the most passionate novice stage, then after running in the paddock for a few years and becoming a seasoned veteran, you will be even less likely to have a champion's heart.

Senna will become an idol for many people because of his speed and his desire to win.

Verstappen could become the next generation's successor to GOTA, surpassing Vettel and Hamilton.

He has always maintained a "youthful spirit".

Just like the purity of a young boy's world, Verstappen is extremely dedicated to the racing he loves, even though he is often referred to as a "giant baby" by outsiders.

But so what?
On the track, what you pursue is speed and passion, the thrill of overtaking your opponents, and the sense of accomplishment of standing on the podium or even winning the championship!

If a solution that surpasses the competition is presented to him, Chen Xiangbei will not hesitate at all, nor will he have any second choice.

His ultimate desire for victory is the heart of a champion!
"GOOD."

With a simple reply, Odeto turned and looked toward the pit lane, at the approaching number 13 race car, his eyes filled with admiration.

The reason he followed Chen Xiangbei from Super Aguri to Super Dream, and now to HRT, is not only because he values ​​talent, but also because of his driving skills.

These two items are actually quite common in the F1 paddock; every driver has them.

It was Chen Xiangbei's inherent fighting spirit and tenacity that moved Odeto.

He knew long ago that the true nature of Chinese boys was not conservative, but rather possessed their own kind of courage and radicalism.

As it turns out, Chen Xiangbei has remained consistent since entering F1!

Talent is fundamental, driving skills can be cultivated, but only by pushing the limits can a driver choose his own path!

(End of this chapter)