Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 242 This is my cheat track

Briatore was somewhat unaccustomed to Chen Xiangbei's calm and composed reaction.

As he expected, Chen Xiangbei would be so happy upon hearing the news that he would be incoherent.

No driver doesn't hope to encounter a "Mars rover"—that's the cornerstone of their championship!

To be honest, Chen Xiangbei was certainly happy, but he had expected it.

Back in the Australian hotel conference room, when Briatore announced its share expansion and capital increase, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in investment from Mexican telecom and receiving technical support from Ferrari engines, Chen Xiangbei realized that the TF110 race car would be greatly improved.

The reason is simple: racing speed is often directly proportional to the amount of money invested.

In addition, Ferrari has not won the drivers' championship since Raikkonen.

However, their engine's absolute performance has always been among the best in the paddock!

Even though the Sauber team, nicknamed the "green tractor" team by many in later generations, actually had a Ferrari engine with a high top speed, and in one year its horsepower on paper even ranked first in the paddock.

This is why Leclerc often manages to set incredible laps in qualifying, outperforming Verstappen to take pole position when it seems impossible to outsiders.

On the one hand, the driver's inherent speed talent is undeniable.

On the other hand, even with the engine outputting super power, Ferrari cars are actually not slow.

However, the rankings in the long-distance race are not entirely determined by engine performance. For example, the TF110 race car had its power output limited, but two cars still made it into the points zone and achieved rankings. Chen Xiangbei even managed to make it onto the podium in the rain.

Aerodynamic components, chassis design, and even tuning expertise are all indispensable.

In this world, many things are exchanged for equivalent value. All members, including the shareholders, supported Briatore's introduction of investment, and in return, they received this racing car with championship-contending performance!
"Bei, let's go to the track."

Seeing Briatore spouting nonsense, Odette walked over and urged him on.

Chen Xiangbei's rest period during his trip back to China exceeded the team's strategy group's expectations. Many pre-race preparations were not carried out, including even the most basic memorization of track data.

Odeto understands that Chen Xiangbei lives abroad for competitions and training year-round, and it's a rare opportunity for him to return home to feel the warmth of family and relax his tense nerves.

But too much time has been wasted!

Tomorrow will be the practice session, a chance to get used to the new car and track again. One day probably won't be enough.

"OK, let's go walk the track."

Chen Xiangbei nodded, and then walked out of the P room together with Oddo.

At this moment, there are already quite a few drivers walking on the main track of Donghai International.

Compared to European and Middle Eastern circuits, this Eastern circuit, which was only built in 04, is relatively unfamiliar to many European and American drivers, so they have to spend more effort to familiarize themselves with it.

As the two talked, Odette, as was customary, recounted the track data.

"The North Donghai International Circuit is 5.451km long. The entire course is 56 laps long and has 16 corners. The track has a very low elevation difference of only 7.3 meters. The current fastest lap time is held by Schumacher, with a time of 1 minute 32.238 seconds."

"This track was designed by German designer Hermann Tilke. The overall layout is shaped like the Chinese character '上' (shàng), and it features two extremely long straights with a top speed of 350 km/h, which places very high demands on the absolute performance of the race cars."

"This time, the power increase of our race car is very well suited to the characteristics of the Donghai International Circuit."

Odette already knew about Briatore's "financing" plan before the Australian Grand Prix.

There are two main reasons why he was persuaded to keep it a secret.

The first point is that decades of F1 history have proven that teams that stick to the old ways are doomed to failure.

Let alone any "national team," even a privately owned team like Williams is already on the verge of being phased out by the times.

Managerialization, professionalization, and commercialization are the positive directions for F1 teams.

The second point is that, according to the F1 calendar, the third race, the Chinese Grand Prix, places too high demands on the performance of the cars.

A top speed of 350 km/h is basically the top speed on a normal F1 track.

To achieve this speed, aerodynamic design and chassis are no longer important; it all comes down to the high horsepower output of the power unit.

Similar to Williams' "muscle car" in later generations, the ground effect car era lacked funds for research and development. The chassis used a generic mold, which was like a flatbed car with only a few aerodynamic guide grooves, highlighting it as a "straight-line king" but a "cornering failure".

Ironically, this extreme characteristic is very effective on certain high-speed tracks.

The Donghai International Circuit's 0.8-kilometer starting straight and 1.2-kilometer rear straight, without a powerful engine at full power output, would be easily overtaken by other race cars in this era without DRS!

All those fancy technologies like exhaust diffusers and F-ducts are useless on a long, straight road; you can just floor the gas pedal and drive right through the engine.

Of course, this is more of an exaggeration. Thanks to the advantages of being built later, the 16 corners of the Donghai International Circuit actually cover almost all corner types and speed ranges.

High-speed curves, low-speed curves, combination curves, hairpin bends, and so on can all be found on the Donghai International Circuit.

In particular, the hairpin bend and spiral bend at the end of the "up" straight require drivers to be extremely precise in their braking timing and speed control. Even in the combination of corners from T1 to T3, it is necessary to achieve the most advanced full-curve tracking braking.

To put it simply, this combination of corners is almost circular. The driver has to brake and steer in the spiral corners to stay on the track, while constantly adding throttle to maintain speed, drawing an extremely precise and beautiful arc throughout!
And the moment the forward spin is completed, the T4 corner immediately enters the left-hand counter-spin, and the same operation is repeated.

If we simplify it further, it can be considered an extremely complex S-curve.

If you've played games like KartRider or QQ Speed, you'll more easily understand what it feels like to accelerate with nitro while drifting to build up nitro.

"Bei, are you listening?"

After Odette finished explaining the track data, he noticed that Chen Xiangbei seemed to be daydreaming, looking into the distance. His tone suddenly became much more serious.

It's worth noting that he was already somewhat dissatisfied with Chen Xiangbei's "lax" intervals between races, and now this kid is showing an even more nonchalant attitude, a far cry from his previous serious and hardworking demeanor, and he's completely out of the game.

Over his decades-long career, Odeto has witnessed far too many stories of promising talents failing to live up to their potential.

Could it be that this kid thinks he's some kind of championship contender just because he was on the podium in the last race, this one is his home race, and the car's performance has improved?

The car determines the score, but the person determines the champion.

The pressure of competing for the championship is completely different from that of ordinary races. Countless drivers who are regarded as prodigies are often prone to making stressful mistakes.

Let alone the fact that he has a theoretical chance of winning the championship, even if he really takes the lead, it is still uncertain whether he can win the championship. Is Chen Xiangbei going to make the mistake of young drivers who get carried away?
Realizing the change in Odeto's tone and expression, Chen Xiangbei then realized that the other party might have misunderstood something.

He quickly explained, "I saw Perez." Telemex Mexico is flush with cash; the deal with Australia was finalized on the same day all the documents were signed, and Perez arrived immediately at the HRT team's headquarters factory in London to take on the responsibility of simulator testing.

It can be said that Briatore's emphasis on improving car performance is all based on Perez's simulator data.

As for Chen Xiangbei, he flew from Australia to Hong Kong Island and did not return to the team headquarters in London to meet with Perez. He did not expect that the other party would appear at the East Coast International Circuit.

It's worth noting that while the third driver may have a chance to come to the team's pit garage to watch the race and serve as a substitute during the Grand Prix, this is not a significant factor.

However, in the absence of a regular driver, they essentially act as a benchwarmer and do not actively participate in driver activities such as track walking. This is fundamentally different from an NBA basketball substitute.

Instead of wasting time on the track without a chance to race, it's better to stay at the headquarters factory to get used to the feel of the car, or even push the car to its theoretical performance limits, so that the team management can see your talent and potential.

So Chen Xiangbei was indeed somewhat surprised to see Perez appear.

Upon hearing Chen Xiangbei's explanation, Odette also saw Perez in the distance.

He said in an approving tone, "This newcomer from the Americas is very hardworking."

After saying that, he turned to Chen Xiangbei and emphasized, "You're very similar to me."

Actually, even without Odeto's emphasis, Perez is a professional driver that Chen Xiangbei is very familiar with.

In some ways, Perez embodies the traits of many drivers from less competitive racing nations.

Perez received go-karting training in his native Mexico in his early years and received support and sponsorship from the Mexican telecommunications giant.

Despite Mexico's negative reputation, many ordinary Chinese people associate it with violence, crime, and drugs. However, the country has a bright spot in motorsports; Perez is the fifth of four F1 drivers to achieve this feat.

However, due to the limited capabilities of the Mexican automotive industry, Perez's career stalled after the karting stage. He realized that to become a true Formula One driver and even realize his dream of entering F1, he had to train in Europe.

Just like Chen Xiangbei before, they had no other choice.

However, compared to Chen Xiangbei, who had Japan as a springboard and accumulated certain experience and foundation, Perez bought a train ticket alone to Germany to participate in Formula BMW.

He was not fluent in English, let alone German, and lived in the team's garage.

Racing is his whole life!
With this one-way ticket to Europe, Perez won the British F3 Championship, breaking the historical points record, and then went on to finish as runner-up in GP2, earning his ticket to F1.

He debuted with Sauber and made his first appearance in Q3 in his rookie season at the Monte Carlo circuit in Monaco, which inadvertently laid the foundation for his later title of "King of Street Racing".

The second-year player competed against Alonso in the rain and made it to the podium, once again achieving the best team result in Sauber's history.

But it took Perez a full ten years to go from runner-up to champion.

Ten years of sharpening a sword!
That's why Chen Xiangbei focused his attention on Perez when Odette was explaining the track data.

He knew that the other person was the same kind of person as him, the kind of person who seizes every opportunity to climb up the social ladder, with no way back!

"Yes, our kernels are very similar."

Chen Xiangbei nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Perez, who was walking on the track in the distance, seemed to sense something and subconsciously turned around to look at Chen Xiangbei.

The two men locked eyes from a distance, sensing the presence of kindred spirits within the enclosure.

After a brief exchange of glances, Chen Xiangbei continued his stroll on the Donghai International Circuit.

He would even squat down at many corners and gently touch the asphalt particles on the track to feel the difference in texture in this era.

Have you ever run on the Donghai Circuit?

Realizing that Chen Xiangbei's actions were a bit strange, Odeto asked him a question.

This time, Chen Xiangbei did not answer directly; instead, a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

He had not only run the race, but every detail of the Donghai race track was etched into Chen Xiangbei's mind like a sculpture.

As the only FIA Level 1 track in China, Chen Xiangbei has raced in lower-level formula and touring car races here. He has even fantasized countless times about what it would be like to drive an F1 car on the home track someday.

Driven by this goal and dream, Chen Xiangbei worked tirelessly, never stopping in reality or in simulators.

This is why Chen Xiangbei chose to relax and show a "lazy" side before the Chinese Grand Prix.

The reason is that, compared to the unfamiliarity and difficulty of other tracks, the Donghai International Track can be considered Chen Xiangbei's "superpowered" track.

The greatest advantage of a reborn person: What makes you think you can fight me?

"I've never run it in real life, but I've run it countless times on simulators."

Chen Xiangbei ultimately gave a reluctant answer, after all, his karting career was a blank slate, so where would he get the actual racing records from the Donghai International Circuit?

Without a doubt, the only excuse is to blame the simulator.

"You know, there's a big difference between simulators and real-world tracks."

"Home advantage often does not guarantee victory, and arrogance can be a driver's greatest sin."

Chen Xiangbei's answer was expected by Odeto; many drivers focus on their home track when using simulators.

Furthermore, given Chen Xiangbei's age and professional experience, he indeed had no opportunity to run in actual combat.

For some reason, Odeto sensed a strong sense of self-confidence in Chen Xiangbei's words and actions this time.

Odeto usually thinks that a driver's confidence is a good thing, but this time he is worried that excessive confidence will turn into arrogance.

Alonso lost the last race because of his arrogance, and Odette doesn't want Chen Xiangbei to repeat the same mistake.

"Don't worry, Odeto, I won't make any silly mistakes."

After saying this, Chen Xiangbei turned and walked towards the P room.

Odeto was still somewhat uneasy and complicated about this. Was the kid really confident, or was he just putting on an act?

(End of this chapter)