Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 254 This is China Speed
The roar of the engine echoed through the sky as the TF110 race car shot towards the T1 bend like a "black lightning bolt".

At the 50-meter mark, release the accelerator at the corner entrance and apply the brakes at the white line at the exit of the maintenance area until the speed drops to the required range. Then, Chen Xiangbei continues to turn and enters the T1 spiral combination bend.

If someone were to compare the video footage from the car's first-person perspective at this point, they would find that Chen Xiangbei's braking point and racing line almost perfectly overlapped with his previous practice race trajectory, as precise as clockwork gears!
Chen Xiangbei's current skill level may not be able to match Verstappen's ability in later generations, maintaining an error of around a hundredth of a second per lap.

But at least on the key corners, he can do it perfectly!

What many people don't know is that the T1 turn of the Donghai International Circuit has the same name as the T1 turn of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, both called "Red River Turn".

It's just a super high-speed corner, but it challenges the driver's courage.

The other is an extremely difficult corner, which will test the driver's skills.

Same name, different running style, Chen Xiangbei did an excellent job in both!
Inside the Williams team's pit garage, Emily stood to the left of Sir Williams. She had been asked by her grandfather, Odette, to visit her old friend who was still active in the paddock.

To Sir Williams' right stood two young drivers, Hulkenberg and Bottas.

Without the support of the Toyota Group, Kazuki Nakajima's ability was ultimately not enough to stay in the paddock. Williams replaced him with reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg midway through the season and signed Valtteri Bottas as their new third driver.

As an F3 and GP2 champion, Hulkenberg is highly regarded by Sir Alex Ferguson, who believes he has the potential to become the next Hamilton.

Meanwhile, Bottas, who finished third in last year's European F3, has also been scouted by Sir Alex Ferguson. If he can maintain his current form and speed, it's only a matter of time before he joins the F1 paddock.

In the nearly two decades of F1 history, Sauber and Williams can be considered the cradle of rookie drivers.

Many well-known drivers in the paddock started their professional careers with these two teams.

Unfortunately, while small teams can discover new talent, they can't retain top drivers.

"Hulkenberg, this is only the third race for the Chinese newcomer in F1, and he already has the opportunity and ability to chase pole position."

"I hope you can do that in the near future too."

Sir Williams encouraged Hulkenberg while also putting pressure on him.

Despite his slender frame and wheelchair, Sir Williams was actually described within the paddock as being as cold and hard as steel.

He would not hesitate to fire any driver who was disobedient or unsuitable for the team, even if they were a world champion.

Among them were 92 world champion "The Lion King" Mansell and 96 world champion Damon Hill.

Williams is currently on a downward spiral, and Hulkenberg can be said to be the hope for the future.

If he can't handle the responsibility, then I'm sorry, Bottas, who is standing next to him, will be his successor.

F1 is never short of drivers; every seat is highly competitive.

F1 is just missing top-notch drivers!

"I will do my best, Boss."

Hulkenberg nodded in response.

"I don't want me to try my best, I want me to have to!"

Sir Williams corrected Hulkenberg's statement, saying that trying to do something was worthless to him.

"I see."

As the two were talking, Chen Xiangbei's first timer came out, and the purple bar below the time indicated that he had reached his fastest speed.

Upon seeing this result, Sir Williams stopped talking.

For a moment he realized that getting Hulkenberg to do the same thing as Chen Xiangbei would probably not be so easy.

"Bottas, you raced in F3 with Bei, what's your impression of him?"

"His abilities are completely inconsistent with his resume."

Bottas calmly replied that he had experienced what everyone else in the F1 paddock had gone through back in F1.

Never underestimate Chen Xiangbei; his skill and speed on the track will exceed your expectations.

Just as the outside world believes, this is his third F1 race and his first real race at the Donghai International Circuit.

Does Chen Xiangbei's level of proficiency actually make him seem like a newcomer?
"Not only is his F1 experience different, but his rally driving skills are also extremely amazing. He has the ability to race against Raikkonen."

Emily added from the side, "There's no point in hiding this."

If Chen Xiangbei really has the chance to run a rally race with Raikkonen, he will eventually become the focus of the world's attention.

"Is North going to race against Raikkonen in a rally?"

Sir Williams was somewhat surprised when he first heard about this.

“Yes, I gave the North Report the route book. He has the level of a WRC-level rally driver.”

【interesting. 】

Upon hearing this answer, Sir Williams' lips curled into a mocking smile.

Having spent his entire career in the F1 paddock, he never expected to misjudge a young Chinese man.

A resume can be deceiving, but talent and ability will not.

If Sir Williams could return to Silverstone and watch the race with Staller on that day, he might make a different choice.

Soon the results for the second timeout were released, and Chen Xiangbei was unable to reach his fastest speed.

However, this is quite normal, as very few drivers can be the fastest in every corner of the entire track.

Even if a driver has that kind of skill, the race car wouldn't allow it.

For example, Chen Xiangbei's No. 13 race car was tuned to be faster on long straights, which would inevitably reduce the car's downforce, making it slower than its competitors with higher downforce tuning on certain corners.

With a purple lap as a foundation, Chen Xiangbei's advancement to Q2 was a foregone conclusion. However, the appearance of green laps in the second timeout period made the question of who would achieve the fastest lap a suspenseful one.

But the suspense didn't last long; a few dozen seconds passed in the blink of an eye.

As car number 13 crossed the finish line, the ticking timer stopped at 1 minute 32 seconds. Chen Xiangbei overtook McLaren driver Jenson Button to get the fastest lap in Q388, and he also surpassed his own fastest lap in practice.

This means that Chen Xiangbei has room for improvement, and no one knows where his limits are!
"Great job! Chen Xiangbei is indeed the best driver!"

"Go for it, pole position!"

"Chen Xiangbei is even faster than in the practice race; he is indeed unfathomable!"

Chinese fans at the scene stood up from their seats. Although it was only first place in Q1, it was definitely a milestone for Chinese motorsport.

Even in Asian racing, only Takuma Sato has ever reached the top spot!

Schumacher, it seems your track record is about to be broken.

Seeing Chen Xiangbei's lap time take the top spot, Ross Brawn said something to Schumacher with a complicated expression.

"The future ultimately belongs to the young," Schumacher replied with a smile.

But then he changed the subject, looking at the distant racetrack and said, "However, if Bei believes the future belongs to him, he needs to prove it to me."

In the history of F1 in the 1960s, Schumacher was the highest mountain and the longest river.

Breaking one track record is not a big deal; what's difficult is breaking countless track records, and achieving an unprecedented seven-time champion!

Schumacher's achievements and status have allowed him to take Chen Xiangbei's outstanding performance in stride, considering it merely a track record.

However, Rosberg found the same scenario extremely difficult to accept.

How could Chen Xiangbei be so fast?

Rosberg was outplayed by Chen Xiangbei in practice, but he could still find excuses about the car's performance.

However, Mercedes also activated overpower mode in qualifying, and Rosberg's Q1 time was a full 0.7 seconds slower than Chen Xiangbei's, currently ranking eighth among all drivers.

Considering the performance of the fourth and fifth fastest cars in the Mercedes paddock this year, finishing eighth is actually a satisfactory, or even a good, result.

The reason is simple: in F1, the rankings are fixed, and the driver should be in the position corresponding to the car's speed.

If you can't do that, it means you haven't been able to unleash the car's performance, which is considered unqualified.

Mercedes is fifth, and a reasonable position would be ninth or tenth in qualifying. Rosberg finishing eighth is perfectly reasonable.

However, Rosberg was far from satisfied with just good performance.

His background, his performance in lower-level Formula One, and his joining a top factory team like Mercedes all point to the fact that he has the heart of a champion!
However, the ambition to win a championship without sufficient strength can be very painful.

Chen Xiangbei returned to the repair shop, and the team members were very excited to congratulate him. Meanwhile, Liang Chi led the technician team to quickly carry out repairs in preparation for the upcoming second qualifying round.

Stepping out of the cockpit and standing in front of the monitoring screen, Chen Xiangbei glanced at the lap time rankings.

Although he was in the top position, the top drivers were very close, with the biggest gap being only 0.2 seconds.

In Formula 1, there's a standard that a 0.2-second difference is considered to be between drivers in the same tier, meaning anyone could potentially overtake the other.

To secure pole position, you need to be even faster!
But at that moment, Sho Mizutani walked over with his laptop, the screen displaying data just collected from the race car's ECU.

"North, judging from the current situation, we have a great performance advantage. However, the engine is overheating in overpower mode. In the next two qualifying races, we should control the speed and give the engine enough cooling time."

"You mean we shouldn't do two consecutive high-speed laps?"

Chen Xiangbei countered with a question: "Unless it's an extremely cold track, drivers will normally run a cooling lap to cool down the braking system and tires."

Sho Mizutani specifically emphasized that this probably means one cooling ring isn't enough.

"To be on the safe side, it's best to avoid continuous high-speed driving."

Sho Mizutani nodded. It was impossible to predict how much pressure the power unit could withstand, so a conservative approach had to be taken.

Moreover, Chen Xiangbei's current speed is sufficient to advance, so there's no need to take unnecessary risks.

"oh, I understand now."

Chen Xiangbei nodded and then turned his gaze to Trulli, who had just entered the station.

It's unclear whether Trulli hasn't fully adapted to the new upgrade kit yet, or whether Perez's arrival has put a lot of pressure on him, affecting his performance.

Trulli finished 14th in Q1 qualifying, making it through in a very close call.

However, many things are only truly appreciated when compared to others.

Chen Xiangbei is ranked first, while Trulli is ranked fourteenth, which will put more pressure on him.

The reason why Red Bull Racing has changed so many second drivers in later years is that Verstappen's speed is too fast. Combined with the pressure from the team and the criticism from the outside world, it directly broke his teammate's mentality.

Chen Xiangbei hopes Trulli can withstand the pressure.

In front of the rest of the team, the two did not exchange many words. After a quick hydration and a bathroom break, Chen Xiangbei and Trulli got back into the cockpit for the second qualifying session.

This time, Chen Xiangbei still didn't rush to leave the station. In addition to overpowering, the overheating of the race car engine was also related to his overly aggressive and extreme driving style.

For example, according to statistics, Chen Xiangbei has the longest percentage of time at full throttle among all drivers, as he is used to braking heavily at full throttle when entering corners.

Prolonged and excessive use of power naturally places a significant burden on the power unit.

However, the second qualifying session did not proceed as the teams had anticipated, with an easy path to advancement.

Whether spurred on by Chen Xiangbei or realizing that HRT racing cars still have room for improvement, the paddock rivals all chose to speed up again.

Especially those drivers who have had conflicts and competition with Chen Xiangbei, such as Kubica, Rosberg, and even Hamilton.

They were unhappy that Chen Xiangbei was ahead of them!
Another group includes veteran drivers such as Button, Barrichello, and Massa.

They have a glorious history of achievements, but they are no match for their teammates in the new season. They urgently need to prove that they are still strong with their results.

As more and more drivers join the "battle," the overall lap times in the second qualifying session continue to climb.

"With a time of 1 minute 32.201 seconds, Alonso broke Schumacher's track record."

"In the 06 Red vs. Blue race, Schumacher used his amazing speed to overtake Alonso at the Donghai International Circuit to win the race."

"Four years later, will Alonso win it back in his own way?"

Li Bing's emotions rose in sync with the track speed; he never expected Alonso to be the first to break the track record held by Schumacher.

It's worth noting that among this group of competing drivers, Alonso is the one who feels the least pressure.

Who would have thought he would unleash his power in the second qualifying session?

No sooner had Li Bing finished speaking than Alonso's newly broken track record was overtaken by another driver.

His name is Vettel.

With the performance of the Red Bull car and the rising star Vettel, the German driver, hailed as the successor to the racing legend, finally showed his championship potential.

"Insane, absolutely insane! The frequency with which the track record is being broken is something we never expected."

"If this trend continues, it is foreseeable that more than two drivers will break the track record in this qualifying session. Will Chinese driver Chen Xiangbei be the next one?"

Li Bing's voice trembled slightly as he said that if Chinese drivers could break the Donghai track record, it would be an honor worth commemorating.

Chen Xiangbei is the only possibility!
Faced with Li Bing's question, Sha Tong, a guest sitting next to him, dared not answer, even though he also thought there was a great chance, but he was worried that opening champagne halfway through might be a "poisoned champagne".

At this moment, the track broadcast camera switched the view to the HRT team's pit garage, where the number 13 car appeared prominently on the track's big screen.

Two hundred thousand viewers had their eyes fixed on Chen Xiangbei; he was truly the center of attention!

(End of this chapter)