Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 259 Competitive Sports Only Look at Victory
Twenty-four race cars drove out of the pit lane and onto the main track in unison. Team mechanics, carrying various equipment and tires, surged toward the temporary opening in the fence like a tide to provide pre-race support for the drivers.

This time, Odette and other members of the strategy team did not stay by the race car, but instead took up seats on the outdoor control platform to closely monitor changes in the weather and wind direction.

Late April and early May in the East China Sea is considered the most pleasant time of year, with neither too hot nor too cold weather and no major storms or heavy rain.

This is why this year's F1 qualifying session has repeatedly broken track records, as if the scene from season 25 was playing out ahead of time.

However, this time there was an extra figure at the outdoor control station: HRT manager Briatore.

"Didn't you say you weren't going to come out?"

Looking at the old Italian rogue beside him, Odeto retorted irritably.

Throughout his decades-long career, he has worked with many professional managers, but Briatore is the only one who, because of the heat, preferred to stay in the pit lane with the air conditioning on rather than come out to closely follow the drivers' races.

Of course, Briatore had his own excuse: leave professional matters to professionals.

As a team manager, even if he does nothing, just appearing at the outdoor control tower is a form of spiritual support for the drivers.

It's obvious that the old rogue is just indulging in pleasure!
"The weather is pleasant, and it's cool outdoors."

Briatore understood Odette's sarcasm, but he had one redeeming quality: he wasn't pretentious!
Anyway, it's not like I'm facing a reporter's question. As the team leader, I can say whatever I want, and I have to put up with it even if I don't like it.

Odeto was speechless in the face of such shameless behavior.

Actually, Briatore wasn't just looking for coolness; he had other questions to ask.

"Odette, what are the chances of winning this race in the North?"

What are you up to?

Odeto did not answer directly, but instead asked a question in return.

"It's nothing. I've signed a betting agreement with several Chinese companies. If Bei wins the championship, the endorsement contract amount will double."

Briatore made no secret of this, stating that the endorsement fee for champions was one price, and for non-champions it was another.

"Hehe, you're just like always."

Odette snorted coldly; Briatore had nothing to do with money.

"Otherwise, is a champion achieved through dreams?"

"Remember this, it all comes down to money!"

Briatore is not a magnanimous person. The reason he was willing to tolerate Odette was that the old man was indeed capable, and also because Chen Xiangbei and the Chinese shareholders were behind him, making it difficult to fire him.

However, Odette's pedantry and naiveté were truly unbearable for him.

Without raising money and securing sponsorships, where would the HRT team get the capital to compete for the championship? Do you really think Chen Xiangbei can become a champion driver while driving a tractor?
Even Senna and Schumacher couldn't do that!

Regardless of the reason, at least his interests aligned with Chen Xiangbei's, and Odeto's hostility was too great.

Upon hearing Briatore's words, Odette fell silent once again.

He understood the logic perfectly well, but Briatore was like a sugar-coated bullet; once you let your guard down with him, you'd eventually be sold out and still be counting the money for him.

Even Chen Xiangbei was only abandoned because he could bring value to Briatore. If he couldn't, he would be ruthless when discarding him, just like he had treated his "precious darling" Trulli.

One percent.

After a moment, Odeto gave his answer.

There's no chance of rain on a regular track, and it's not some Mars rover with absolutely superior performance, so theoretically the chances of winning are zero.

However, the world is full of surprises. If Chen Xiangbei gets some kind of safety car advantage, or if the front row drivers have various accidents or malfunctions that force them to retire, it's not impossible for him to win a race.

The only remaining possibility is luck.

Upon hearing Odette's reply, Briatore gave a meaningful look.

It seems sitting on the outdoor command post was the right decision; I really needed to take matters into my own hands.

While HRT team management was having their conversation, other team management teams were primarily communicating with their drivers.

In particular, Force India's Sutil, ranked twelfth, and Renault's Kovalainen, ranked thirteenth, finally had another opportunity to attack Chen Xiangbei, and they would not miss it for both personal and professional reasons.

"Sutil, make good use of your red tires and take those two out from the start!"

Marja, the owner and team leader of Force India, gave very firm instructions.

That means the ranking doesn't matter; what matters to the team and Sutil personally is beating the two HRT drivers.

When they saw that Chen Xiangbei and Trulli had both switched to neutral yellow tires, they immediately realized that the HRT team had chosen the conventional one-stop or two-stop tire strategy, so the Force India team had to do the opposite.

Take advantage of the warm-up and grip of the red tires to seize the initiative!

If you bet correctly that the safety car will be deployed in the first few laps, you can get a free pit stop window, and then switch to yellow or white tires to exit the pits and run normally.

In fact, this is a tactic often used by smaller teams: taking an unconventional approach and pinning their hopes on the safe car opportunity, otherwise there is absolutely no chance of entering the points zone if they drive normally.

"Boss, I will."

Sutil replied coldly.

After these two stops, Chen Xiangbei and Trulli's actions made him feel humiliated.

Under normal circumstances, "showing favoritism" during a race is something that the team does not allow or cannot accept.

But the Force India team is different.

This is a team formed in line with Indian nationalism, aiming to enhance national visibility and national pride, which can be seen from the team's name itself.

When Chen Xiangbei, China's first F1 driver, appeared in the paddock, comparisons were inevitable in India.

The stronger Chen Xiangbei is and the better his grades are, the more jealous and resentful they become!
With the support of her boss, Maya, Sutil can do whatever she wants without worrying about the consequences.

It was precisely because he anticipated this situation that Odeto made the decisive decision before the race to sacrifice the second driver to change lanes and block other cars. In many cases, it is necessary to anticipate the worst possible outcome in advance.

As the first whistle blew, team members pushed their equipment away on the main track, leaving only twenty-four cars waiting for the warm-up lap to begin.

Just then, Odeto finished his conversation with Briatore and saw Sutil and Kovalainen tires behind him through the fence. They had both started on soft red tires. Without hesitation, before the warm-up lap, Odeto pressed the voice call button on his headset.

"Trulli, North, use the brake warming method to raise the tire temperature as quickly as possible, and don't give the car behind you a chance."

Upon hearing Odette's words, Chen Xiangbei and Trulli subconsciously glanced at their rearview mirrors.

Without the team staff's cover, the red markings on the tire sidewalls were revealed, and Chen Xiangbei instantly understood Odette's intention.

“COPY.”

The same reply came through the voice system; before the competition even began, the air was already thick with tension.

The second warning whistle sounded, followed by five indicator lights above the track lighting up in succession, and then turning off simultaneously. As the cars started their routine warm-up laps, one by one, they began to move.

Following Odette's instructions, Chen Xiangbei and Trulli frantically weaved through traffic while simultaneously applying intermittent braking. They maximized the use of ground friction and the heat generated by the brake discs, which was then transferred to the tires through the wheel hubs.

Don't underestimate this small operation; it just proves that in a battle between top F1 drivers, the outcome depends on the details.

However, this scene seemed somewhat puzzling to the track commentators.

"Old Li, Xiang Bei started with a neutral yellow tire, so he should be using the usual one-stop or two-stop tactic. In principle, he should try his best to protect the pregnancy."

"The Donghai International Circuit is not a low-temperature track, so there's no need to use a method that shortens tire life to increase tire temperature, right?"

Sha Tong didn't understand Chen Xiangbei's actions. If he really wanted to improve tire temperature and start faster, why not just switch to soft red tires?

Using neutral yellow tires to "burn-in" and raise the temperature is a contradiction.
Li Bing was also baffled by Sha Tong's question.

Chen Xiangbei's "grudges and feuds" in some overseas paddocks are just gossip to people in the domestic racing industry, the kind of thing that shouldn't be taken seriously.

After all, European journalists have always liked to create sensational and exaggerated news. Who knows if their reports are true or false? If you believe them all, you'll make a fool of yourself.

However, when Li Bing saw Trulli also using "burnout" to warm up, he realized that this was not because Chen Xiangbei was being aggressive, but because the team must have given instructions to both drivers to do so.

Considering the media reports and the subsequent soft red tires of Sutil, Li Bing felt that those gossip stories were probably true!

"Old Sha, heading north is probably the first step in dealing with Sutil and Kovalenen's offensive."

"That's possible, but isn't there a risk of killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of your own?"

Compared to Li Bing, Sha Tong paid even less attention to foreign reports and was completely unaware of Chen Xiangbei's past conflict with them.

He believes Chen Xiangbei should focus on the drivers ahead of him, rather than competing with the less skilled drivers behind him.

Trying to defend against something and disrupting your own rhythm in the game is completely counterproductive.

Sha Tong's way of thinking was actually correct, but he overlooked the fact that "torpedoes" also existed.

If they get shot at me, I'll withdraw from the competition. What's the point of competing then?

The commentators' discussion naturally did not affect the drivers' performance on the field.

The warm-up lap was completed quickly, and the drivers returned to their starting grids, focusing all their attention on the indicator lights above the track.

Even a 0.1-second lapse in concentration could cause you to fall from more than one position.

Often, getting off the bus is more crucial than overtaking!
The countdown to departure started with a "beep beep beep" sound, and the indicator lights lit up one after another.

The paddock, filled with 200,000 people, was completely silent. Every pair of eyes was focused on the scene on the track, and no one dared to breathe loudly for fear of missing the exciting moment of the start.

The instant all the indicator lights went out, Chen Xiangbei precisely controlled the throttle, maintaining a perfect balance between the race car engine's power and the tires' grip. Then, the TF110 race car shot off like an arrow.

Schumacher, directly in front, demonstrated his exceptional driving skills and experience by precisely coordinating the clutch, throttle, and engine speed during the start.

However, he was slow in terms of reaction speed!

The most serious impact of the motorcycle accident on Schumacher was not the physical pain, but the damage to his nerves.

Adding to his age of over forty, the effect was greater than the sum of its parts. His reaction speed had plummeted from its peak T0 level to the mid-range or even lower T2 level in the paddock.

This reaction time difference of about a hundredth of a second is not obvious in other races, but in F1 it is enough for opponents to turn around or even take the cornering line.

This is exactly what happened on the track: Chen Xiangbei launched himself off the spurs and pulled away from Schumacher, his front wing passing over Schumacher's rear wheel, and the entire car was still climbing.

Before even reaching Turn 1, Chen Xiangbei had already shown a tendency to overtake from the start!

Compared to Chen Xiangbei's advance, Trulli, who had moved up to the left front P10 position, did not chase the driver ahead as his first move. Instead, he changed lanes directly behind Chen Xiangbei's car to block Sutil's attempt to launch an attack.

This is the tragedy of the number two driver: even if he is ranked ahead of the number one driver, he must give up his personal interests when the team's interests require them.

Let alone stopping the car at the start, even right in front of the finish line, you still have to slow down and give up the champion position!
Ultimately, facts proved that Briatore's ideas were correct.
The F1 paddock is a jungle where the strong prey on the weak; only mediocre teams will accept fair competition.

There is no absolute fairness in the championship race!

Chen Xiangbei, once a spirited young man, found it difficult to accept this concept that went against the spirit of sports, believing that stripping another driver of his dream was too cruel.

He has now fully accepted that competitive sports only consider victory, not morality!
Applying a saintly mentality to the F1 paddock will only lead to certain death.

If you don't want to be the number two driver, then you need to have the awareness of rookie Perez and be faster and stronger than your teammates!

The TF110 race car accelerated wildly, its Toyota engine roaring like a beast, determined to prove itself faster than Mercedes and to demonstrate the "last dance" of Japanese technology in F1.

Rear wing, rear wheel, body, front wheel...

Even out of the corner of his eye, Schumacher could see the number 13 on the hood of the car.

The TF110 did it. It could not only outrun Rosberg on long straights with its top speed, but also outrun Schumacher with its acceleration!

Perhaps a former racing champion at his peak could close the performance gap with his own 0.5-second advantage.

The veteran driver, now descending from the mountain, is unable to meet the challenge of the newcomer.

He watched as Chen Xiangbei gradually overtook him from the start, until the red light flashing at the rear of the race car appeared.

Schumacher's eyes showed not only shock but also pain.

Throughout his nearly 20-year professional career, he was the only one who repeatedly surpassed those racing legends and world champions at the start.

As time goes by, will I witness the birth of a new star, besides Alonso?
(End of this chapter)