Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 262 Too Fast to Calculate
"Odeto, I understand."

"On the next lap, in the very next lap, I will overtake Barrichello."

Chen Xiangbei was quite perceptive; he was able to understand Odette's intentions.

Whether Barrichello genuinely wanted to crash or threatened to "draw a dragon" on the track, it doesn't matter.

Why would an elderly, health-conscious driver try to block another car while he's multitasking?
Schumacher couldn't stop him just now, just because he's the second-best driver in history?
There are no excuses for not being able to surpass them; it's simply because you're not good enough!

If you want to prove you're not bad, then surpass them as quickly as possible.

With the race reaching lap five, although Barrichello's "want both" tactic was very successful, he was actually under a lot of pressure.

The delay was far greater than his previous overdue payments, and he even felt a little regretful.

Jason Button is a steady rider; even if you can't overtake him, it's not difficult to keep up with him.

Chen Xiangbei's subsequent attack was like a storm, and Barrichello had no doubt that if he made even the slightest mistake in defense, or if he didn't show enough strength and determination, he would be overtaken by the Chinese newcomer.

If I had known this would happen, I should have followed the team's orders and focused all my efforts on defending against Chen Xiangbei!
After all, such a ferocious attack by the Chinese kid would cause a lot of wear and tear on the tires and wouldn't last long.

But there are no regrets in this world, so Barrichello had no choice but to grit his teeth and do everything in his power to stop Chen Xiangbei.

The two race cars drove out of Turn 6 one after the other and came to a long straight, which is one of the most common overtaking points on the Donghai International Circuit in later years.

However, the overtaking method in later generations relied on activating DRS (Driving Responsive System) to overtake the car in front on a straightaway. But the flywheel hybrid energy storage method of this era has no restrictions on energy release, meaning that if the car behind can drive, the car in front can also activate it.

Unless the vehicle in front has not completed its energy storage or has just released its flywheel power, the speeds of the two vehicles will return to a state of equilibrium.

It's clear that Barrichello and Chen Xiangbei are keeping the same pace. Relying on flywheel energy storage to overtake on a straightaway is definitely not going to work. They still have to rely on their driving skills to use the traditional overtaking method of turning around.

The question is, how did Chen Xiangbei manage to cut off the head at the same speed?

The answer is to make the speed different!
On the long straight after the T6 corner, Chen Xiangbei reached an astonishing top speed of 290 km/h at full throttle, which can be said to have completely squeezed the potential of the Toyota engine and the low downforce tuning to the limit.

To win the championship, you must first have the courage and decisiveness to go all out.

That slight hesitation, that moment of looking back and forth, is equivalent to missing a chance in F1!

Barrichello looked at the rapidly approaching No. 13 race car in his rearview mirror and sensed Chen Xiangbei's unstoppable overtaking intention. He immediately changed lanes to block Chen Xiangbei's driving line.

Whenever Chen Xiangbei makes a lane change to overtake, Barrichello will make a synchronized lane change, even if it is suspected of being a violation when braking in the corner.

Young players are still too inexperienced to play against veterans with extensive defensive experience!

This time, however, Chen Xiangbei did not change lanes to overtake early. Instead, he took advantage of Barrichello's repairs to quickly catch up to the rear of his car, which was right next to him. The distance between the two cars could be measured in centimeters.

F1 cars have very long hoods, and the extremely low seating position, which is almost like lying down, makes it very difficult to accurately judge distances.

This is equivalent to an ordinary person driving a vehicle without front radar and camera, and also adjusting the seat to the lowest position and reclining the backrest to drive in a semi-reclining manner.

When your line of sight is only slightly above the steering wheel, you'll find that the entire front of the car is in a blind spot!

Judging the distance between a vehicle and an obstacle relies entirely on the driver's experience and sense of the vehicle.

If you add a speed exceeding 200 km/h, it's undoubtedly like dancing on a knife's edge!

Chen Xiangbei was so close to Barrichello because he didn't want to give the other player time to react by changing lanes.

The shorter the distance between vehicles, the faster you can turn around, and the more difficult it is to change lanes and block the way!
The two cars reached the traditional braking area at the T7 corner at high speed. Barrichello did not slow down as he usually did, because he was worried that if he braked, Chen Xiangbei would not be able to react in time and would rear-end him.

Or perhaps Chen Xiangbei realized what was happening and took advantage of his slowing down to decisively overtake him!
Chinese newcomers have never been Barrichello's primary focus, but that doesn't mean he's completely unaware of Chen Xiangbei's driving style and habits.

Late braking and heavy braking when entering a curve are characteristic of Chen Xiangbei's driving style.

Barrichello only wanted to defend against Chen Xiangbei; he had no intention of going down with him. A rear-end collision would be a lose-lose situation.

As the first champion driver of the Donghai International Circuit, Barrichello's ambition is no less than Chen Xiangbei's. He also longs to stand on the podium and even reach the highest peak. Does a rookie like Chen Xiangbei deserve to withdraw from the race with him?
Barrichello underestimated Chen Xiangbei's will. Just when it seemed he was about to miss the braking zone and his car was about to go off the track, the Chinese youngster still showed no signs of slowing down.

【FUCK!】

Barrichello cursed inwardly, feeling that the Chinese kid was just a reckless madman.

With no other choice, Barrichello didn't want to go off the track, so he had to slam on the brakes, instantly reducing his speed from a crazy 290 km/h to around 75 km/h.

Barrichello's heavy braking slowed Chen Xiangbei, who was already following very closely, as if he were about to crash into him.

The imagined accident did not happen. Chen Xiangbei took advantage of Barrichello's deceleration and, at the last second, swerved the steering wheel to change lanes and turn around, his front wing even scraping the rear wheel of the Williams No. 9 car!

After completing the turn, Chen Xiangbei immediately slammed on the brakes, causing the tires to lock slightly, and a wisp of white smoke rose from the bend.

Even so, the speed still couldn't be reduced completely. Car number 13 rode directly onto the curb, practically taking up the entire width of the corner, before finally stabilizing itself just as its four wheels were about to cross the white line of the track!

Barrichello's predictions, honed over a two-decade career, were spot on; Chen Xiangbei did indeed use his deceleration to decisively overtake.

But he didn't expect that the Chinese newcomers would dare to play so aggressively and to such extremes!

"Beautiful! Chen Xiangbei followed Barrichello for four laps, seized the opportunity on the long straight, braked hard, and overtook him successfully. The whole process was quite thrilling and exciting."

"Barrichello defended very firmly over these laps, but Chen Xiangbei's attack was more aggressive. The battle between offense and defense has finally come to a conclusion, and Chen Xiangbei is the victor!"

Commentator Li Bing was very emotional, even though Barrichello didn't have any world championship titles.

However, his fame and experience are in no way inferior to those of a typical world champion.

For a generation of Chinese car enthusiasts, his image is still rooted in the era of the Ferrari duo.

Now, Chen Xiangbei, this young man, has overtaken these two legendary drivers in five laps, which seems like a dream come true.

It turns out that Chinese newcomers are really this strong.

"Seventh place, Chen Xiangbei has recovered another place."

"This kind of powerful wheel-to-wheel overtaking is something that most beginners can't do."

"Chen Xiangbei is undoubtedly the strongest rookie of the 10 season, leading the pack by a wide margin!"

"I wonder what the upper limit is for the 'Car God North' at this stop?"

"There's no limit to the racing god Bei!"

The Chinese fans at the scene were completely aroused, and their tone changed from skepticism, caution, and humility.

It has transformed into the confident, flamboyant, and subtly arrogant person it is today.

This feeling is similar to when Liu Xiang broke the monopoly of foreign athletes in the field of sprinting, making the Chinese people realize that people of Asian descent can also reign supreme.

Now, in the world of motorsport, a champion-level genius driver has finally emerged! "Barrichello couldn't stop him!"

Sir Williams clenched his fists, his face filled with resentment.

To be honest, based on his years of experience managing a racing team and discovering new talent, he has realized that Chen Xiangbei has amazing talent and is definitely a rising star in the F1 world.

But rising stars are a matter for the future; at least for now, Barrichello is still a possibility.

He overtook Barrichello in just four laps, a truly astonishing performance.

Can the newcomer Hulkenberg, whom he chose, really be better than Chen Xiangbei?

Often, the older people get, the more stubborn they become.

Elderly people, especially those with a glorious history, are even less willing to admit their failures.

Sir Williams was like that. He was the first team management to discover Chen Xiangbei's talent and had the best chance of signing the newcomer, but he missed the opportunity with a sense of confidence and arrogance.

Subconsciously, he desperately wanted to prove himself right, but things didn't go as planned.

Hulkenberg has not yet matured, while Barrichello is "past his prime" and it's time for him to pay the price for his past mistakes.

Just as the Williams team was still in shock, an even more desperate scene unfolded: Barrichello slowed down after entering the corner and clearly gave way to the lane.

"Barrichello, what happened?"

The competition engineer, Ross, immediately asked a question.

"The rear tire pressure is abnormal, indicating a leak."

Upon hearing Barrichello's reply, Rose turned his attention to the car's data. Indeed, the pressure of the left rear tire of car number 9 was slowly decreasing, seemingly indicating a leak.

"The rear tire pressure is abnormal and needs to be checked at the station."

Rose responded to the team's instructions, stating that the monitoring data did not reflect the specific situation and that the driver needed to pit for a tire change in order to conduct a detailed inspection.

"FUCK, the tire must have been punctured by the front wing when Bei was overtaking!"

Barrichello's tone was full of anger.

As Chen Xiangbei was overtaking, he glanced at his rearview mirror and vaguely noticed that the front wing of the other vehicle made contact with its left rear wheel.

However, F1 rearview mirrors have a very small viewing area in order to reduce wind resistance. Not to mention observing details, many times you can't even see a race car coming from behind if the angle is wrong.

Barrichello was not certain before that Chen Xiangbei's front wing had made contact with his tire.

But now he's certain!

Despite its seemingly fragile appearance, the F1 front wing is actually quite strong due to the properties of carbon fiber. When driven at high speeds and at certain angles, it becomes as sharp as a blade.

The race is only on the fifth lap, and the tires are not worn much. Only a scratch on the front wing would cause this slow leak.

The Chinese driver's overtaking maneuver not only caused his own tire to puncture and leak air, but this outcome was unacceptable to Barrichello.

If you pit to change tires at this point, you'll fall to the back of the line, effectively ending the race prematurely!
"Barrichello, watch out for the car behind you, prepare to enter the station."

The competition engineer, Ross, did not speak out emotionally. He knew that even if this matter was related to Chen Xiangbei, it was just a coincidence.

No driver can truly use the front nose flap as a scalpel.

If you deliberately touch the tire, given the fragility of the front wing, it will probably shatter completely.

"Barrichello's left rear wheel completely collapsed, and a single yellow flag was displayed on the track to warn of the danger zone. He forced the car into the pit lane."

"Retirement! The race control center has announced that Williams driver Barrichello has officially withdrawn from the race!"

Sha Tong described the situation on the track, but the commentator was not yet able to know exactly what had happened.

The contact between Chen Xiangbei and Barrichello's left rear wheel was too slight. Unless we pull up a slow-motion replay from a high-speed camera, we can only speculate that the Williams car suffered a flat tire or a blowout.

Even Chen Xiangbei himself was unaware that he had scratched Barrichello's tires during the overtaking maneuver.

He was moving forward rapidly at the moment. Barrichello's "want and want" approach had a slight advantage: it allowed him to close in on Jason Patton, bringing Chen Xiangbei very close to him.

"Barton lacks the absolute speed required for the race, so he might not be able to stop North."

McLaren team principal Whitmarsh, looking worried, muttered something to team boss Dennis beside him.

Jason Button has a particular track characteristic: he performs well against strong opponents and poorly against weak ones.

The track is difficult and the conditions are complex. It would be best to have a rain race, which would allow Button to show his ability to perform beyond his usual level. Even against rain race gods like Senna and Schumacher, he would be a match for them.

However, if the weather is good and the track is wide enough for overtaking, then his weakness of not having absolute speed will be exposed.

Just like in the early stages, Button was outmaneuvered by his teammate Hamilton!
Besides this characteristic, there is also the state of the game.

Even from the outdoor control tower, Whitmarsh could feel an unstoppable killing intent emanating from Chen Xiangbei. The aggressiveness and decisiveness with which he overtook Barrichello was something that ordinary rookie drivers could not achieve.

In this state, coupled with the HRT race car that is no less fast than McLaren, Chen Xiangbei would be unstoppable by Button, just like Barrichello, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Of course, he could only talk about these concerns with his boss; he couldn't possibly share them publicly within the team.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be a disgrace for everyone to know that a world champion driver couldn't stop a newcomer from the home field?
Boss Dennis did not respond to Whitmarsh's words.

He was well aware of Button's characteristics, and the reason he spent a lot of money to recruit him to the McLaren team was precisely because of these characteristics.

To put it simply, Hamilton is fast enough, but not stable enough.

Button is as steady as a rock, perfectly complementing his son Hamilton, ensuring that they can win both the WDC (Drivers' Championship) and the WCC (Constructors' Championship).

Furthermore, Button's absolute speed is average, relative to top world champion drivers; ordinary skilled drivers are not even worthy of trying to outmaneuver him.

In addition, Button's ability to maintain a good tire is exceptional, equivalent to an enhanced version of Perez. While others can drive up to 15 laps on neutral yellow tires, he can easily drive up to 25 laps.

Under normal circumstances, even if Chen Xiangbei, who is ranked eleventh, catches up with Button, it would take him at least ten laps.

Excluding Trulli, Schumacher, Kubica, and Barrichello are all formidable opponents.

By then, once the neutral yellow tires have passed their peak grip, even if the Chinese rookie is faster than Button in absolute speed, he will lose the opportunity to overtake.

Who would have thought that Chen Xiangbei would arrive behind Patton's car after only five laps?

Dennis didn't know whether to call it a strategic miscalculation or Chen Xiangbei's approach being too far off!

(End of this chapter)