Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 263 emphasizes speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness.
On the track, Jason Button, upon seeing the No. 13 HRT car in his rearview mirror, felt a sense of solemnity no less intense than that of the McLaren team management.

He had already faced off against Chen Xiangbei in the ROC International Cup, and as a former Brawn GP driver, Jason Button had seen the Chinese rookie's trial data and was well aware of the racing talent and potential he had shown.

Back when Chen Xiangbei was still a Renault rookie, team principal Ross Brawn had considered signing him, but ultimately had to give up because Brawn GP was in a crucial period of championship contention.

Others may have questions, but Ross Brown certainly doesn't!

The iron triangle of the Ferrari dynasty, who built the legendary Brawn GP team to win the championship in its rookie season, who could have a longer-term vision than Ross Brawn?

Through his observation of Chen Xiangbei and their encounter in the opening game, Jason Patton realized that the Chinese newcomer's driving style was actually very restrained!

The reason is simple: the steady are afraid of the ruthless, and the ruthless are afraid of the reckless.

Chen Xiangbei's cornering style is often characterized by a reckless, almost suicidal, approach.

Furthermore, the wheelset also exhibits remarkable strength and experience, naturally giving it an advantage in offensive and defensive battles against steady riders who lack absolute speed.

Jenson Button's strength lies in the long race runs. By maintaining consistent lap times and tire holding power, he can drag the race into the mid-to-late stages and then rely on his extensive experience and tire grip to defeat his opponents.

To put it simply, just as McLaren's management predicted, it will take at least ten laps before Jenson Button reaches his comfort zone.

But after only five laps, Chen Xiangbei charged in!
Before Jason Button could recover from his shock, Chen Xiangbei's race car rapidly closed in, using the wake to its advantage.

His actions undoubtedly sent a strong signal: he was ready to overtake.

"Xiang Beijun's advance at this stage was truly unstoppable."

Upon witnessing this scene, Mizutani Sho couldn't help but remark with emotion.

Normally, a driver would take a breather and stabilize after such a strong overtake of Barrichello, and even experience a tire lock-up, before launching an attack.

Chen Xiangbei really didn't intend to stay for even a moment longer!
"In terms of momentum, the North has created its own unique momentum."

Odette replied quietly; this was a familiar situation in his career.

Historically, many drivers who start from the back of the pack and fight their way up have displayed an indomitable spirit in the race, overtaking opponents with incredible speed and creating miracles.

In other sports, the opposing coach would call a timeout at such a crucial moment to break the momentum of the player.

However, there is no pause in F1 racing, so the drivers' momentum can only be allowed to build up.

If this trend continues, the further it goes, the less Chen Xiangbei will be able to stop it!
With the roar of engines, the race reached its sixth lap.

After Chen Xiangbei caught up with Jason Button's car on the previous lap, he immediately made a U-turn to overtake.

Of course, such a rash and tentative attack, attempting to surpass a world champion driver, is practically a pipe dream.

Even if there is no world champion with absolute speed, he is still a world champion.

And he is also the strongest F1 world champion on the planet.

Chen Xiangbei then switched to the second approach, which was the same strategy he used to overtake Barrichello: braking hard on the long straight and then aggressively entering the corner to overpower his opponent.

As it turned out, Chen Xiangbei had overestimated the upgraded performance of the HRT race car. With full throttle on the long straight and the wake slingshot effect, it was impossible to overtake the McLaren race car in front, let alone even lead alongside it.

In this situation, there's no way to change lanes and overtake the opponent, so you have to give up.

Since you can't win by relying on racing performance, then all that's left is skill.

It's outrageous to say, but a rookie F1 driver plans to win the world championship through his driving skills. It sounds like something out of a fantasy.

But this world is so magical. Chen Xiangbei's cornering skills on the Donghai International Circuit can be said to be built on the shoulders of generations of historical genius drivers. No matter how strong Jason Button is, he is just a goalkeeper for the world championship.

Compared to those legendary racing geniuses, he was always a step behind.

Without much hesitation, Chen Xiangbei immediately chose the overtaking point at the combination of T7 and T8 corners on the track.

Chen Xiangbei was well aware that as time went on and the tire grip passed its peak, it would enter Jason Button's comfort zone, making overtaking increasingly difficult.

The key to dealing with steady drivers is speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness!

The T7 and T8 turns of the Donghai International Circuit are a typical hairpin combination of a right turn followed by a left turn.

The challenge lies in cutting the apex late at T7, using a delayed apex line, maximizing the leftward corner width to prepare for entering T8, and then straightening the car as quickly as possible and accelerating out of the corner at full throttle.

The vehicle's angle directly determines the acceleration out of a corner, which is crucial for overtaking and lap time.

Many drivers struggle to achieve a perfect racing line even when they're in the air during qualifying, let alone when an opponent's car is squeezed into the corner. To achieve the ultimate perfect racing line is a true test of driving skills.

Chen Xiangbei knew that Jason Patton had solid fundamentals, and the more difficult the curves, the less likely he was to make any mistakes.

However, this habit and characteristic will also bring him a drawback!
That is, Jason Button will always take the most conservative and safest route on this corner, which is equivalent to fixing his cornering ability.

Under normal circumstances, even if you know how Jason Barton will go, it would still be difficult to surpass him.

The best cornering line is in his hands; taking other lines increases the risk exponentially, and you might not even be faster than Jason Button.

Chen Xiangbei, however, knew countless lines on this curve and those seemingly impossible extreme shoulder cuts, yet he could still maintain control.

Because this was the result of experiments conducted by drivers from later generations, he didn't need to try and fail; he could just wait to copy the correct answer.

Chen Xiangbei's perspective on many tracks is mostly that of a god.

At the Donghai International Circuit, Chen Xiangbei is God!

"Chen Xiangbei caught up with Button on the long straight of T6, and the two cars entered the T7 corner almost side by side. However, Button occupied the best cornering line on the left, and it was impossible for Chen Xiangbei to overtake him on the corner at a faster speed."

"As the two cars entered T7, Chen Xiangbei continued to accelerate and adopted a strong, side-by-side approach to enter the corner, squeezing out McLaren driver Button's space to cut back."

"However, because Chen Xiangbei did not take the best cornering line, his car slid even more to the right and had reached the edge of the track. The right tire and the car body had already climbed onto the curb and crossed the edge white line."

"The left tire has already reached the edge of the white line on the track. Does this mean they're going to go out with all four wheels?"

"Didn't make it out! Chen Xiangbei straightened his car at the edge of the track and immediately accelerated through the high exit speed of the corner, overtaking McLaren driver Jenson Button at the T8 corner!"

"Overtaking the defending world champion in less than two laps is simply a miracle!"

Commentator Li Bing felt like he was going crazy. He never expected that Chen Xiangbei would attempt to overtake on the extremely difficult T7 and T8 combination bends.

And it worked!

From an outsider's perspective, disregarding race conditions, Jason Button is the defending champion and driving the second fastest McLaren in the paddock.

The visual impact and shock of Chen Xiangbei surpassing him far exceeded that of Barrichello. "That's incredible! Chen Xiangbei has surpassed the F1 World Champion!"

"Am I seeing things? The world championship in the Beijing Super League is so easy for the racing god?"

"Button couldn't even stop Chen Xiangbei for two laps. Are our Chinese drivers really that good?"

"As expected of the strongest rising star, the racing god Bei!"

The atmosphere at the scene wasn't as explosive as expected, not because they thought it was nothing special.

On the contrary, it was so astonishing that many people hadn't even had time to process it.

Given his previous battles with Barrichello, it's normal for Jason Button, as the world champion and the opponent who defeated him last year, to follow him for ten or eight laps.

It's understandable if they can't surpass it.

The problem is that Chen Xiangbei not only overtook, but he was incredibly fast, completely beyond the expectations of Chinese racing fans.

When did the F1 world champion ever amount to anything more than this?
"What is Jason Barton up to? Isn't he on guard at all?"

"It seems that BGP001 was a real Martian last year, allowing Button to snag a world championship."

"I really can't accept it. How could Patton not even outrun a Chinese guy?"

"The world champion lost to a rookie, what a joke!"

Amid the cheers, many people were also breaking down in their emotions.

Foreign viewers who dislike or oppose Chen Xiangbei find this outcome truly unacceptable.

In the opening match, Barton was overtaken by Chen Xiangbei, which could be described as being caught off guard.

At the time, no one could have imagined that a Chinese newcomer competing for the first time would launch such a rapid offensive.

Now things are different. Chen Xiangbei has secured pole position at the Donghai International Circuit and has been unstoppable since the start. Jason Button should be well-prepared to defend.

But that still didn't change the outcome!

The title of world champion has become a burden at this moment, only increasing the dissatisfaction and anger of many fans.

Of course, such small-scale protests cannot affect the overall situation.

After surpassing Jason Barton, Chen Xiangbei continued his rapid advance, chasing after Hamilton ahead.

However, compared to the fiercely competitive midstream groups, the leading groups have already widened the gap between themselves and the top groups.

Alonso, Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, Hamilton—none of these are pushovers, and four of them are world champion drivers in history.

Even the weakest player, Webber, could easily keep up with the top teams thanks to the Red Bull car's superior performance and his excellent teamwork with Vettel.

In just six laps, he pulled ahead of Chen Xiangbei by 3.7 seconds!

Although it only lasted a few seconds, the gap had actually widened to the point where the taillights were almost invisible.

"Sawano, how much tire life do I have left?"

Chen Xiangbei asked a question.

"Theoretical lifespan is 61%."

"Xiang Bei-jun, are you planning to push this forward?"

Hiroki Sawano immediately countered with a question. Having been partners as the competition's engineer for so long, he had guessed Chen Xiangbei's intentions.

"Yes, I'm going to catch up with Hamilton."

"Theoretical lifespan is not the same as actual grip. When it drops below 50%, it has passed its peak. There are still nine laps left before pit stop. If the tire wear is too severe, the speed will drop significantly."

Hiroki Sawano pointed out that the tire wear rate during the heavy oil phase at the beginning of the race, when pushing at full speed, is much higher than during the light oil phase later on.

This is why Jenson Patton was overtaken by Hamilton and left with a considerable distance.

Aside from being affected by Barrichello's attack, he was determined from the beginning to drive conservatively and entered cruising mode early on.

Even when Chen Xiangbei overtook him, Jason Barton didn't make any overly aggressive defensive moves. In Chinese parlance, he was preparing for a "war of attrition."

Many car enthusiasts may have a question at this point: with such a large gap between the leading groups, don't they consider tire wear during heavy fuel consumption?

In fact, this involves the complex aerodynamic efficiency issues of Formula 1.

With no race cars in front of the lead car, it can absorb the freshest, coldest air and be free from any turbulence.

Any vehicle power unit, including F1 cars, has the characteristic of being resistant to heat, except in extremely cold conditions.

Cold air can improve engine efficiency, and the absence of turbulence can avoid affecting the aerodynamic components. The combination of the two naturally makes the lead car faster!
In many later F1 live broadcasts, it was common to see Verstappen leading the pack by a wide margin, partly due to the superior performance and driving skills of the Red Bull cars, and partly due to the advantage of being the lead car.

Furthermore, if a driver gets stuck in the traffic and can't get out, the team will often issue an order to pit early to change tires, get out of the "hot exhaust fumes" and turbulence in the traffic, and fall behind to achieve a faster lap time.

When your opponent is stuck in traffic for ten or twenty laps before pitting for a tire change, they will find themselves inexplicably behind when they emerge from the pits. The difference in victory or defeat lies in the fraction of a second faster lap brought about by the cold air.

This method of entering the station early to break away from the traffic is also a type of undercut.

At this point, some people might ask, since they know that getting stuck in traffic will slow them down, why not just stop at the pit lane in advance to change tires?
The answer lies in the fact that speed is relative, and traffic formations also have advantages and disadvantages!

Traffic jams can cause exhaust fumes and turbulence, as well as exhaust fumes from vehicles ahead breaking through the air. With proper maneuvering, air resistance can be reduced to cruise and protect the tires.

Some racing teams employ a stop-and-go strategy to preserve their tires, and their cars are inherently weak, so they are more than happy to be part of the pack.

Racing cars that break away from the main traffic often opt for a stop-and-go strategy, or their absolute speed is not slow and they certainly don't want to be caught up in a bunch of novice cars fighting each other!

The characteristics of the Donghai International Circuit mean that most of the front row drivers choose a one-stop or two-stop strategy. In addition, Alonso, the leader, is very fast, so everyone is naturally willing to follow behind and ride the slipstream.

Chen Xiangbei has now reached the lead car position of the midstream group. There is neither fully cooled air nor the exhaust fumes from the car in front. Pursuing it alone would greatly damage the tires' lifespan, and they might not be able to hold out until the pit stop. Therefore, Hiroki Sawano gave him a warning.

Before Chen Xiangbei could even consider it, Odette's curt voice came through the earpiece.

"North, full speed ahead and chase Hamilton! The faster you catch up, the less tire wear you'll have. Let's see how many laps it takes!"

(End of this chapter)