Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 284 Another genius driver?
"North, Hamilton is very confident."

Seeing the smile on Chen Xiangbei's face, Briatore seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire.

"Indeed, but I like it."

"like?"

Upon hearing Chen Xiangbei use this term, Briatore's expression turned somewhat strange.

How did this guy suddenly become gay...?

Just as the group was watching Hamilton's interview, technical director Bob Bell walked over.

He said to Odeto and Chen Xiangbei, "The problem of linear engine power output cannot be adjusted through software. In order to avoid problems in qualifying and the race, I suggest a major overhaul."

"Major overhaul?"

Odeto frowned upon hearing Bell's words.

If a major overhaul is needed now, it means Chen Xiangbei will miss at least the second practice session.

If it's a familiar track and the tuning data is shared, missing a practice session won't have a significant impact.

Later, the FIA ​​implemented a mandatory policy that each team must allocate at least two practice sessions per season for junior drivers.

On the one hand, it cultivates and reserves talent, allowing young drivers to adapt to the F1 paddock in advance.

On the other hand, it can also test the potential of young trainees.

Those who finish last in a practice race aren't necessarily bad, but those who finish first are definitely awesome!

Even if a junior driver only gets the fastest lap time in a practice session, it will instantly attract the attention of many team management personnel in the paddock.

For example, several newcomers in the 25 season, such as Doohan, Corrapinto, Berman, and Hajal, had all participated in practice sessions in the 24 season, which became one of their assets in competing for a regular driver's seat.

But the track was completely unfamiliar, and he had a teammate who was also a complete novice.

Missing a practice match means missing out on data adjustments, making Chen Xiangbei's situation in qualifying and the main race increasingly difficult.

"Well, I think it's safer to miss a practice match than to play with potential problems."

Bell offered his perspective, then added meaningfully.

"North, try to trust Perez; he'll be your teammate for at least the next few games."

Bell knew very well what Chen Xiangbei was worried about: he felt that Perez was not capable of shunting the train on his own.

But F1 is ultimately a team game, and many things cannot be solved by a single driver alone. The benefits of unity have already been demonstrated by Trulli.

You must trust your teammates to win the game.

Especially given the current trend, Perez's chances of staying with the HRT team are likely much higher than in the next few races.

"I understand, then let's go check it out."

Chen Xiangbei did not insist, not because he distrusted Perez.

You should know that he has a god's-eye view and knows the rankings of the number two drivers in the entire 21st century.

Barrichello is undoubtedly number one, with no weaknesses in any aspect. The only problem is that he encountered the god-like Schumacher.

Otherwise, given his ability, if he had the luck of Jason Button, winning a world championship wouldn't be a problem.

Massa ranked second because he was very obedient and willing to submit to the strong. Whether it was his partners Schumacher, Raikkonen, or later Alonso, they all got along well and were a good match.

The downsides are, of course, rain-soaked races and injuries that significantly reduced his performance, turning him into a retired driver.

Perez is roughly third, and his driving style is the "opposite" of Bottas.

Bottas's style is familiar to many Chinese people: he has absolute speed, especially when driving a Martian car, and his qualifying results can keep up with Hamilton.

However, once the race begins, if you fail to take the lead, you'll be completely out of the loop when you're stuck in the pack, and your wheel-to-wheel battles will be a disaster.

Perez, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. His absolute speed is average, and his ability to find the limits of his car is not good. However, Master Perez's wheel-to-wheel attack and defense is top-notch, and he can hold his own against anyone.

He was able to step up and take responsibility when the special team needed him, thus leaving behind many highlights in the paddock.

Taking responsibility is a very important characteristic of the number two driver, which is why Perez is ahead of Bottas.

However, Perez's ability to adapt to the track and the car was relatively weak, and he often needed two to three timed laps to reach his best speed, which is the same type as Zhou Guanyu in later years.

Another major reason for Chen Xiangbei's hesitation was that the Perez's driving and tuning style was not actually suitable for him.

Perez's driving style can be described in two words: "gentle".

Smooth steering, smooth rev-matching, smooth cornering.

He will do his best to reduce the occurrence of skidding, fishtailing, spinning, and other phenomena in the race car, always keep the tires within a reasonable temperature range, and rarely use full throttle to corner and strain the tires.

That's why Perez's ability to maintain a pregnancy is so remarkable.

If you keep the accelerator off the whole time, how can you not save on tire pressure?
Chen Xiangbei, on the other hand, prefers to brake hard and aggressively into corners, and will never release the accelerator to coast down unless absolutely necessary.

Of course, the reason why Perez is called the "master of maintaining a good pregnancy" is not because he can only maintain a good pregnancy at the extreme, but because he can make a comeback and achieve good results in the later stages of the race.

Otherwise, what's the point of trying to save your pregnancy until you're last in the rankings?
"OK, it's settled then."

Bell nodded and began directing the team of technicians to overhaul the engine.

Soon the second practice session began, with cars pulling out of the pit lane to conduct tire tests as planned.

Perez had already put on his helmet and sat in Trulli's No. 14 car cockpit, surrounded by Odette and other team management, as well as the engineering team led by Bob Bell.

Now that Chen Xiangbei's race car is undergoing maintenance, the data from Perez's performance becomes the only source of reference.

At this moment, Perez felt a mix of nervousness and anticipation.

Needless to say, the tension was palpable. As a newcomer, being able to drive an F1 car is an exhilarating experience in itself.

His expectation is that he wants to use this opportunity to prove his talent and potential.

I am not only a qualified number two driver, but I also have the potential to compete for number one driver!

"Perez, this time we're using a medium downforce setup to test the wear on the track tires."

"You need to report tire temperature and tire life promptly, understand?"

Odette offered a word of advice: GP2 racing has no mandatory pit stop rules, which means that drivers can run on the same tires all the way through the season. As a result, many lower-level drivers don't even have the habit of paying attention to tire temperature and tire wear.

Now they've arrived at a track with high tire wear, and Perez must adapt to the pace of F1.

"clear."

Perez nodded.

"Go Perez!"

The game engineer, Bird, offered words of encouragement, expressing his belief in Perez's potential and his confidence in proving himself.

"come on."

"come on."

"GO!"

The other members of the HRT team's strategy team also cheered on Perez, believing that the newcomer deserved more confidence. Briatore, however, remained silent. Although he had brought Perez into the team and even attempted to replace Trulli, it didn't mean the Italian veteran couldn't do without him.

There are drivers everywhere who want to get into F1, but there are only 24 seats in a team.

Briatore doesn't care whether Perez can withstand pressure or reach his full potential.

If not, then get out of here early so we can collect the money and let the next newcomer in.

This was Briatore's style for decades, and even after his comeback with the Renault team, he remained true to his nature.

A crazy PUA driver tries to squeeze out all the potential; if he can't, he's eliminated!

Inside the Lingyan Circuit studio, the two commentators were also focused on the second practice session.

One of them is F1 official commentator Reid, who once hosted Chen Xiangbei's race at the Australian Grand Prix.

The other guest is Park Dong-wook, a South Korean guest from KBS (Korean Broadcasting System).

"The second practice session has begun, and many teams are releasing their cars at the last minute. I guess they are considering that it is an unfamiliar track and they need more time to adapt and test, which is why they are so eager to start."

"Host Park, who do you think will adapt to the track faster and get the fastest lap in the second practice session?"

Reid raised a topic to give the local Korean commentators a sense of participation.

After all, there wasn't a single South Korean driver in this Korean Grand Prix.

This lack doesn't just mean there are no F1 drivers, but there aren't even any Formula One drivers!
It's worth noting that even in China, which is known as a "racing desert," aside from the participating driver Chen Xiangbei, there were still Chinese-American driver Dong Hebin, F3 drivers Ma Qinghua and Cheng Congfu, among others, watching the race.

To date, South Korea's highest-level equation is the Reynolds equation.

Seeing the organizers' dismal performance, Reid couldn't help but feel pity for them...

Hamilton.

Park Dong-wook gave his answer without hesitation.

"Oh, Mr. Park, could you share your opinion?"

"Hamilton has exceptional talent and is the youngest world champion driver."

"More importantly, he was knocked off the track by an HRT driver in the last race, and I believe he will definitely do everything he can to get revenge at the Korean Grand Prix!"

Since there are no local drivers, and adhering to the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, Park Dong-wook and the vast majority of South Korean viewers have turned to become fans of Hamilton.

Hopefully, this young world champion will teach the Chinese a lesson.

"is it?"

Reid responded with a half-smile.

He's a shrewd person, so how could he not understand Park Dong-wook's little trick?

However, when you're on someone else's home turf, you still have to give them face; you can't just deliberately point it out.

So he continued, "Just then, the race organizers sent a message that HRT driver Beiche has a malfunction requiring repairs and will miss the second practice session."

"Judging from the results of the first practice session, it seems that Bei is not very adapted to the Lingyan Circuit. With this shift in momentum, Hamilton's chances of winning are indeed very high."

Reid objectively commented that Chen Xiangbei's experience was ultimately far inferior to Hamilton's. His home track was not yet obvious, but his performance in the first practice session at a brand-new track like Lingyan, where he finished outside the top fifteen, was the best proof of that.

However, this objective assessment was regarded as a form of recognition by the South Korean guests.

Park Dong-wook pressed on, saying, "Given Chen Xiangbei's adaptability, I don't think he can make it into Q3."

Are you sure?

"North has never fallen out of Q3 even once so far."

Reid smiled knowingly at this.

The Korean guests were getting a little too emotionally involved, treating North Korea like some kind of complete novice.
To be honest, Reid had similar thoughts before, but the Australian Grand Prix changed his mind.

A newcomer who can compete in rain races is definitely not a novice driver.

No matter how difficult the Lingyan Circuit is, it can't compare to the rain battle at the Albert Park Circuit!
"Of course, let's wait and see."

Park Dong-wook firmly believes in his own ideas. With a poor practice session and a car malfunction, Chen Xiangbei's fate in this race is already sealed.

Furthermore, the results of another HRT driver, Perez, can also serve as evidence.

The two of them couldn't even get into the top ten in lap times during practice!
Hearing the commentator's confident words, the South Korean audience at the scene immediately became excited.

"Chen Xiangbei is just a newbie, relying on HRT's Mars rover."

"That's right, even the Chinese Grand Prix champion is said to have cheated by using an overpowered engine!"

"No need to hear it, it's the truth. Otherwise, why would they need to inspect the race car?"

"Fake news is a tradition of Zhang... The Korean track will expose Chen Xiangbei's true colors!"

A South Korean man instinctively wanted to utter racist remarks again, but he swallowed them back down.

People can't teach others, but things can be taught by others.

The FIA ​​really will expel them from the paddock!

The audience mocked Chen Xiangbei while cheering Hamilton wildly.

McLaren and Hamilton probably didn't expect that the Yeongam Circuit in South Korea would become their "home track".

Looking at the deafening roar of the audience, A-Yong said angrily, "Those Korean bastards are really something else!"

“Take a thorough inspection and don’t miss any details. It’s normal to hear these kinds of comments. Even Schumacher was once subjected to a barrage of insults and ridicule.”

Bob Bell listened to A Yong's complaints and calmly offered a word of advice.

He has experienced this scenario too many times in his career. Even legendary drivers like Prost, Senna, and Schumacher could not avoid being disliked.

Among the young drivers, Hamilton at the Brazilian circuit and Vettel at the Australian circuit were also booed by the audience.

For an F1 driver, being ridiculed by just a few people is perhaps a disgrace.

But being attacked by hundreds of thousands of spectators on a track is nothing short of a sign of strength.

Because the weak are simply ignored.

Just like when Hamilton saw Chen Xiangbei as a rival, he was very excited.

While the technical team was also focused on off-field factors in the stands, the strategy team was standing in front of the monitoring screen, observing Perez's tire data with some disbelief.

The Lingyan Circuit has a very rough surface, with some sections not even meeting F1 racing asphalt standards. The team expects to have to implement at least two or even three stop strategies to complete the race.

However, after about ten laps, Perez's tire life was ridiculously high, managing to make a set of soft red tires look like hard white tires.

To be honest, there are many drivers in the paddock who are good at keeping their tires in place, but very few can match this level of skill.

And let's not forget, Perez is still a complete newcomer.

At this moment, Perez gave Odette an impression reminiscent of the exaggerated talent he had once witnessed in Chen Xiangbei.

Could it be that destiny truly favors the HRT team, allowing them to discover two exceptionally talented drivers at once?
(End of this chapter)