Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 301 World-Class Resilience
Trulli's car crash taught Chen Xiangbei a lesson.

That is, although teammates are the biggest opponents, if you only look at your teammates with the eyes of an opponent, in the end it will definitely be a lose-lose situation.

Later, when Verstappen and Perez were teammates, there were also frictions and internal conflicts. At that time, Perez felt that his "kingly prestige" was challenged and offended, and he showed a strong sense of aggression and selfishness.

However, after Perez briefly left the paddock, Verstappen had several new young teammates. In media interviews, he spoke more and more highly of his former teammates and even strongly supported Cadillac's decision to sign Perez.

The reason is simple: Perez can truly help Verstappen win the title.

If you replace your teammate with an obedient and submissive rookie, the result is that he can't even do the most basic double-car slipstream tactic in qualifying, let alone help block other cars in the race. What's the use of having such a rookie teammate?

Teammates need to find a balance between being strong and being obedient; the strong will threaten them, while the weak cannot provide help.

Chen Xiangbei doesn't want to follow Verstappen's old path, so he must be careful to maintain a proper balance in the competition within the team. At the very least, there's no need to do things that harm others without benefiting himself.

Just like now, if Chen Xiangbei tries his best to stop Perez, he will not gain any benefit except for causing excessive tire wear for both of them and greatly increasing the risk of both cars retiring from the race.

This could even benefit drivers further down the pack, causing both of them to drop in the standings.

If that's the case, why bother doing things that suppress or annoy your teammates just for the sake of meaningless ranking?

Chen Xiangbei competed with Trulli openly and honestly, without any backroom deals or team politics, thus earning the respect of this veteran paddock player.

Now, Chen Xiangbei is just as open about Perez's past, and even gives a thumbs-up to his ability to imitate and learn.

As the old saying goes, truly strong people are confident, and confidence leads to gentleness; they don't need to prove their existence through aggressive behavior.

Even if Perez is let go, Chen Xiangbei is still confident that he can catch up!

At the same time, Perez's heart was filled with mixed feelings.

To be honest, after two races and his interactions with Chen Xiangbei, Perez already knew that this Chinese driver was completely different from the image he presented in media interviews. He was not as arrogant and flamboyant as the outside world perceived him to be; on the contrary, he was very easy-going and had boundaries.

Especially at the Korean Grand Prix, Perez witnessed Chen Xiangbei's hard work and generosity. Chen shared his car tuning data and simulator training experience without hesitation, which helped him a lot.

Even so, Perez asked himself honestly if they were to switch places, he couldn't be as nonchalant as Chen Xiangbei!

If Chen Xiangbei were the team's number one driver, he could rightfully enjoy all the team's resources and could easily instruct the number two driver to block and protect him, so this kind of entanglement between the two sides would never have happened.

Not to mention they even let the second driver pass and gave him a friendly thumbs up!

Previously, Perez did not understand why Trulli, who was known for his fiery temper in the paddock, was willing to sacrifice himself to help Chen Xiangbei crash the car, rather than, as outsiders speculated, because Briatore had given some kind of order.

At that moment, he understood something: Chen Xiangbei truly possessed the charisma of a genuine racer.

The kind of defeat that makes people completely convinced of their loss!
"Briatoli, the North is ultimately not on your side."

Chen Xiangbei's gesture of giving a thumbs-up to the car was also captured by the broadcast cameras and seen by Odeto.

To be honest, Odette's philosophy wavered for a while. He thought that Briatore's approach of letting internal strife run rampant and treating the second driver as a mere tool might be the right way to run a team.

But now Odeto understands that Chen Xiangbei has chosen a different path from Briatore.

What he wants is not his teammates to submit, but to be convinced by them.

A difference of just one word can lead to completely different ways of getting along!
Perhaps surrendering to others is a simpler and more direct way to achieve results, but it is increasingly at odds with the spirit of drivers and sportsmanship.

Those who can challenge themselves and other extreme drivers on the track must have something more important to them than life and profit. The paddock is not just about life and death, but also about teamwork.

Upon hearing Odette's words, Briatore, who had been smug, became somewhat dejected.

He always believed that Odette was rigid and stubborn, and would eventually be eliminated from the paddock.

He also believes that drivers like Raikkonen are only fleeting in the paddock, and that refined self-interest is the only way to maintain a lasting mainstream in the paddock.

Chen Xiangbei had consistently displayed a strong desire to win and a fighting spirit, but ultimately let Perez pass.

The former "twin stars" were purely a marketing ploy. At this moment, Briatore is feeling a certain quality of Raikkonen in Chen Xiangbei, that ultimate driving spirit.

The competition inside the paddock continued, and apart from the HRT crew members who were paying attention, most of the spectators did not notice Chen Xiangbei's actions.

They thought Chen Xiangbei had chickened out!

"Without overpowering cheating, can driver Bei now not even stop his teammates' substitutes?"

"See that? This is the true level of the Chinese."

"Starting from pole position, I've already dropped to ninth, with Barrichello of Williams behind me. I don't know what he'll use to block me."

"Get out of the points zone, you attention-seeking clown!"

The mockery and clamor intensified, and Chen Xiangbei couldn't even block Perez's lap, which was truly surprising.

In particular, Chen Xiangbei punctured Barrichello's tire with his nose wing before the Donghai station, causing the latter to retire early. There is some grudge between the two to some extent. This time, when it's Barrichello's turn to attack, he will definitely not hold back!
In fact, Barrichello was indeed thinking about revenge. In the previous race, he was forced to retire by a newcomer who slashed his tires with a "scalpel," which was definitely a very embarrassing thing for a veteran who was well-known in the paddock.

Even though Barrichello is now old and frail, he has not given up his past glory.

After all, he won the world championship last season, losing to Jason Barton by a narrow margin.

He believes that the team's poor performance this season is more due to the inferior performance of the Williams car than to his own shortcomings.

Barrichello didn't launch any attacks in the first few laps, not because he wanted to play it safe or was "soft-hearted," but because he saw Perez attacking Chen Xiangbei relentlessly, and it was clearly a good opportunity for him to take advantage of the situation.

If I rashly intervene in the attack, I might even get these two HRT drivers to shake hands and make peace, and work together to resist the enemy.

However, the situation did not develop in the direction Barrichello had predicted. After Chen Xiangbei defended hard for half a circle, he actually let Perez pass easily, as if the fierce entanglement before had never happened.

Barrichello didn't understand what the HRT team was up to; all he knew was that Chen Xiangbei was right in front of his car.

The way the Chinese kid overtook us in the last leg, we'll get our revenge in this leg!
With a powerful burst of acceleration, Barrichello quickly closed the gap with Chen Xiangbei.

In terms of performance release, even with a 15-horsepower reduction, the HRT race car is still faster than the Williams race car.

Just like how the speedometer of a civilian car can only go up to 200 kilometers per hour, but most people never reach that top speed in their lifetime, F1 cars also have very demanding requirements to unleash their full performance and reach their top speed limit. They need a sufficiently long straight, otherwise, they will rely even more on the car's acceleration and power response.

The power unit tuning of the Williams race car is far inferior to that of Toyota's Last Dance.

However, Barrichello used soft red tires, and Chen Xiangbei had to take extra care to maintain the pregnancy, so the two sides were essentially on opposite sides in terms of offense and defense.

Chen Xiangbei couldn't simultaneously maintain the tire and stop the car at the same speed; it was difficult to do both.

"Williams driver Barrichello has entered the attack zone in the North. The veteran driver is making a fierce move, and he will surely use his strength to respond to the humiliation of being overtaken and retiring in the last race."

"If North couldn't stop his teammate Perez, can he stop Barrichello?"

Commentator Reid asked a rhetorical question, expressing his pessimism about Chen Xiangbei's situation.

It was obvious that the No. 13 car had lost its performance advantage in this race. In addition, the medium yellow tires were worn out, and the team's tactics were completely disrupted when the car stopped. The opponent was a top veteran with extremely rich experience.

The chances of stopping Barrichello are almost slim.

"Barrichello will overtake Chen Xiangbei in three laps at most."

Park Dong-wook confidently predicted that Chen Xiangbei wouldn't last more than three laps in his current situation!
Facing the aggressive Barrichello, Chen Xiangbei did not over-defend. Instead, he tried to maintain his long-distance pace and conserve tire energy as much as possible.

Actually, the principle behind tire maintenance is very similar to saving fuel in passenger cars. If you try to avoid sudden braking and acceleration, and release the accelerator early when you encounter a red light, you can accumulate similar actions and naturally save one to two liters of fuel per 100 kilometers.

To protect the tire, avoid sudden acceleration and braking, while minimizing sideslip, skidding, and wheel spin.

Rapid and frequent lane changes are, in a sense, a form of skidding. To avoid similar maneuvers, Chen Xiangbei had to precisely lock onto the center line of the track, similar to "riding the line" while driving on the street, leaving Perez no room to overtake.

However, this method is very effective in the street layout of the first half of the Lingyan Circuit, but it is difficult to block all overtaking lanes in the wide highway section of the second half, which is extremely challenging for Chen Xiangbei to dynamically adjust his driving based on the lanes of the cars behind him.

On the other side, Barrichello did not choose the extremely reckless overtaking method of young drivers, but instead shortened the distance between him and Chen Xiangbei to the extreme, almost to the point where the front of his car was touching the back of his car.

They then continued to exert pressure by launching offensive moves, challenging Chen Xiangbei's limits of resilience, until he made a blunder.

This tactic is extremely effective against young drivers, and even many established and experienced drivers in the paddock make critical mistakes at crucial moments.

To give the most obvious example, in terms of absolute speed, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was actually no less than Max Verstappen.

He drove a Ferrari with relatively weak performance, and often managed to complete a lap around the stars, earning him the nickname "Extreme Guy".

However, in the main race, he was unable to convert pole position into victory, often falling behind as the race progressed, thus earning him the nickname "Le Lao Si" (meaning "Old Fourth").

Why does this happen?

On the one hand, Ferrari's car performance, especially in long-distance races, is indeed somewhat weaker than its competitors.

On the other hand, Leclerc sometimes makes mistakes under pressure when facing pursuit, which is called a pressure mistake.

Barrichello, a seasoned veteran of the paddock, would naturally not risk trading one for one with Chen Xiangbei.

He hasn't scored many points this season driving a Williams car, is currently in the points zone, and anticipates easily overtaking the two HRT drivers. Barrichello needs amazing results to prove he's still strong.

Otherwise, if he can't even stay with Williams, then retirement will be his only option.

That's how cruel the paddock is; no matter how famous you were or whether you're the greatest second-best driver in history.

If you don't have enough competitiveness, you will be ruthlessly eliminated!

"Sir Williams, the Korean commentator predicted three laps. How many laps do you think North can withstand Barrichello?"

Williams team operations officer Parr asked in a relaxed tone, as if victory was already assured.

"do not know."

Sir Williams replied expressionlessly.

【have no idea?】

Upon hearing this answer, Pal was completely stunned.

Despite being a disabled person in a wheelchair, Sir Williams was extremely strong and had an iron will. He was also known for his ruthless approach to drivers and team affairs.

Otherwise, how could a private motorcade stand in the paddock for decades without collapsing?
This seemingly "I don't know" answer actually reflects a lack of confidence in Barrichello.

Although the operations officer is not a strategy professional, he is still a racing professional. How could Barrichello, with his clear advantage, not be able to surpass Chen Xiangbei?
"Boss, do you lack confidence in Barrichello?"

He thought Sir Williams was being a bit too modest and conservative.

"Do you see the chaos along the northbound route?"

Instead of answering directly, Sir Williams asked a question in return.

Panic?

Parr glanced at the broadcast and saw that Chen Xiangbei was in a dangerous situation, but there was no panicked lane-changing or blocking of other cars. He remained on his lane in the center.

"No."

"We've already completed one lap, and Bei's route shows no signs of panic, which means he's still maintaining his own rhythm."

"The Korean commentators underestimated driver Buk's ability to withstand pressure. This Chinese kid is definitely one of the most resilient drivers in F1 history!"

Sir Williams gave high praise because he witnessed Chen Xiangbei's first race in Europe and knew how he entered the F1 paddock amidst cold stares and ridicule.

You're telling me a driver who can withstand a barrage of criticism from the outside world and be universally condemned within the paddock can't last three laps?
As if to confirm Sir Williams's statement, the second and third laps passed quickly, and Chen Xiangbei was still blocking Barrichello's path. The situation remained extremely dangerous, yet he remained unmoved.

At this moment, Barrichello realized something was wrong. The Chinese kid's actions remained unchanged, and he showed no intention of shaking off the pursuer.

Is this part of a performance?
(End of this chapter)