Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 302 Rookie is not the definition of strength
Barrichello's guess was correct; Chen Xiangbei was indeed acting.

Along the way, Chen Xiangbei has encountered a lot of cold looks and ridicule. In most cases, this situation is certainly not a good thing, but it can bring some "benefits" to a certain extent.

That's camouflage.

When you dislike someone, you instinctively want to stay away from them and you won't have any interest in getting to know them at all.

Just like Chen Xiangbei.

Even though he had already made his debut in Australia and won a race in China, there were only a handful of people in the paddock besides Mercedes team principal Ross Brown, Renault team principal Brilliant, and Sir Williams.

Most other team management and drivers still believe that Chen Xiangbei has not yet proven his consistency and relies more on arrogant gambles to win.

Even Schumacher, who has a relatively high opinion of Chen Xiangbei, felt that Chen needed to be tested to see his true endurance on the track without divine intervention.

It's not surprising that outsiders have this perception. Not to mention a newcomer like Chen Xiangbei who has only raced a few times, even Norris, the McLaren driver who competed for the championship in the 24 season, collapsed completely under the pressure of Verstappen.

This earned him the same nickname "Arnold" as a bodybuilder from Changshu.

It's worth noting that Norris entered the F1 paddock 19 years ago, and he has won the British F4 Championship, the European F3 Championship, and finished as runner-up in F2.

That year's F2 world champion was George Russell, and it's not shameful for Norris to lose to the Mercedes "King of Racing".

As a result, this driver, who had been racing in the paddock for four or five years and was highly anticipated to win the championship while leading McLaren, was completely dominated by Verstappen throughout the race, making several blunders that widened the gap in points.

It wasn't until the 25 season that Norris's mentality and ability to withstand pressure improved significantly, and he made far fewer low-level and pressure-induced mistakes.

Even a driver with a perfect resume like Norris is like this.

Isn't it only natural that Chen Xiangbei couldn't withstand Barrichello's pressure?

The more people outside the community think this way, the more Chen Xiangbei wants to exploit that psychology.

He didn't speed up to shake off Barrichello's pursuit because doing so would allow the opponent to apply more pressure and increase tire wear.

At the same time, Chen Xiangbei did not adopt an extreme defensive strategy against Barrichello. For example, he used various serpentine maneuvers on the track, always maintaining a seemingly chaotic and precarious situation where he was about to be overtaken, but was always just a little bit away from being passed.

In finance, there is a famous term called "sunk cost".

Despite Barrichello's seemingly dominant soft red tires, their lifespan actually declines rapidly when considering the warm-up lap, the starting lap, and the laps led by the safety car.

It's important to know that the theoretical peak grip of the soft red tires can only be maintained for seven laps!

If Barrichello doesn't want to pit for a tire change early, then he also needs to maintain the pregnancy.

Since they've already applied pressure for a lap or two, and the Chinese driver's handling is clearly "flawed," he might make a mistake on the next lap and expose his overtaking space. So why wear out the tires and take such a high risk? Why not just wait for the right opportunity?

It was this "sunk cost" mentality that made Barrichello follow Chen Xiangbei's car for three full laps.

But they found that the other party hovered on the verge of "collapse" three times, and did not make any further obvious mistakes!
"Barrichello, we can't afford to delay any longer! Seize the opportunity and overtake them aggressively!"

Sir Williams' voice came through the earpiece. The legendary owner of the paddock keenly sensed that something was wrong and that Barrichello was hesitating about his "sunk costs."

The race has now reached lap nine. Data shows that the soft red tires have passed their peak critical point. If the race continues, the driver will either have to pit for a tire change or enter the advantageous range of Chen Xiangbei's neutral yellow tires.

“COPY.”

Even without Sir Williams' reminder, Barrichello's years of track experience would have been enough to understand what was going on.

However, he was reluctant to sever his "sunk costs" and needed some external support to make up his mind.

On the other hand, we were shocked by Chen Xiangbei's terrifying mental fortitude!

This young Chinese man not only withstood the pressure without making a mistake, but he also put on a great show in a critical moment. This means that the initial mishap and accident had absolutely no impact on his performance!

Barrichello couldn't help but recall a comment he had once seen online from an acquaintance about Chen Xiangbei.

This kid is a heartless racing machine!

With a tap of the accelerator, Barrichello's speed suddenly increased. He abandoned his previous aggressive "cat and mouse" style of running and planned to overtake Chen Xiangbei with an extremely powerful approach.

Perhaps sensing Barrichello's change, Chen Xiangbei immediately followed suit, adopting a similarly aggressive defensive stance, even resorting to a "grabbing" maneuver to brake and change lanes twice to block him.

The drastic change in the two men's styles instantly filled the paddock with tension!
"After several laps of aggressive chasing, we saw Barrichello run out of patience and decide to use a more forceful and aggressive approach to overtake HRT driver North in front."

"However, we can also see that driver North changed his previous peaceful defense and instead became extremely aggressive in blocking Barrichello's overtaking line. The distance between the two cars can be measured in centimeters."

"This kind of storm-like attack and airtight defense is extremely demanding on the driving skills of both drivers. It is easy for mistakes or accidents to occur during the battle. Does this mean that yellow or red flags will appear in the paddock again?"

Reid was explaining the situation on the track, while Chen Xiangbei and Barrichello were playing with the finesse of a knife.

If either vehicle makes a mistake, or even more aggressively, a collision will occur between the two vehicles.

Chen Xiangbei has already triggered a yellow flag in the paddock at the start of the race, and he probably won't be so lucky to get back on the track if he does it again.

"Chen Xiangbei is provoking veteran Barrichello, and he will pay the price for his arrogance."

Park Dong-wook defined Chen Xiangbei's behavior.

Isn't this kind of "dragon-drawing" defense on the track just a standard rogue defense tactic?

Barrichello is a veteran who has been a well-established name in the paddock for a long time, and he and Schumacher together created the Ferrari dynasty.

Playing this game with him is like showing off your skills in front of Guan Yu (a legendary swordsman).

If Barrichello had been a bit more ruthless, he could have knocked this Chinese guy off the track!

"Chinese drivers are so dirty! If they can't defend themselves, all they can do is draw dragons?"

"Does driver Bei have some kind of protection from the FIA? He has repeatedly committed illegal and borderline violations on the track!"

"Barrichello should floor the gas and ram the Chinese guy off the track, teach him a lesson about rules." "Yes, we should treat HRT drivers like we do with crashing them!"

The audience was outraged by Chen Xiangbei's "edge-grip" defense, even though there were no detailed regulations or triggers for secondary lane changes or lane changes in the braking zone during this period.

However, the serpentine maneuvers and "dragon-drawing" behavior on the track are clearly not reasonable defensive actions.

To be honest, Chen Xiangbei knew that his defense was a bit excessive.

However, he wasn't deliberately grazing the edge, nor was he under too much defensive pressure; rather, he was trying to wear down Barrichello's tires in this way!

The most direct way to protect your tires is to reduce all unnecessary operations and keep the tires in a "gentle" state at all times.

Frequent lane changes will significantly accelerate tire wear.

The soft red tires had already passed their peak grip at this point. Under the same conditions of increased wear, the advantage of the neutral yellow tires in terms of wear resistance became apparent. Barrichello was bound to break down and need to pit for a tire change before Chen Xiangbei.

One lap! If Barrichello can't overtake Chen Xiangbei in one lap under these conditions of wear and tear, then he will forever lose the chance to overtake in this Korean Grand Prix.

Chen Xiangbei understood this, and so did Barrichello.

In the latter half of this lap, his attacks became increasingly fierce, and the two cars even collided!
Is Chen Xiangbei really that tough in the F1 paddock?

Inside the HRT team's pit garage, Cheng Jian, the chief engineer from Huali, watched Chen Xiangbei's performance on the track and felt an indescribable shock.

It should be noted that Huali's current technical expertise in Formula One is limited to the Renault and F4 levels, making him a junior player who isn't even worthy of carrying F1's shoes.

So much so that in the view of Huali's chief engineer, Chinese drivers are still in the early stages of their careers.

Now, seeing Chen Xiangbei going head-to-head with a star like Barrichello, Cheng Jian was truly shocked!
"Of course, Brother Bei is no pushover."

Listening to Cheng Jian's mutterings, A Yong replied with immense pride.

Regardless of Chen Xiangbei's driving skills, at least in the F1 paddock, he has never disgraced the Chinese driver's identity in terms of his presence.

Let alone Barrichello, Chen Xiangbei would dare to draw his sword even against Schumacher.

"Bei, faster!"

Odette's voice came through the headphones at that moment.

"Faster?"

Faced with such an order, the strategy team members at the outdoor command post, and even Chen Xiangbei himself, were somewhat surprised.

Chen Xiangbei's defense is already at its limit. If he goes any faster, he will be like he was at the start of the game, which means that every turn will be a risk.

The T1 corner has a wide buffer zone, but that doesn't mean every corner on the Lingyan circuit has one. If Chen Xiangbei loses control, it means the race will end prematurely.

However, this time, after a brief moment of shock, even the conservative Hiroki Sawano did not choose to object.

Because they had seen the close-up shots from the broadcast and understood Odette's intentions.

That is, Barrichello's car vibrated slightly when cornering!

Vibration means that the car's grip has reached its limit. Barrichello's ability to launch an attack on Chen Xiangbei was more due to inertia and the psychological advantage of being a well-known veteran.

Just like many ordinary people in a race, when you're about to overtake your opponent, even if your lungs are about to explode, you'll still grit your teeth and sprint.

Chen Xiangbei's acceleration is a death blow to Barrichello's hopes!
Once the gap between the two widens, Barrichello's momentum in the chase will vanish instantly, completely ending this fierce battle.

Although neutral yellow tires are more durable, don't forget that Chen Xiangbei is using a stop-and-go strategy. He has driven less than half the distance so far. Even if he eventually stops at Barrichello to change tires, it will be a lose-lose situation.

In that case, Chen Xiangbei has to kill this duel ahead of time!
"receive."

Chen Xiangbei's firm voice came through the earphones. He also saw the Barrichello race car shaking in the rearview mirror and realized that the opportunity to crush the opponent's confidence in catching up was right in front of him.

The Toyota engine roared in the HRT. Perhaps its stability wasn't that high, and its absolute performance wasn't that strong, but it still belonged to the top tier in the paddock, and did not disappoint the last dance before the entire Toyota racing division left the field.

The T11 corner of the Lingyan Circuit has an overall layout similar to the ultra-high-speed corners of the Spa Circuit. It poses a great challenge to the downforce of the car and the courage of the driver. It requires precise finding of the entry point and driving line in order to take the corner at full throttle.

In this state, one must have complete confidence in their driving skills and the downforce of the race car to fly at high speed close to the ground.

At this moment, Chen Xiangbei's speedometer needle had reached an astonishing speed of 320 km/h in 7th gear, and he showed no sign of slowing down at the cornering point, plunging headlong into the apex of the corner.

The enormous acceleration G-force not only brought lateral tilt force to the race car, but also brought Chen Xiangbei a G-force equivalent to three times his body weight. In particular, the weight of the helmet and head combined felt like tens of kilograms of sandbags pulling hard on his cervical spine!

At this moment, the effects of long-term high-intensity physical training became apparent. Chen Xiangbei firmly grasped the steering wheel, and even when faced with such an exaggerated G-force, he still performed the most minute operations perfectly.

Watching Chen Xiangbei instantly widen the gap and accelerate through the corner, Barrichello in the car behind could hardly believe his eyes.

Chen Xiangbei went off the track once before, would he dare to risk his life like this again?

In addition, my soft red tires have passed their peak grip, and the Chinese boy's neutral yellow tires have been worn on gravel, so they probably aren't in much better condition either. Is this another huge gamble?

No one could give Barrichello the answer at that moment. After the T11 corner, Chen Xiangbei completely left him out of the slipstream, signaling the end of the duel.

"MY GOD, I can't believe the data from the race center. You might not believe it, but the speed sensors just showed that the highest speed at the apex of the north corner was 327 km/h!"

"This is the fastest cornering speed ever recorded at Turn 11, and it's almost 20 km/h faster than Vettel in second place!"

"Many viewers may not know what this means. Let me tell you, driver Bei's cornering speed is no longer normal driving, but a challenge to his own limits, and it is very likely that other drivers will not be able to break it."

"Bei used this corner speed to prove his courage and driving spirit. His mental strength far exceeds the outside world's perception. It is impossible to break him down with pressure."

"The status of a rookie is merely a distinction of seniority, not a definition of ability."

"It can be announced now that driver North has defeated Barrichello!"

(End of this chapter)