Car Racing without Money

"That's right, in theory, the faster the lap time, the harder it is to improve."

"For Xiangbei, his lap time improvement isn't just about the time; it depends on whether the tires have enough grip!"

Not only were the pit crew astonished, but even the engineers at Super Aguri widened their eyes staring at the monitoring data.

At this moment, they really hoped that all the corner cameras were on so they could witness firsthand just how fast Chen Xiangbei was racing.

To be honest, many people had witnessed many super talents within the paddock, like someone such as Lewis Hamilton.

But to see such an all-out effort today, even former F1 team engineers had never experienced this!

Kobayashi Shuji stood there in a daze, thinking his lap time of 1 minute 09.033 seconds should be enough to beat Chen Xiangbei on this track.

After all, this was nearly a second faster than Chen Xiangbei's first practice session.

But who could have expected that in the second practice session, Chen Xiangbei improved by 1.1 seconds, directly surpassing his fastest lap.

Just as Kobayashi Shuji completed a tire change and adjustments, preparing to push full throttle on the track again to surpass Chen Xiangbei's lap time,

he witnessed this scene.

1 minute 08.853 seconds was far from Chen Xiangbei's limit; the Chinese teammate, stimulated by team leader Odetto, was challenging Ricardo's track record from Australia!

Five laps, ten laps, fifteen laps...

Chen Xiangbei couldn't clearly remember how many laps he had raced on the track, only knowing he was constantly coming in for tire changes under Odetto's instructions.

Practically pushing at full speed every lap, Chen Xiangbei felt the long-lost pressure of G-force on his body, with a stinging sensation in his shoulder and neck muscles, feeling somewhat strained.

But Odetto still didn't call a stop, so Chen Xiangbei knew his lap time hadn't yet reached the standard of the old team leader.

As Chen Xiangbei raced, the second team arrived at Donington Park Circuit, which was ART Team, where Vergne belonged.

In some sense, Vergne belonged to the same hard-working category of drivers as Chen Xiangbei. He knew his single-lap speed wasn't fast, usually relying on stable long-distance racing to win, which required being more familiar with the track.

ART Team members walked into the pit lane, just in time to feel the wind noise and engine roar as Chen Xiangbei's car sped by.

Team engineer Tod had witnessed Chen Xiangbei's practice pace at Silverstone Circuit before. That time, he and Vergne had the same intuition: this Chinese newcomer was something special.

In fact, it was true; Chen Xiangbei took pole position and won at the first leg in Silverstone.

This time, Chen Xiangbei's speed brought Tod an inexplicable sense of crisis, even more so than at Silverstone.

Could it be that the Chinese driver was breaking through again?

"Xiangbei, practice is over for today, you can drive the car back to the pit."

Finally, Odetto's call to enter the pit came through the headset, and Chen Xiangbei felt as though his mental energy was suddenly drained.

Whether or not his ultimate speed was achieved on track, Odetto hadn't informed him of the lap time, and Chen Xiangbei didn't know.

He only knew that he had almost reached the limit of his physical and mental state!

"Odetto, what's my fastest lap time?"

After catching his breath, Chen Xiangbei pressed the communication button on the steering wheel to ask.

The one who answered wasn't Odetto, but Sawano Hiroyuki, who had been holding back for a long time.

"1 minute 08.296 seconds."

"Xiangbei-kun, congratulations on surpassing the Donington Park Circuit pole position record!"

Then Chen Xiangbei heard a cheer from the group in the pit room through the headset.

A smile finally appeared on Odetto's face at this moment.

He wasn't pleased just because Chen Xiangbei surpassed the pole position record.

Because Odetto believed that the record was something meant to be broken, not to motivate or encourage Chen Xiangbei, but because he genuinely thought the lower formula records weren't worth much!

What truly thrilled Odetto was that Chen Xiangbei withstood the pressure.

This Chinese kid's mental toughness far surpassed that of any track newcomer he had encountered before, even among rookie drivers in the F1 paddock.

At the F1 level, the difference in driving skills between top drivers is minimal.

Even a historical talent like Verstappen finds it hard to create a gap.

The gap between many championship contenders lies more in their mental endurance.

Just like the duel between the new generation of drivers, Norris and Verstappen, in '24.

Norris, with his McLaren's performance advantage, could ideally run faster than Verstappen.

His loss was due to not having Verstappen's stability and big-heart, leading to many unnecessary minor mistakes.

Compared to skills and potential, Odetto cared more about Chen Xiangbei's ability to withstand pressure.

Today, Chen Xiangbei proved that he wouldn't be crushed by pressure, a crucial step towards becoming a top driver.

Of course, breaking the circuit's pole position record also proved Chen Xiangbei's driving skills had substantially improved!

The long history of Renault racing may genuinely give rise to a Chinese dominator.