Car Racing without Money

Back at the team garage, every team member's face was brimming with excited smiles.

To them without the god's-eye view, Ricardo's pole position record was certainly not as impressive as the King of Cars, Schumacher.

But this was still a record at the pinnacle of the Donington Park Circuit!

A track Chen Xiangbei had never raced on before, managing to surpass the pole position record during practice is absolutely shocking and astounding.

Seeing Chen Xiangbei get down from the cockpit, Odetto's face turned indifferent again, and he approached and said, "The practice results are alright, remember the feeling of the last lap, try to replicate it in the qualifying."

"Just alright?"

Chen Xiangbei thought Odetto might at least give him some praise, who could have imagined this old man would be so calm.

After all, this was his first record-breaking on a European track.

"What else?"

"Kid, this is just practice. You won't expect such good track and traffic conditions during qualifying, will you?"

Saying so, Odetto patted Chen Xiangbei's shoulder with a sincere expression, advising earnestly, "Work hard."

However, with that pat, affected by the pain, Chen Xiangbei instinctively swayed.

Odetto keenly noticed Chen Xiangbei's abnormality, logically speaking, the force he used wasn't strong, how could a young man in his teens or twenties be unable to withstand it?

Realizing something was wrong, Odetto immediately unzipped Chen Xiangbei's racing suit, only to find redness and bruising appeared from the left shoulder to the neck, clearly indicating a muscle strain.

Initially happy for Chen Xiangbei's record-breaking at the circuit, Lu Xiaoman's smile instantly froze upon seeing this scene. She rushed to the rest area and took out a prepared ice pack, using it to alleviate pain and swelling with ice.

"Chen Xiangbei, are you out of your mind? Already having muscle strain, why didn't you report it in TR?"

While holding the ice pack, Lu Xiaoman "reproached" with distress.

She simply couldn't imagine how Chen Xiangbei managed to challenge the track record under such a condition.

"I thought it was nothing serious."

Chen Xiangbei smiled, not wanting to increase the tense atmosphere.

Honestly, during driving, due to high concentration and adrenaline secretion, he merely sensed discomfort in his shoulder and didn't seriously consider the muscle strain to be so severe.

It wasn't until getting out of the car that the pain from Odetto's pats surged instantly.

"Nothing serious? Should it require breaking bones to be serious?"

Clearly, Lu Xiaoman couldn't accept such an excuse; driver performance is important, but one should also consider if their body can bear it.

Chen Xiangbei pushed himself too hard!

Faced with Lu Xiaoman's questioning, Chen Xiangbei could only awkwardly smile, unsure how to respond.

Having chosen racing, these are experiences every driver will inevitably go through.

Back in the day, Nicky Lauda's car caught fire, his face and lungs severely burned, bringing him to the brink of death.

Yet, he didn't give up the championship hope of that year, returning to the paddock three weeks later with a completely disfigured face and severe aftereffects, climbing back into the F1 cockpit.

Because of this, Nicky Lauda is hailed as "F1's bravest driver."

Regardless of injury, or even facing death, many drivers make the same choice.

The "Racing God" Senna's 1994 fatal accident at the Imola Circuit is known by many.

But what many don't know is that two days before this Grand Prix, Senna's Brazilian compatriot Barigello severely crashed into a concrete wall during practice.

The day before, Austrian rookie Larsenborg participating in an F1 Grand Prix for the first time, crashed into the same corner at 300 km/h and died.

Facing a death and a severe injury before the official race, drivers participating in this competition were aware of the risks—but would anyone slow down because of it?

The answer is no.

And not just Senna, other drivers wouldn't either.

Even when Senna was sent to the hospital after the accident, drivers on the track continued to speed fearlessly. Shortly after, another Italian driver crashed into a wall, losing his tire, injuring six trackside staff.

Chen Xiangbei is accustomed to being in a state of injury and danger. If he had any thoughts at this moment, it's a regret that the HANS neck support system wasn't applied in lower-level formula races.

If equipped with this system, his shoulder and neck could bear part of the stress, reducing the likelihood of strains.

"Xiangbei, let's go rest first."

Odetto said.

He felt a bit remorseful inside for setting lap speed standards for Chen Xiangbei that went beyond the limits he could endure.

But he wouldn't apologize for it!

The reason is simple: Odetto aims to train a top-notch F1 driver, not a crying "giant baby."

Injury during racing is extremely common, no need for excessive concern or comfort like "soothing a baby"; Chen Xiangbei must learn to accept and be accustomed to it.

If a mistake had to be identified, Odetto could only say he's grown accustomed to being part of the F1 team, subconsciously not considering driver physical differences.

After all, stepping into the F1 paddock, it's unlikely to have drivers incapable of handling the G-force pressure from normal driving.

Additionally, Odetto confirmed once more that Chen Xiangbei's professional resume wasn't forged; the kid really had a blank karting career.