In simple and blunt terms, Briatore wants to be the championship manager.

As for who the champion is, that’s not important.

Chen Xiangbei won’t achieve results, so Briatore will bring in third-party investment and then kick out useless drivers.

Of course, if you have the power to do this, it’s a win-win situation.

After speaking, Briatore stood up, walked over to the unfamiliar middle-aged man, and introduced him to Chen Xiangbei, saying, "Xiangbei, this is Carlos, the second son of Mexican Telecommunications. He is very interested in the HRT Team and is willing to invest one hundred million US dollars to purchase a 33% stake."

[Mexican Telecommunications?]

When he heard this name, Chen Xiangbei couldn’t help but scrutinize him. This company is a giant in the Americas, equivalent to the status of Mobile and Unicom back home, with its founder, old Carlos, ranking first on Forbes’ billionaire list for 2010.

The phrase "wealthy beyond measure" can be used it without exaggeration.

Currently, ownership stakes in the HRT Team are divided, with 33% held by the original Campos Team’s capital, led by boss Kalanbant.

The other 67% is Chinese capital of sixty million US dollars brought in by Chen Xiangbei, including twenty million US dollars from Staler.

A 67% stake, whether under domestic or foreign laws, means having absolute controlling rights, which is why Chen Xiangbei dares to recruit Briatore, a double-edged sword.

No matter what "ulterior motives" Hua Bu has, as long as he can’t shake the backing of Chinese capital, he can’t kick Chen Xiangbei out of the team—it’s like having insurance.

If Mexican Telecommunications wants to buy a 33% stake in the team, unless Kalanbant sells all his shares, Chinese capital will definitely drop below 50%, resulting in a loss of absolute control.

Clearly, this is why Jiuli Sports’ Peng and Staler are present.

"What’s the cost?"

Chen Xiangbei isn’t a business genius. In fact, in two lifetimes, he hasn’t dealt much with business negotiations, and stumbling upon the HRT Team and Toyota prototype cars was largely due to historical hindsight.

Without the craftiness or tricks of business, Chen Xiangbei directly asked.

He believes Staler and Peng Sheng are here because there have been preliminary discussions.

"This 33% stake will be acquired from Chinese capital shares, and it will also give a position to an American driver."

What a large-scale move!

Chen Xiangbei knows Mexican Telecommunications wants to invest with their own requirements and goals; otherwise, they wouldn’t offer a billion US dollars for a 33% stake, an astronomical sum.

It’s known that at the beginning of the year, Chinese joint capital spent only sixty million US dollars to buy a 67% stake in the HRT Team.

In less than half a year, the revenue has increased by 300%!

If Chen Xiangbei’s results have led to an appreciation in HRT Team shares,

still, such an appreciation can’t be this exaggerated. At the beginning of the year, Mercedes purchased a 60% stake in the Brown GP Team for just 176 million US dollars, and that was a real champion team foundation.

How can just a podium finish in one race compare to a world championship?

"Who is this American driver?"

Chen Xiangbei continued to ask questions, and to be honest, he was a bit curious.

"Sergio Perez."

[Master Pe?]

Upon hearing this familiar name, Chen Xiangbei froze.

He truly didn’t expect this driver to be the future Red Bull driver Perez.

However, speaking of which, as the sole representative American driver in the future, Perez always carried tens of millions in sponsorship, until retirement when sponsors shifted to Colapinto.

Going back to historical progress, by late 2010, Perez was supposed to debut with the Sauber Team, known as the "newbie cradle."

It seems his presence is increasingly impacting history, with Perez’s backing aiming at the HRT Team.

Of course, Briatore might have influenced this situation.

"Trulli’s performance isn’t bad, and now they’re going to fire him after just two races?"

Although Chen Xiangbei understands the harshness of the F1 paddock and isn’t deeply connected with Trulli,

kicking out a veteran after just two races is really cold-blooded and ruthless.

Moreover, Trulli also scored points in the inaugural race; this failure was more due to holding-order issues and dual-car pit-stop mistakes. Otherwise, he could have continuously entered the top ten for points.

It can be said that Trulli’s performances have unleashed the TF110’s potential speed, while he is more like delivering an over-performance.

"It depends on his performance. Perez is currently racing GP2 for the Barwa Team and can initially serve as the third driver for the HRT Team, handling simulator testing tasks."

"Xiangbei, we can’t possibly wait for official drivers to return to headquarters for verification every time we upgrade a suite; this is why I say we need to expand our backup strength."

Briatore explained his point, saying Trulli is on the "execution line."

But considering Perez is still in GP2, he can first start as the third driver.

This role resembles the function of Zhou Guanyu in the Ferrari Team in later years, usually driving simulators to test various car features, seeing if he can get a chance to substitute at critical moments.

Just that the Ferrari Team had many test drivers, and the third driver wasn’t clearly ranked.

The HRT Team has only Perez, so unquestionably, he’s the third driver.

Setting aside subjective factors, Briatore’s words are correct. The HRT Team indeed needs to expand its backup strength; it can’t use precious Grand Prix practice time to start testing upgrade kits from scratch.