Chapter 612: Chapter 242: How Can You Compete for the Championship Without Being Extreme?

During the opening race, Trulli had given Chen Xiangbei his first-person view onboard footage, which led to a deep understanding of the veteran’s cornering technique.

When it comes to driving skills, imitate me and you live, resemble me and you die!

There is no standard correct answer, only a way that suits oneself.

Whether it can be done depends on Trulli’s talent and comprehension ability, after all, Verstappen’s abnormal sense of the rear of the car is not something everyone can possess.

But as long as you reach half of that power, you can run faster than before.

"I’ll try it in practice, thank you."

"You’re welcome, you helped me like this in the opening race too."

Chen Xiangbei waved his hand. In fact, he didn’t really care at all about the refusal to share car setup data.

Sharing is a right of others, not an obligation.

Many things are just a concept of gratitude for a bushel, resentment for a peck; if you take it seriously, you feel the world owes you, if you don’t care, it’s just a small matter.

While the two were chatting, Perez entered the paddock, instantly making the atmosphere slightly awkward.

It was Chen Xiangbei who took the initiative to break the ice, greeted Perez, and then Trulli made a lukewarm polite remark.

This is the atmosphere of an F1 team, filled with competition and rivalry, rarely able to achieve perfect harmony, unless one driver completely accepts being the underdog.

But the problem is that drivers with such a tool-like positioning find it difficult to maintain a foothold in the F1 paddock.

After all, racing itself is a game where you chase wind and freedom with your life.

Without ferocity, you can’t achieve peak speed or get amazing results.

Over time, the team will eventually abandon you.

Of course, Chen Xiangbei can’t change these things and can only rely on time to slowly adapt.

Just like with Trulli, going from initially being both enemies and friends to gradually cooperating as a team, now they can communicate and exchange racing experiences.

Perhaps at some time in the future, the two can sit down and have a drink together.

After walking the track, Chen Xiangbei didn’t follow his usual habit of watching and learning modern drivers’ racing distances, or memorizing those cornering lines and techniques.

This doesn’t mean that Chen Xiangbei is lazy or lax, but because in his mind he has faster cornering lines and a stronger driver’s first-person view.

Verstappen, Hamilton, and even Piastri, their races on the East Sea International Circuit became targets for Chen Xiangbei to study, and he even attended several live races.

As the saying goes, in this era, no one understands the East Sea International Circuit better than Chen Xiangbei!

Although he didn’t watch the videos, he didn’t skip his workout after returning to the hotel.

Facing this "strange" situation, Odetto felt a bit unhappy but said nothing more.

He is a team leader and chief engineer, and even watched Chen Xiangbei grow up, but he is not a nanny!

Chen Xiangbei is now an adult and needs to be responsible for his own actions.

If he loses due to overconfidence at home, there’s nothing to say, that’s the price.

A night passed, and it was Friday, the practice day for the F1 Chinese Grand Prix.

The East Sea International Circuit is one of the F1 circuits with the largest number of spectators, reaching an exaggerated capacity of 200,000 if ticket sales are unrestricted.

However, since the first F1 Grand Prix in 2004, the number of live spectators showed a downward trend, and after Schumacher retired and F1 entered a weakening period, the audience at the East Sea International Circuit dropped to a range of 100,000 to 150,000, with many being half-sold, half-given student tickets.

It wasn’t until the emergence of the first Chinese driver, Zhou Guanyu, and the global influence and revenue of F1 warmed again, that the East Sea Grand Prix once again became a ticketing craze, moving towards the peak of 200,000 spectators.

Today’s Friday practice theoretically draws far fewer people than Sunday’s race, and Chen Xiangbei doesn’t know the exact number of spectators present.

But as far as he could see, the place was almost packed, meaning the number wouldn’t be less than 150,000!

To be honest, when he saw the dense crowd and a sea of red, Chen Xiangbei was stunned.

This red ocean is something usually seen only at Ferrari Team’s home races, but now it was there for him.

Today, the red isn’t Ferrari red; it’s China red!

"Go Chen Xiangbei!"

"Go HRT Team!"

"Go China Racing!"

The cheers were endless, and for the live audience, they held the same excitement and shock.

This was the first time a Chinese driver stood on the home stage at the East Sea International Circuit, and according to media and HRT press revelations, Chen Xiangbei had a chance to compete for the championship at home.

A Chinese driver winning at home was once an unimaginable dream, but this Grand Prix offers a chance to witness it firsthand.

How could fans not flock to such a feast?

Watching Chen Xiangbei dazing at the pit lane entrance, Briatore joked to Odetto: "That boy Xiangbei has always had stable emotions, rarely see him in such a trance; it seems the home impact is significant."

Upon hearing Hua Bu’s words, before Odetto could respond, Sawano Hiroyuki crossed his arms and said, "China has an old saying, ’Returning home in glory,’ and that’s the atmosphere Xiangbei is currently immersed in."

"He deserves to enjoy the praise and glory of home."

Being part of the Greater China cultural circle, Sawano Hiroyuki could well understand Chen Xiangbei’s current mindset.

"Enjoyment is fine, I just hope this boy doesn’t lose himself."

Odetto remained calm; Chen Xiangbei’s career is short, compounded by the F1 Chinese Grand Prix being too early in the season, making young drivers easily overwhelmed by praise.

Or overly eager to prove and express themselves, causing unnecessary food incidents in the race.

HRT is a new team, but most of the members are a bunch of old hands.

They have experienced countless team home races and seen countless frenzied atmospheres for home drivers.

Actually, most of the results were not great.

For example, the famous hero Senna and the tragic Masa.

While they chatted, Chen Xiangbei had already "woken up" from his immersion and turned to Odetto to inquire.

"Odetto, what’s the initial suspension tuning plan for the East Sea International Circuit this time?"

Chen Xiangbei had the track memory from the future but couldn’t foresee the setup for this era’s HRT racing car.

The simulator tests were conducted by Perez and Trulli, and Chen Xiangbei didn’t participate, so he needed some experience and advice.

"Low downforce setting paired with the hardest suspension."

"That extreme?"

Chen Xiangbei was a bit surprised. The essence of the East Sea International Circuit’s setup lies in "the art of compromise."

The long straight requires extremely low downforce to increase top speed, but high-speed corners require high downforce to maintain grip balance.

In such a situation, a compromise is needed, often with teams sacrificing some corner downforce in exchange for straight-line speed, preventing being overtaken by competitors.

However, pairing with the hardest suspension seems a bit too extreme; no team has ever chosen this setup for the East Sea Grand Prix over the years.

It’s worth noting that the end of the long straight requires heavy braking into a corner, reducing speed from an astonishing 350 km/h to the 100 to 200 km/h range, which demands high braking and suspension strength.

Anyone who has slammed on the brakes knows the "nodding" effect vehicles experience due to inertia.

F1 cars have this same issue, although much less so than civilian cars.

Beyond a certain limit, too soft suspension leads to immense front brake pressure, causing car instability.

Conversely, too hard suspension results in insufficient grip.

Low downforce paired with the hardest suspension—was Odetto afraid he couldn’t make it off the track?

"You call this extreme?"

"What’s Trulli’s setup plan?"

Chen Xiangbei asked in response.

"Moderate downforce paired with medium-hard suspension."

"Exactly, wouldn’t mine be considered extreme?"

"How else do you compete for the win at home if not extreme?"

Odetto coolly dropped those words, then directly turned and called in the technician group to execute the setup, leaving no room for negotiation with Chen Xiangbei.

Chen Xiangbei’s state made Odetto feel the weight of the home race in his heart and understand what kind of enthusiasm an F1 driver could bring to fans in this Formula 1-desolate country.

If you want to achieve home glory, you can’t just dream.

You have to compete more aggressively than any other driver!