"Xiangbei, first of all, congratulations on securing the pole position. Do you have the confidence to win the championship again in today’s race?"

An Al Jazeera reporter handed the microphone to Chen Xiangbei, and his question was relatively normal, without any aggression.

"Of course, no one but me deserves the championship."

Without any hesitation, Chen Xiangbei gave a definitive answer.

"You’re very confident, but your rivals for the championship have all prepared thoroughly. They won’t let you win easily."

"Then bring it on and let’s see if they’ve got what it takes to stop me."

"Are you implying that Alonso, Vettel, Rosberg, and others are not capable?"

Another BBC reporter quickly added, in line with the traditional British troublemaker style.

Chen Xiangbei was referring specifically to the Monaco Grand Prix, but the BBC reporter’s question led to the misinterpretation that he was belittling other drivers.

Normally, answering yes or no would put Chen Xiangbei in a difficult position.

Yet he still responded, "At least in today’s race, it’s not that I’m blocking others, but others are blocking me from winning."

Chen Xiangbei didn’t give a YES or NO answer, but his words were full of confidence and arrogance, indicating that he was the one being challenged.

Only the strong get challenged; the weak can only challenge others!

To be honest, after he said that, a commotion erupted in the paddock. Previously, the Chinese Kid’s arrogance was only directed at a group of new-generation juniors, like Rosberg, Hamilton, or Vettel.

Has he now set his sights on the strongest in the paddock, Alonso?

"Just because he got pole position, he looks down on Alonso? Doesn’t he see if he’s worthy?"

"Don’t forget you’re currently ranked fifth in points. Are you really considering yourself the world champion?"

"Alonso, give the young man a lesson later and show him what true dominance is!"

The shouts went on nonstop, even reaching the Ferrari Team garages with the audience’s dissatisfaction.

Alonso stood in front of the broadcast camera, showing an amused smile on his face while listening to Chen Xiangbei’s "bold statements."

"The Chinese Kid talks without constraint much like when you were young."

His race engineer Stella said with a teasing tone after hearing it.

At thirty, Alonso isn’t considered young in today’s F1 paddock, but back then, he also debuted as a prodigy, setting the record for the youngest F1 world champion at twenty-four.

However, with the maturation of formula ladder series and teams setting up youth training or racing academies, the age of F1 drivers has been decreasing, leading to the emergence of world-class drivers who haven’t even reached adulthood later on.

This makes winning the championship at twenty-four seem less dazzling and extraordinary.

"Still a bit behind me back then."

Alonso casually remarked.

Back then, he challenged the thriving Ferrari head-on and dared to proclaim against Schumacher—to give him a car half a second slower and he’d still win!

By comparison, the Chinese Kid seemed more low-key and conservative.

"Time will wear down youthful arrogance, whether it’s Xiangbei or you."

Stella shrugged. The Chinese Kid was similarly arrogant and flamboyant when he first entered the paddock.

While the two were talking with a watch-the-war attitude, Hank, a long-absent Sky Sports reporter, appeared out of nowhere.

"Xiangbei, placing Alonso in the challenger position, don’t forget he once won two Monaco championship titles. Comparatively, you’re more like the challenger."

Seeing Hank appear, Chen Xiangbei’s expression instantly became meaningful.

This is an old British troublemaker, always popping up to stir things at critical moments.

"As you said, once."

"So you’re saying you’re stronger than Alonso now?"

"Not just now, but also in the future."

Since there’s no avoiding it, go all out with audacity. Never be wishy-washy; that’s Chen Xiangbei’s belief.

And in his more than two-year career, Chen Xiangbei has learned one thing, being arrogantly provocative isn’t a problem.

The problem lies in not losing.

Today’s crowd cheers are the best proof that securing pole and championship will naturally have great scholars defending for me!

Originally, Alonso was interested in watching Chen Xiangbei "perform," but after being publicly called out this time, his expression turned somewhat sour.

Alonso was never a generous driver in his early years; he had done plenty of unclean paddock political maneuvers to win and gain team resources, yet most of them resulted in self-inflicted consequences.

As a later expression puts it, Alonso loved to play paddock politics, but was incompetent to the point of being easily outplayed by others.

Yet despite being bad at it, he still loved to play!

But people have dual sides, and Alonso was never truly a villain. Many times, he was friendly and enthusiastic toward newcomers, not hesitating to share his track experiences and techniques.

Of course, the premise was that they didn’t threaten him.

In other words, most drivers in the paddock were like this; there probably weren’t truly selfless ones.

Even if sometimes Chen Xiangbei was willing to help Perez out, it was mostly based on memories of later years and absolute confidence.

The Mexican rookie couldn’t outperform him!

Like with Verstappen, only when Perez revealed his fangs and posed a threat did he refuse to swap positions to help him score points.

After Perez left the team and needed to find a new home, Verstappen acknowledged and praised this former teammate because their competitive relationship and conflicts of interest were no longer there, making friendship possible.