Car Racing without Money-Chapter 446 - 178: I Want to See Your Speed

"Manager Briatore, isn’t it bad to deceive the drivers like this?"

Sawano Hiroyuki, who is quite straightforward by nature, couldn’t help but stand up immediately. Lap times are extremely important information for drivers, and misjudgment can lead to unpredictable consequences.

"Deceive?"

"NO, NO, NO."

Briatore shook his finger, arguing, "This is not deception, just a way to stimulate their potential."

"Potential isn’t stimulated this way. Don’t you know this brings unnecessary risk?"

Odetto questioned him smoothly.

Having been a member of the strategy team for many years, there’s no way he wouldn’t understand Hua Bu’s little schemes.

The problem is, tweaking it by a fraction of a second might still stimulate drivers to challenge the track’s limits.

A one-second error, given Chen Xiangbei’s aggressive and risky nature, if he really tries to challenge and break through, the chances of crashing into a wall will significantly increase.

"Odetto, what do you mean by unnecessary risk?"

"Isn’t it unnecessary to let drivers challenge faster speeds?"

Originally, Odetto and Briatore were almost considered rivals; now, that nonsensical argument made it even more unacceptable for him.

Even if the other party was the team manager, Odetto decided to argue based on reason.

"Challenging speed doesn’t mean doing it blindly; the added risk is utterly worthless!"

"No, value is relative; as long as one can go faster, it’s valuable!"

After saying this, Briatore turned to look at Odetto with an extremely serious expression and said, "I don’t care about the process, only the result."

"If you or Xiangbei can’t accept this directive, either leave or hire someone else more competent."

Each manager or team leader has their own personality and style.

Results are all that matter; that is Briatore’s life philosophy.

In a way, being able to discover a legend like Schumacher is because their personalities cherished each other.

Recognizing the right person at the sight of their eyes.

When Briatore accepted Chen Xiangbei’s invitation, he clearly stated that he must have absolute command over the team, even management wasn’t allowed to intervene.

"Playboy" is only Briatore’s facade; in reality, strong-arm tactics are his true nature!

At this point, Odetto’s chest heaved violently, and he could only suppress his inner irritation and anger.

Though he was reluctant to admit it, the reality was that if Briatore were to leave, the HRT Team would instantly collapse.

Let alone integrating multiple forces to compete for the championship, it would have been good enough to stumble through an entire season.

"Manager Briatore, even if you don’t consider the drivers, at least consider the car."

"If damage actually occurs, we don’t even have a spare car."

Seeing the team’s two bigwigs at loggerheads, Sawano Hiroyuki, who transitioned to a data engineer, could only try to mediate and counsel from the side.

Hua Bu didn’t care about the drivers’ risks, at least he should care about car damage.

The HRT Team’s current research and development strength can’t produce a third TF110 car.

If they crash, one driver will have to end winter testing early.

Considering it’s only the first day of winter testing, do we really need to be this aggressive?

Sure enough, upon hearing Sawano Hiroyuki’s words, Briatore hesitated.

It’s not that he doesn’t care about the drivers, but the current two drivers haven’t shown the value that Hua Bu cares about.

If anyone were replaced with Alonso, he would treat them like "a god," as a cash cow can’t afford any mishaps.

Of course, this is just an exaggerated expression, but that’s the gist of it.

Hesitating for a moment, Briatore compromised, "One lap, and then proceed as per the official test procedures."

One lap was Hua Bu’s final bottom line.

After all, he’s not Odetto; he hasn’t witnessed Chen Xiangbei’s growth and can’t intuitively feel the potential and talent of this Chinese kid.

Moreover, it’s been five or six years since Trulli left, and whether this Italian driver still has the speed of those days remains a question mark.

He needs the performance of this lap to determine the team’s future resource allocation.

Upon hearing Hua Bu’s words, Odetto and Sawano Hiroyuki didn’t continue to oppose, and both sides took a step back.

The driver team often requires integration, as there aren’t any perfectly matching personalities and philosophies.

The essence is about seeking common ground while reserving differences.

The challenge lies in how to grasp this balance.

Chen Xiangbei understood this principle; that’s why, knowing full well Briatore is a double-edged sword, he still invited him to serve as the team manager.

Imagine the strategy team having only a few people yet full of disputes and arguments. When expanded to the whole research and development team of hundreds, how would they soothe and resolve disputes over different technological routes and design ideas?

The Briatore, Bob Bell Renault iron triangle is the cornerstone of suppressing the research team’s disagreements and also Briatore’s value in serving as a manager!

On the track, two HRT Team cars were running, and Chen Xiangbei was still considering the issue of lap time reported by Hua Bu just now.

He always felt something wasn’t right, suspecting that there might be an issue with the testing equipment.

But it wasn’t easy to say out loud, as Hua Bu was decisively sure there was no mistake; continuing to argue would seem like making excuses.

Chen Xiangbei doesn’t like making excuses; it’s a sign of incompetence.

After pondering for a moment, he planned to push for another lap to see how the speed truly was after finishing the cooling lap.

As for Trulli, he was also in doubt; he really couldn’t believe Chen Xiangbei could run that fast.