Car Racing without Money-Chapter 489 - 192: Clash of Team Philosophies

Driving on the main track for the warm-up lap, Chen Xiangbei quickly realized the traffic situation was not optimistic.

The road conditions and climate environment of the Bahrain Circuit are public data for each team.

Everyone knows that the later you leave the pit, the better the car’s grip.

The HRT strategy group wants to gamble for a lap; other small to mid-sized teams are the same.

Plus, with the expansion of the paddock in the 10th season, there are two more teams and four more drivers compared to normal years, leading to a very "crowded" situation on the track.

In fact, such a traffic situation is not unforeseen by the strategy groups of each team; it’s just that even knowing, they still choose to do so.

The reason is simple, leaving the pit early without taking a gamble will result in certain elimination.

If you gamble, as long as luck is on your side and you’re not the one blocked, there’s a tens-of-percent chance of advancing.

If it were you, you would gamble too.

However, for the HRT team, leaving the pit late is somewhat like eating chicken ribs—tasteless to eat but a pity to discard.

After all, the TF110 car isn’t that weak, and with regular pit strategies and normal driver performance, the chances of advancing are actually high, so there’s no need to gamble so extremely for a lap.

It can only be said that strategy group members are human, not gods, and they are also subject to emotions, leading to a phenomenon of being confused in the situation.

Just like in later F1 races, ordinary spectators can feel that some strategies of top teams like Ferrari and Mercedes have issues, yet the management, a group of elites and high-IQ engineers, still issue "foolish" orders.

The problem lies in thinking too much, resulting in being bound hand and foot.

Now, Odetto and Sawano Hiroyuki and others are under the pressure of the team needing to perform and letting Chen Xiangbei establish himself in F1, lacking the ease and freedom of previous lower-level formulas, leading them to use what seems like a correct and conservative plan.

In reality, things that seem correct are not necessarily so.

A dozen years later, Zhou Guanyu from the Sauber team in China often encountered the same situation as Chen Xiangbei does now.

Unable to run a lap that advances, wanting to run another but not having enough time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there are only three minutes left in the qualifying now."

"The camera has already captured the cars of several rookie drivers this year, it seems several teams have adopted the same strategy, trying to utilize the best track grip environment to run the fastest timed lap."

"However, the current traffic condition is very congested, if blocked there’s no chance for a second lap, who will advance to the Q2 phase and become the best rookie of the year?"

Commentator James described the track situation, and it was obvious several teams’ strategies "collided".

As a result, nearly ten drivers haven’t set a time in the final phase of qualifying.

"Bruno’s speed is very fast, worthy of carrying the torch of car god Senna. I think he will become the best rookie of the year!"

Emil gave a direct answer; he is a fan of Senna. Now seeing this surname appear in the F1 paddock again, he naturally has to give full support.

And he’s not entirely driven by sentiment; Bruno Senna’s speed in the S1 section is indeed very fast, and continuing like this, he will easily advance.

"I don’t think so, the North’s first few turns, in terms of line and speed, are in no way weaker than veteran F1 drivers, showing a qualitative improvement compared to practice."

"The final results of this qualifying cannot be known until the end."

James provided a different opinion, though the nephew of car god Senna does deserve support.

However, Chen Xiangbei’s performance is more outstanding!

With just the control of Chen Xiangbei in the first few turns, it seemed to James like he saw the shadow of his past Renault performances.

That remarkable adaptability and speed of progress!

On the track, Chen Xiangbei sped full throttle, with the scenery around turning into retreating phantoms in his eyes.

The precise heavy braking into T1, the silky line of corners T2 and T3.

The combination of corners T4 and T5 resisting the strong G-forces of the track, Chen Xiangbei even performed standard trailing braking, using the full width of the track to exit the corner at full throttle.

Each feat of extreme control was shown, with the speed visibly improved compared to practice.

Even more exaggeratedly, Chen Xiangbei unknowingly caught up to, and was nearly a second earlier than the start, the Red Bull second team’s driver Jamie Agur Sulaeri!

The name Jamie Agur Sulaeri feels unfamiliar to many, as if it never existed in the paddock.

In fact, in 2009, Jamie was the superstar of the paddock.

At 19 years and 125 days old, he participated in the Hungarian Grand Prix mid-season, breaking the record for the youngest F1 driver.

At the same time, Jamie’s entry brought two hundred million euros in sponsorships from Spain’s Repsol Oil Company and La Caixa, Spain’s largest savings bank, to the Red Bull second team.

Yes, you read that number correctly: two hundred million euros!

Such a colossal sponsorship allowed Red Bull’s second team to kick out their own driver mid-season to make room for Jamie.

Spain initially wanted to create another Alonso, or even an F1 superstar surpassing Alonso, to recoup the immense investment costs.

But as his presence is nearly untraceable in F1 history, the performance is quite clear.

Facts have proven that a newcomer created by money is unreliable.

Not every Spanish driver can become Alonso.

Not every driver who sets the youngest record in F1 can become Verstappen!

However, Jamie’s fate is more similar to that of future American driver Sargent, having himself achieved the youngest British F3 championship, theoretically indicating a not-so-low inherent racing talent.