Car Racing without Money-Chapter 440 - 176: Brutal Internal Competition

"Indeed, Xiangbei’s adaptability is very strong."

Another voice came from behind Schumacher and Ross Brown, it was Field, the testing engineer of the Mercedes Team.

Just a few months ago, Field accompanied Chen Xiangbei at the Catalonia Circuit, completing over two thousand kilometers of rookie testing.

At that time, this Chinese newcomer immediately got to grips with the RA108 race car, just like today, without feeling even a hint of unfamiliarity, and started pushing right from the first lap.

Field had witnessed what is called a "self-taught" genius!

"How strong exactly?"

Schumacher asked with interest.

This Chinese kid Chen Xiangbei really piqued his curiosity.

"In the first lap of rookie testing, Xiangbei drove the RA108 and beat McLaren’s Silver Arrow."

Before the winter test, Schumacher was in a retired phase, naturally not concerned about rookie test results.

Even his understanding of Chen Xiangbei came after the ROC National Cup, through the channels of Ross Brown, learning about the extraordinariness of this Chinese rookie.

Field’s response was indeed somewhat beyond his expectations.

The RA108 is considered a bottom-of-the-pack car; could it really outperform McLaren’s championship car, Silver Arrow?

Even if the opponent was also a rookie tester, it still couldn’t bridge the gap in car performance, meaning Chen Xiangbei was at least 1 second faster than his contemporary "freshmen"!

Schumacher could sense that Chen Xiangbei was good, but he didn’t expect him to be this strong.

"Field, do you think Xiangbei could surpass Rosberg?"

Ross Brown asked, considering who in the team was most familiar with Chen Xiangbei’s driving skills.

Probably no one could surpass Field.

"Hard to say."

Field shook his head.

The Mercedes Team signed Rosberg, primarily due to valuing his German identity.

But that doesn’t mean Rosberg only has his identity to offer.

You have to know that this guy interrupted Hamilton’s consecutive wins, snatching a world championship title from him.

If it weren’t for Rosberg, Hamilton might be an eight-time champion.

Rosberg’s career resume is very similar to current Mercedes driver Russell, also starting in the Williams Team.

Compared to other drivers showcasing their genius driving skills during team tests, Rosberg took an unconventional path, setting the highest score in Williams Team’s history in engineering capability testing.

This test evaluates a driver’s understanding of F1 car mechanics and vehicle engineering knowledge.

Meaning Rosberg is a top-notch academic master naturally capable of tuning the car.

Facts have proven, this young German driver, who looks a lot like Leonardo, indeed possesses extraordinary talent, scoring in his career’s first race, and in the second qualifying round, he outperformed veteran teammate Mark Webber.

As the son of a world champion, Rosberg’s driving foundation is very solid, belonging to the type that is unpretentious and ultimately reliable.

He might not give you stunning surprises, but he is always worth the team’s trust.

Though this is just winter testing, drivers on the track don’t push to race limits. But precisely this long-distance stability is Rosberg’s strength, making it difficult for Chen Xiangbei to be faster than him.

"Field, when you can’t provide an answer, it means that in your heart, you’ve already placed Xiangbei on the same level as Rosberg."

"Winter test performance will verify whether you overestimated."

Schumacher responded with a smile.

Now already accomplished, for him, both Chen Xiangbei and Rosberg are just like kids "playing around," which he can view with a transcendent attitude.

Or to describe it another way, at this moment Schumacher hasn’t entered his "King of Cars" competitive state, as internal competition has not aroused his desire to win.

Three years of retirement have indeed been a bit too long.

Even Schumacher, who would go to any lengths for victory, now appears relaxed and unfazed.

Compared to the experience-based discussions of familiar faces within the Mercedes Team, the strategy group and engineering team of the HRT Team focused more on the various racing data displayed on the monitor screen.

It not only showed Chen Xiangbei’s cornering speed but also the RPM changes, shifting timing, throttle, and braking force.

They could use this data to assess how Chen Xiangbei, driving the TF110 prototype car, compared to the "perfect lap" generated by computer simulation.

In front of Briatore, there was also an on-board monitor view of Chen Xiangbei, which he could directly watch for any mistakes in line or whether the curbs were exploited to the limit.

Briatore had never watched any of Chen Xiangbei’s races before, or to put it more bluntly, he hadn’t paid any attention to this Chinese rookie at all.

Today marked his first formal observation of Chen Xiangbei’s driving skills!

On the track, Chen Xiangbei was still speeding, going full throttle through the T3 corner and then using the clockwise track’s inertia to go to the outside, ensuring corner exit acceleration.

The entire process was incredibly smooth, demonstrating his familiarity with the Catalonia Circuit.

In the meantime, the densely installed track monitoring equipment had already calculated the timing for Chen Xiangbei’s S1 sector.

23.798 seconds!

You have to know compared to lower-level formula races and Chen Xiangbei’s previous scaled-down testings.

A real F1 event and winter testing have the track and team’s equipment fully engaged, meaning more information can be obtained.