Car Racing without Money-Chapter 455 - 181: Finding the Direction for Setup

Chapter 455: Chapter 181: Finding the Direction for Setup

"Briatore, the Chinese rookie is quite proficient in the mechanical principles of racing cars."

Bob Bell, who was originally looking for the cause of the engine failure, couldn’t help but mutter to Hua Bu after hearing Chen Xiangbei’s feedback on the tuning.

Being an F1 driver who can tune a car does not mean that a rookie in F1 can tune a car.

It’s important to know that most F1 drivers obtain their theoretical knowledge through years of constant learning during their careers. It’s rare for rookies to understand race car engineering and aerodynamics.

Those with such a foundation are often from a lineage of racers.

Chen Xiangbei clearly didn’t have a racing father, nor did he even have any record in lower-level formula racing.

Bob Bell didn’t actually have any expectations for Chen Xiangbei’s tuning feedback; he just wanted him to drive well.

Now, it seems that he had seriously underestimated the Chinese kid’s capabilities.

This guy not only knows how to drive but can also tune a car precisely!

"That’s normal. If you had arrived earlier at the Lifield Technology Center, you would have seen Xiangbei’s crazy learning scene."

"Chinese people are very good at studying."

Bell joined the HRT Team quite late, and as the head of the R&D department, he usually didn’t have much interaction with the drivers, appearing only during winter testing.

It’s like the aerodynamics master Newey, who is rarely seen on track during Red Bull Racing Team events.

Management and the R&D department inherently have distinctly different roles.

Briatore saw firsthand at the HRT headquarters how, during his physical training breaks, Chen Xiangbei seized every free moment to madly catch up on race car engineering and aerodynamics knowledge.

Just like the Chinese high school students in the news.

From that moment, Briatore was convinced that Chen Xiangbei’s car tuning won’t be subpar.

This is why he announced that Chen Xiangbei would directly interface with the engineering team to provide tuning feedback instead of using Sawano Hiroyuki, the race engineer, as a "middleman."

"With Xiangbei being so self-disciplined, it looks like you won’t have to worry about the training intensity of rookie drivers like Ron Dennis."

Getting a positive remark from Briatore isn’t easy. Bob Bell could feel his satisfaction with the Chinese rookie, so he made a joking comment.

There’s a rookie in the paddock, remarkably talented, named Lewis Hamilton.

He was good in every aspect, except he lacked a bit of discipline.

The military-style management by McLaren’s CEO set him various training goals, which led to his success as the runner-up in his debut season in 2007.

Judging by the current performance, Chen Xiangbei certainly makes things easier and more reassuring.

"Of course, I never misjudge people."

Briatore replied very arrogantly. He always considered himself the talent scout of the paddock.

On the other side of the garage, while calibrating the car, Ayong whispered in Chinese.

"North Bro, do you know why Trulli blew the engine?"

"I don’t know."

Chen Xiangbei shook his head. Things that even the design director didn’t figure out—how could a driver know so much?

"The manager said he pushed so hard because he wanted to compete for the number one driver position, which led to the failure."

[Competing for the number one driver position?]

Chen Xiangbei was quite surprised to hear this.

He had already told the team owner Kalanbant that the HRT Team doesn’t distinguish between first and second drivers, nor is there a wingman situation.

Both drivers equally uphold the spirit of sportsmanship and fair competition!

"Why did the manager do that?"

"He believes only mediocre teams accept fair competition between two drivers."

"Contending teams must clearly define the number one and number two drivers!"

As these words from Ayong fell, Liang Chi coughed lightly as a reminder: "Do your job and don’t murmur behind people’s backs."

To Ayong, Liang Chi is both mentor and father figure, so all he could do was shrug at Chen Xiangbei and remain silent.

[Contending Team]

Chen Xiangbei’s concern wasn’t about the first and second driver dispute but the term "contending team."

Honestly, he wasn’t afraid of any competition, just unwilling to use team orders and wingman agreements to forcibly assign driver ranks within the team.

If Trulli wanted to have this idea, then he would surely accept the challenge!

Previously, Chen Xiangbei’s hopes for the team’s future were more based on a historical point of view, with no second person accepting his perspective, let alone believing that the new HRT could become a contending team.

Who would have thought Briatore would provide a firm conclusion?

After all, only "madmen" can create legends.

The former Renault R&D personnel were professional; in just a short ten minutes, they dismantled the engine from the TF110 car and opened the cylinder head to inspect the exact reason for the failure.

After closely examining everything, Bob Bell exhaled a long breath.

"Briatore, the pistons and bearings, as well as other critical components, show no obvious deformation, so it doesn’t appear to be a fundamental design flaw."

Hearing Bob Bell’s response, Briatore’s face looked much better.

If there was a problem with the TF110 chassis design philosophy, the HRT R&D team could still potentially address it through mid-term upgrades.

However, if there were a fundamental design flaw in the engine, it would be completely hopeless.

The reason is that the cost of engine R&D and improvement is actually far higher than that of aero kits and chassis design.

Currently, in the F1 paddock, there are twelve teams, with not more than five capable of manufacturing their own engines. Even renowned teams like McLaren and Red Bull Racing Team must use engines provided by Mercedes and Renault.

"So, is there a way to solve it?"