Car Racing without Money-Chapter 462 - 183: F1 New Season Highlights (Part 3)

Chapter 462: Chapter 183: F1 New Season Highlights (Part 3)

The Red Bull Racing Team, having acquired Newey this year, is most certainly at its peak.

Chen Xiangbei achieving a purple sector in S2 timing means his overall lap speed is comparable to Vettel’s.

If this trend continues, as long as Chen Xiangbei maintains his speed, he not only can reach the goal of being in the top three of Hua Bu but also has a chance to challenge for first place!

Throughout the history of F1, rookie drivers achieving the top results in winter testing are extremely rare.

Those who have succeeded have all become racing superstars, at least as prominent as Ricardo at his peak.

The members of the HRT Team were all tense at this moment, their eyes fixed on the timer on the monitor screen, awaiting the final lap time result.

The car crossed the finish line, and the ticking timer numbers synchronized to stop.

minute 17 seconds 379, Chen Xiangbei was only less than 0.15 seconds slower than Vettel, ranking second on the driver winter test list!

"NICE, North brother NB!"

"Beautiful run, North has proven himself!"

"North is the strongest rookie this season!"

The team members immediately erupted, the P room echoed with enthusiastic cheers and applause.

"Xiangbei-kun, 1 minute 17 seconds 379, you ran the second fastest lap in winter testing!"

Sawano Hiroyuki impatiently informed Chen Xiangbei of the result through the team radio system.

Sitting inside the car, Chen Xiangbei heard the lap time and replied with less excitement than expected, "Only second, huh?"

Chen Xiangbei knows very well that winter testing is not equivalent to rookie testing; official drivers pursue race performance, and they don’t exert their full effort during testing, meaning the value of the second place is not as high as imagined.

Only a significantly leading first place has considerable reference value.

Moreover, Chen Xiangbei is very aware that he was in his best form and speed during this lap, with many cornering lines on the verge of losing control.

If it wasn’t for the enhanced downforce from the exhaust diffuser, the RA108 car he used before might have lost control and rushed off the track.

Yet this wasn’t enough to surpass the reserved Vettel?

Although Chen Xiangbei knows that Vettel is very strong at this stage and is at the peak of his rise, the Red Bull Racing car is also one of the strongest cars of the 10th season.

But he still couldn’t avoid feeling a sense of disappointment, realizing his solid skills still have a certain gap compared to champion drivers, let alone legends like Senna and Schumacher.

"North, don’t bluff, second is pretty fast."

Briatore’s voice came through the headphones; he had thought he was the most pretentious in the paddock, but unexpectedly, this Chinese kid Chen Xiangbei was even more so!

Does this guy think being second in winter testing lap time is an easily achievable result?

And to be honest, for Chen Xiangbei, this second is equivalent to being the first in the paddock.

After all, apart from the drivers, the car also makes a difference.

The opponent has Newey’s Red Bull Racing, while Chen Xiangbei really thinks the newly integrated and developed HRT, which hasn’t even managed to build a wind tunnel yet, can be compared?

"I..."

Chen Xiangbei originally wanted to explain, but swallowed his words.

Indeed, for a rookie, his words seemed a bit pretentious.

He could only change his tone: "Should I continue testing or pit?"

"Pit for tire change practice."

"Roger."

The noise from the HRT Team naturally affected the neighboring team’s P room.

Only then did they realize the lap time ranking changed again, with the Chinese rookie rising to second place.

In an instant, many engineers from various teams showed incredulous expressions on their faces.

The Chinese rookie improved by more than 1 second on the last day of winter testing?

If this wasn’t his full effort, how fast could he actually be?

No one could answer that question, and meanwhile, Chen Xiangbei’s speed rang an alarm bell for each team.

That is, the effects of the exhaust diffuser may exceed previous expectations, as even a small team like HRT benefiting from Toyota’s technology can reach speeds comparable to or exceeding the "three giants."

The 10th season in history was the one with the most changes in F1 leaderboard leaders.

A total of six drivers led in nine different events, keeping the suspense of the driver’s championship until the final showdown.

Now, with the emergence of Chen Xiangbei, the exhaust diffuser black technology will be fully spread out, making the competition more intense and brutal than ever.

Without a true "Mars Rover" appearing, it’s purely up to the driver’s raw strength to carve a path!

With the final pit stop tire change practice, the eight-day F1 new season winter testing was declared completely over.

When the FIA released the winter test results, especially exposing Chen Xiangbei’s fastest lap, along with Hua Bu’s big mouth adding to the frenzy, it immediately led to some European media competing to report.

"China Driver Rises, HRT Team Rookie North Ranks Second in Lap Times."

"F1 Paddock Disruptor, China Driver North to Become the Super Dark Horse of the New Season!"

"Briatore Announces High Profile, Driver North to Become Next Alonso or Even Schumacher, Leading HRT Team to Championship."

"The Legend of Jumping Levels Created by Driver North, Will He Become the Strongest Rookie?"

With all the media reporting and online public opinion spreading, Chen Xiangbei instantly became the hot figure of the new F1 season, almost drawing all external attention.

Following this, the FIA announced that it would make an exception to grant Chen Xiangbei a Super Driver’s License.

When a rookie delivers such stunning testing results, if a Super Driver’s License isn’t issued, the external doubts would focus not on Chen Xiangbei but on the credibility of the entire FIA.