Car Racing without Money

Chapter 788 - 321: Gotta Raise the Intensity

"It seems like HRT has adjusted the suspension travel; Chen Xiangbei’s chassis is noticeably lower."Red Bull Racing Team’s legendary designer Newey was present at the spectator section of the Monaco Circuit this time.

In fact, not only Newey, but also Ferrari’s legendary designer Byrne, McLaren’s behind-the-scenes king Murray, and even former Renault and HRT Team designer Bell, were all on-site at the Monte Carlo Circuit to watch the race.

The reason is straightforward: this track emphasizes the pure mechanical qualities of the car, and watching on-site can reveal deficiencies and provide a lot of inspiration for improvements.

For the Red Bull Racing Team, their main competitor is the Ferrari Team’s Alonso.

However, whether in Horner’s heart or Marco’s, the hidden threat is driver Chen Xiangbei from the HRT Team.

After all, Alonso’s strength is well-known, but Chen Xiangbei is like a killer hiding in the darkness, and no one knows when he’ll launch a fatal strike, just like the decisive move against Vettel at the Lingyan Circuit.

A frontal attack is easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are hard to defend against.

Since then, the Red Bull Racing Team has paid special attention to Chen Xiangbei, not wanting to give this guy any chance at all!

"The rear wing angle has also been adjusted flat, which will reduce the aerodynamic downforce."

"Has driver Chen Xiangbei adjusted the setup according to his driving habits since he couldn’t adapt to the Monaco street race?"

Horner casually responded.

Many people don’t know, but Horner also came from a professional racing background, having won a Renault Formula scholarship in his youth, reaching as high as the F3000 series, equivalent to the F2 of later generations.

He can notice differences in the aerodynamic package’s appearance tweaks at a glance and even judge the reasons for Chen Xiangbei’s setup changes based on experience.

The new generation of drivers who favor understeer is indeed not well-suited for the setup style of the Monaco Circuit.

"Do you think Chen Xiangbei can adapt to the Monaco Circuit with this setup?"

Newey asked in return.

Each has their speciality; he’s a genius in car design, while driver insights fall far short compared to management like Horner.

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

Newey was somewhat surprised by Horner’s answer.

Though not a member of the team strategy group, his identity as a design director means he is equally proficient with car tuning and track principles.

A rookie in the season, someone who’s never raced in the Monaco Grand Prix, uses a completely opposite setup, and Horner can actually give an "able" evaluation—this was indeed a bit unexpected for Newey.

Unknowingly, the evaluation of Chen Xiangbei by the paddock seniors might be much higher than they themselves realized.

"I’ve reviewed Chen Xiangbei’s race records; during the Australia Grand Prix, he encountered adaptive issues with the upgrade package and was initially behind his teammate Trulli in practice."

"However, he had already adapted to the car changes by the qualifying race, and even reached the podium in the main race. His adaptation speed is extremely top-notch, truly deserving the title of a genius driver."

Now, Chen Xiangbei has become one of the main rivals for the championship of the Red Bull Racing Team. The team strategy group will undoubtedly conduct meticulous data analysis on him, let alone digging out competition records from when he entered the F1 paddock.

Even the race data from Chen Xiangbei’s time with Renault has not been missed by the Red Bull Racing Team.

A team aspiring to be a top force in the paddock must analyze the opponent’s cars and drivers to some extent; in this, the Red Bull Racing Team is certainly not inferior to anyone.

The precedent is there; who can guarantee that Chen Xiangbei can’t adapt to the Monaco Circuit?

"If I remember correctly, the issue with the HRT Team’s upgrade package was with oversteering, but the track characteristics now require understeer."

Newey replied, noting that the characteristics of the two tracks are entirely different, and there’s no direct copying in the F1 paddock.

"You’re correct, but you forgot one detail—that was during the rain at the Australia Station."

"Even in a wet race with oversteer comparable to skating, Chen Xiangbei could adapt. Isn’t that impressive?"

Faced with Horner’s response, Newey found himself momentarily speechless.

However, in his heart, he still didn’t believe that Chen Xiangbei could conquer the track features of the Monaco Circuit with his own control!

The same situation might appear a decade later, where Newey would witness a live example, and the driver would be sporting the Red Bull livery, named Verstappen.

He conquered this crown jewel circuit driving a car with a slippery rear end!

In fact, during the conversation between the two, Chen Xiangbei’s new lap time in the practice session came out.

minute 16.533 seconds!

This time has already surpassed his teammate Perez, but compared to the Monaco pole position record and other drivers in the paddock, there is still quite a significant gap.

But this is merely the beginning, and with Chen Xiangbei finding his familiar driving style, lap times are steadily improving, climbing the practice session drivers’ leaderboard, drawing more eyes in the paddock towards him.

"Wow, did driver Chen Xiangbei get such an exaggerated result just from a pit stop setup adjustment, jumping directly from the back to fourth!"

"Today’s Monaco practice lap times are interesting; the top three are Vettel, Hamilton, and Rosberg. They all defeated their veteran teammates, perhaps indicating the arrival of a new era in F1."

"I can understand Vettel being fast, but why is Rosberg so quick?"

A spectator felt somewhat puzzled, as the Mercedes car wasn’t particularly competitive, and his teammate was none other than the King of Cars, Schumacher. Rosberg being in the top three was surprising.

"Don’t forget, Rosberg holds dual nationality with Monaco; this is his home circuit!"