Chapter 686: Chapter 274: Unrestrained Fury

"Xiangbei, don’t you want to say something?"

Briatore saw Chen Xiangbei hadn’t spoken for a while and asked unexpectedly.

He had thought Chen Xiangbei, upon hearing this news, would probably jump up with joy.

Actually, Chen Xiangbei wasn’t unhappy, he just felt it was somewhat fortuitous. No wonder there’s a popular saying on the internet in later generations—rather than painting grand dreams and futures with others, it’s better to present tangible benefits right now.

When you can save money and offer benefits in place, Briatore’s motivation is at max!

"Good, very good, excellent!"

Chen Xiangbei gave three affirmative words in a row, he really didn’t know how else to describe it.

"This is indeed a win-win collaboration."

Briatore nodded.

Then he added in a "concerned" tone: "The only small flaw is that the Huali Group is too ambitious. They plan to send hundreds of engineers to Gothenburg, Sweden while deploying a batch of technical personnel to our Lifield Technology Center."

"To be honest, I have some doubts about the capabilities of this batch of technical personnel."

Around 2010, apart from a few car manufacturers, China’s automobile sector relied on years of joint ventures and supply chain integration experiences to shed its late-start copying phase and began evolving towards innovation and development, thereby cultivating a large number of technical personnel. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Yet even so, sending hundreds of engineers still seems very exaggerated.

Historically, after Huali Group acquired Volvo, they sent over five hundred engineers and management personnel to the Gothenburg R&D Center over five years by means of "sending people to learn" and "joint projects."

Huali Group itself is like a "snake swallowing an elephant," and now they plan to send over a hundred engineers to the HRT Team on top of that.

Briatore is very skeptical if Huali Group indeed has such a wealth of high-end automotive industry talent?

If they’re filling the numbers with subpar talent, it wouldn’t help the research and development of next year’s new generation HRT Racing Car at all.

"There’s an ancient Chinese saying: Trust those you use, and don’t use those you distrust."

"Manager, do you have any other low-cost, high-value options?"

Facing Chen Xiangbei’s retort, Briatore revealed a smile with deep meaning.

"Actually it’s not that they can’t be used. If Huali can lower the price a bit, I think it would be perfect."

Upon hearing Briatore’s words, Chen Xiangbei showed a look of realization.

Price negotiation is not something Chen Xiangbei would engage in, even though he has the status of an HRT driver. As for technical and business collaboration, he prefers to play a bridging role rather than directly intervening himself.

The more he engages with cutting-edge technology, the more Chen Xiangbei understands the value of leaving professional matters to professionals.

"Manager, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head to training."

Physical training is an endeavor that requires perseverance. With his current physical condition, thanks to his youth, he could easily outperform the older drivers on the circuit, like the injured Schumacher, Maher, and the likes of Weber and Button.

But to compete with peak Alonso would be no contest at all.

In extreme track situations, physical fitness differences would be magnified instantly.

In high-level competitions, any slight advantage counts.

The closer you are to competing for the championship, the less you can afford to have any weaknesses!

"No, go ahead."

Briatore shrugged; he had managed many young drivers before, but none were as hard to gauge as the Chinese Kid, who seemed to always be in a state of vigilance.

However, Chen Xiangbei didn’t leave immediately, as he thought of something.

"By the way, Manager, could Director Bell assemble a small racing simulator for me? I’d like to train more on the Lingyan Circuit in Korea Station."

Among all the events in the 2010 season, the track that Chen Xiangbei was least familiar with was the Lingyan Circuit in South Korea.

The reason is very simple; this track only hosted the F1 Grand Prix in 2010, with the contract terminating in 2013, existing for a total of just four years.

A track with a lifespan of only four years wouldn’t make any professional driver deliberately practice on it, and many haven’t even heard of Lingyan Circuit nor know there ever was an F1 Korea Grand Prix.

The Donington Park Circuit, which Chen Xiangbei had raced on, had a similar history. After it was removed from the F1 calendar, F1 drivers barely practiced on simulators deliberately.

However, compared to Lingyan Circuit, Donington Park Circuit at least had its glorious days and produced the legendary lap by Senna known as the "Lap of the Gods."

Even if drivers don’t frequently practice on simulators for it, they would at least learn and imitate past races, having a basic understanding of the circuit layout and driving style.

As for Lingyan Circuit, in both his previous life and current life, Chen Xiangbei had almost zero understanding!

The only comforting fact is that as a new track, other drivers probably don’t know much either.

Since starting from zero, don’t lose at the starting line.

"Ordinary simulators don’t provide much training effect; multi-axis simulators are expensive to transport."

Briatore looked troubled; the base of a multi-axis simulator, along with several screens, would require at least half a cargo container’s capacity.

Sea freight would take too long; air freight isn’t cheap.

"Then it depends on whether transportation costs more or the value of the championship race is greater."

With Chen Xiangbei’s words, Briatore immediately responded: "Of course, it’s the value of the championship!"