Car Racing without Money-Chapter 223 - 118: Officially Signing with the F1 Team (Double Release)

The racing simulator didn’t malfunction, and Ross Brown’s eyes certainly didn’t deceive him.

The reason why Chen Xiangbei managed to achieve a lap time beyond rookie F1 levels during his first simulated drive of the BGP001 car was that he wasn’t starting from scratch.

This "not from scratch" not only refers to familiarity with the Honda-spec racing simulator or the home track, East Sea, but also to the BGP001 car with which he was not unfamiliar.

The reason being, top racing simulators of later generations contain data on many classic F1 models from various eras. For instance, if you want to experience active suspension or the brute power of the V12 engine era, it can be simulated through parameter settings.

As the first car equipped with a double diffuser and the technological culmination of four top research teams, there’s no doubt that the Brawn GP championship car is a hallmark among classic F1 models.

With curiosity, Chen Xiangbei had tried simulating driving it a few times before, never expecting that experience to come in handy today, giving Ross Brown quite the shock.

"Staler, this... how is this possible?"

Ross Brown, his tone a bit stammered, asked, his expression written with disbelief.

Precisely because he was one of the founders of the Ferrari Dynasty and had witnessed countless top F1 talent, it made Chen Xiangbei’s lap time all the more astonishing.

The reason is simple: there’s a different foundation even among rookie drivers.

Take Vettel, whom Chen Xiangbei had not surpassed, as an example. Vettel also started karting at a young age, training at the kart track in Schumacher’s hometown Koppen, known as the cradle of world champions in Germany.

Guided by Schumacher’s former coach, with his talent discovered by Schumacher’s talent scout Gerard Locke, and awarded trophies personally by the King of Cars, Schumacher himself!

This kind of advantageous start line, coupled with the acknowledgment of possessing talents akin to Schumacher, makes Vettel’s achievements unsurprising to others.

But Chen Xiangbei was different; to the outside world, he had nothing!

From a country with almost no formula racing events, without karting training from a young age, he only received an invitation from the Honda Racing Academy as an adult to drive a real single-seater formula car.

With this "from zero" tumultuous beginning, he took a random spin on the simulator, and on the East Sea International Circuit, using the BGP001 car’s data, his lap time was just 1.5 seconds slower than the legendary King of Cars, Schumacher’s record.

It’s practically a myth!

This is no entry-level formula track record; it’s an actual F1 track’s fastest lap time, which cannot be easily broken.

"Indeed, how is this possible?"

Staler’s level of astonishment was no less than Ross Brown’s.

Though comparatively more familiar with Chen Xiangbei, he never thought a Chinese kid could actually drive an F1 car on a simulator to achieve such a lap time.

And at such a ridiculous speed!

In F1’s decades-long history, the last driver with such talent was named Sato Takuma. Could Chen Xiangbei be the next one?

Staler had a faint feeling that Chen Xiangbei’s talent might even surpass Sato Takuma’s, reaching the level of a true prodigy!

Wearing headphones and oblivious to the conversation between Staler and the others, Chen Xiangbei’s full attention was on the simulated driving. With each progressing lap, the long-lost sense of familiarity made him drive more intuitively.

After all, the almost instinctive muscle memory Chen Xiangbei had developed came from driving an F2 car, which, compared to Renault’s entry-level formula cars, offered a speed and driving experience closer to F1.

In other words, Chen Xiangbei’s simulated F1 driving was actually superior to his experience with Renault cars.

Moreover, Schumacher’s track record wasn’t the fastest lap at East Sea International Circuit; it’s the pole position record.

The actual fastest lap at East Sea International Circuit was 1 minute 30.641 seconds, set by McLaren driver Piastri during the 2025 F1 Chinese Grand Prix qualification.

Compared to Schumacher’s track record, it’s about 1.6 seconds faster.

Currently, Chen Xiangbei’s simulator driving theoretically mirrors a perfect venue’s qualifying mode, and he thinks his lap time can still improve!

With Chen Xiangbei pushing at full speed once more, the astonishment on Ross Brown’s face grew even more exaggerated. From the cornering line choices of the Chinese kid, he could see traces of Schumacher.

Ross Brown’s intuition wasn’t wrong. Chen Xiangbei’s study model at East Sea International Circuit was the King of Cars, Schumacher!

The BGP001 simulator car raced across the finish line, and this time Chen Xiangbei’s lap time was 1 minute 33.198 seconds, about 0.5 seconds faster than his previous lap and less than a second slower than Schumacher’s track record.

Could it improve this much further?

Ross Brown stared wide-eyed at the numbers on the screen, at a loss for words.

Chen Xiangbei’s performance had completely overturned his understanding; this was definitely not a level of skill a Chinese entry-level formula driver could exhibit!

As for Chen Xiangbei himself, his face showed a slight hint of regret.

It seemed the single lap improved by as much as 0.5 seconds; in reality, with an F1 car, the difficulty of improving lap times increases as you progress, and often each lap might only get milliseconds faster.

You could say the King of Cars is indeed the King; without extensive preparation and countless practice sessions, whimsically challenging his record is an impossibility.