Car Racing without Money-Chapter 423 - 171: Mind-Blowing Driving Skills (Part 3)
The Chinese audience on site was truly in high spirits, even the few middle-aged leaders accompanying Peng Sheng were infected by the atmosphere, and stood to cheer and applaud Chen Xiangbei.
They really didn’t expect that a rookie Chinese driver had already reached such a level.
Although UnionPay and Sinopec are state-owned enterprises, they still have to consider investment and advertising returns.
It’s fine for small sponsorships of a few million because, with F1’s world-class influence and nearly twenty races broadcast throughout the year, it can still serve some promotional purpose.
But once the sponsorship amount reaches tens of millions of US dollars, a few shots are far from satisfying the demand.
F1 also features a winner-takes-all scene, with almost 80 to 90 percent of each major broadcast’s shots focused on the leading group, while rear cars are practically invisible throughout the race.
To get some airtime, you have to at least get into the mid-field group.
Moreover, even if you can’t perform well in the race, you must at least make a splash in qualifying.
In final races, performance might depend seventy percent on the car and thirty percent on the driver.
In qualifying, the car-driver ratio can reach fifty-fifty.
Even the bottom teams can manage to make it into Q3.
Just like Russell in the Williams Team, Leclerc in the Sauber Team, and Verstappen in the Toro Rosso Team.
They’re recognized as super talents and promoted to the big teams.
It’s not about how many points they can get, in fact, Russell once scored zero for the whole year in the Williams Team.
But with such an underdog vehicle, Russell managed to zero out his teammate in qualifying throughout the year, frequently advancing to Q3 and getting plenty of screen time.
If Chen Xiangbei can maintain such performance in the ROC National Cup, then he shouldn’t perform worse in the F1 Grand Prix, reaching the "national team" sponsorship standard!
Compared to the excitement and joy of the Chinese audience, the British pit engineers couldn’t resist pressing the voice call button.
"Button, you need to speed up, the Chinese driver Bei is currently in the lead position."
The UK engineers did not expect before the race that they would need to remind Button to accelerate.
By normal course, Button should be dominating the entire race with an absolute lead to win.
Yet, the situation turned out to be that Chen Xiangbei was faster!
In the history of the ROC National Cup, there have been instances where F1 world champions have lost.
In fact, due to the different driving events and a certain "entertainment" mindset, champion drivers like Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton, Hakkinen have all lost.
However, their opponents were also drivers with dominating levels in other motorsport events.
Chen Xiangbei is considered the second-worst performer in ROC National Cup history, the worst being Han Han from the same team.
How did a rookie F1 driver like this come to defeat Button?
Upon suddenly hearing the engineer’s command, Button felt somewhat shocked inside.
He indeed wasn’t too serious, at least hadn’t given it his all like in an F1 race.
But that didn’t mean Button was holding back.
Besides not taking any extreme risks, Button delivered what an F1 Champion should.
Button really didn’t expect Chen Xiangbei to be faster than him!
Although the ROC National Cup doesn’t hold much significance in terms of winning or losing for an accomplished champion like Button,
it matters who he loses to.
Losing to champions like Schumacher, Hamilton, Raikkonen, or to legendary drivers like Loeb, Kristensen is no problem.
But losing to a newcomer like Chen Xiangbei would really be a bit embarrassing.
Upon knowing this result, Button didn’t have a significant emotional fluctuation, which was consistent with his usual stable style.
It’s worth noting that most of Button’s peers idolized Senna, while he admired Prost.
It’s just a pity this wasn’t the F1 Paddock.
In head-to-head track duels, Button’s ability to win relied not only on his terrifying stability but also on his relentless pressure on opponents.
Imagine thinking you’re driving fast, yet there’s a competitor right on your tail that you can’t shake off.
As tire wear increases, your speed slows down while the opponent gets faster, leading to a pressing sense of pressure and resulting in pressured mistakes.
Button couldn’t put pressure on Chen Xiangbei on the ROC track, and his lack of extreme single-lap speed became a fatal flaw.
If Button had pushed at full throttle from the start, maybe he could have barely edged out Chen Xiangbei with his overall stability and speed.
When in a trailing position, trying to catch an extremely daring driver like Chen Xiangbei left him with almost no chance of winning!
This is why Chen Xiangbei didn’t pursue a "Tian Ji horse race" strategy but chose to challenge Button directly with ten percent confidence.
The ROC track and format highly favored Chen Xiangbei’s style against Button.
Even if the opponent was an F1 World Champion!
As the two cars cleared the final corner, and the outer and inner loop tracks appeared parallel once more.
This time, Chen Xiangbei on the outer loop did not run parallel but was in front of Button on the inner loop!
The frenzied acceleration on the long straightway, the engine roar echoing in the hearts of every Chinese spectator, as the cars dashed past the finish line, and the screen above showed the lap times of both drivers, the venue remained silent.
