Car Racing without Money-Chapter 434 - 174: F1 Winter Training Team Assembly (Part 4)

Chapter 434: Chapter 174: F1 Winter Training Team Assembly (Part 4)

Inheriting such a significant legacy from the Toyota Team, naturally we have to take on the drivers.

"Uh, I’m not quite sure."

Lu Xiaoman replied sheepishly; she indeed wasn’t familiar with the history or the rivalries within the F1 Paddock.

Hua Bu wasn’t bothered by this and instead turned to Chen Xiangbei, saying, "Trulli is reckless and imposing; he won’t settle for being a number two driver, so you’ll face intense internal competition." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"It’s normal, no one wants to be a number two driver."

Chen Xiangbei’s attitude was indifferent; he never thought of relying on the team’s Chinese equity to secure himself as the number one driver, as he had expressed early on when signing the driver contract with Kalanbant.

The status of the number one driver is earned by yourself, not given up by others.

"OK, there’s not much else to say then, let’s go rest for a bit."

"Your dark circles look like the giant pandas from China."

The image of the national treasure is quite well-known abroad, and Briatore knows this joke too.

Chen Xiangbei indeed was in a state of exhaustion from lack of rest; in matters of race car adjustment and development, he could only be an observer here.

So, he nodded slightly, greeted the team members, and returned to his room to rest.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning.

As usual, after breakfast, Chen Xiangbei headed to the gym for fitness training.

Right now, Chen Xiangbei’s fitness routine, besides the previously emphasized shoulder and neck muscle training, also included various aerobic and anaerobic endurance tests.

For instance, just like in a movie scene, Chen Xiangbei wore a breathing mask with various ECG leads attached to his upper body, while professional medical personnel from the team stood by to monitor and test where his physical limits lay.

After all, whether it was Renault or F3 races, the whole match duration was about half an hour to forty minutes.

Whereas F1 races often last about an hour and a half, especially on high-temperature tracks wearing thick fireproof race suits, which demands extremely high stamina and endurance from the drivers.

Those fitness routines that were never a weakness before could potentially become the next weakness as the intensity of the races increases.

In the following days, Chen Xiangbei spent his time on physical testing and simulator training, while the team began packing up components, including two TF110 prototype cars, to be shipped to Spain’s Catalonia Circuit in containers.

F1 team operations costs are mainly due to development and manpower, but transportation often occupies a significant portion of the budget too.

For a newly started small team like HRT, the equipment transportation for the winter test alone weighs over two hundred tons.

This is still considered small; the logistics cost for prestigious Ferrari can reach up to five hundred tons per race!

If it’s a European circuit event, relying on land container transport is relatively cost-effective.

If it’s transoceanic events like the Chinese Grand Prix or the United States Grand Prix, often air freight is necessary.

Hundreds of tons’ air freight cost will be an astonishing number.

Ferrari Team once calculated, the global logistics expenses could purchase several private planes.

On the morning of departure, Briatore specifically found Chen Xiangbei and said to him with a playful face, "Xiangbei, I have two pieces of news to tell you."

"One good news and one bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"

"Whatever."

After interacting during this time, Chen Xiangbei was quite speechless about this old rogue’s two-faced manner.

Sometimes carefree, sometimes extremely serious.

"Then let’s hear the good news first, Kalanbant called, the Chinese advertising funds are in place, you’ll receive a $180,000 US Dollar share."

"Wasn’t it supposed to be $200,000?"

Chen Xiangbei questioned back, he had no special terms in the contract with HRT Team. As long as the advertising revenue on the race suit, HRT Team would share fifty percent.

The $400,000 cap on the hat and chest ad income, he should theoretically get $200,000 US Dollar.

"Did you forget our contract? As a manager, I’ll take a ten percent cut."

"I only agreed to you taking performance bonuses."

Chen Xiangbei retorted, with no significant results yet, and Hua Bu is already taking a cut?

"Integrating HRT Team doesn’t count as a performance?"

"Xiangbei, you should know that I take a twenty percent cut from Alonso’s agent contract."

In the F1 Paddock, Briatore is not only a team manager but also serves as an agent.

Alonso, Weber, these famous drivers, have signed agent contracts with him, and the commission is uniformly twenty percent.

It’s said that future rookie driver Colapinto returning to the paddock also gave Hua Bu a hefty commission.

[Whoaaaa]

Chen Xiangbei cursed inwardly, he knew Hua Bu was greedy, but didn’t expect this guy to take advantage wherever he can.

Integrating HRT Team can also count as performance?

However, on second thought, it seemed to make some sense.

Without Briatore’s reputation and means, HRT Team could only be considered powerful on paper while being a scattered mess among different factions.

"The bad news you’re going to say, wouldn’t be the commission cut, right?"

"Of course not, how could that be considered bad news?"

Hua Bu shook his head, from his perspective, he thought the commission cut was fortunate for Chen Xiangbei.

There has to be enough interest to have enough motivation.

HRT Team showing good team cooperation means it can help Chen Xiangbei improve his results.