Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 119 Officially Signed with F1 Team (Two in One)

There was nothing wrong with the racing simulator, and there was nothing wrong with Ross Brawn's eyes.

The reason why Chen Xiangbei was able to achieve a lap time exceeding the F001 rookie level in his first simulated driving of the BGP1 racing car is that he was not completely new to the game.

This "zero foundation" not only refers to the Honda-specification racing simulator, or the familiarity with the home track in Donghai, but also the fact that he is familiar with the BGP001 racing car.

The reason is that the top racing simulators of later generations contain a lot of data on classic F1 models from past generations. For example, if you want to experience active suspension or the violent power of the V12 engine era, you can simulate it through parameter settings.

As the first racing car equipped with a double-layer diffuser, and also the embodiment of the technological achievements of four top R&D teams, there is no doubt that the Brown GP, ​​this championship-winning car, is on the list of classic F1 models.

Chen Xiangbei had simulated driving several times out of curiosity, but he didn't expect it to come in handy today and give Ross Brawn a shock.

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

Ross Brown asked with a stuttering tone, his face full of disbelief.

It is precisely because he is one of the founders of the Ferrari dynasty and has witnessed countless top F1 talented drivers that he can feel how amazing it is that Chen Xiangbei ran this lap time.

The reason is simple, the foundations of new drivers are different.

Take Vettel, the only one that Chen Xiangbei has not surpassed, for example. He also started karting practice at a young age, and went to Schumacher's hometown of Kerpen, the karting track known as the cradle of German world champions, for training.

The person who guided Vettel was Schumacher's former coach, the "car scout" who discovered his talent was Schumacher's mentor Gerhard Lok, and the one who awarded him the karting championship was the racing king Schumacher himself!
With this foundation of winning at the starting line, coupled with being recognized as having the same level of talent as Schumacher, no one is surprised by Vettel's results.

But Chen Xiangbei is different. In the eyes of the outside world, he has no hair at all!
Coming from a country with almost no Formula One racing, he had no exposure to karting training since childhood. It was not until he became an adult that he received an invitation from the Honda Racing Academy and drove a real single-seater Formula One car.

With this disastrous start from scratch, just driving it casually on the simulator, using the data of the BGP001 racing car at the Donghai International Circuit, the lap time was only 1.5 seconds slower than the record of the legendary racing king Schumacher.

It's simply a fairy tale!
You have to know that this is not a junior formula track record, it is the fastest lap time on the F1 track, and there is no possibility of breaking it easily.

"Yeah, how is that possible?"

Starler was no less surprised than Ross Brawn.

Although he was relatively more familiar with Chen Xiangbei, he still never thought that the Chinese kid could really set a lap time in an F1 car on the simulator.

And it's ridiculously fast!
In the decades of F1 history, the last driver with such talent was named Takuma Sato. Could it be that Chen Xiangbei is the next one?
Even Starler had a vague feeling that Chen Xiangbei was more talented than Sato Takuma, and was at the level of a true gifted monster!

Chen Xiangbei couldn't hear the conversation between Staler and the others through his headphones; his entire attention was focused on the driving simulator. As he drove around and around, the long-lost sense of familiarity made his driving more comfortable.

After all, Chen Xiangbei's almost instinctive muscle memory was developed by driving an F2 racing car. Compared with junior formula cars like Renault, its speed and driving experience are closer to F1.

In other words, Chen Xiangbei's F1 simulation driving is actually better than his driving a Renault racing car.

In addition, Schumacher's track record is not equivalent to the fastest lap at the Donghai International Circuit, but the pole position record is.

东海国际赛道真正的最快单圈，是由迈凯轮车手皮亚斯特里在2025年F1中国大奖赛上面，排位赛中跑出来的1分30秒641。

Compared with Schumacher's track record, it is almost 1.6 seconds faster.

Chen Xiangbei's current simulator driving is theoretically closer to the qualifying mode of a perfect track. He feels that his lap time should be even faster!
As Chen Xiangbei pushed full speed again, the surprise on Ross Brawn's face became more exaggerated. He actually saw the shadow of Schumacher in the Chinese boy's choice of cornering route.

Ross Brawn’s feeling was correct. Chen Xiangbei’s role model at the Donghai International Circuit was none other than the king of racing, Schumacher!
BGP001模拟赛车冲过终点线，这一次陈向北的圈速来到了1分33秒198，相比自己上一圈快了差不多0.5秒，慢舒马赫的赛道记录不到1秒。

Can it be improved so much?
Ross Brawn stared at the numbers on the screen with wide eyes, not knowing what to say.

Chen Xiangbei's performance has completely overturned his cognition. This is definitely not the driving skill that a Chinese junior Formula One driver can demonstrate!

As for Chen Xiangbei himself, a hint of regret appeared on his face.

It seems that the lap time has been improved by as much as 0.5 seconds. However, in F1 racing, the later the lap time is, the more difficult it is to improve. In many cases, each lap can only be faster by a thousandth of a second.

All I can say is that the king of cars is the king of cars after all. Without sufficient preparation and countless practices, it is impossible to challenge his record on a whim.

After all, Chen Xiangbei was only here for a visit today; a few laps on the simulator to demonstrate his abilities would be enough. Coupled with the dull pain in his left shoulder, Chen Xiangbei hesitated to push any further, needing to give his muscles adequate rest for tomorrow's race.

After removing his earmuffs and exiting the simulator cockpit, Chen Xiangbei looked back at Ross Brawn and Starrer and casually remarked, "The BGP001's performance parameters are quite good, but I'm not yet proficient enough to fully utilize its absolute speed."

After hearing what Chen Xiangbei said, Ross Brown and Starrer did not answer, but their expressions were extremely complicated.

If you are not skilled enough, you can only drive at this lap speed. How fast can you drive if you are skilled?

Also, does the control displayed by the Chinese boy really seem unskilled?
Seeing the expressions of the two people, Chen Xiangbei also felt a little uneasy.

Could it be that my performance was not good enough, or was it that the speed was far from the "perfect lap" simulated by the computer of the BGP001 racing car?

It would be fine if Ross Brawn didn't say anything, but why did Starler also remain silent?
"Bei, according to the file David (Zhang Zhicong's English name) gave me, did you really only train at the Honda Suzuka Racing Academy for a little over two months?"

Starler asked, after more than two months of driving a racing simulator, it was good enough for a new student to be able to run the Suzuka Circuit with a Renault racing car. How could he have the energy to drive an F1 car to the Tokai International Circuit?

"Well, I don't think there's any way to go there earlier."

Chen Xiangbei replied with a smile, Starler was the investor and founder of Huasai Sports. He left and gave up completely in mid-08 and returned to his hometown in the UK from Donghai.

I went to the Honda Racing Academy through the Huasai channel, and I can stay there for a few months at most, which is easy to calculate from the time.

This can be hidden from others, but not from the founder, Starler.

As expected, when Chen Xiangbei said this, Starler was even more speechless. He really was a talented driver who had been "crashed" in just over two months!

"Bei, I have to admit, the driving skills and speed you displayed have completely overturned my perception of Asian drivers."

"Go to the team's meeting room now and sign the official test driver contract."

When saying this, Ross Brawn's tone was full of emotion.

Just over half an hour ago, Starler was still asking how Bei could prove himself.

Who would have thought that after just half an hour, the answer would be obtained.

Chen Xiangbei's lap time of 1 minute 33 seconds 198 is undoubtedly the best proof!

In the conference room, Ross Brawn took out a document that had been prepared long ago. The content on it stipulated that Chen Xiangbei would become the test driver of Brawn GP, ​​and would have the right to use the racing simulator and practice driving the old racing car.

As for why the old car is used, it does not mean that the Brown GP team is stingy or treats people differently.

Instead, the FIA ​​has clear regulations that drivers are not allowed to use new racing cars in service for private testing, otherwise it would be impossible to maintain the balance between teams.

To use the simplest analogy, if the FIA ​​relaxes restrictions and allows teams to test new racing cars at will, then large teams with advanced technology and abundant funds will have unlimited capital for trial and error.

Once any racing car upgrade parts are developed, the drivers will be asked to run them on the track. If the effect is good, they will be installed. If not, they will be improved or redone. In this way, there will be no possibility of any "negative upgrade".

The result is that the big teams have money and technology, and they use private testing to upgrade their cars to faster and faster levels.

On the other hand, smaller teams don't have the funds or technology, and many can't even afford to build a private test track. Even if they know their R&D direction is wrong, it would be difficult to correct or redo it in a short period of time.

As multiple upgraded technologies accumulate, the gap between the two sides will become wider and wider, resulting in the race results being monopolized by the big teams without any suspense.

By the final stage of the race, the speed was exaggerated to the level of F1 and "F1.5" competition. It was normal for small teams to be four or five seconds slower per lap.

This is indeed the case in reality. Before the F1 team budget cap and prize money distribution system were established, bottom-ranked teams such as Minardi and HRT fell far behind in the entire year's competition and could not score a single point.

And under the premise that the drivers' strength is exactly the same, the theoretical performance difference of the car is that it can be two to three seconds slower than the fastest Red Bull team per lap!
This results in the situation where it appears that there are ten F1 teams competing on the track, but in reality the small teams at the bottom are not even qualified to be runners-up, and the viewing experience of the event is greatly reduced.

Many car fans in later generations, after following Zhou Guanyu, thought that the Sauber team was a tractor and jokingly called them "F2 racing cars."

All I can say is that compared to the truly slow cars in F1 history, Sauber's speed and performance are actually within the normal range of a smaller team. A close look at the operations of the other teams further down the rankings reveals that the abstract style of racing, with its whimsical twists and turns, is the norm.

Not to mention the teams at the back, even the mid-stream teams such as Renault and Aston Martin, and the upstream team Ferrari, cannot avoid clownish behavior in many cases.

The iron triangle combination of the Mars rover, top drivers, and a perfect strategy team is something you can only come across by chance.

Chen Xiangbei has no objection to this contract. As long as he can drive an F1 car, it doesn't make much difference to him at this stage whether it is an old car or a new car.

A Renault-level driver doesn't need to achieve amazing results in an F1 car, and it's highly likely that he won't be able to do so.

What is more required is the experience of driving an F1 car, and a driving mileage of no less than 300 kilometers to apply for a super driver's license!
"North, welcome to the Brown GP team."

Ross Brown stood up and extended his hand to Chen Xiangbei.

Even if he only watched Chen Xiangbei run a few laps on the racing simulator, Ross Brawn's intuition and years of experience told him that this Chinese kid was qualified to be a test driver.

As for how high the upper limit is, we have to see his actual test on the track!
"Bei, congratulations, you're the only one from the Huasai and Honda camps."

Starler's tone was filled with regret. After all these twists and turns, the Chinese kid became the final successor to Huasai Sports and Honda. "Thank you."

Faced with this welcome and congratulations, Chen Xiangbei was also filled with mixed emotions.

In fact, if the Honda Group had not withdrawn from F1, Chen Xiangbei could have been upgraded through the trainee mode and directly become the reserve youth driver of the two F1 teams, Honda and Super Aguri.

However, Chen Xiangbei insisted on adopting a cooperative model with Suzuki Aguri. In addition to wanting to train a team of Chinese technicians, he also considered the possibility of joining the F1 team in advance.

The cooperative mode allows you to add additional terms to ensure that you are not restricted and become a driver for both the Mewtwo and Brawn GP teams at the same time!
After all, the Honda Group has withdrawn from the F1 paddock and is tied to the Super Aguri boat, so the room for upward mobility is very small.

This dual-team driver model is not uncommon in the F1 paddock. Many young drivers can actually join or play for multiple teams in the same camp.

There is no need to mention Red Bull and Toro Rosso, they have mastered the "Great Shift" to perfection. Except for Verstappen's seat in Toro Rosso which is welded, the other three drivers can change seats at any time.

The Ferrari camp is relatively less familiar to everyone. In theory, the young drivers they train also serve as reserve drivers for the Ferrari, Haas and Sauber teams.

It's not just the drivers, the team leaders will also change within the same team. For example, the former Sauber team leader Vasseur was directly promoted to the current team leader of Ferrari.

What's even more outrageous is that under perfect conditions where all prerequisites are met, Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu can still go to his old club Sauber team to compete as a Ferrari reserve driver!
Of course, the conditions for achieving this are extremely harsh and almost impossible to achieve.

Chen Xiangbei had already prepared to jump out of the Honda camp and sign drivers from two teams at the critical moment.

I just didn’t expect that after going around in circles, I ended up at the Brown GP team in the Pan-Honda camp.

Maybe this is fate...

After the signing was completed, several people chatted for a while in the conference room. Starler was in high spirits and had planned to invite Chen Xiangbei to his home for dinner to celebrate his official becoming a member of the F1 team.

However, Chen Xiangbei declined as he had a Renault race to run tomorrow and needed plenty of rest.

Starler expressed his understanding of this, and could only agree to meet again next time with a slight regret.

Considering that it was getting late, the two said goodbye to Ross Brawn and came to the parking lot. Just when Starler was about to drive Chen Xiangbei back to the Mewtwo base, a Focus RS stopped directly in front of the old Jaguar. The driver's door opened and a very slim blonde girl came out.

"Bei, let me introduce you. This is my granddaughter Emily, a student in the Ford Rally Youth Training Program."

Before the blonde girl came up to him, Staler took the initiative to introduce himself.

"Emily, this is the Chinese driver Bei I mentioned."

Seeing Chen Xiangbei, the blonde girl looked him up and down with curiosity. Her grandfather had praised this Chinese driver in front of her or at home more than once. She was very curious about what made Chen Xiangbei so special.

"Hello, Emily."

Since she was Starler's granddaughter, Chen Xiangbei remained polite and courteous and took the initiative to greet her.

"Hi, North."

Emily reacted and waved to Chen Xiangbei with a smile.

After the two of them exchanged greetings, Emily turned to Starler and said, "Grandma called you several times but you didn't answer. She told me to go to the team headquarters and look for you. Sure enough, you're here."

"Grandpa, you are no longer young. This behavior is very worrying!"

Facing Emily's "blame," perhaps because Chen Xiangbei was there, Starler replied in a low voice, a little embarrassed: "I forgot my phone in the car. I'll be sure to pay attention next time."

"Then hurry home now, grandma is still waiting for you."

"I need to take Bei back to the hotel first."

Hearing this, Chen Xiangbei quickly shook his head and replied: "It's okay, I can just take a taxi back by myself."

Starler is over 70 years old and is indeed no longer young. Chen Xiangbei can understand his worries about not being able to get through to his family on the phone.

"It's not very convenient to take a taxi here, Bei, you're welcome."

Starler waved his hand. The headquarters of F1 teams are often located in industrial areas far away from cities, and it is difficult to get a taxi at night.

"I'll take Bei back to the hotel."

Seeing the old man and the young man refusing each other, Emily took the initiative to propose a solution.

It would take at least two or three hours to drive from here to Donington Park Circuit Hotel and then back to my residence in London, which would indeed make my wife wait too long.

Starler thought about it for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's best, Bei, let Emily take you back."

"Thank you."

Chen Xiangbei thanked him and didn't say anything more polite.

After saying goodbye to each other, Chen Xiangbei got into Emily's Focus RS and returned to the hotel near Donington Park.

Just as Starler opened the door of the old Jaguar and was about to get in, Ross Brawn walked out of the door.

Seeing that Starler had not left yet, he immediately shouted: "Starler, I have an idea!"

Hearing Ross Brawn's call, Starler naturally stopped what he was doing. He walked over and asked in confusion, "What's the idea?"

"I just checked the Renault Formula One schedule on my computer. After the British Grand Prix, there will be a two-week break before heading to the next race in France."

"The speed and control that Bei has demonstrated on the racing simulator are far beyond the level of a Formula Renault car. I think he can participate in F3 level events in advance and gain the results needed to obtain a super license."

After hearing Ross Brawn's words, Starler immediately understood his intention.

"Brown, do you want Bei to skip a grade?"

"That's right! If Bei wants to gain an advantage in the future competition for F1 seats, he must jump a level and show his strength."

Although the Brown GP team signed Chen Xiangbei as a test driver, and investor Starler also has a personal friendship with him.

But this does not mean that the Chinese boy will definitely become a formal driver of the Brown GP team in the future.

On the contrary, in the fiercely competitive F1 paddock, it is a common phenomenon that test drivers cannot get official seats.

Moreover, as the team manager, Ross Brawn is also responsible to the board of directors and all members of the team. Even if Starler is a major shareholder, he still cannot lead the team's collective decision-making.

Ross Brawn just checked Chen Xiangbei's information carefully again. The Chinese newcomer's age of 19 is very embarrassing in the Renault event where the average age is only 16.

The outside world will not check Chen Xiangbei's detailed information, nor will they care how many years of karting training he has undergone.

Take Japanese driver Takuma Sato. Even professionals acknowledged his incredible talent for starting karting at 1 and reaching Formula One within five years. However, in the eyes of the public, he was still considered a rookie with no potential, unable to generate enough commercial value to secure sponsorship.

This resulted in Takuma Sato being less competitive than a Swedish rookie during the winter test, even though he drove the Toro Rosso car and set the second fastest lap time!
If Chen Xiangbei continues to upgrade step by step, the best outcome would be to be the next Sato Takuma, stumbling around in a fringe F1 team for a few years, and then losing his seat and being kicked out.

If Odetto wants to gain attention and recognition from the outside world, he cannot fundamentally reverse the disadvantage by simply relying on some public opinion.

Chen Xiangbei needs to demonstrate more significant investment potential to convince sponsors that he can gain a foothold in the F1 paddock and then invest real money in him.

Skipping grades is the best choice to show your talent and potential!

"That's right. Bei is at a huge age disadvantage now competing in the Renault event. Even if he wins the pole position and the championship, his age of nineteen is considered normal in the eyes of many people. It won't cause a sensation."

"Brown, what's your idea?"

Starler asked back, since Ross Brown took the initiative to bring it up, he must have thought of a solution.

"Australia Grand Prix!"

Ross Brawn did come up with a solution, which was the Grand Prix held on the Guia Circuit on the Chinese island of Australia.

Formula racing is generally an annual event. Although the F3 level does not restrict joining or leaving midway, if you want to get results directly, you often have to wait until the end of the year to compete for the final ranking and points.

However, among F3 events, the Grand Prix is ​​very special, and the results can be directly released after just one race.

What’s more important is that the F3 event of the Australian Grand Prix is ​​officially called the “FIA Formula World Cup”.

It is the most valuable championship title in the entire Formula 1 single-race event, equivalent to the King of Monaco in F and the Le Mans champion in endurance racing.

F1 legendary drivers or world champions such as Senna, Schumacher, and Hakkinen have all participated in Grand Prix racing.

If Chen Xiangbei can win the Grand Prix title, his fame and commercial value will undergo a qualitative change!
(End of this chapter)