Car Racing without Money

Chapter 802 - 327: The Heavy Pressure of Competing for the Championship

"FUCK, can the Chinese guy really be this fast?""He’s already surpassed Rosberg’s lap time in the second timing sector. Could this lap be under 1 minute 12 seconds?"

"Damn it, this is just the first qualifying round. Will Schumacher’s track record be easily broken?"

"I thought Rosberg would be the first to break through. Didn’t expect Xiangbei’s limit to be this high."

The speed on the track directly ignited the passion in the stands, many people looked at Chen Xiangbei’s lap time in disbelief.

They initially thought Chen Xiangbei would "run out of steam," but he defied the odds!

"The rear swinging and cornering corrections significantly reduced, what did Driver Bei experience last night?"

Watching the HRT Racing Car’s trajectory around the bends, Red Bull Racing Team leader Horner was extremely shocked.

Despite Rosberg leading by a cliff in the three practice sessions, Chen Xiangbei managed to stay in second place. In fact, this was Red Bull Racing Team hiding something; they upgraded new parts for this station, and even included traits for next year’s new car.

It’s not uncommon for F1 to use next year’s upgrade kits. Some teams with ample funds and rapid development might advance the assembly of front and rear wings and other aero kits on older cars for technical validation.

In some exceptional cases, they might even bring out a prematurely developed B version car to use.

Of course, if a team lacks money, it’s not unusual to patch up an old car for two years.

Red Bull Racing Team happens to be one of those wealthy and capable ones, with the help of design genius Newey, the racing car’s upgrade kit development speed far exceeded expectations, directly applying them on the old car at Monaco Station.

Ideally, according to computer simulations, breaking Schumacher’s track record is not a problem.

To prevent alerting opponents and preemptively researching new upgrade kits, Red Bull Racing Team has been waiting to reveal their cards at the qualifying round.

After all, for the Monaco Circuit, qualifying is almost equivalent to the actual race!

However, what Red Bull’s strategy team didn’t expect was that Chen Xiangbei could also accomplish a transformation overnight.

Is HRT Team hiding something, or is it Chen Xiangbei himself?

No one knows what happened last night.

But track results in the qualifying cannot be faked.

The number 1 minute 12.991 seconds emerged, once again causing a sensation among the spectators.

The second driver to break the 1 minute 12-second barrier appeared, and it was still in the first qualifying round. Theoretically, without any track accidents or weather changes, he could achieve faster times in the second and third rounds.

This is why Rosberg’s practice run breaking into 1 minute 12 seconds caused an uproar, as it meant breaking the track record was a certainty.

"Bei’s first flying lap result is out, demonstrating this year’s strongest rookie’s foundation and strength, successfully breaking into the 1 minute 12-second realm, almost 0.1 seconds slower compared to Rosberg’s fastest lap!"

"I have a feeling this year’s pole position competition will be very intense, and the track record might be broken by more than one driver!"

Henry’s voice was full of excitement, not particularly pleased with Chen Xiangbei’s speed, but sensing the anticipation of an exciting qualifying battle.

For the Monaco Grand Prix, the qualifying round is often more thrilling than the actual race.

Overtaking in the race is extremely difficult, and to suppress the opponents, many drivers deliberately slow their pace as if they were stuck behind a tractor on the road.

But in qualifying, what drivers do is practically gamble with God.

Constantly teetering on the brink of losing control, challenging the margins with speeds reaching hundreds of kilometers per hour, exaggeratedly leaving white or black streaks grazed by the carbon fiber front wings against the barriers!

This track lacks sweeping attacks and defenses, instead, it features precise and deadly strikes!

As Henry anticipated, when a driver posts a lap time of 1 minute 12.991 seconds, even with plans to hold back, they often feel compelled by a mysterious pressure to speed up.

"1 minute 12.833 seconds, Red Bull Racing Team’s Weber takes the lead, as the current second-place driver in the total points standing, undoubtedly the Australian wants to realize his championship dream!"

"1 minute 12.786 seconds! Schumacher’s five-year track record has been broken by Ferrari Team’s Alonso, the title of the strongest driver in the paddock isn’t empty talk. When Alonso wants to sprint, the track trembles!"

"1 minute 12.735 seconds, Red Bull Racing Team’s Sebastian Vettel, demonstrated with speed what it means to be a super rookie creating countless F1 records, having narrowly lost to Jenson Button at last year’s season finale, this year he’s launching an assault on the world championship title again, proving to the world that he is indeed the King of Cars’ true successor!"

Local commentators Henry and Red, with passionate voices, almost continuously broadcasted the situation on the track.

Neither of them expected that the first qualifying round would sink into madness under Chen Xiangbei’s catalysis, breaking Schumacher’s track record at incredible speeds.

And not just one person, both Alonso and Vettel consecutively refreshed new pole position records!

"Odetto, what’s the fastest lap right now?"

Finishing his cooling lap, Chen Xiangbei, listening to the engine’s unending roar, asked the team a question.

"1 minute 12.735 seconds, Vettel just clocked it."

[This fast?]

Upon hearing this figure, a faint expression of surprise appeared on Chen Xiangbei’s face.