Car Racing without Money

Chapter 777: Chapter 316: The Strongest Hexagonal Rookie (Part 2)

But at the moment of fighting for the line with Chen Xiangbei, he chickened out!

Vettel wasn’t so timid as to hit the brakes, but his moment of hesitation also meant he didn’t fully hit the gas to push through.

In a showdown between experts, victory or defeat often comes in an instant.

It was this moment of hesitation that slowed Vettel down one car length behind Chen Xiangbei, determining the final outcome of the race for first and second place.

After the race ended, though the team radio was filled with congratulations and comfort, Vettel knew very well that his performance disappointed Marco and others. This was not the behavior expected from a champion driver.

The feeling of disappointment is far more upsetting than failure.

Regarding Vettel’s mental state, Chen Xiangbei naturally was unaware and had no interest in knowing.

The F1 Paddock itself is a place where the victor becomes king, and the defeated are robbed of everything. To become a king, a price must be paid, which includes the life of a driver.

As strong as Senna, didn’t he also meet his end on the track?

Without the determination to lay down one’s life, one must accept the result of failure.

The road you choose, you must crawl to the end if necessary.

After a short break and adjustment, Chen Xiangbei and others walked toward the podium. To be honest, after the euphoria of winning at home, the threshold for excitement had significantly increased, and there wasn’t that kind of emotion that makes your hands tremble.

Of course, Chen Xiangbei was still very happy to win the championship.

Especially facing the taunts and provocations of tens of thousands of South Korean audiences, and then winning the championship right over their heads, forcing them to stand up and listen to the national anthem being played—that feeling of clenching the teeth in helplessness was equally incredibly satisfying for Chen Xiangbei.

I just love the way you can’t stand me but can’t defeat me either!

As the national anthem concluded, looking at Chen Xiangbei standing on the highest podium, the crowded audience erupted into another wave of enthusiastic cheers.

"The Chinese champion who dominated the South Korean track!"

"The strongest rookie, and possibly the strongest driver of the future!"

"In the past, the title of Car God Bei was a vision; in the future, Car God Bei will become a convention!"

"Chen Xiangbei, I have witnessed your times of criticism, and now I am here for your moment of glory."

"Champion, Driver Bei!" ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

In comparison to Chen Xiangbei’s calm emotions, many fans and spectators below the stage were moved to tears.

Throughout the South Korean F1 Grand Prix, most of the time, the voices supporting Chen Xiangbei were drowned out by the tens of thousands of jeers and taunts at the scene. The feeling of being unable to fight back was even more agonizing for his supporters.

Now witnessing Chen Xiangbei stand at the top, the feeling of elation was equally indescribably satisfying.

Moreover, it’s not just local spectators; the number of foreign fans shouting support for Chen Xiangbei was clearly more than several magnitudes more than before the race.

The largest fan base in the world is always the champion’s fans.

If only Schumacher or Verstappen didn’t have so many championships, their actions in the paddock would’ve been berated to no end, and there would not be as many fans and supporters worldwide.

No matter whether these people liked Chen Xiangbei, the moment he became champion, the human instinct to worship the strong was triggered, subconsciously switching allegiances.

Even the opponents, when facing a champion, naturally lose the confidence to speak, just like the dumbstruck South Korean spectators at the scene, left only with envy, jealousy, and resentment deep in their hearts.

"Vettel is such a waste, with such a strong performance from Red Bull Racing, yet he couldn’t block the Chinese guy on the last lap."

"If only Vettel had fought a little harder, we wouldn’t have to endure this frustration now."

"Without resorting to dirty and despicable crash orders, Chen Xiangbei wouldn’t have made it past Schumacher."

"Indeed, it was Schumacher being knocked out that created consecutive undercut windows!"

"If one day, a South Korean driver could also stand on the highest podium, how wonderful would that be..."

Among all the sour words, a certain home South Korean spectator, watching Chen Xiangbei’s celebration ceremony, silently mumbled the last sentence.

Instantly plunging the surroundings into dead silence once again.

Indeed, no matter how much one disparages, even if the FIA’s post-race investigation eventually canceled Chen Xiangbei’s championship, he still won the F1 China Station, becoming Asia’s first driver to do so.

South Korean drivers in F1 haven’t even become "people!"

The quality of performance is still an issue of competence, but if one doesn’t even qualify to join the table, then they will always be just a bystander.

Just like when, for a long time in the future, Chinese spectators hoped for a day when a Chinese F1 driver would emerge.

Until Zhou Guanyu’s arrival ended that longing.

"BOSS, you may have truly made a wrong choice."

In the Williams Team pit box, watching the broadcast of Chen Xiangbei stepping down from the podium, hugging and celebrating with team members, Team Principal Heide silently uttered this sentence.

Once, he asked Sir Williams if he regretted missing Chen Xiangbei.

Sir Williams’s answer was negative, as he believed he had a better choice at the time.

As time has gone by, maybe there isn’t any young driver who is a better choice than Chen Xiangbei.

With two consecutive race wins, reaching the top of the standings, and his terrifying mental resilience on the track, he displays immense potential to become a future superstar in the racing world.

If Sir Williams had chosen Chen Xiangbei back then, perhaps today would see the Williams Team become great again!

After all, in F1’s sixty-year history, the Williams Team has won nine constructors’ championships, second only to the superpower Ferrari, even surpassing McLaren, making it entirely worthy of the term ’great again’.

Faced with Team Principal Heide’s words, Sir Williams, who had been strong all his life, was silent this time.

The silence, in some sense, already provided an answer.

He regretted it.

For a declining Williams Team, signing a super rookie might be its last straw, but Sir Williams placed his bets on Hockenheim.

From a rookie’s perspective, Hockenheim performed well in these two races, entering Q3 and earning points.

However, compared to Chen Xiangbei’s results, the difference is night and day.

If time could go back, Sir Williams would not refuse Staler’s invitation.

Of course, saying these things now is pointless; the F1 Paddock has already welcomed the birth of a superstar!

As the awards ceremony concluded, the FIA soon released the result of Mercedes Team’s appeal.

There was no evidence to suggest Perez intentionally crashed; collisions on the track were completely normal, and Chen Xiangbei couldn’t be said to have illegally profited, so the results naturally stood.

For this arbitration result, HRT Team wasn’t surprised at all.

Because, damn it, they really hadn’t issued a crash order!

Even Briatore himself found it hard to comment. In the past, it was for helping accomplish Alonso’s third title and couldn’t be helped. Now he just wants to be a good person.

However, the discussions inside and outside the paddock did not subside with the end of the race. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

On the contrary, the next day, media reports from all over the globe pushed the discussion to another climax.

Perhaps in the F1 China Station, Chen Xiangbei had some home field advantage. The Korea Station, as a new track, coupled with top speed comparisons and comparisons with teammates, left no objective reason to deny Chen Xiangbei’s strength.

BBC, Yonhap News Agency, Sky Sports, Xinhua News Agency, CNN, NHK of Japan–as long as it was a traditional media with some influence globally–and Google, Facebook, Twitter, Weibo, YouTube, and other network media almost all featured Chen Xiangbei’s consecutive victories as headlines.

The title from Sky Sports was written by Hank, as always, fueling the fire.

"The birth of the strongest rookie, the disruptor of the old F1 order!"

CNN’s headline was "Two consecutive wins that made F1 history, can Driver Bei continue his miracle?"

Yonhap News Agency’s headline was rather sour, written with a very reluctant attitude: "Chinese driver controversially wins Korea Station championship; motorsport should not become a brutal collision sport.

As for Japan’s NHK, the headline was quite distinctive, praising itself on one hand, while fully acknowledging Chen Xiangbei’s strength on the other.

"The Heir of Toyota’s Will, the strongest hexagon rookie, the black ghost of the track from the Chinese Empire—Chen Xiangbei!"