Car Racing without Money

Chapter 736 - 297: The Goddess of Luck Did Not Favor Me (2)

The HRT Team members were instantly overjoyed on the spot. According to the team’s prediction, with Chen Xiangbei starting on intermediate tyres, he’d at least drop one or two places off the line.But Chen Xiangbei’s performance was way better than expected!

However, the good times didn’t last long. Starting from pole, Chen Xiangbei had the clean side of the track and the best racing line.

But the phase where tyre grip differs the most is in the corners.

And at this moment, "red‑eyed" Hamilton unleashed his not‑yet‑famous "golden left‑front" attack, brutally upping the pace on the inside, pulling alongside, and going through the corner wheel‑to‑wheel with Chen Xiangbei.

Hamilton wanted to force his way past Chen Xiangbei in Turn 1!

With the McLaren nose already visible in the corner of his eye, Chen Xiangbei’s expression was extremely grim.

He knew Hamilton wasn’t some pushover, and there was no way he’d just swallow the loss from the formation lap and give up. What he didn’t expect was such a fast, clean attack—no hesitation at all as Hamilton stuck his car right up to his sidepod.

A world champion is still a world champion; the man who truly inherits Schumacher’s seven‑title mantle is not to be underestimated, even in his raw, youthful phase.

In this situation, Chen Xiangbei had no intention of tangling with Hamilton’s "golden left‑front."

Maybe compared to Hamilton he was the barefoot one, but compared to most of the other drivers, he’d already joined the "wearing shoes" club.

A crash from pole is a lose‑lose outcome.

Since he couldn’t crash, he could only fight for better exit speed and push Hamilton back behind him again.

With no time to think or hesitate, Chen Xiangbei stamped on the throttle to pick up speed, trying to pull a gap and shake off Hamilton.

After qualifying, Schumacher had told Jean Todt that Chen Xiangbei’s driving style was extremely aggressive, often dancing on the edge of losing control and relying on luck to bring it back.

But Lady Luck doesn’t favour one person forever.

That stab of throttle unleashed engine torque that finally exceeded the tyre’s grip limit. The rear tyres of Chen Xiangbei’s No.13 car spun up instantly, and the car’s traction balance broke down.

Put simply—Chen Xiangbei lost control and started to slide!

"Pendulum! Driver Bei’s car has gone into a pendulum at the rear! He added throttle mid‑corner to suppress Hamilton, that move was way too rash. Is Driver Bei’s journey at Lingyan Circuit really going to end with such a dramatic scene?"

Red couldn’t help but cry out. Through the broadcast feed, he clearly saw Chen Xiangbei’s car surge forward, then in the very next second the tyres spun up, the rear swung, and the pendulum started.

For an F1 Racing Car, this is an extremely dangerous situation; it’s very hard for the driver to save it.

Let alone that this was at T1 on the start, with over twenty cars packed right behind. If Chen Xiangbei completely lost it, not only would his own HRT Racing Car be smashed to bits, it could trigger a massive chain‑reaction crash!

"It’s over..."

The spectators in the grandstands didn’t have many technical insights; all they knew was that losing control in T1 in an F1 car basically meant your fate was sealed.

As the saying goes, "Extreme joy begets sorrow." The China fans never thought it would come true on themselves!

Facing this extremely dangerous situation, Chen Xiangbei still kept his cool in his mind. He knew that even if he lost control, he must not stay on the racing line; that would definitely cause collisions with other cars and leave no room to save it.

The only chance of survival was that at T1 of South Korea’s Lingyan Circuit, considering the risk of lunges at the start, they had left a runoff area instead of using concrete walls like further down the track. That meant Chen Xiangbei still had a chance to defy fate.

So Chen Xiangbei countered the "pendulum" with lightning‑fast opposite lock, and at the same time gave up any attempt to stay on track through the corner, letting the car shoot straight into the outside runoff, using the gravel to increase friction.

The spinning tyres kicked up a cloud of dust and stones. The drivers behind Chen Xiangbei all got caught, their visors and bodywork hammered with a "crack‑crack‑crack," and in that limited visibility and instinctive avoidance, several cars tangled in a chain collision.

"Fuck!"

"What the hell is Driver Bei doing?"

"Another round of dangerous driving. That China guy should be banned!"

"Idiot, I’m going to lodge a complaint against Driver Bei!"

For a while, the team radio channels were filled with curses and furious drivers.

In fact, when F1 Drivers run into incidents, it’s very easy to trigger "road rage." Swearing over the radio is common; as long as it’s not racist or extremely offensive, the FIA will even release the audio publicly.

There’s no doubt that Chen Xiangbei’s gravel‑spraying chain crash had completely broken the mental defenses of the affected backmarkers.

This wasn’t the first time Chen Xiangbei had caused a similar incident; he’d long since earned the title of "public enemy of the track." Coupled with the various crashes the HRT Team caused in the last race, it cemented the "villain" image of the China driver.

You could say, "Near vermilion one gets red, near ink one gets black." At this rate, after this round, Chen Xiangbei would be completely branded as a paddock "big bad guy" like Briatore.

But compared to the chain crash behind, the slicks were now finally showing their terrifying grip. Chen Xiangbei felt the car coming back under control.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he released the brake with his left foot and floored the throttle with his right. The No.13 car powered out of the gravel runoff and rejoined the track, continuing on under the stunned gaze of everyone watching.

No one in the crowd expected that the one who triggered the incident—Chen Xiangbei—wouldn’t be the most affected. He could still race!

"Holy shit, Chen Xiangbei actually saved that and got back on track?"

"He didn’t spin on the racing line; the moment he went into the gravel he was already setting up the save, right?"

"Driver Bei is ice‑cold. Saving a pendulum is something only a tiny minority can pull off; he nailed every decision."

"So it wasn’t just Lady Luck watching over him before. It’s mostly Chen Xiangbei’s own skill rewriting fate!"

Chen Xiangbei’s extreme car‑saving manoeuvre drew a wave of gasps from the stands.

Most of the live crowd mocking and belittling Chen Xiangbei might still be the majority, but those who truly hated him were the minority. The real fans knew just how high‑value that save was—one wrong step and there’s no coming back to the track.

In the F1 Paddock, strength will always earn a driver respect.

Just like in later years when many Chinese fans hate Japan, but at certain moments will still praise Kakida Yuuki’s performances.

Right now, Chen Xiangbei was in that position. Even some South Korea spectators gave him exclamations of awe and applause.

Compared to the crowd, the team members on the pit wall were mostly letting out a long breath. That scare from Chen Xiangbei had everyone’s hearts in their throats. Even the usually laid‑back Briatore had stayed silent, eyes locked on the screens.

If Chen Xiangbei had crashed or spun like a top and stalled, they could’ve basically declared the Korea Station over right then.

Everyone in the team knew what Chen Xiangbei had gone through this weekend. He desperately wanted to dominate Lingyan Circuit and hit back. What’s more, given his points situation, there was still a chance for him to climb to the top of the standings.

A major accident would’ve been a massive psychological blow to a rookie driver.

Luckily that hopeless scene didn’t play out. In the end, Chen Xiangbei still wrestled the car back and was charging around the circuit.

It’s just that from pole position, he’d now dropped straight down to eighth, and triggered double yellows on track.

For that, they had to "thank" Lingyan Circuit for not having a long main straight for the start. Speeds into T1 after the launch were all under 200 km/h, instead of the terrifying 300 km/h of some tracks.

The lower speeds gave Chen Xiangbei enough margin to save the car, and also meant the chain‑reaction crash was relatively mild. Most damage was to start‑procedure components; the cars could still drive or at least crawl. Otherwise, we’d already be seeing a red flag stopping the race.

Now up in sixth after overtaking, Schumacher glanced in his mirrors at the HRT No.13 reappearing behind him, his eyes full of meaning.

Only drivers who survive the lows can stand on the true summit. If, in these circumstances, Chen Xiangbei can still fight his way back to the lead from pole, then this China rookie will have truly passed the test.

[Bei, let me see where your limit really is!]