Chapter 702: Chapter 281: Simply Provoking Everyone

Back in the 2010s, domestic economy was relatively underdeveloped, while South Korea was at the peak of its economic boom, with the Korean Wave sweeping through East Asia, giving them a strong sense of superiority.

Now, hosting the inaugural F1 Grand Prix at home, they were openly humiliated by a Chinese driver, which was unacceptable to their fragile self-esteem, making it essential to regain face at the Lingyan Circuit.

If at the East Sea International Circuit, Chen Xiangbei saw a sea of red flags, then at the Lingyan Circuit in South Korea, everywhere he looked, there were white Taegukgis, mixed with plenty of banners protesting and cursing him.

To be honest, throughout his journey so far, Chen Xiangbei had faced a lot of cold stares and ridicule.

But seeing this kind of public banner protest and cursing operation for the first time, it was quite an eye-opener for him.

"Sister Man, is this the scene where they can’t stand me, but can’t beat me either?"

The banners did not affect Chen Xiangbei’s mindset at all, on the contrary, he joked with Lu Xiaoman with interest.

Indeed, watching others rage powerlessly is quite satisfying!

"Pretty much."

"But don’t get too cocky, you little rascal. If you don’t perform well, the Koreans will mock you to death after the race."

Lu Xiaoman also teased lightly.

"No worries, I don’t care."

Chen Xiangbei shrugged. His mental resilience against external opinion was now at a state of being "Immune to Five Poisons."

The opinions and attitudes of foreigners didn’t affect his emotions at all. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The two of them arrived at the team P room, where Briatore was sitting with his legs crossed, smoking a cigar.

Seeing Chen Xiangbei come over, he said in an exaggerated tone: "Oh~~ North, the public opinion from last night’s interview seems to have made the home crowd quite angry."

"Hmm, and then?"

"Then go kick their butts with track results!"

If Chen Xiangbei was the type who didn’t start trouble but wasn’t afraid of it either,

then Briatore was the kind who enjoyed the spectacle and couldn’t get enough of it.

Drivers are never afraid of controversy, they are afraid of no controversy.

As long as the discussion was focused on Chen Xiangbei, this kid would only get more popular, and his commercial value would keep rising.

It might not be as obvious in F1, but in combat sports where public hype is permitted, the most valuable ones are typically those controversial troublemakers.

For example, boxing’s Mayweather, or UFC’s "The Notorious" Conor McGregor.

Chen Xiangbei wasn’t too interested in Briatore’s incitements either. He turned to Odetto and asked: "Have the car tuning plans been finalized?"

Hearing Chen Xiangbei’s inquiry, Odetto nodded in response.

"Lingyan Circuit is a typical mixed circuit, resembling a street race with the slow section in the first half, and after the 7th corner, like high-speed Spa, requiring low downforce settings for the car."

"Also, Lingyan’s road surface is rough, with very high tire wear, meaning there have to be setups favoring tire conservation for the main race, as well as setups prioritizing speed for the qualifying race."

"A total of four different setup directions. It’s hard to find a completely balanced option. Considering the engine releases weakly this station, and the track isn’t particularly hard to overtake on, I decided on setups favoring low downforce for the main race."

As the saying goes, even a clever housewife can’t cook without rice. The last station’s overpowered engine release forced a power output reduction this station, so it’s impossible to have both fish and bear’s paw simultaneously.

Qualifying positions are ultimately in service of main race results. As long as it’s not an extremely difficult track to overtake, qualifying positions that can pre-determine main race results obviously prioritize main race setups!

"OK."

After listening to Odetto’s plan, Chen Xiangbei nodded.

"Don’t you have any thoughts?"

"Nope, you don’t know the track’s specific conditions until you run practice sessions."

Now that Chen Xiangbei had said that, Odetto refrained from saying more and instructed the technician team to make the adjustments.

Meanwhile, McLaren Team owner Dennis was walking in the pit lane with Hamilton, in contrast to the audience’s attack and cursing of Chen Xiangbei, the local Korean fans were uniformly supportive and cheering when they saw Hamilton.

The reason is simple, the enemy’s enemy is a friend.

Last night, Yonhap News Agency not only interviewed Chen Xiangbei but also interviewed Hamilton!

The collision at the F1 Chinese Grand Prix had left the proud Hamilton extremely dissatisfied, and he made accusatory remarks to the media afterward, implying that the HRT Team might have issued orders for intentional collisions.

However, the domestic media naturally leaned towards Chen Xiangbei, so Hamilton’s remarks didn’t stir much controversy.

Now, with the old issues being brought up in South Korea, along with adding accusations of Chen Xiangbei’s brawling and racial discrimination, Hamilton’s accusations naturally became a hot topic.

At the same time, Rosberg as a friend also stepped up to support, believing that collisions had become a tradition for the HRT Team. Whenever unable to surpass opponents or stop them, they would resort to dangerous driving or other dirty methods.

If Chen Xiangbei and the HRT Team were allowed to continue, who in the paddock would be the next victim?

These remarks received support from many drivers in the paddock.

Whether it’s aggressive driving styles or malicious dangerous driving, anyway, HRT Team’s consecutive collisions are an undeniable fact.

Plus, with Chen Xiangbei being arrogant and Trulli being fiery, neither had particularly good relations.