"Co on, Chen Xiangbei, aim for the top six in your debut!"
"Go for it, Driver Bei!"
"China’s strongest F1 driver, show the foreigners your strength!"
"Driver Bei, you’ll beco the world’s best F1 driver too!"
I don’t know if it’s only the most enthusiastic fans who would crowd into the driver passageway to wait for Chen Xiangbei.
Or perhaps the Chinese fans witnessed the unfriendly scenes towards Chen Xiangbei during practice sessions and qualifying.
At this mont, voices of encouragent and support dominated the mainstream.
"Thank you, thank you, I’ll do my best."
Chen Xiangbei kept waving and acknowledging, feeling a surge of indescribable emotion in his heart.
The world is not just black and white, nor is there absolute love and hate.
No matter what, there are supporters behind !
Step by step, he ca to the driver gathering area of the track, where a modified parade car was already parked, and drivers were waiting for the parade activity to officially begin.
To be truthful, Chen Xiangbei is not unfamiliar with the F1 drivers from different teams.
Starting from the initial F3 filler races, followed by the winter testing period at the end of the season, and now to today’s season-opening main race, he has seen many faces.
However, Chen Xiangbei still isn’t well-acquainted with these drivers.
One reason is that there hasn’t been much interaction, belonging to different teams is equivalent to "each serving their own," and coupled with being competitors on the sa track, the most one can do is shake hands and say hello, finding common topics is difficult.
Another reason lies in Chen Xiangbei’s identity as a Chinese driver.
Racial discrimination is an unavoidable topic within the paddock, it’s been a noble sport for whites since the inception of F1 racing.
Many tis compared to football, basketball, and other sports, racial discrimination in F1 isn’t very obvious due to high education levels and high prestige.
But that doesn’t an it doesn’t exist!
Just like later when Red Bull’s advisor Marco publicly declared during Perez’s low performance period that South Aricans cannot possess a mind as focused as Verstappen.
Undoubtedly, the deep aning hidden behind this statent is racial discrimination.
If Perez were still a driver under Red Bull, both parties being in the sa team for years, seeing each other often at least implies so form of connection, Marco’s statent was unexpected to many at that ti.
Another example is Verstappen’s father-in-law, old Piquet, who during an interview instinctively referred to Hamilton as "little n***o."
And this is already the 21st century, where "political correctness" has beco mainstream in Europe and Arica, yet such instances still occur, indicating certain mindsets are deeply entrenched.
Of course, Chen Xiangbei’s cold reception isn’t solely due to "racial discrimination."
It mostly arises from his unappealing persona and lack of a foundation in European training and competitions.
The image of past Chinese athletes or Asian drivers has predominantly been cautious, preferring to take loses rather than offend, almost having "easy to bully" written on their foreheads.
Such non-threatening individuals are naturally easy to "like."
Chen Xiangbei, however, is completely different, his arrogance during lower-level competitions aside, the new season’s press conference saw him being equally flamboyant, showing his hard style by forcefully overtaking Sutil during qualifications.
Undoubtedly, such drivers exhibit "torpedo" tendencies and courage.
Moreover, F1 drivers form a very small circle, today’s drivers entering the paddock mostly have been involved since childhood, becoming teammates or rivals.
For instance, Hamilton, Sutil, Kubica, they have competed from young ages.
Chen Xiangbei hasn’t had such experiences, it’s normal to feel unfamiliar.
During the parade car stage, the drivers were happily conversing, even newcors like Petrov, Di Grassi, Trulli quickly blended in, receiving warm welcos.
Yet Chen Xiangbei still stood alone on one side, a bit at a loss.
"Do you want to introduce you?"
Trulli’s voice rang beside his ear.
Compared to Chen Xiangbei, a newcor, Trulli although hot-headed has offended many within the paddock, but having experienced teams like Prost, Renault, Jordan, Toyota in his decade-long career, he obviously has a wider network.
Originally, how Chen Xiangbei related to Trulli wasn’t his concern, nor did he have the idle ti to worry.
However, watching Chen Xiangbei’s first-person in-car footage gave Trulli so insights and inspiration, his straightforward nature dislikes owing favors.
"No need."
Chen Xiangbei shook his head, making friends should happen naturally, no need to force oneself into a circle.
"Suit yourself."
Since the other person didn’t need this, Trulli naturally wouldn’t rush to aid.
He replied simply with two words, then chatted with his own friends.
About ten minutes later, the event organizers gestured for the drivers to board the parade car, ready to take a tour around the track, letting the audience see their supported idols more clearly.
Chen Xiangbei naturally followed the crowd onto the car, accompanied by the vehicle’s startup, deafening cheers and screams echoed inside the paddock, a sensation entirely different from sitting in a racing car.
The rookies kept waving their arms towards the stands, veteran drivers were used to such parades, leaning and chatting by the parade car’s railing in small groups, while Chen Xiangbei stood alone at the very back, curiously observing everything around him.
After all, this was his first experience, filled with novelty and unfamiliarity.
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