The current drivers of the Renault Team are Alonso as the first driver and Grosjean as the second driver.

After the "Crashgate" incident was exposed, Alonso has announced his intention to leave for Ferrari next year, and it's unlikely that the Renault Team will be able to retain this "team selection genius."

As for Grosjean, this driver is quite interesting.

Originally, he held dual citizenship in Switzerland and France, and he competed under the Swiss nationality early on. It wasn't until he won the French Renault Formula championship title that the Renault Team's youth training department found Grosjean and proposed that he should compete as a French driver in the future.

The reason is simple, akin to the "all-Japanese team" dream, which not only Japanese teams have but also French teams, passed down through generations.

In the early days, Prost insisted on forming an "all-French team," even more radical than Japan's Super Aguri, requiring not only drivers to have French citizenship but also that the chassis, engine, and other important components all come from French suppliers.

The result was clear: Prost Team performed poorly and was backstabbed by engine supplier Peugeot Group.

They publicly issued a statement claiming that the team's poor performance was its own problem, having nothing to do with our Peugeot engine.

At that time, Prost spat out blood, abandoned Japan's "infinite" performance solid and stable engines, and chose the immature French Peugeot power unit, all for the "all-French team" dream.

Did you greet a compatriot, only to shoot him in the back?

With miserable performance, financial shortages, and a "fellow countryman" stabbing you, Prost, disheartened, left the F1 Paddock, occasionally attending F1 events as an invited guest.

The French dream of a racing legend thus quietly ended.

Although the Renault Team is not as exaggerated as an "all-French team," they also prioritize choosing and nurturing French drivers.

Grosjean is their target for development.

Mid-season, he replaced the temporarily ousted Little Piquet, and his speed was decent, only lagging Alonso by 0.3 seconds in qualifying.

The problem is that this guy is too unstable, and in defensive battles, opponents have to guess whether he'll yield or not...

Currently, he has participated in two races and already crashed out of one.

Historically, in the 2009 season, he substituted for seven races and somehow retired from four.

For a driver with a completion rate of less than fifty percent, even if he had just a French ID, or even if he were the half-brother of Renault's President Ghosn, the team probably couldn't afford this deity.

If Grosjean were simply incompetent, there wouldn't be much to say.

The interesting point about this driver is that after retiring from the F1 Paddock, he returned to participate in GP2 events and even became the annual champion!

The more bizarre point is that three years later, Grosjean returned to the F1 Paddock, rejoining the Lotus-Renault team, which was nicknamed "Black Gold Divine Lotus."

And when the team's first driver Raikkonen left due to salary disputes, Grosjean stood up and declared he would lead the "Divine Lotus" team!

Everyone thought it was a joke, but Grosjean really held the fort, repeatedly climbing on the podium, bringing an initially chaotic team mid-season to fourth place annually.

This truly corresponds with the phrase from Little Horse's dialogue, "I waited three years for this opportunity not to prove I'm great, but to tell others that I must get back what I lost!"

Grosjean earned the nickname "Gros-Flag" with his miraculous and disastrous performances.

Of course, this is all context; currently, no one at the Renault Team expects this brute to hold the fort. They're already looking for replacements for next year.

Polish driver Kubica and Russian newcomer Petrov are on the Renault Team's consideration list.

The former is valued for potential and skill, the latter for Russian oil and bank sponsorship.

This originally had nothing to do with Chen Xiangbei, but his stunning performance in this race and the Renault Team's awareness of rookie test data eventually led Team Manager Blair to decide to include him as a candidate.

"I am very interested in joining the Renault Team; I just don't know what kind of position Team Manager Blair can offer me?"

Chen Xiangbei smiled and replied; despite Renault Team going downhill, they are still one of the current paddock's "big three."

Even ten years later, with teams like Mercedes and Red Bull rising, Alpine, a renamed entity, still firmly occupies a mid-level position, comparing favorably to starting with a small team.

In F1 racing, people can only decide the lower limit; the car is what sets the upper limit.

Even someone as strong as Verstappen, when the Red Bull RB21 faltered, he could only secure his position at the front but struggled to compete against McLaren's young Piastri.

"Xiabei, we can offer you the third driver seat."

Upon hearing Blair's expected response, Chen Xiangbei smiled even more.

The third driver is, essentially, a backup; you only get the chance to substitute when a regular driver encounters issues.

Chen Xiangbei is not after a chance; he wants an official seat!

"Team Manager Blair, I'm currently a test driver for Brawn GP and they can offer me a third driver contract as well. What advantages do you have?"

Chen Xiangbei withdrew his smile and asked seriously.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.