Upon hearing Odetto's words, Staler retorted, "You mean racing in GP2?"

Though Staler didn't have much personal connection with Odetto, he understood the former Ferrari member's style well enough, always preferring aggressive risks.

If Chen Xiangbei were to directly jump into GP2, Staler felt it was very risky.

"NO, NO, NO."

Odetto shook his head repeatedly.

Then he spoke, "I think North should race in F1."

[F1?]

Upon hearing Odetto's response, let alone Staler being dumbfounded with shock.

Even Chen Xiangbei, who was quite familiar with the old man's demeanor, was at a loss for words.

They're discussing how to skip levels, not how to dream.

Jumping directly into F1 is something Chen Xiangbei never dared to dream about...

The super talented Raikkonen, who made history with a "three-level jump," at least won the Renault Formula championship.

Chen Xiangbei currently only has two stage wins and lacks top-tier capital and heritage. Which team would sign him to a formal driver contract?

Even if Staler had this crazy idea, he's just one of the investors in the Brown GP Team. There's still a team board above him.

Convincing the management to sign Chen Xiangbei as a test driver is already the limit of Staler's ability. Becoming a formal driver is absolutely impossible!

Even his partner Ross Brown wouldn't support Staler this time.

"Odetto, you're not joking, are you?"

Chen Xiangbei asked with a mix of laughter and tears, wondering if Italian racing professionals naturally carry a bit of "circus" humor.

"Would I joke about such matters?"

Odetto was expressionless. The content of today's discussion would determine the direction of Chen Xiangbei's career, so joking was out of the question.

"North proved with his Grand Prix win that he has the strength to stand at the pinnacle of Formula 3. Going back to race in the F3 European Series would be as meaningless as racing in the Renault Formula."

"GP2 is a preparatory race for F1, and there is no fundamental difference in driving logic between the two. Truly talented drivers won't waste time racing in GP2; they might as well jump directly into F1!"

What many people don't know is that although the F3—F2—F1 path was established long ago, it was firmly set by the FIA due to the emergence of the Verstappen anomaly.

In the nineties, there was a time when many drivers wouldn't race in the F3000 (the predecessor of F2) events, and there was an external consensus that racing in F3000 was seen as a lack of talent.

Truly genius drivers should jump directly from F3 to F1!

This situation persisted until the GP2 series was established in 2005, curbing the jump fever from a common occurrence to a special case.

However, it's still not uncommon to see drivers leap from F3 directly to F1, including mid-generation drivers like Vettel, Bottas, Ocon, and Stroll, who also didn't race in any F2 events.

Even Verstappen and Sainz, who didn't even win the F3 championship, managed to achieve the leap to F1.

But Verstappen didn't win the F3 championship not because he lacked skill—in fact, it's because his talent is terrifyingly excessive, and the jump was too intense.

Verstappen officially moved up from karting to the Renault Formula in 2014, and ordinarily, he should race for a year.

After a few races, the old father realized his son's adaptability was too monstrous, and track records seemed like paper mache before him. No need for qualifiers or races; during practice, he shattered records effortlessly.

With such skill, there's no need to race in the Renault Formula. The old father immediately used his connections for a midway "transfer," finding an unknown small team and letting Verstappen race in F3.

The small team's resources and tuning level were strikingly inferior compared to big teams, especially the prestigious Prema team, whose tuned cars were equivalent to "Mars Rover" in F3.

Verstappen, driving an F3 car at the Sauber level, managed to fiercely triumph over Red Bull-level opponents in a rainy battle, nearly a second faster per lap!

With such alien speed, there's no need to race in F3 anymore. He directly joined the Red Bull junior team the following year.

That year, Verstappen hadn't even turned eighteen.

An underage driver breaking into the F1 paddock raised concerns with the FIA, which led to the creation of the Super Driver's License points system.

Unless given special approval by the FIA, drivers can't apply for a Super Driver's License if their lower-tier formula results don't reach 40 points.

To gather enough points for the Super Driver's License, talented drivers have no choice but to gradually upgrade through the route, making jump cases extinct.

Odetto, coming from the nineties era, was still influenced by the mindset of that time. He didn't see any issue with Chen Xiangbei jumping into F1; what genius driver would waste time racing in GP2!

Chen Xiangbei didn't live through that era, and he still thought jumping to F1 was an exaggeration.

But after hearing Odetto's explanation, Staler realized the point.

Indeed, rather than wasting time racing in GP2, why not directly jump into F1!

"Odetto, I understand your point, but achieving it is difficult."

"North lacks sufficient capital to gain the trust of F1 teams."

Staler replied seriously, noting that in history, those who accomplished such crazy jumps either came from racing families with connections, had backing from super sponsors, or had talents so explosive like Kimi Raikkonen.

Although Chen Xiangbei's talent is not low, the stereotype from his identity as a Chinese driver makes it difficult to gain recognition from the European racing circle; he needs to show even more extraordinary performance.

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