Car Racing without Money-Chapter 457 - 182: Increasing the Pace of the Paddock Competition
TF110 was flying crazily on the track. Due to the reduced engine power, the window for the car’s extreme output was actually expanded, so Chen Xiangbei didn’t have to constantly worry about the fluid pressure issues.
At the same time, the rear wing was adjusted for balance, creating an effect similar to unlocking DRS in future years, by reducing the downforce of the airflow through the rear, thus lowering the temperature of the tires and brake discs.
Of course, this adjustment has pros and cons; without enough downforce, there would be insufficient grip.
After all, F1 cars can dominate the track thanks to the incredible downforce brought by aerodynamic design.
This is the only car on Blue Planet theoretically capable of sticking to the ceiling!
However, previously, under the effect of the diffuser, the air downforce was too exaggerated, resulting in signs of understeer.
Now, although reducing downforce has led to oversteer, there are still hints of tail slides in the corners.
But to a driver like Chen Xiangbei, who is accustomed to simulator style from later eras and has participated in professional rally races, he adapts better to oversteer compared to understeer.
"FUCK, is North’s timing segment this fast?"
"Didn’t the HRT Racing Car blow its engine? How are they daring to tune for full power output?"
"Is driver North pushing for the fastest lap to shed the paid driver label during winter testing?"
"The Chinese rookie is really aggressive; I don’t understand what the HRT Team strategy group wants to do."
Engineers from various teams discussed, feeling that the HRT Team’s various performances today were too bizarre, completely departing from the normal process and rhythm of winter testing.
It seemed they treated this as a driver challenge rather than a car test!
Listening to the discussions among the team members, Newey spoke up: "I feel the HRT Team is not conducting a reckless full-power test; they realized the changes brought by the diffuser."
"So fast?"
Horner was somewhat surprised upon hearing this; HRT Team engineers were not the designers of the TF110 car, and they had experienced the unexpected engine blowout on track. How could they achieve such "Enlightenment"?"
"Hmm, Bell is very capable."
In the past few years, the "Red-Blue Battle" has been the most noteworthy focus battle in the F1 Paddock, and Newey naturally paid close attention to the cars created by Renault.
Bob Bell is a car designer whose capability exceeds his fame.
"Is it possible that driver North’s skill exceeds expectations?"
Compared to engineers focusing on the car, Horner pays more attention to the driver.
Chen Xiangbei’s performance today truly overturned his perception of Chinese drivers.
Even when he achieved a "hat-trick" during the Spa Circuit F3 supporting race, it did not impact Horner as much as today’s testing lap times.
You must know, after Chen Xiangbei clocked a lap speed surpassing pole position, Horner once asked Vettel to pick up the pace to see if he could easily beat this Chinese rookie.
The fact proved he couldn’t!
Unless Vettel brings out his competitive race state, he won’t outpace the fully PUSHING Chen Xiangbei.
This answer was unacceptable to Horner.
Vettel and Hamilton became official F1 drivers the same year; both debuted as super talents and became the focal points of public attention.
Moreover, neither has disappointed the title of a super talent with their current achievements.
Hamilton, of course, needs no further mention, debuting as the world runner-up and becoming world champion in his second year, a speed unparalleled in F1 history.
Vettel isn’t bad at all; he’s the youngest pole winner, the youngest race winner, and the youngest hat-trick achiever.
Furthermore, historically, he’s the youngest F1 annual runner-up, annual champion, second-, third-, and four-time champion.
Each of these records is enough to prove a driver’s top-tier capability.
Yet, he did not crush a Chinese rookie.
Let alone crush, he’s slower by a whopping 0.4 seconds per lap!
Unlike Marco, Horner has no tendency towards racial discrimination.
Even when Marco later on made discriminatory comments against Perez, Horner publicly criticized such behavior.
He wouldn’t deny Chen Xiangbei’s skill and potential due to his Chinese identity.
Occasionally performing fast on one lap can be said to be accidental; now that Chen Xiangbei is getting faster, this is pure strength!
"To understand whether the car is fast or the driver is fast, we have to look at his teammate’s lap times."
Newey calmly replied; the F1 Paddock always has its set of evaluation standards.
To some extent, it’s impossible to fairly compare the speed between drivers from different teams.
After all, differences in car performance and tuning styles make it impossible to achieve a unified standard.
Just like in the 25th year, with Red Bull and Red Bull Junior Team, aside from the existence of supermodel Verstappen, whoever drives the big Red Bull goes slower.
Can Kakida Yuuki, unable to outrun Lawson, prove that the former is necessarily worse?
To verify who is the worse, only teammates driving the same car can serve as the sole comparison.
Even in the stage of competing for seats, driving slow isn’t crucial; as long as you drive faster than your teammate, it’s enough.
A minute and more elapsed in the blink of an eye. As the TF110 roared past the finish line, the track monitoring equipment recorded Chen Xiangbei’s lap time.
minute 18.993 seconds.
"OH~~~!"
Various exclamations sounded simultaneously from various team paddocks.
They sensed from the segmented times that Chen Xiangbei’s lap would be very fast, but did not expect it to be this fast.
Driver North directly broke into the 1 minute 18-second realm!
If this result were placed in last year’s Catalonia qualifying race, he would leave the second place driver unable to see the tail lights.
"Trulli, full speed push this lap."
