How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 635 - 273: Mercedes W13 (6K, Extra Update 2/20)
The attendance of so many people shows how much everyone values next season's car.
As for next year's car, Qin Miao has actually provided a lot of design ideas and data support.
However, since Verstappen and Red Bull still pose a threat to Hamilton and Qin Miao on the drivers' standings this season, most of the team's resources are still focused on upgrading this season's car.
Therefore, the data that Qin Miao and Bottas have been running on a daily basis is mainly used for this season's W12, with limited data provided for the W13.
Of course, Qin Miao has no reason to judge whether the team's choice is correct, and from a driver's perspective, he certainly wants a higher starting point in his first season of his career.
After all, if one day Mercedes really doesn't perform, Qin Miao's performance in the first season would prove that he still has talent, making it easier for Qin Miao to find another team after leaving Mercedes.
But those are talks for later.
After exchanging pleasantries with Hamilton, Qin Miao received the notice while waiting in the lounge with Hamilton.
"Ready, let's go." Hamilton got up first.
Qin Miao also got up with Hamilton, and then the two went together to the Mercedes wind tunnel laboratory.
Neither Qin Miao nor Hamilton is a stranger to this place; Mercedes' wind tunnel is a white, long, oval-shaped space.
However, the interior is quite large, enough for four people to stand side by side, with a height of about five meters.
At one end of the space, there is a white blade-like thing, and the wind is blown from those blades.
Mercedes' wind tunnel is not new, but it was built to high specifications, so even today the maximum wind speed it can produce is about 290 kilometers per hour. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
Although it's not possible to simulate the aerodynamic conditions of a car at high speeds, it can simulate most of the medium to low-speed corners on the track.
Then, under the effort of technicians from the Mercedes factory, a race car was pushed out.
This car differs from the W12, which has a front wing; the original front wing position is replaced by a downwash side pod, and there are fins in front of the front wheels to streamline wheel airflow.
Notably, there is no livery on the car's body, only the black carbon fiber pattern.
This is the Mercedes W13, and it's also Qin Miao's first time seeing this car fully assembled; he had only seen its parts before.
Unlike this season's Coke bottle-shaped body design and front fins.
Due to the new regulations by the race committee, the very complex fins are gone from the car, making the first visual impression very clean and tidy.
At the same time, the rear design of the car is more extreme, with the floor protruding significantly outward while the body is extremely slim, and the side pods are cut downward.
Without a livery, it looks somewhat plain and can't really be called good-looking.
"What do you think?" Hamilton, standing beside Qin Miao with arms crossed, elbowed Qin Miao and asked upon seeing the car in front of them.
Qin Miao rubbed his chin and said, "If we still use this season's 13-inch tires, I think this car is pretty good, it's a masterpiece-level artpiece.
But next season, we will switch to 18-inch tires, and with the change in tire size, the characteristics of the car will change significantly. Although much of the data for this car was provided by me, I can't definitively say whether it's good or bad right now."
Hamilton, however, said, "I don't know why, but looking at this car, I have an unsettling premonition."
Qin Miao looked at Hamilton with surprise, "You think this car will be slow?"
"No, I still trust Mercedes' research and development capabilities, but I had a bad feeling when I saw this car." Hamilton frowned and thought for a while, but he quickly reconciled with himself, "Maybe I've just been too busy lately, and my nerves are a bit worn out as I get older, perhaps I'm just overthinking."
Qin Miao nodded as well, but he was still puzzled as to why a car would give Hamilton such a premonition.
While the two were chatting, the team's technicians had already fixed the car in the wind tunnel at the designated position.
Once the four wheels' screws were secured and checked for any oversights, all the staff exited the wind tunnel.
Then the entrance of the wind tunnel was sealed, and Qin Miao and the others could only observe the car's condition inside the wind tunnel through the high-speed cameras installed around it.
After that, the wind tunnel was started, but since noise issues were considered when designing this wind tunnel, the sound that Qin Miao could hear from his observation position was quite limited.
What followed were various testing programs, and although Qin Miao and Hamilton were not specialized in aerodynamics, they could understand the team's testing programs.
In contrast, the team leaders who came to observe got bored after watching for a while; after all, most of the shareholders from Mercedes who came today were in charge of commercial aspects and not many understood the technicalities, staying wouldn't make sense to them.
So after a short while, they left.
After they left, Qin Miao and Hamilton relaxed quite a bit.
