How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 636 - 273: Mercedes W13 (6K, Extra Update 1/20)

However, the two did not forget their work. During this first test period, Qin Miao and Hamilton were looking at how much aerodynamic downforce the new car design could provide to the race car, as well as various data.

After watching for a while, another person came up to them.

"According to our calculations, after entering the ground effect era, more than 60% of our car's aerodynamic downforce will come from the ground effect floor. And according to the data from our simulator, the design of our floor can minimize drag while ensuring adequate aerodynamic downforce." The speaker was Eric Brandin, the head of the aerodynamics department at Mercedes.

This could be considered a technical big shot, but Qin Miao had relatively little contact with him. Most of the time, Qin Miao was actually communicating with the technical director Mike Elliott.

Seeing the other person come behind them, Qin Miao and Hamilton first greeted him.

Then Hamilton, a bit curious, asked, "What changes will there be in the car's driving characteristics after the new regulations are implemented?"

"Hmm, I think the change should be in overall balance. After all, with the ground effect rules implemented, the car's main downforce comes from the floor.

The car's center of gravity will be lower than this season's car, and our zero-sidepod design will make the airflow around the car easier to manage. The car's aerodynamic tuning will have a larger window than this season." Brandin spoke with full confidence, his face brimming with assurance.

After hearing this, Qin Miao and Hamilton each had different expressions on their faces. Although Hamilton's face didn't show much change in expression, after hearing this, he felt somewhat reassured. At least after this visit, Hamilton knew clearly that next season's Mercedes car had a strong adaptability.

As for Qin Miao, he was full of curiosity and inquiry: "Leaving aside the car's consistency issue for now, do we have a suitable solution to the deformation problem of our car's floor at top speed?"

The other person seemed to have anticipated Qin Miao's question on this issue and replied with a smile, "We've incorporated titanium alloy within the carbon fiber of the floor, greatly enhancing its hardness and anti-deformation capacity. Moreover, we have a backup plan. If our first plan still shows deformation at high speed, we also have a version of the floor with thickened carbon fiber we can use.

We are confident in minimizing the floor's deformation while the car is at high speed."

Qin Miao had no doubts about this.

But Hamilton asked again, "What about the weight issue?"

"Uh... this..." Brandin, who had just been so confident, became a bit hesitant when talking about the car body's weight: "Although our designed car floor is indeed somewhat overweight, with limited resources and personnel, this is all we can do for now. Other issues will have to be addressed once we completely free up next season."

Hamilton and Qin Miao exchanged a glance and didn't continue to discuss this topic further.

This decision was made collectively by all team members. Even though they knew the drawbacks of sacrificing the future for the present, having made the decision, they were determined to stick to it.

Hesitation is the biggest taboo in military strategy, and the same goes for a team.

After wrapping up the floor topic, Qin Miao and Hamilton began discussing the sidepod topic.

After finishing, Brandin made a quick exit. The questions these two posed together were quite sharp, and if Brandin stayed with them any longer, he'd likely have all his secrets exposed.

Interestingly, in everyday life, Qin Miao and Hamilton don't have common topics of interest, unlike Qin Miao and Zhou Guanyu.

One likes playing games, the other likes fashion.

In everyday life, their interests are worlds apart.

Yet their driving styles in racing are very similar, and they have many coinciding ideas in the racing field, even preferring similar vehicle styles.

This might just be the diversity of human nature.

Qin Miao and Hamilton stayed at the factory until a little after 4 PM before leaving.

Afterwards, Qin Miao rested at home for a day and returned to his regular training routine after Thursday.

The following period was quite uneventful, even though Qin Miao received numerous invitations to banquets or event invites, he didn't attend any of them.

Qin Miao knew that once he entered this circle, if he just talked to a few people, made some friends, and followed these familiar people into some investments, he could easily get returns dozens or even hundreds of times over. Still, Qin Miao chose not to go.

Qin Miao still held a frugal mindset, thinking money was just enough to spend. Now for Qin Miao and Qimeng, money has really just become a string of numbers.

However, Qin Miao merely stayed at home for a long time without going out; he didn't give up his routine training.

Notably, on Sunday, Qin Miao, Leclerc, and Norris participated in an event hosted by the platform Laoshutai.

Normally, Qin Miao wouldn't attend these events, but since it was hosted by a streaming platform, unlike other events, platform-hosted events stand out because you don't have to leave your house, and they offer generous rewards.

The event was simple: Qin Miao, Leclerc, and Norris competed in "F1 2021" against top streamers who specialize in F1 or other racing games on Laoshutai.