Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 182 Finding the Direction for Adjustment

"Briatoli, the Chinese newcomer is very professional in the mechanical principles of racing cars."

Bob Bell was searching for the cause of the engine failure when he heard Chen Xiangbei's feedback on the tuning and couldn't help but mutter something to Hua Bu.

Just because an F1 driver knows how to tune their car doesn't mean that an F1 rookie knows how to tune their car.

It's important to understand that most F1 drivers acquire their theoretical knowledge through years of continuous learning throughout their professional careers; very few newcomers can grasp the fundamentals of racing car engineering and aerodynamics.

Those with this kind of background and foundation are all second-generation car owners.

Chen Xiangbei clearly doesn't have a father who knows racing, and even his own experience in low-level Formula racing is completely blank.

Bob Bell didn't have any hope for Chen Xiangbei's tuning feedback at all; he just wanted Chen to drive well.

Now it seems I seriously underestimated the strength of the Chinese kid.

This guy not only knows how to drive, but he also knows how to precisely maneuver the car!
"That's normal. If you had arrived at the Lifield Technology Centre earlier, you would have seen the North studying like crazy."

"Chinese people are very good at reading."

Bell joined the HRT team much later, and as the head of the research and development department, he didn't have much interaction with the drivers on a regular basis, only appearing in the pits during winter testing.

Just like aerodynamic master Newey, he is rarely seen on the track during Red Bull races.

The management team and the R&D department have clearly defined and distinct roles.

Briatore witnessed firsthand at HRT headquarters how Chen Xiangbei, in addition to physical training, made the most of every spare moment to frantically study knowledge related to racing engineering and aerodynamics.

They're just like the Chinese college entrance exam takers in the news.

From that moment on, Briatore was certain that Chen's northward shunting of the train was not far off.

That's why he announced that Chen Xiangbei would connect with the technical team to provide direct feedback on the car's tuning, instead of having Hiroki Sawano, the race engineer, act as a "middleman."

"Since North is so disciplined, it seems you don't need to worry about the training intensity of rookie drivers like Ron Dennis does."

It's not easy to get Briatore to give a positive review. Bob Bell could sense that he was very satisfied with the Chinese rookie, so he made a joke.

A newcomer with exceptional talent in the paddock is named Lewis Hamilton.

He's great in every way, except he lacks self-discipline.

McLaren's CEO employed a militaristic management style, setting various training goals for him, which led to his success in winning the annual runner-up title in his debut year of 07.

Judging from his current performance, Chen Xiangbei is truly a man who saves you both trouble and worry.

"Of course, I never misjudge people."

Briatore replied with great pride, always considering himself the talent scout within the paddock.

On the other side of the maintenance bay, Ah Yong was adjusting the race car while speaking softly in Chinese.

"Brother Bei, do you know why Trulli's engine blew out?"

"do not know."

Chen Xiangbei shook his head. Even the design director didn't understand it, so how could a driver like himself know so much?

"The manager said that he was allowed to compete for the number one driver position, which is why he pushed the engine so hard and it blew out."

[Competing for the number one driver?]

Chen Xiangbei was quite surprised to hear this.

The reason is that he had already told team owner Carabant that the HRT team does not have a number one or number two driver, and there is no such thing as a wingman.

The two drivers upheld the spirit of sportsmanship and competed fairly!

Why did the manager do that?

He believes that only mediocre teams would accept fair competition between two drivers.

"The championship-contending teams must clearly designate their number one and number two drivers!"

As soon as A-Yong finished speaking, Liang Chi coughed lightly and reminded him, "Do your job well and don't gossip behind people's backs."

Liang Chi was like a mentor and father to A Yong, so he could only shrug at Chen Xiangbei and say nothing more.

[Championship Contenders]

Chen Xiangbei's focus was not on the competition between the first and second drivers, but on the championship-contending teams.

To be honest, he is not afraid of any competition, but he is unwilling to forcibly define the status of drivers within the team through team instructions and wingman agreements.

Since Trulli is willing to have this idea, I will definitely accept it!
Chen Xiangbei's previous wishes regarding the team's future were based more on a historical, God-like perspective. No one else accepted his ideas, and he certainly didn't believe that the new team HRT could become a championship contender.

I didn't expect Briatore to come to such a definitive conclusion.

Indeed, only a "madman" can create a legend.

The original Renault R&D personnel were very professional. In just over ten minutes, they removed the engine from the TF110 race car and opened the cylinder head to check the specific cause of the engine failure.

After carefully examining the surroundings, Bob Bell breathed a sigh of relief.

"Briatoli, the piston and bearings, among other important components, showed no obvious deformation, so it does not appear to be a fundamental design flaw."

Upon hearing Bob Bell's reply, Briatore's expression softened considerably.

If there are problems with the design of the TF110 chassis, the HRT R&D team can still find a way to make up for it through a mid-term upgrade.

If there is a fundamental design flaw in the engine, then there will be no way to salvage the situation.

The reason is that the research and development and improvement costs of the engine are actually much higher than those of the aerodynamic kit and chassis design.

There are currently twelve teams in the F1 paddock, and no more than five of them can manufacture their own engines. These include the renowned McLaren and Red Bull teams, which both rely on engines supplied by Mercedes and Renault.

"Is there any way to solve this?"

Odette then countered by saying that he was equally unprofessional in engine development.

"The root cause of the engine failure is that the cylinder pressure is too high, so we can only reduce the power."

"To how much?"

"Let's reduce the horsepower by 30 for now and see how it goes."

30 horsepower?

Upon hearing this number, Briatore frowned.

The 30 horsepower of an F1 car is a rather astonishing figure, and under ideal conditions, it can slow down a lap by as much as 0.5 seconds.

If the two drivers are evenly matched, that 0.5-second difference can become an insurmountable barrier.

Even a player as strong as Verstappen in later generations was only considered by outsiders to be a man with a built-in 0.5-second advantage.

Does Chen Xiangbei, this newcomer from China, have the ability?

"That's too much. I'll only accept a reduction of 10 horsepower."

Briatore gave a negative answer. Leaving aside the maximum horsepower of other teams, which is an internal secret and cannot be guessed by outsiders, at least the horsepower of Renault engines already has a definite figure.

With a 30-horsepower difference, Chen Xiangbei would never be able to catch up with Vettel, Webber, and others who use Renault engines.

Even Kubica, Hua Bu couldn't guarantee that Chen Xiangbei could be faster than him.

What's the point of running this tractor in the new season? "Briatoli, we don't have enough power units in reserve right now, so we can only try starting with the lowest horsepower."

The total number of laps in F1 winter testing is around 500, and the maximum will not exceed 600, which is close to the mileage of ten races, except that it is shared by two drivers.

This time, the HRT team brought a total of four power units, which should be enough for the testing phase.

However, Trulli's engine failure has completely destroyed a power unit. If any other engine failure occurs, he may not even be able to complete the winter test mileage this year, which is unacceptable for a "new" team.

After all, Bob Bell has far too much data to verify.

As longtime partners and part of the Renault-Renault trio, Briatore knew that Bob Bell was not exaggerating.

Professional matters should be left to professionals to decide.

So he could only shrug and say, "That's the only way. You decide."

"OK, change the engine and reduce the power, then test again."

Bob Bell gave the order, and the team engineers immediately carried it out.

The TF110 race car engine can be replaced very quickly, which is one of the advantages of Formula One racing.

Almost all the components, in modern terms, were designed with standardization and modularity, which greatly improved maintenance efficiency.

Even if you break an engine, or even if you crash a race car into two pieces, as long as you have enough spare parts, the F1 team can restore your race car to its original condition in just one night!

With the car repairs and adjustments completed, Chen Xiangbei and Trulli quickly began the second round of winter testing.

This time, the two tacitly chose "peace," with neither of them deliberately pushing to improve their lap times, and instead conducting tests on various components entirely according to the team's instructions.

There's another saying about winter testing: that is, more emphasis is placed on the number of laps than on lap time.

The reason is that there are no competition rules or weight restrictions during winter testing, so lap times are distorted to some extent.

Conversely, the more laps a car runs, the more tests are conducted, and the more familiar the team and driver become with all aspects of the car, which is beneficial for performing well in official races.

If it weren't for the floral fabric making, there would never have been any winter testing showdown.

As the TF110 race car once again raced on the Circuit de Catalunya, the team's engineers, including Bob Bell, stood in front of the monitoring screens, their eyes fixed on the changes in engine data.

The judgment that the power was too high was based solely on experience, and Bob Bell couldn't guarantee it was 100% correct.

If reducing power still results in engine failure, then you need to prepare for the worst, such as changing the engine supplier.

This kind of thing is not unprecedented in F1 history, but it is more difficult for smaller teams. Even though HRT has now gathered the strength of three teams, changing the engine will be a hellish test.

On the track, Chen Xiangbei drove smoothly for the first lap, and he kept communicating with the engineering team. There were no abnormalities in the car.

Soon, the second lap, the third lap, the fourth lap...

Chen Xiangbei drove the TF110 race car, continuously increasing the number of laps and gradually making some relatively aggressive driving maneuvers.

The team members' worst fears did not materialize. Both Chen Xiangbei and Trulli reported normal data from the car's sensors, with no signs of an engine failure.

However, at this moment, Bale's expression became somewhat "strange".

He discovered something quite unexpected: despite reducing the engine power so much, the overall speed didn't decrease significantly!

what's the situation?
Even after Bob Bell spent over a decade in the paddock and built two championship-winning cars for Renault, there were still some things he didn't quite understand.

30 horsepower is no small number. In the hybrid racing cars of later generations, you might not be able to catch up with your opponent even if you are driving a DRS. So why does it feel insignificant here?

It was the pit stop tuning that allowed Chen Xiangbei to find his comfort zone and make up for the loss of power with his own team.

Or is the TF110 essentially a race car that doesn't utilize the engine's maximum power output?

“Briatoli, the TF110 is a strange car.”

Almost the instant Bob Bell finished speaking, Oddo chimed in, "The speed is strange."

"You see it too?"

"Yes, the northbound cornering speed hasn't decreased, and the straightaway speed can be compensated for by adjusting the rear wing angle."

"Losing 30 horsepower will have no impact on the North, at least not."

Odette may not understand racing car development, but he knows Chen Xiangbei very well.

This guy's driving style, cornering speed, and the angle of the line during the test drive, etc.

It can be said that he has mastered it thoroughly.

Chen Xiangbei was not affected by the reduced horsepower at all, and the team had not yet given the order to push, which meant that he could theoretically go even faster!

Hearing Oddot's words, Bell's doubts were essentially confirmed.

A look of hesitation crossed his face, but after a moment he said firmly, "Briatoli, I want North to try pushing the limits again."

"you sure?"

Bale was quite conservative before, but now he has suddenly changed his personality.

"I'm sure I've misunderstood the design concept of the TF110 prototype."

Bob Bell may not have been as talented as Newey, but he was by no means mediocre either.

By a twist of fate, he discovered that, thanks to the exhaust diffuser, the race car's maximum power output does not necessarily equate to its fastest speed.

Conversely, the output mode, combined with the torque curve and aerodynamics, produces unexpected results.

Many things can only be verified through testing.

How could a design director possibly be timid and hesitant? For them, being slow is equivalent to failure!
"OK."

Briatore nodded, then gave Chen Xiangbei the instruction: "North, push it around once."

"Push it around once?"

Chen Xiangbei countered with a question: the convoy had been emphasizing engine protection all along, so why was the completely opposite instruction suddenly given?

"That's right, use your speed and push it around once."

“COPY.”

Without much questioning, Chen Xiangbei gave a firm answer.

Although he couldn't see the complete data on the race car and engine, he could feel that the TF110 race car was easier and more comfortable to drive.

To avoid being misled, Chen Xiangbei really wanted to challenge the limits of racing.

However, considering the current situation of the team, they had no choice but to suppress their restless thoughts.

Now that Briatore is telling himself he can “drive fast,” what is there to hesitate about?
With a throttle input, Chen Xiangbei crossed the starting line and once again began his all-out speed.

His aggressive approach attracted the attention of many engineers at the maintenance depot. After all, the HRT team had already experienced an engine failure once, and now they were pushing forward at full speed again. Did they really not intend to complete the entire winter test?
"Driver Bei pushed again; the Chinese kid is really passionate."

"Has the HRT team solved the engine failure problem? It seems their R&D capabilities are quite good."

"Given the intensity of HRT's testing, we'd probably need to prepare ten power units to meet the demand."

Compared to the average engineer who watched the show, Newey of the Red Bull team gradually became serious.

He vaguely realized that the HRT team's R&D team had already figured out the essence of how the power unit and the exhaust diffuser work together; otherwise, they wouldn't be conducting such aggressive racing tests.

This can be seen from Chen Xiangbei's cornering speed. In just the first few corners, the Chinese kid's speed has already surpassed last year's pole position!
If all the speculations are true, then driver North's lap time will be outrageous!
(End of this chapter)