F1: I was born to be useful, and you are all destined for greatness.

Although the Saudi Grand Prix was completed safely, the risk of being affected by the war still exists, so neither the teams nor the drivers wanted to stay in Jeddah for long.

After taking a typical ice bath and reviewing the match, Tang Che and Tang Jingqing boarded Verstappen's private plane and left Jeddah overnight.

There are two weeks between the Saudi Grand Prix and the next race, the Australian Grand Prix. During these two weeks, drivers can only rest for a day or two at most. The rest of the time must be devoted to team work and daily training. Some drivers also have to squeeze in time to participate in commercial activities.

Both Tangcher and Verstappen share the same attitude towards business activities—they rarely attend them.

However, Tang Che doesn't have any commercial activities to attend right now. After he shone in the paddock at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last season, several brands approached him wanting to collaborate, but he and Tang Jingqing both declined.

According to Tang Jingqing, cooperation is possible, but only after Tang Che achieves greater success and commercial value. Tang Jingqing simply doesn't value the current cooperation fee.

Tang Che himself is completely indifferent to whether or not there are brand collaborations. For someone like him, money is no longer the primary pursuit; realizing his self-worth is the primary pursuit.

Tang Che's self-worth is naturally achieved by winning everything on the track.

Tang Che: Business activities only slow me down! I'm itching to drive... Quick! Let's play a simulator game!

Verstappen: copy.

Alright, it's about time, let's go, race Melbourne!

Melbourne, throughout history... oh, there are no history here... Melbourne has been the host city of the Australian Grand Prix since 1996, and since then, the Australian Grand Prix has served as the opening race for F1 for 23 consecutive seasons.

The Australian Grand Prix was suspended for the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but returned for the 2022 season with a heavily renovated track.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who temporarily left the race at the beginning of the season due to a positive COVID-19 test, will return for this race as an Aston Martin official driver in his first race of the 2022 season. We hope he can finish the race smoothly.

There are many Chinese living in Melbourne, and many Chinese media outlets have also come to Melbourne for this competition week.

On the media day before the match, Tang Che met with reporters from CCTV and the Flower Company again.

The reporter from the flower company even arranged for Tang Che to have another exclusive interview after the main competition.

Tang Che is perfectly acceptable.

Before the practice race, let's first understand the characteristics of the track.

The renovated Albert Park circuit is 5.278 kilometers long, has 14 corners, and has increased to 4 DRS zones.

This modification completely changed the track's character, transforming it from a low-speed street race where overtaking was difficult into a medium-to-high-speed arena, increasing lap times by a full two seconds.

All corners have been widened by 2 to 4 meters, and each corner has at least two effective racing lines, making it much easier to follow and overtake other cars.

The newly laid asphalt is the biggest variable. On Friday, the grip is only two-fifths of the normal level, but it will gradually improve over the weekend as the rubber accumulates. Friday and Sunday are practically two different tracks.

The combination of long straight sections and continuous high-speed curves is suitable for medium to low downforce tuning.

For this race, Tang Che didn't dare let Kakuta participate in practice – the newly laid asphalt had low friction, and the track had many high-speed corners, making accidents very easy.

Only two races into the season, Tontatta's B-class car has already been involved in two accidents, raising serious concerns about its reliability. If Kakuta were to crash it, who knows what kind of malfunctions might occur after repairs?

During the first training session, Tang Che had only been running on the track for a short while when Perez ahead of him dropped his gear.

Perez's car dropped a piece of debris, triggering a red flag across the track.

After the red flag was removed, Tangcher never went on the track again.

The track's grip conditions are completely irrelevant for qualifying and the race; driving on it is like sailing a boat, and several drivers have gone off the track.

Although Tang Che was a steady boatman, this car was prone to dolphin-like leaps! Driving it too much was really tiring, so it was better not to do anything pointless.

As the first practice session was about to end, Vettel's car broke down due to engine trouble.

The four-time champion, wearing a helmet and riding a small motorcycle borrowed from Matthew, returned to the repair area in a very stylish manner, and was then fined 5000 euros by the FIA.

During the second practice session, Vettel's teammate Stroll also lost his gear on the track, with his front wheel cover falling off and causing a red flag.

But it was a minor issue, as it was the only practice session of the entire event and barely affected the drivers' practice rhythm or Tang Che's setup.

"The dolphin jump is still a serious problem, and the chassis rigidity needs to be improved."

"Lower the rear wing angle a bit more... So what if the cornering stability is lower? This car's cornering stability wasn't very high to begin with anyway."

……

One hour before the third practice session, the FIA ​​suddenly announced the cancellation of the Dr.S. zone between Turns 8 and 9, citing significant safety risks associated with operating Dr.S. in that area.

The third practice session is a practice race to verify and ultimately adjust the car's settings. How do you verify it? Just give it a push and you'll know.

However, if you're not very familiar with the car or the track, it's advisable not to push too hard, otherwise... Vettel went off the track at Turn 10! And crashed into the wall!

The four-time champion, who was driving a ground effect car for the first time, was not very familiar with the vehicle. He broke down shortly after the first practice session and missed the second one, so he was really not familiar with the track.

Even if you're familiar with the car and the track, it's best not to push too hard, otherwise... Stroll went off the track at Turn 11 and crashed into the wall!

The pressure is on Martin's engineering team: can they fix both cars before qualifying?

Unfortunately, only the Stroll was repaired.

Vettel stood in the P room, his eyes gleaming with longing.

A quadruple champion needs a miracle.

Given the accident rate shown on this track in the three practice sessions, a miracle might be possible for the four-time champion.

Given the accident rate observed on the track in the three practice sessions, Tanger took his car onto the track at the start of Q1.

The main concern is the potential for multiple accidents. If there are too many accidents, Q1 will be fragmented, and the drivers who enter the race later may not have enough time to set a fast enough lap time.

One lap for warming up the tires, then immediately start doing flight laps.

First lap... Three-stage purple finish! ...1:19.459, currently in first place!

The first driver to achieve the flying lap will definitely get three purple laps and will be in first place for now. (doge)

Without stopping, I completed the second flight circle... and still managed to clear the purple area in three stages! ...1:19.112! Currently in first place on the field.

Other teams were doing flight laps this time, but they were all Earth group cars, and they didn't push hard enough in the first lap, so none of them were as fast as Tang Che.

All the drivers completed their first flying lap, some even two. Tang Che's second flying lap time ranked third overall, and he was nearly 2 seconds ahead of the 16th-ranked driver.

With Tang Che's result, he's basically locked in Q2. He probably won't need to do a third flight lap and can go straight to the station.

In the last two minutes of Q1, all the drivers still on the track were either preparing to or already doing their final flight... Latifi and Stroll crashed!

The miracle Vettel needed has arrived!

The collision between Latifi and Stroll resulted in a red flag, buying Vettel a precious 15 minutes. Those extra 15 minutes were enough for Aston Martin to repair Vettel's car.

All I can say is that Director La continued to perform consistently well.

Vettel made a flying lap in the final stage of Q1, and although he finished p18 and missed Q2, it was better than starting p20 without a result.

Speaking of P20, Stroll was relegated from P20 to P20 due to a collision with Latifi.

It cannot be selected.

Tangche ultimately advanced to Q2 as a p5 player.

Nothing happened in Q2. Tang Che got a score of 1:19.000 and still advanced as a P5.

Judging from their performance in Q1 and Q2, Mercedes seems to have faltered today.

The cupping king and the racing emperor did not beat Tontard, Alonso, Bottas, and Norris in Q1, and they did not beat Tontard, Alonso, and Norris in Q2.

Cupping King/Racing Emperor: The Q3 hasn't even been driven yet, how can you slander someone's innocence out of thin air?

No Q3 car was used in the pit lane; all Q3 cars went straight to the track from the start.

Because the P room is located at the back, Tang Che also had to queue at the back when exiting the station. But it didn't have much of an impact; at most, it would just mean he'd be doing his flight a little later.

There are only ten cars on the Q3 track, so even if you do the flight lap later, it won't be too congested. Besides, everyone who can get to Q3 is a pro, so the chance of an accident is very small.

The Mars team was the first to complete their flight laps, with Verstappen and Perez demonstrating a terrifying lap time that was 0.6 seconds faster than the fastest lap ever recorded by the Earth team in Q2, achieved by Tanger!

Leclerc's first lap was 0.1 seconds faster!

Perhaps Red Bull and Ferrari are playing F0.5, while other teams are playing F1.

Alonso: That's not necessarily true!

The leader clocked purple in the second period! Is he going to challenge the dominance of the Mars Group?! He... he went off the track and crashed into the wall at Turn 11!

"Red Flag! Fernando crashed! Red Flag!" Mattia warned Tanger in the TR. "Slow down, then drive back."

Tang Che: "Fuck!!!!"

Tang Che: I'm a newbie in the flying circle, bro!

Sainz: Can you be worse off than me? The moment I crossed the finish line, the red flag was raised, and my result was immediately disqualified.

Hongqi: Everyone, drive your cars back to the pit lane! I know you're unhappy, but these are the rules!

Since things have come to this, let's get to the station.

About ten minutes later, the red flag was removed, the race resumed, and the remaining nine cars lined up to leave the pits again.

Tangche switched to brand new soft tires this time and started by wearing them down once.

After one lap, the tire temperature reached the expected level, and there were four minutes left in the race.

Let's go!

The timeout was green in the first timeout, green in the second timeout, green in the third timeout... 1:18.943, moving up to fourth place overall.

Norris immediately moved up to p4 with a lap time of 1:18.703, pushing Tanger down to p5.

The Mercedes duo, who completed their flight laps before Tanger, both had lap times outside the 1:19 mark, ranking p6 and p7 respectively.

With Townche, Hamilton, and Russell all having enough time to complete one last lap, will the rankings still change?

Mercedes' two cars completed the flight lap first.

Hamilton overtook Tangcher with a lap time of 1:18.825, moving up to p5!

Russell surpassed Tanger with a score of 1:18.933, moving up to p6!

Tang Che... 1:18.815, a 0.01-second victory over Hamilton, returning to P5!

The Alfa Romeo pit lane is on fire: We beat Mercedes! We beat Mercedes!

It's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's also understandable.

After all, this is the Mercedes dynasty that dominated F1 for eight consecutive years! Alfa Romeo is just a mid-table team, and they never even dared to dream of beating Mercedes in qualifying.

In contrast, the Mercedes-Benz Arena, while not exactly gloomy, was certainly very somber.

The team's engineers were starting to have an existential crisis: it was acceptable that they couldn't beat Red Bull or Ferrari, since those teams did solve problems well; it was also acceptable that they couldn't beat McLaren, after all, they were a well-established team; but what the hell was it that they couldn't beat Alfa Romeo?

Toilet Wolf: If I had signed Tang back then...

Tanger: Take your method.

Toilet Wolf: hope Sheng, you... (crossed out! crossed out! crossed out!)

Tanger drove the car to a closed parking area, weighed it, and then was caught by Russell.

"Good job, Tom. Congratulations on starting P5," Russell laughed. "You'd better watch out tomorrow, starting before me."

Tang Che: "You'll have to get past Lewis first."

The racing emperor, the supreme ruler, is hardly willing to play second fiddle to the cupping king on the track. The cupping king is a master of infighting; if the emperor were to challenge him, he would surely give the emperor a historic level of infighting.

"In F1, your biggest enemy is your teammate." — Niki Lauda

Russell shrugged nonchalantly: "We should go do the interviews."

The interviews consisted of quick interviews in the mixed zone, followed by traditional activities such as post-match physiotherapy and post-match debriefing.

As evening approached, Tang Che finally left the hunting grounds and returned to his hotel.

Genshin Impact! Activate! (crossed out)

Tang Che and Jiang Zhiyu don't play Genshin Impact.

Peace Elite! Launch!

Make a voice call before starting – if you use your microphone in the game, your teammates will hear you, but the voice chat in the game is more private.

Jiang Zhiyu: "You performed really well in today's qualifying rounds. Has your plan changed? Are you preparing to compete for the championship?"

Tang Che: "Preparing to compete for P5."

The AT03's potential is limited; even if Tang Che were to blow out the engine, he still couldn't catch up with the Mars Group.

The two Mercedes cars that start after Tontard are Tontard's real rivals and formidable opponents in tomorrow's race!

Tang Che is still at a disadvantage.

First of all, being outnumbered by one is a disadvantage.

Secondly, the fact that the AT03 outperformed the W13 in qualifying does not mean that the AT03 is more powerful than the W13.

Tangche pushed the AT03 to near-out-of-control limits in qualifying, while Hamilton and Russell probably haven't pushed the W13 to its limits yet.

Can you push yourself to the limit in every lap of the race? No! If you push yourself to the limit in every lap, you probably won't even make it halfway through a 58-lap race before you break down.

In order to ensure a stable finish, the lap times in the main race will inevitably be lower than those in qualifying.

The AT03 was pushed to its limits in qualifying, while the W13 was not. Therefore, the W13's lap time drop in the race is likely to be less than the AT03's, meaning the W13 is likely to have a lap time advantage over the AT03 in the race.

In F1, even a 0.05-second advantage on a single lap can be fatal!

Jiang Zhiyu: "What if Mercedes' two teams are locked in an internal battle? They won't have time to deal with anything else, so you can focus on achieving good results."

"That's certainly a possibility," Tang Che said. "But they might not fight amongst themselves. I always have to be mentally prepared for a big battle with Mercedes."

"You're just rambling... You're aiming for P5 at every race, you might end up as fifth in the standings," Jiang Zhiyu laughed. "Then you and Le Kou will be fourth and fifth, and you'll be brothers racing."

"You know," Tanger couldn't do the player's signature move because he was holding his phone, "I've known Leclerc for a long time, that guy is very talented... he'll definitely take off the fourth-place hat."

"Judging from Ferrari's current momentum, Lock & Lock might very well be crowned WDC this year," Jiang Zhiyu said. "So you've decided to bring your talent to Ferrari?"