The audience at the scene was amazed again. Originally, everyone thought that Barrichello's result was fast enough, but Zhang Guan was almost 0.1 seconds faster than Barrichello.
What's more important is that, just like the results of the first qualifying session, Force China's cars took the top two spots again.
Zhang Guan had already driven his car back to the pit area, but none of the other cars still fighting on the track could run within 1 minute and 25 seconds.
As time passed, Ferrari's car also returned to the pit area. Although they failed to get the top two, their results were enough to enter the third qualifying session, so there was no need to stay outside and consume them. physical strength.
Several drivers with unsatisfactory results continued to set their fastest laps on the track, but they no longer posed much of a threat to the two cars of Force China.
“It looks like the Force China team took the top two places again in the second practice session!”
"Yes, in this situation, the drivers still running on the track obviously do not have the ability to get within 1 minute and 25 seconds."
“I really didn’t expect that a new team not only took the top two places in the first practice session, but also took the top two spots in the second practice session. And only they could run within 1 minute and 25 seconds. Look! Look, their cars are really fast!"
"It's not just racing. Didn't you see Zhang Guan's driving just now? His skills are also top-notch! Especially the cornering skills, ordinary drivers definitely don't have such great skills."
"The new team and the new driver can have such strong capabilities. It seems that F1 will change this year."
…
The second qualifying session ended. Surprisingly, as a major team, McLaren performed poorly and was eliminated. The two teams, Red Bull and Toyota, performed well and successfully entered the third round of qualifying.
The third qualifying session only lasts 10 minutes, and the drivers are still competing for the fastest speed. The two fastest people can get the front row start for tomorrow's race.
The starting positions of Formula One races are arranged in a diagonal Z shape, with the first place at the front, the second place diagonally behind the first place, and the third place directly behind the first place, which is also the second place. diagonally behind; the fourth place is directly behind the second place... and so on, so when starting, the front of the two drivers is completely empty, they don't have to worry about being blocked by the car in front, while the advantage of the first place is The front position allows you to turn into the first corner earlier.
In addition, the rules also stipulate that in the third qualifying session, the car must use gasoline for the race tomorrow. This rule also makes it impossible for the car to race with light fuel, otherwise there will be no fuel when the race starts tomorrow. Just how much oil to add is a question worthy of consideration.
Add less fuel, the car will be lighter, and the speed will be faster. You can get better results in the third qualifying session, and your starting position will be higher tomorrow. However, the consequence will be that tomorrow's race will be There will be less fuel during the race, so you need to go to the pit station earlier to refuel. On the other hand, if you add more fuel, your qualifying results will definitely be worse, but in tomorrow's race, you can enter the pit station later to refuel, and you can run two more laps on the track.
It takes a lot of time for a racing car to stop for refueling. The speed limit for racing cars in the pit area is 80-100 kilometers (different for each track). This means that others are running 200 to 300 kilometers outside, while the car that goes to refuel can only Run 80 kilometers. At the same time, the refueling process also takes time. From the time you enter the maintenance area, it takes about 20 seconds for a total pit stop to refuel. For a driver, it takes only one lap on the track to gain a tenth of a second advantage. It takes who knows how many laps to catch up in 20 seconds. As long as one more stop is made, it is a waste.
So in this case, the race in which Schumacher made four pit stops and still won the championship is known as a classic. Others pitted once or twice, but Schumacher pitted four times, giving others at least thirty or forty seconds and still winning, which is indeed a classic.
How much fuel to add is like a complicated multiple-choice question for the team. But this is just one of the multiple-choice questions. Another multiple-choice question is the choice of tires.
The rules require that the tires used in the third qualifying session are also the tires used to start the official race the next day, which also requires the team to consider the issue of tire wear. If the tires are worn too much in qualifying, they may fail early in the race the next day. Just imagine that someone else's tires can run 15 laps, but you can only run 10 laps. This means you have to pit five laps early, and 20 seconds are gone.
If the team wants to change tires before the race, it can only replace the tires used in qualifying. That means that in the race, it will definitely have to use a set of second-hand tires. There is no way to use new tires. Of course, if it rains, it's a different matter. For safety in rainy days, you must use rain tires.
The above rules are actually only valid for cars entering the third qualifying session. The previously eliminated cars are only ineligible to participate in the third qualifying session, but they are still eligible to refuel and change tires before the end of qualifying. The effect is equivalent to that they participated in the third qualifying session, but were not in the game. Come on stage. They can fill up the tank, put on new tires and start tomorrow's race. Although the car will be heavier at the start and slower, it will save them one more refueling and gain 20 seconds.
Therefore, in the race, there will be people who start first but end up on the podium. Don’t think this is a magical thing. Maybe he has made one or even two stops less than others.
…
In the pit area, Zhang Guanzheng and Ross Brawn discussed the next fueling and tire strategies.
"In the third qualifying session, super-soft tires are definitely needed. We want to fight for the pole position. We need super-soft tires to increase the speed! The key is how much fuel we need to add. We have to consider that other teams are very likely to I will race with light fuel to compete for a front-row starting position," Ross Brawn said.
"If we also use light fuel, we will definitely be able to start in the front row. Judging from the situation in the second round, we have an advantage of close to 0.5 seconds. I suggest that we use a medium fuel volume." Zhang Guan said into the microphone.
Ross thought for a while: "The wear of super-soft tires this year is worse than we thought. Super-soft tires will show serious graining after 11 or 2 laps, while medium-sized fuel tires can run for 17 or 18 laps. But I’m worried that the super-soft tires won’t be able to hold up for so many laps, and then they will be forced to pit early, and the advantage of medium fuel capacity will not be reflected.”
"I'll put on the medium tires soon, I'll go for a lap and come back right away, so I can replace the used set of medium tires tomorrow! We'll start with the medium tires, as long as the weather tomorrow isn't very hot, it should be It can last more than fifteen rounds." Zhang Guan said.
"Yes, but you have to make sure you get the pole position. If there is a car in front of you and they happen to be using super-soft tires, overtaking will be more difficult." Ross Brawn said.
"No problem, I believe the front row of the car definitely belongs to us!"
(End of chapter)