"Zhang, you are such a genius!" Ross Brown was holding a financial report in his hand and continued: "The sponsorship plan you came up with to lower the sponsorship fee and increase the championship bonus is really brilliant! Although we The sponsorship fee received was much lower than expected, but the additional bonuses we received in the last race have completely exceeded the lost sponsorship fee.”
"It seems that the team's recent operating expenses should be no problem!" Zhang Guan said.
"The basic operating expenses are no problem, but the research and development aspects are still not enough. Now every team is working hard to research their own double-layer diffusers. It is foreseeable that our advantage will become smaller and smaller. I also We don’t know how long the advantage of our car will be maintained, so if we want to maintain it, we must invest more money in research and development." Ross Brawn said.
"Has the main research and development direction been determined? Develop new aerodynamic kits?" Zhang Guan asked.
"No! The development of aerodynamic kits must be based on wind tunnel experiments. This season's rules have restricted wind tunnel testing, so I am not going to develop new aerodynamic kits. I want to speed up the kinetic energy recovery system. The speed of development. I hope that our car can be equipped with a kinetic energy recovery system as soon as possible, preferably before the Italian Grand Prix. After all, it is an extra 20 horsepower, which is very advantageous when running on a high-speed track like Monza. ." Ross Brown said.
Historically, after Ross Brawn acquired the Honda team, he did not use the kinetic energy recovery system throughout the season. The main reason was that he had no money for research and development. Therefore, in the first half of the season, the Brown Racing Team relied on the double-layer diffuser to achieve a crushing advantage. In the second half of the season, after other teams also developed double-layer diffusers, the Brown Racing Team became A docile sheep.
Nowadays, the team's funds are more abundant, and Zhang Guan's ability to attract money is also stronger, so Ross Brawn will of course choose to invest the money in the research and development of new technologies.
The sport of racing is indeed a bottomless pit of money. Even if your team has achieved first place and has a crushing advantage, there are still many areas where you can spend your money. go out.
…
After the China Grand Prix, all teams rushed to Bahrain immediately to prepare for the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 26.
The Bahrain Circuit is a high-speed track with only 12 turns in total, and there are many medium- and high-speed turns, as well as four relatively long straights. This track is also a track built in the desert. If you look at it from the sky, you will find that it is surrounded by a yellow desert.
For the audience, this track is also a very boring track. The characteristics of the track are not clear enough and the technical requirements for the drivers are not high. As long as the car is fast enough, there is a great chance to surpass the opponent. Moreover, the track is not dangerous enough and violent accidents will not occur, so the possibility of uncertain events is very small.
It is almost impossible to have a rain match in Bahrain. In Bahrain this season, the temperature can reach 30 degrees and the track temperature can exceed 40 degrees. The racing tires can enter the best condition relatively quickly.
High temperature is the biggest difficulty that riders have to face. At the same time, riders also have to face another difficulty, and that is wind.
The Bahrain track is built in the desert with no shelter, which means there will be cross winds.
Cross winds are dangerous to high-speed vehicles, especially vans, buses, and canvas-covered trucks. Due to their high center and large side area, they will deviate from the direction of travel when exposed to cross winds. causing danger. Therefore, highways have isolation zones to prevent lateral cross winds.
A racing car that pursues grip like Formula One will naturally not be overturned by the wind, but cross winds will affect the aerodynamics of the car, which may be beneficial or harmful.
For China Power's racing cars, they are actually very suitable for this track. The performance of Mercedes-Benz's engines on high-speed tracks is not inferior to Ferrari's, and the double-layer diffuser can also help the racing cars in corners.
Friday's practice session was very dull, and each team was debugging their own cars. The only news that was considered news was that the Toyota team activated their kinetic energy recovery system in this race. They became the first in the "Diffuser Gang". A fleet of vehicles equipped with a kinetic energy recovery system.
Before qualifying started on Saturday afternoon, the air temperature in Bahrain had reached 38 degrees Celsius, and the track temperature was as high as 51 degrees Celsius, which made many drivers feel uncomfortable. At a high altitude of 38 degrees, sitting in a small racing space, wearing a racing suit and helmet, this is obviously a kind of torture.
In the first practice session, Zhang Guan quickly ran a timed lap and immediately drove the car back to the garage. His helmet and racing suit prevented him from feeling the coolness of the wind at all. On the contrary, the high temperature of 38 degrees was Real things.
1 minute 32 seconds 978, this was Zhang Guan’s score in the first qualifying session, and this result ranked fourth among all drivers, which was enough for him to successfully advance to the second qualifying session.
In the second qualifying session, Zhang Guan also only ran two punches before returning to the pit area. His time was 1:32.822, which was enough to guarantee him promotion.
Compared with the previous rounds, Zhang Guan's qualifying results have obviously dropped significantly. In the previous qualifying rounds, Zhang Guan could get a lead of more than 0.5 seconds every time. Today, Zhang Guan is ahead of the first two. Didn't get first place in every festival.
Of course, this is also related to the climate. The weather here even made Zhang Guan have the urge to abandon the game.
After the two qualifying sessions, the temperature had risen to 40 degrees Celsius.
In the third qualifying session, Zhang Guan set the fastest lap three times in a row. He even ran the fastest lap within 1 minute and 34 seconds. However, on the last lap, Zhang Guan's performance was surpassed by two cars from the Toyota team. Among them, Toyota Team's Trulli's time was 1 minute 33 seconds 431, another driver of Toyota Team Glock's time was 1 minute 33 seconds 712, and Zhang Guan ranked third with 1 minute 33 seconds 995.
This was also the first time that Zhang Guan failed to get the pole position after retiring from the previous qualifying session.
The Toyota team won the pole position again after the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix, and it was also the first time in the team's history that it started in the front row.
Starting fourth was Red Bull Racing's Vettel, fifth was McLaren's Hamilton, Zhang Guan's teammate Barrichello was sixth, followed by Renault's Alonso and Ferrari's Massa.
After climbing out of the car, Zhang Guan ran directly to the air outlet of the air conditioner, while Ross Brown walked over quickly.
"Trulli's time was 1 minute 33 seconds 431, which was more than 0.5 seconds faster than me. How did he run so fast? Is the kinetic energy recovery system so effective?" Zhang Guandang faced the air conditioning outlet. Asked.
"It shouldn't be the effect of the kinetic energy recovery system. They must be carrying ultra-light fuel. I think they will start on super-soft tires in tomorrow's race, and then they will pit for tire changes about 10 laps later!" Ross Brown answered.
The second chapter is delivered. Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival. I wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival in advance! Special thanks to book friends Muzi Xiaodao and Dawang for sending me to read the 10,000-point prize!
(End of chapter)