Car Racing without Money-Chapter 444 - 177: F1’s Unimaginable Difficulty (Part 2)

Chapter 444: Chapter 177: F1’s Unimaginable Difficulty (Part 2)

Adapting to race cars is often seen as an esoteric concept, much like the "feel of the car".

To what extent must one achieve to be considered adapted to the race car?

But for professional drivers, especially top-tier F1 drivers,

adapting to a race car has a very clear standard, which is to seize the vehicle’s window period.

The reason why F1 cars are difficult to drive is because they are extremely "delicate".

This delicacy refers not only to durability and stability in mechanical performance but also to the delicacy during handling.

Take the simplest example of braking, apply slight pressure and it doesn’t brake enough, push harder and the tires lock up.

If the pressure needed to fully press down the brake pedal is 100 kilograms, an F1 driver must apply 56.7 kilograms of force at turn 3, and 72.9 kilograms at turn 5.

That’s right, it’s this extreme; precision to this degree is required to quickly brake to the desired speed without locking the brake discs.

If it were only about complexity and control, it wouldn’t be considered delicate.

F1 cars use special carbon-fiber composite brake discs paired with carbon-ceramic calipers; if the temperature is too low, there’s no braking force, too high, it wears instantly, also reducing braking power.

Drivers must precisely grasp this balance to ensure the brake discs dissipate heat properly without cooling too much.

Then count the optimal working temperature of the tires to ensure they don’t overheat or get too cold.

The most perfect period when all these harsh conditions combine is called the racing window period.

Drivers often push to the limit during this window in qualifying sessions!

How to manage this window depends on the driver utilizing the track’s air intake for cooling.

Later on, Zhou Guanyu and Bottas at the Saub Team would often hear "throttle lifting" from team instructions.

On one hand, because the car’s speed isn’t enough and the fuel load low, this method is needed to get through post-race weighing.

On the other hand, it involves design flaws in the vehicle that require coasting to cool the brakes or tires.

They can’t go all out, acceleration and brakes at full throttle.

Odetto’s statement to Chen Xiangbei was, in a way, a message.

It’s no longer the F3 days; an F1 race typically spans around sixty laps.

For long distances, drivers need to judge when to push and when to conserve tires, seizing the car’s best condition temperature window.

This window isn’t static; it varies with every car and track.

This is the essence of drivers adapting to their cars, far beyond just oversteering or understeering.

Why are there at most twenty-four official F1 drivers in the world, with only about ten or so holding their ground on merit excluding pay or entry-level drivers?

The reason lies here: mastering an F1 car is incredibly difficult, exceeding most people’s understanding of vehicles!

"Understood."

Chen Xiangbei comprehended the reasoning, responding simply as he moved his thumb away from the call button.

At this moment, he’s not only focusing on his control but also constantly paying attention to the subtle changes in temperature, steering, grip, harnessing the peak performance window of the car.

The F1 driver standing at the world’s peak is never for lack of a good name!

The car roared down the track, while the engineers in the pit lane pit house were also closely monitoring the speed changes of other teams.

Especially some competing teams, like the veteran powerhouse Ferrari, and the rising challenger Red Bull, curious about the strength of this year’s new recruits in the F1 expansion.

Especially Red Bull team principal Horner, who was staring intently at the monitors.

In terms of team principal achievements, Horner is absolutely among the TOP level, potentially contender for GOTA.

Before entering the F1 field, he built from scratch a team called Arden International that reached the pinnacle of the F3000 races.

Then in ’05, introduced by Marco, he met Red Bull owner Mateschitz and officially took over as principal of this "new army" team.

Moreover, at age 31, Horner was the youngest principal in F1 history!

Being young wasn’t a disadvantage; Horner displayed his extraordinary management and operation skills, as well as his exceptional talent-poaching ability.

That year, through his relationship with driver Coulthard, he poached legendary McLaren designer Newey!

Since then, Red Bull embarked on a path to strength, capturing the champion team title in just five short years, ushering in Vettel’s era of the Red Bull Dynasty, making Horner the youngest championship principal in F1 history.

If Briatore is known for his precise eye in talent, discovering geniuses like Schumacher and Alonso, leading to his legend,

Then Horner is more comprehensive, akin to a hexagon warrior principal.

If there’s any weakness, it’s lacking Hua Bu’s firmness, unable to suppress internal strife.

Horner has a predisposition to traditional management style, focusing on management efficiency without stirring up trouble.

This year’s new F1 drivers’ data, Horner has done a thorough understanding; his evaluation ranks Hulkenberg first, Chen Xiangbei second, and Russian driver Petrov last.

Now, however, Chen Xiangbei’s lap times are almost on par with Rosberg’s, which indeed is somewhat unexpected for him.

Was there a misjudgment on his part, or is the Toyota legacy TF110 prototype car’s performance very strong?