Chapter 697: Chapter 279: "Autobots" from China

Time ticks away slowly, and the team’s management members didn’t stay long in the P room; they have other work to attend to.

For instance, system debugging, sensor data analysis, and formulating racing adjustment plans and competition strategies.

Being a brand-new track with no precedents for reference, it tests the team’s calibration skills and the correctness of track strategies even more.

Never underestimate the impact of tuning, as its role in F1 can surpass the differences in the driver’s own ability and car performance.

Simply put, the difference in ability among F1 Drivers is far smaller than imagined.

Except for drivers like Ino Yuji, who have never driven and were forced onto the track by Suzuki Aguri, which creates extreme differences.

In other situations, even the strongest driver, Verstappen, when compared with the famous Director La "Latife," on certain tracks with the same good-performing car, the lap speed difference is around one second.

Of course, the premise is that the car is good to drive!

With a car tuned to extremes, Latife might not be able to handle it, and might crash before completing a lap. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

If you are looking for another tuning example, the 24-season comparison between Zhou Guanyu and Bottas is also significant.

Many people in China know the rivalry led to both drivers not sharing tuning data, yet few realize the extent of the impact it has.

Under the premise of shared tuning plans, the qualifying difference between them was 0.122 seconds in 22 and 0.288 seconds in 23.

To be honest, a qualifying difference of around 0.2 seconds between the two drivers was acceptable for Saub Team at the time. After all, Bottas is known as a qualifying master, having proven his absolute speed at Mercedes Team.

Although slightly older with declining condition and competitive ability, Zhou Guanyu, as a rookie driver, was still more or less within reach of catching up.

The hidden danger is the widened qualifying gap in the second year would reduce Zhou Guanyu’s potential valuation and competitiveness in contract renewal.

But by the 24 season, the average qualifying gap soared to over 0.5 seconds!

This means the impact of different tuning plans ranges from 0.2 to 0.3 seconds per lap, possibly even more.

If a team’s engineer calibration is strong and can respond precisely to the driver’s feedback, then it can level the performance gap between cars and create miracles of small teams defeating big teams in the paddock.

Often, when a small team’s results unexpectedly excel on a particular track, it’s because the car’s design style or tuning direction aligns well with the track’s characteristics, achieving extraordinary performance release.

Of course, it could also be a tuning fluke, unexpectedly hitting the jackpot.

Moreover, the impact of team strategy is even more significant, with choices in timing and frequency of pit stops and tire scheme combinations directly affecting the driver’s rankings and final scores.

The reason why the Ferrari Team’s strategy group was mocked as "clowns" by later generations is due to the frequent blunders by the strategy members, not showing correction or heritage worthy of a prestigious team.

If a team can perfect these two aspects, letting a driver of Latife’s level compete with Verstappen might be tough.

But having drivers like Russell and Leclerc, who aren’t too far apart, could take down Verstappen without much issue.

Just as without a good car, Verstappen would struggle against Norris and Piastri.

As time slowly passes, Chen Xiangbei feels a little hungry after training intensely on the simulator, and his whole body aches, signaling it’s time to take a break.

Additionally, the lap timer in the top left corner of the screen stays nearly steady at a lap speed of just over 1 minute and 35.5 seconds, a time comparable to Vettel’s pole position time, theoretically enough for a break.

In reality, there is indeed some gap.

The reason is simple, a simulator is ultimately just a simulator, and the Lingyan Circuit is very complex in reality.

It’s not just about the layout or terrain, but there are also defects in engineering quality.

For example, if the asphalt cracks in a spot and the lowest metal strip on the chassis catches it, it would shave off a layer, leading to a failed post-race inspection.

Potentially sharp sections at asphalt breaks could puncture a speeding F1 tire, acting like a bullet and causing an instant blowout.

Chen Xiangbei’s simulator goal is to significantly exceed Vettel’s pole position time, only then can he defeat his opponents in the actual race. Yet it seems he’s hit some kind of bottleneck period, unable to trigger qualitative changes through quantitative efforts.

Hence, he takes it easy, combining work and leisure might lead to new breakthroughs.

Just as Chen Xiangbei stretches and stands up, he unexpectedly sees Perez standing behind him, with a complex expression on his face.

It’s the first time Perez has seen Chen Xiangbei’s simulator training and the first time witnessing someone tackle a completely unfamiliar track with such fluency and precision.

Even though the final lap speed hasn’t improved much, from Perez’s perspective, he can’t find any flaws in Chen Xiangbei’s driving technique—he’s essentially touched the limits of the track.

Unbelievable, could there really be prodigies in this world?

"Do you need anything?"

Seeing Perez remain silent, Chen Xiangbei took the initiative to ask.

"You... your simulator speed is very fast."

Perez hesitated for a moment, but ultimately praised.