How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 878 - 348: W13B
Toto didn't respond but sat in his seat, arms crossed, thinking quietly for a moment.
Then he said, "Got it, I have work to do, so I'll leave first."
Brandin nodded and stood up, saying, "Alright, if there's anything else, feel free to contact me anytime."
Toto nodded and then took the W13 documents with him.
However, once he returned to his office, Toto picked up the phone and called Mike Elliott, who was working at the team factory.
"Boss?"
"Mike, come to my office."
"Now? Okay, I'll be there in five minutes."
Four minutes later, Elliott walked into Toto's office: "Boss, you called for me?"
"Sit," Toto gestured towards the chair in front of him.
Once Elliott sat down, Toto handed him a new document and said, "Put the development work of the W13 on hold for now." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Receiving the document from Toto, Elliott was a bit confused. Not having him oversee the completion and development of the new season's car in the factory, bringing him over just for this?
He immediately began to reflect, wondering if something in his recent work was not up to par, perhaps leading Toto to plan on removing him before the start of the '22 season.
I haven't done anything wrong lately, why get rid of me?
Then he saw what Toto handed him was a budget approval document, granting a budget of 5 million US Dollars.
Even with this amount in hand, Elliott was still puzzled because the budget cap for all F1 teams is strictly limited to 145 million US Dollars.
So for all teams, this money is definitely not a small amount.
This money could even directly enable a major upgrade to a critical part of the car.
Just as Elliott was curious about why Toto would allocate him this money and what exactly it was for, Toto's next words left Elliott's mind in a swirl.
"I'm a bit worried that there might be a problem with the design concept of this season's car, so I want you to put aside most of the improvements for the W13 for now. During this period before winter testing starts, based on the current car, redesign a set of side pods and floor."
Hearing these words, Elliott's originally bewildered mind froze for a moment, and then he involuntarily twitched the corner of his mouth.
Just a moment ago, Elliott thought the 5 million was a bit much, but now he's starting to get a headache. Not to mention why Toto suddenly had such an idea, but if he really followed Toto's instructions, this amount of money was obviously not enough for what Toto demanded.
And with only a month left before the 2022 winter test, he wasn't Doraemon, who could just pull out a miraculous gadget from his pocket.
To redesign a floor and side pods, let alone a month, even six months would be considered short, and the budget given was seriously insufficient!
Of course, besides the frantic complaints in his heart, Elliott was also a bit surprised that Toto also noticed the design flaws in the W13.
Of course, Elliott did not question Toto's decision. If Toto could see there was a design problem with the car and talked to him about it, and then he stood out to express doubt, wouldn't that mean he knew less about car design than Toto?
If other engineers in the team said this, it might not be a big deal, but as the technical director of the team, Elliott couldn't say that.
Moreover, Elliott dared not mention the issue of time and budget, because he also understood that due to the budget cap constraints, it's impossible for the team to invest in car development as lavishly as before, and probably Toto was feeling even worse than he was.
So, after receiving Toto's task, Elliott just hesitantly said, "Do I really have to step away now?"
Toto nodded resolutely and said, "Yes, exactly you.
And from now on, you will have full responsibility for the design of these two critical components and won't need to report to Allison anymore."
"What about Allison then?"
"He will continue to perfect the W13."
"Got it, I alone..."
"You can take a quarter of the design department's staff with you."
"Alright, then when should I start the development work for the new components?"
"Now."
...
After Elliott left, Toto called in Allison to discuss this matter.
Allison agreed to Toto's arrangement without much hesitation.
Neither of them showed any emotional fluctuations from having this grenade shifted away or having to take on a new grenade.
This was actually because the internal atmosphere of Mercedes was too good.
After all, they had been winning consistently over the years, and it could be said that because they kept winning races, all internal conflicts within the Mercedes team were suppressed by victory.
As a result, a culture of non-blame arose within the Mercedes team, meaning that if a staff member made a mistake, their leader and the team executives would not hold them accountable, and would even proactively help with the clean-up.
As long as they don't make different mistakes in the future, it will be fine.
Therefore, the two high-level technical executives at Mercedes accepted this matter quite calmly, without any feeling of happiness or dissatisfaction.
And Elliott wasn't worried about the lack of time and budget, as long as he tries his best to do well within the given timeline, but if he doesn't fully meet Toto's requirement, he won't be scolded or have his salary deducted either.
