ctnovel Chapter 69 Dolphin Jump: I Will Bring My Talent to Zhang Meiben Again
Chapter 69 Dolphin Jump: I Will Bring My Talent to Zhang Meiben Again
It's here! The Azerbaijan Grand Prix!
The history of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is not long.
It signed a contract with F1 in 2014, was first held in 2016 as the European Grand Prix, and was renamed the Azerbaijan Grand Prix the following year; it was suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic, and resumed the following year.
The tournament has produced many memorable moments in its short history.
Kimi's steering wheel in 17, Red Bull's two cars crashing and retiring in 18, Leclerc becoming stupid in 19, Mercedes' mysterious little button in 21... truly, there are countless extraordinary people among them!
Perhaps it is because it produces dramatic moments almost every year that some racing fans consider the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan to be a track that will inevitably deliver a spectacular race.
The layout of this street track is quite unique.
The track is 6.003 kilometers long, making it the longest street circuit in the F1 calendar.
Street racetracks are inevitably paved with ordinary public road asphalt, which is inferior to professional racetracks in terms of grip and surface smoothness. The Baku racetrack also has a large number of road joints and manhole covers, making it even bumpier than Monaco.
For Mercedes, who suffered from a bumpy ride in Monaco, the road conditions in Baku are extremely unfriendly... Hopefully, they can solve the mechanical bump problems of the car at this race.
The track contains 20 corners – 7 low-speed corners, 6 medium-speed corners, and 7 high-speed corners.
The section between Turn 16 and Turn 1 is almost entirely full throttle, with an extremely long full throttle period, the longest on the calendar.
Of particular note is Turn 8 (Castle Bend), also known as the Stupid Bend. This corner is the narrowest on the F1 calendar, requiring extremely high precision in the cornering line. One wrong move and you could repeat the Stupid Bend.
Meanwhile, the section between Turn 8 and Turn 12 is a unique section of the Baku circuit, a section of old town road that was directly converted from a medieval cobblestone road, making it narrow and bumpy.
The track has two Drs section. The Drs section between Turn 20 and Turn 1 is located in that super long full-throttle section, where the straight top speed is terrifying - Bottas once set a straight top speed of 378 km/h here in 2016, which is still the highest top speed record for an F1 car.
The track layout is excellent, half Monaco and half Monza.
Clearly, this track presents a comprehensive challenge to both drivers and cars.
It tests not only driving precision but also tuning ability. How to balance straight-line speed and cornering downforce is a problem that drivers must consider and solve.
On this track, the straightaways are incredibly fast, so cars with powerful engines have a relative advantage. However, to maximize straightaway performance, cars must be tuned for low drag, which undoubtedly puts a strain on their aerodynamic efficiency.
The teams and drivers certainly cannot handle this track normally.
Drivers who don't practice hundreds of times in simulators probably won't feel confident on the track; teams that don't make some upgrades at this race might just underperform.
Several teams made upgrades to their cars to varying degrees at this race:
Red Bull modified the floor, upgraded the front brake cooling system, and introduced a Baku-exclusive low-drag rear wing.
Ferrari also introduced a low-load rear wing and redesigned the rearview mirror mounts, slightly improving the car's aerodynamic efficiency.
Mercedes introduced low-drag front and rear wings, added deflectors below the side mirrors, and small winglets below the sidepods in an attempt to optimize the car's aerodynamic efficiency.
The Alfa Romeo team has recently focused on improving the car's stability and has not been willing to do much upgrading work, only optimizing the front wing and spars.
……
Upon entering the first training session, Kakuta still failed to get started.
Everyone knows this track is a test for drivers, so Townche and Gasly certainly need to make the most of every minute of practice.
A track that tests a driver can be an excellent stage for outstanding drivers to show off their skills, or it can be an important battleground for mediocre drivers to compete for the crown of the sheet metal king.
Before Mick, the current "King of Bodywork" who had just achieved two Haas milestones in Monaco, could even make a move, the Haas race car was already terrified (coolant leak) and collapsed on the track.
That's nothing compared to the legendary director Latifi's car, which was so terrified by him that it suffered a heart attack (engine failure) and died on the spot.
Although young master Stroll went off the track, he probably didn't want to compete for the title of "bodywork king," because after he went off the track, he only got stuck in the gravel area and there was no damage to the car.
Speaking of which, the young man also had a glorious period in Baku – the 17 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he brought home a P3. That was the young man's first podium finish in his professional career.
Although the young master hasn't performed in Baku since 17, we still hope he can have a pretty good performance in Azerbaijan this year.
Although Mercedes did not participate in the competition for the title of "King of Bodywork," the Mercedes race car suffered extremely severe dolphin jumps, which greatly affected the car's performance.
Although the Baku circuit is also bumpy, the bounce that Mercedes cars exhibited on this track was not just mechanical bounce like in Monaco, but a real dolphin jump.
It is clear that the dolphin jump problem that everyone in the paddock thought Mercedes had solved at the Spanish Grand Prix has not actually been solved.
Hopefully, Mercedes can resolve or alleviate the dolphin jump before qualifying, but based on past experience, it is unlikely that Mercedes can resolve or alleviate the dolphin jump before qualifying.
During the second practice session, perhaps fearing that the car would be too frightened to participate in the race, neither Mick nor Laco pushed themselves too hard.
Albon, who has never participated in the battle for the title of "King of Sheet Metal," suddenly became interested. He scraped against the wall at Turn 17 and suffered a broken right front suspension.
After three training sessions, no one tried to compete for the title of "King of Sheet Metal," probably because if they focused on sheet metal now, they might not be able to keep up with the rankings.
In the three practice sessions, VfL and Red Bull consistently ranked at the top of the lap time leaderboard;
Mercedes, which has never been able to solve its jumping problem, continued to underperform. In the first and second PBs, they were not only slower than Tontard, but also slower than Adrien. In the third PB, Adrien was eliminated, and Norris, Ricciardo, and Gasly all moved up to between Tontard and Russell, who set the fastest lap time for Mercedes in the third PB.
To reiterate, while practice data may not be very valuable, dolphin jumps are highly valuable.
Perhaps we can summarize the events surrounding the death of the emperor in Azerbaijan.
As for the cupping king... his results may no longer be important; it would be good enough if his back could hold on and finish the rest of the competition.
The qualifying matches began two hours after the end of the third practice session.
With an air temperature of 25°C and a track temperature of 38°C, the track temperature is undoubtedly much milder compared to the Miami Circuit and the Barcelona Circuit.
The track temperature is much milder, but the track difficulty is much greater than that of the Miami Circuit and the Barcelona Circuit.
Half Monaco, half Monza, requiring both precise maneuvering and high-speed driving, the qualifying race is far more exciting than those with relatively simple layouts.
The drama level might also be much higher.
The layout of this track is prone to accidents, especially in qualifying races where every second counts and every second counts. A moment's inattention can lead to an accident.
Who will speed ahead unimpeded? Who will repeat the mistakes of the stupid?
Ranked Season Q1! Let's get started!
Tang Che: "Radio check."
Mattia: "Loud and clear."
Tang Che drove the AT03, equipped with red tires, out of the pit garage and onto the maintenance lane to queue for exit.
Although this track has a narrow section, it's long! Unlike Monaco, there's no need to worry about congestion, so there's no need to rush to be the first to exit the station.
This track doesn't wear down tires much, and the tire compound provided by Pirelli is relatively soft, especially the soft tires which have the softest compound.
But even the softest tires can allow you to complete two laps on this track.
Tang Che exited the pits and drove onto the track, first doing an exit lap to warm up the tires and charge the battery at the same time.
Since it's the era of hybrid vehicles, there must be batteries, motors, and energy recovery systems, so drivers naturally need to do some energy deployment work as well.
Drivers must deploy their energy according to the team's instructions during the start lap.
Mattia: "Set the ERS recycling to the highest setting."
Tang Che: "copy".
Mattia: "Battery charge 75%, battery temperature normal. Right front tire temperature 55℃, slightly cold, needs extra care."
Tang Che: "copy".
Mattia: "Battery at 96%, all tires are ready to go. We're almost at the starting line, please switch to qualifying mode and deploy full power."
Tang Che: "copy".
Tang Che switched to ranked mode and crossed the finish line.
Mattia: "Push! Push! Push!"
After exiting Turn 2 and passing the DRRS activation point, Tang Che activates DRRS, and the battery releases its full power!
The captivating moments of Honda engines!
Since it was his first flight lap, Tangche didn't push his limits in the stupid corner (turn 8) or the narrow corners after it, but instead seized every opportunity to recover energy to prepare for the long full-throttle stretch that followed.
Exiting Turn 16, full throttle! Full throttle! Full throttle!
After exiting Turn 20 and passing the DRRS activation point, Tang Che activated DRRS again! The battery once again released its full power!
Here we go again! The captivating moments of Honda engines!
Crossing the finish line!
"1:43.945, temporarily listed on p1..." Mattia said, "Perez has come up, 1:43.198; Verstappen has also come up, 1:42.938."
It's normal that it can't outrun the Mars rover; there's no need to get upset. The next step is to calmly work on the cooling loop and prepare for the next flight.
Mattia: "Immediately shut down the ERS deployment and switch recovery back to the highest setting. Tire temperature is 135°C; the goal is to reduce it to around 100°C..."
After Taunter drove for a while, Mattia gave another instruction: "There's a slow car ahead, keep your distance and don't follow."
Those who frequently drive F1 cars know that sucking in exhaust current is detrimental to the heat dissipation of a race car, so on the cooling lap, you need to keep a distance from the slower cars in front.
Not only did Mattia give instructions, but he also continued to report the Mars team's scores: "Sainz 1:43.897, Leclerc 1:43.225..."
Before Mattia could finish speaking, Toncher asked in the TR, "How's Mercedes?"
马蒂亚：「汉密尔顿1:44.517，暂列p8；拉塞尔还在做飞行圈……1:43.781，上到p4。」
It seems the emperor hasn't died yet!
It doesn't matter if Tang Che is outpaced by the Emperor. Q1 is not the time to compete for speed; Q3 is the time to compete for speed. The primary goal of Q1 is to advance to Q2.
After completing one cooling lap, Tang Che continued with another cooling lap—it's good that you can do two laps on C4 soft tires, but it's best to do two cooling laps before doing the second one.
Two cooling-off laps also give the team more time to observe. If they are sure that their performance on the first flight lap will secure their advancement to Q2, then they don't need to rush on the second flight lap.
Mattia: "We need to do a second flight lap. Please switch to qualifying mode before the starting line."
Tang Che switched back to ranked mode and started flying laps after crossing the line.
This time, Tang Che's line was a little more aggressive. Although it was still some distance from the extreme line, it had already made a significant improvement in lap time.
Mattia: "1:43.000, a good lap, only slower than the four Martian cars from Red Bull and Ferrari, definitely enough to advance to Q2... Stroll crashed, yellow flag for the second timeout, watch your speed on the return lap."
The young master's collision with the wall did not cause too much damage to the car, so after straightening the car, he insisted on staying on the track.
Then, right in front of Tanger, the young man crashed again at Turn 17, this time the entire front wing was knocked off, causing a red flag.
The young master eventually joined the battle for the crown of the sheet metal king.
This doesn't affect Tang Che, because Tang Che's lap was originally a pit stop return lap; what's affected are the riders who were trying to complete a flying lap, as their flying laps were directly interrupted; with only two and a half minutes left in Q1, these riders whose flying laps were interrupted only have one last chance to complete a flying lap.
Fortunately, the track is quite long, so even if many people try to make the flight lap, it shouldn't be too crowded.
The red flag ended, and Townter did not leave the pit, while Gasly left to complete his final flight loop.
Q1 ended, and the final times of the four guys in the Mars group were all 1:42+. Tang Che was the only one who came close to the Mars group. The fastest guy after Tang Che, Gasly, was still 0.268 seconds slower than Tang Che.
拉塞尔1:43.754，位列p9；汉密尔顿1:43.939，位列p11。
The F1 illusion suggests the emperor hasn't died. (crossed out)
Regardless, both the Emperor and the Cupping King have advanced to Q2, and should be able to reach P3.
The foundation of the eight-time champion dynasty is so profound that even though they have fallen out of the Mars Group, they are still at a level that many Earth Group teams can only dream of.
Guess who p8 is?
Zhou Guanyu!
The car setup went smoothly this time, and Zhou Guanyu's improvement became apparent; his lap time was 0.25 seconds faster than Russell's!
While a large part of the reason for the emperor's demise was W13's constant elbowing, the emperor was still an emperor, and not every rookie could easily surpass him!
Q2 starts with Townche and Gasly starting at the same time, both using the old red tires. They plan to run one lap on the old red tires first, and if they can secure the advancement, they will not use the new tires; if they cannot secure the advancement, they will switch to the new tires.
After the exit lap, Tang Che began his first flight lap. This time, the tire performance was not as good as the Q1, but the line was closer to the limit than the Q1. With the two opposing forces, the lap time was almost the same as the Q1's second flight lap.
Mattia: "1:42.999, you can go in first."
This lap time should secure a place in Q3, but to be on the safe side, it's best to be prepared to aim for an even faster flight time.
Tang Che changed into new red tires at the station, ready to leave again at any time.
Ultimately, they were unable to leave the station.
Q2 ended, and only four players from the Mars group were faster than Tang Che, while Gasly was still in P6.
Cupping King p7, Emperor p10.
The emperor almost died completely.
Zhou Guanyu is still faster than the Emperor, ranking P9, and has advanced to Q3 for the first time in his professional career!
Zhou Guanyu's teammate Bottas was eliminated in Q2.
Q3 starts, it's time to show the real speed!
Ten drivers have been fitted with brand new soft tires.
Exit the station! The decisive battle of Q3!