EBE Chapter 53 Weight Loss
Chapter 53 Weight Loss
Just before the start of this match weekend, Gasly and Norris inexplicably got back together.
Without Yuttori's mediation, Yuttori maintained a hands-off attitude from beginning to end.
Perhaps another mutual friend mediated between them, or perhaps they simply talked things out on their own, but in any case, Gasly and Norris made up.
Tang Che: It's great that we've put an end to our past grievances! I feel so relieved!
Even when they hadn't reconciled, and Tang Che had made it clear that he wouldn't get involved in their beef, they would still frequently come to Tang Che to complain about each other, which made it quite difficult for Tang Che to keep his composure.
They made up, and Tang Che at least no longer had to be in that tense state, allowing him to easily enter the weekend of the competition.
The first free practice session was on Friday at 14:00 PM. The air temperature was 29°C and the track temperature was 45.9°C. It was very hot, almost as hot as Miami.
Because this track is a disadvantage for AT03, and because this race is to test the new upgrade package, both Townche and Gasly will personally participate in all three practice sessions.
Kakuta was unable to start with the Alfa Romeo team.
Tang Che drove the upgraded AT03 onto the track, first doing a low-speed installation lap to confirm that the upgraded AT03 was fault-free, and then began to verify whether the new upgrade package had a positive effect.
"The vehicle's balance has improved again, and the weight reduction work has been very effective," Tanger said in TR.
Those who frequently tune cars know that an important way to adjust the car's balance is to adjust the weight distribution. In current F1, adjusting the weight distribution is almost always done in parallel with reducing the car's weight.
新规赛季，各家赛车刚出厂时基本都有超重，红牛超重15公斤、梅奔超重15公斤、法拉利超重10公斤、阿尔法托利超重12-13公斤……
An extra 10 kilograms of weight would slow a race car by about 0.3 seconds per lap. Conversely, reducing weight is a direct way to improve a race car's lap time. Teams rack their brains to reduce the weight of their cars when optimizing them, until the car's weight reaches the minimum weight limit stipulated by the rules.
Losing weight sounds simple, but it's not easy to do.
For precision machinery like F1 cars, a small change can have far-reaching consequences. Even a mere 100-gram reduction in weight at the rear can completely disrupt the car's balance, potentially leading to a performance significantly worse than before the weight reduction. Therefore, weight reduction must be approached holistically, ideally by optimizing the car's balance while reducing weight.
How exactly is weight reduction achieved? It essentially involves adjusting components (such as hollowing out solid parts) and replacing them with lighter materials (such as using carbon fiber instead of metal). But this raises another question: are hollowed-out components still durable? Are lighter materials reliable? In short, weight reduction affects the stability of the vehicle.
It is clear that weight loss requires a high level of technical skill.
This further demonstrates that the initial version of AT03 was riddled with problems.
Without Toncher's involvement, Alfa Romeo's small R&D team—Alfa Romeo has the smallest paddock staff and lacks sufficient talent in various areas—would be overwhelmed with more pressing issues like downforce and cornering stability, leaving them with no energy to focus on reducing car weight.
I will defeat you!
Tanger participated in the optimization of the race car, and with his superb car sense, he provided clear optimization directions, saving the engineers of the Alfa Romeo team a lot of unnecessary work, allowing them to devote their energy to reducing the weight of the race car.
Tangter's exceptional car handling skills allow engineers to directly identify which parts of the vehicle's weight can be reduced and which parts cannot be changed, saving them a lot of calculation work.
Why was the Imola upgrade so effective? Because the upgrade package not only improved downforce and cornering stability, but also reduced the car's weight by 4 kilograms, resulting in such an immediate improvement in lap times!
In contrast, Mercedes' eight-time world champions' superior R&D capabilities allowed them to address all issues effectively, and their car weight reduction efforts were remarkably successful. However, the increasingly severe dolphin jumps destroyed all those achievements, to the point that Mercedes' upgrades in Imola were not very effective, and the upgrades in Miami even had the opposite effect.
Given this shift in momentum, it's no surprise that Alfa Toli outperformed Mercedes in Imola and Miami.
The Alfa Romeo team's upgrades for this race reduced the weight by another 1.5 kg. Even without considering the optimization of the aerodynamic kit, this 1.5 kg reduction alone can improve the car's lap time by 0.04-0.05 seconds.
Do you think this improvement is insignificant?
In qualifying, even a 0.01-second improvement in lap time can improve your starting grid position. A better starting grid position naturally provides an advantage in the race.
Moreover, the Alfa Romeo team has also optimized the aerodynamic kit.
"Downforce and cornering stability have improved, and dolphin jumps have been significantly reduced," Tanger said in TR.
The major upgrade to Imola wasn't without its drawbacks. While downforce increased, the car's dolphin jump also intensified slightly, though not to the point of affecting driving.
This time, there have been improvements in all aspects, including a reduction in the dolphin jump, making it a completely positive upgrade.
While the upgraded AT03 may not be perfectly adapted to the Barcelona circuit, it is at least not experiencing any issues.
So, is the AT03 going to become more competitive again?
It's hard to say. Positive upgrades don't necessarily improve a race car's competitiveness; it depends on the upgrade results of other teams.
Red Bull and Ferrari are out of the question; no matter how much the AT03 is upgraded, it will never catch up with them.
Mercedes was still troubled by the dolphin jump in the first practice session, and its lap time performance was not outstanding, with Russell at p5 and Hamilton at p7.
Tangcher finished fourth on the lap time leaderboard, behind only Leclerc, Sainz, and Verstappen—Pecher didn't ride in this race, having a reserve driver take his place.
Guess who this substitute reserve driver is?
Tsunoda Yuki!
Red Bull and Alfa Romeo share a reserve driver, and while one team might not be as successful as another, another might be.
Kakuta has now driven the Mars rover. So how did he perform on the lap times? Lap time leaderboard p11.
Considering that Kakuda was driving a race car that was quite unfamiliar to him, this lap time was acceptable.
While practice lap times aren't very reliable indicators, dolphin jumps are. If Mercedes doesn't alleviate the dolphin jump—people don't want to believe Mercedes can completely solve it, they only want to believe Mercedes might be able to alleviate it—their performance at this race will likely not be better than at Imola or Miami.
The second free practice session... guess what? Hey! The Mercedes' dolphin jump was greatly reduced!
The W13's high-speed bounce on straightaways has almost disappeared, with only slight bounce remaining on a few corners.
Lap times have improved significantly, with Russell moving up to p2 on the lap time leaderboard! Hamilton has moved up to p3 on the lap time leaderboard!
In the third free practice session, Mercedes' lap times were still fantastic! Russell is ranked p3 on the lap time leaderboard! Hamilton is ranked p4 on the lap time leaderboard!
Could it be that...?