Chapter 1500 - 548: Le the Fourth: Spicy Balls!

Chapter 1500: Chapter 548: Le the Fourth: Spicy Balls!

However, Qin Miao is quite familiar with the first and second timing zones of this track.

So even when walking the track, Qin Miao mainly looks at these two zones to see if there are any changes, such as any alterations or elevations in the curbs.

Beside that, Qin Miao and his team are focusing their attention on understanding and researching the revamped turns T11 to T13.

In these three turns, Qin Miao mainly studies the racing line and the braking points.

This process is not complicated: inspecting the height of the curbs, checking if the tires can hit the curbs when entering the turn, determining how much curb can be used, identifying the apex, and looking for the braking points and angles for exiting the turn.

Then all these data are recorded in a notebook to be tested on a simulator later; once familiar, they are verified one by one in practice sessions, and adjustments in the setup are made.

Qin Miao is experienced with this whole process.

Quickly, Thursday passes, and it’s Friday, the day when the first and second practices start.

This Grand Prix weekend saw Mercedes bring quite a few upgrades.

In terms of upgrades, there are two aspects: one is the power unit, with Mercedes’ engine department optimizing the exhaust system of the W14’s power unit. The specifics of the working principle are unknown to Qin Miao, but during the pre-race briefing, the head of Mercedes’ power unit manufacturing stated that the upgrade significantly enhances the ERS charging efficiency of the W14 and extends the durability of the exhaust system.

Regarding aerodynamics, the head of the team’s aerodynamics department upgraded the sidepods, front nose end plates, and rear wings.

This upgrade happened to cover the front nose damage caused by Qin Miao’s crash.

Moreover, this upgrade wasn’t based on track changes but was a universal upgrade for the front nose and rear wings.

The upgrade is aimed at optimizing the car’s overall downforce, increasing the downforce during operation without excessively increasing aerodynamic drag.

It also partially mitigates the W14’s shortcomings in corner performance.

The negative impact of this upgrade only affects the W14’s top speed on straights, and if it comes to tracks that emphasize acceleration and top speed, low-drag wings can simply be used.

So this is considered a very positive upgrade.

Moreover, stepping back a thousand steps, before the car reaches actual speed, the aerodynamic components providing downforce don’t affect the car yet, so this wing doesn’t impact the W14’s early acceleration ability; it only affects terminal acceleration performance and top speed.

Regarding the upgrade of the front nose end plates...

The forward downforce provided is actually quite limited. Its main function is to cooperate with the upgraded sidepods.

The main task is to assist the sidepods in organizing the airflow towards the tires, creating a clean airflow path for the sidepod area, and in part, guiding turbulent airflow from the tires.

Additionally, it expels more dirty air to the side, affecting cars trying to overtake.

As for the sidepod upgrades, it’s still about streamlining airflow.

The current design of the sidepods is somewhat peculiar; while the intake remains an Arabic numeral 1, the back end has a small downward wash, resembling a miniature version of the RB19 sidepods.

Although Qin Miao is unsure how effective this is, according to Elliott, in simulator sessions, CFD, and wind tunnel simulations, this upgrade increases mechanical grip and stability at high speeds without significantly increasing the car’s frontal projection or resistance.

It sounds like it makes sense, but Qin Miao is simply a driver and doesn’t understand these things. Since Elliott says so, it must be true.

Nonetheless, for Qin Miao’s current perspective, he is quite hopeful that the Mercedes upgrade will have the effects Elliott mentioned.

Time flies; after Friday’s preliminary preparations are all completed, it is time for the first practice.

Both Qin Miao and Hamilton are now in the pit garages on the track, in their cars, waiting for the practice session to begin, and conducting final tweaks to the cars.

Soon, the first practice starts, and both Qin Miao and Hamilton’s Mercedes cars conduct final inspections before hitting the track three minutes later.

When Qin Miao went out, he was using a set of medium tires.

During the first lap, Qin Miao saw that there were already quite a few fans in the Spain grandstands.

And these fans were evidently not very friendly towards him.

Upon seeing his car approach, some of the audience with seats in the grass area even directly showed him the middle finger.

Especially the fans wearing Ferrari’s number 55 jerseys.

Seeing this, Qin Miao wasn’t angry, just a bit resigned, thinking: Seems like beyond Verstappen’s home in Zandvoort, the Netherlands, there’s another away ground for me in Catalonia, Spain.

Of course, Qin Miao understands the fans at the scene.

After all, next season, he will be joining Ferrari, taking over Sainz’s place. If a driver Qin Miao liked faced such a situation, he would certainly also be displeased with that person.

Moreover, there is another reason, which is that Sainz’s contract with Ferrari actually still has another year before it expires.