How did I become an F1 driver?

Chapter 364 Chapter 358: Secret Test

Seeing Zhou Guanyu's resentful look, Qin Miao quickly adjusted her expression, reached out and patted Zhou Guanyu's shoulder very painfully and said, "I understand your pain. Although I have never encountered this kind of situation, I I feel sorry for what happened to you... hahaha... I'm sorry, I couldn't hold it in any longer. One point was deducted from my last super license, I really couldn't hold it in."

"I wouldn't have told you this if I had known about it." Zhou Guanyu now regretted it. Why did he make such a bad friend in the first place?

After laughing for a while, Qin Miao also recovered, finished showing off all the Coca-Cola in his hand, stood up and said to Zhou Guanyu: "Let's go one-on-one with two handfuls of CSGO."

Zhou Guanyu was stunned after hearing Qin Miao's words and looked at Qin Miao in disbelief.

Don’t you see that I’m feeling uncomfortable right now? Is now the time to say that?

"go!"

……

After the plane landed, Qin Miao happily took 500 euros from Zhou Guanyu's pocket, and returned to Monaco with Qiu Meng contentedly.

Zhou Guanyu, on the other hand, took Qin Miao's plane back to England while swearing.

As for the five hundred euros.

It can be regarded as an upgrade that Qin Miao personally made this season, so expectations are naturally high.

In a one-on-one duel, Qin Miao won five hundred if he lost a round.

In the next few days, Qin Miao stayed in the team's factory as usual, helping to test various equipment.

It is worth mentioning that Elliott withdrew from the development of new sites because the budget had been exhausted, but of course the effect was there.

After staying comfortably at home for two days, with no work, no media interviews where he had to rack his brains not to make mistakes, and no fans' cameras, Qin Miao felt relaxed.

However, there is still a certain gap between the simulator and the real game. No one knows whether this component will really have such a good effect after it is installed.

Because this season the Mercedes-Benz team has focused on upgrading the engine's high-temperature resistance and operational stability, so narrowing the air intake will not affect the performance of the car and the stability of the engine.

Although these accessories were not produced due to budget issues, they at least provided the Mercedes team with another development line and a platform.

But at least according to the simulator data, although the bouncing of the car cannot be completely eradicated, the car has made great progress in terms of tail speed and terminal speed.

But the Mercedes team is still not ready to install the new chassis and side compartments.

Both Qin Miao and Hamilton are looking forward to this upgrade.

However, this relaxing and happy time was short-lived. On the third day, Qin Miao returned to the UK.

At the same time, after the implementation of this upgrade, the team also launched a new upgrade project. The main upgrade targets are the floor and side box air inlets.

From this, there is no need for any controversy as to who is the best game player among racing drivers.

Because the team is about to undergo a major upgrade, the new rear diffuser can effectively improve the tendency of Mercedes-Benz cars to dolphin jump due to excessive downforce at the rear.

The design goal of the sidepod air inlets is to further reduce the projected area of ​​the car, and in this way reduce the air resistance on the front of the car.

This development speed is terrifying, and even Toto is a little surprised.

The happiest person here is Qin Miao, because most of the rear diffuser, whether it is simulator data or testing, was completed by Qin Miao.

Of course, with Qin Miao's terrifying physical fitness, Qiu Meng has always been in the state of a girl supporting the wall.

I also have time to do some shameless things with Qiu Meng at home.

Although the effect of this new set of bottom panels and sidepods in CFD simulations is not that good, at least there is still a lot of room for improvement in this platform.

At the same time, the goal of upgrading the sidepods is to optimize the body of the car and guide more airflow to the rear area of ​​the car to create turbulence and slow down the following cars.

After the team was busy until Saturday, Qin Miao could have a day off tomorrow.

Originally, Qin Miao was planning to return to Monaco tomorrow. Leclerc organized a game and wanted to invite Qin Miao over for dinner and then meet some friends.

But when Qin Miao was about to leave after get off work, Elliot called Qin Miao.

"Qin Miao, are you still in the team factory now?"

Although he didn't know why Elliott suddenly called him, Qin Miao still replied: "Yes, I'm still at the team factory. What's wrong, Mike?"

"If you have nothing to do tonight, come to Silverstone at eleven o'clock in the evening."

After finishing speaking, Elliot hung up the phone before Qin Miao could say anything.

Looking at the hung up call, Qin Miao felt a little confused. Why did he hang up on me after saying a bunch of words that no one could understand? Why don't you tell me the reason?

But Qin Miao was just a little confused. As for whether he really wanted to go?

The team must have something urgent to do with themselves, and Leclerc can withdraw if necessary. At worst, they can find an opportunity to cook Leclerc a meal to apologize.

After having dinner in the canteen of the team factory, Qin Miao put on a mask and hat and drove to the Silverstone Circuit.

At first, Qin Miao just thought that the team's internal engineers might have organized a small internal gathering here, so he called him over.

But when I thought about it carefully, I thought it was impossible, because it was too late at this time, 11 o'clock. Who's party started at 11 o'clock in the evening?

So Qin Miao came to the track full of doubts.

Because the Silverstone Circuit is not far from the Mercedes-Benz team's factory. Although the team headquarters is opposite the Silverstone Circuit like Aston Martin, just across the road from the track, Brackley is a short distance from the Silverstone Circuit. The stone track is only about five kilometers away.

It only takes ten minutes at most to drive there.

After meeting Elliot at the track, before Qin Miao could express his doubts, the other party quietly took Qin Miao into the track through the back door.

Inside the track, Qin Miao couldn't control her curiosity and asked: "Why did you call me here so late?"

Elliot smiled: "You'll find out later."

Soon, the two people who entered from the back door walked through a somewhat dark Matthew passage, and then entered the interior of Silverstone.

After entering the P room of the team, Qin Miao was a little surprised to see an AMG ONE. "Is this? My one?"

Elliot smiled and said: "If you want, this car can indeed drive away directly, but that is not the purpose of this car appearing here this time."

Qin Miao looked at each other and waited quietly for the next step.

Elliot got a little closer to Qin Miao, leaned into his ear and said, "Look carefully at the rear of the car. In fact, the diffuser at the back of this car is the same upgraded diffuser on our racing car. This time we let The reason you came here is to let you run the data of this diffuser to see if it is the same as we originally expected."

Qin Miao was stunned for a moment, then looked at Elliot in astonishment, and also lowered his voice: "Isn't this against the rules? Won't the FIA ​​punish us if it finds out?"

Elliott smiled and waved his hand and then said: "Not many people know about this matter. Even if they do, it doesn't matter. After all, our AMG ONE is still in the research and development stage. You must know that this is an F1 racing car." The engine is the power source of the car, so it is normal to use some of the same components as the F1 car."

After hearing these words, Qin Miao was reluctantly convinced by Elliott, but still said with some uncertainty: "This is also my first time to experience this AMG ONE, and I have never experienced the feel of this car before. I can’t give you feedback immediately to let you know how good or bad this car is.”

Elliot waved his hand: "These are not important, but what we want is very simple, that is, you can use your own hands to maximize the performance of this car."

Qin Miao...

"And isn't it just right that you are not familiar with this car? This is your first time driving this car. Even if the FIA ​​comes to check, you don't think we can get much information from here.

This time you know that you have the opportunity to test drive the AMG ONE in advance, so you come here to experience how the AMG ONE feels when driving. Elliot said.

Qin Miao still had some doubts: "Is it really okay?"

Elliot patted his chest and assured: "Even if I am really discovered, it will not affect you. I will take full responsibility for anything that happens."

Qin Miao still had some doubts until Qin Miao saw Toto in the P room of the team.

Now that Toto has appeared here, the Mercedes-Benz team must have kept this matter confidential, and Qin Miao felt relieved a little.

After that, Qin Miao was naturally stuffed into the cockpit, and then Qin Miao was busy at the Silverstone track until about two o'clock in the morning the next day.

In two and a half hours, Qin Miao drove the AMG ONE for nearly a hundred laps on the track.

After running so many laps, Qin Miao is still enjoying it.

Because this is Qin Miao's first time experiencing a supercar with an active aerodynamic package.

This active aerodynamic package gave Qin Miao a different feeling, especially when Qin Miao enabled the integration of human and vehicle.

It's as if you have another arm or organ. When cornering, this extra organ will help you change the aerodynamic characteristics of the car, allowing the car to provide stronger grip when cornering. , cornering is also easier.

This kind of aerodynamic package, which is very different from the F1 car he usually drives, gave Qin Miao a strong sense of novelty as soon as he got started.

What Qin Miao didn't know was that while he was running happily on the track, Elliot and Toto looked at Qin Miao's racing telemetry data and lap times and were filled with emotion. The new generation is better than the old one.

This car was actually driven by a Mercedes test driver before today. The Silverstone circuit has been booked by the Mercedes team for the past two days. It was this car that De Vries tested yesterday.

De Vries is the driver of the Mercedes-EQ Electric Formula Team, and is also the test driver and reserve driver of the Mercedes F1 team. Although he has not been able to become an official F1 driver due to his position, his strength cannot be underestimated.

Then with the same racing configuration, even the racing oil of Qin Miao's car was filled up.

Qin Miao's first lap on the track was only 0.3 seconds slower than De Vries.

And as Qin Miao gradually understood the limits of this car and the Silverstone track at night, Qin Miao's fastest lap was a full 1.5 seconds faster than De Vries's fastest lap.

This may be the reason why De Vries has no way to enter F1 despite his outstanding performance in FE.

After the work was over, Qin Miao was still a little unsatisfied. He even wanted to get his car as soon as possible and then go on the track and have a good time.

But at least the data collection work is over, and the results are satisfactory to the team.

According to a report from the team's aerodynamics department, after this upgrade is installed on the car, the speed of the car can be increased by at least 0.1 seconds per lap.

Although it still seems very little, it is at least an improvement.

And before the start of this season, no one at the Mercedes team could have predicted that what would hinder the performance of the car this season was not the engine or other problems, but the downforce of the car was too strong.

After returning to Toto and the crowd wearing Mercedes engineer clothes, Qin Miao found Toto and Elliot.

Looking at the two people, Qin Miao said: "It is undeniable that this car has the best driving feel among all the super sports cars I have driven so far. When can I get my car? I can't wait now?"

Toto and Elliot laughed when they heard what Qin Miao said.

With Qin Miao's affirmation, at least the performance of this car is in line with the expectations of professionals like Qin Miao.

However, Elliott still poured cold water on Qin Miao: "I'm afraid the time when this car gets to you is not as fast as you think. Due to some technical reasons and cost reasons, the delivery of this car will have to wait until next year." And since your car is custom-made, it will probably take longer.”

Qin Miao smacked her lips with regret: "I really can't stay here for a day in 2022."

Toto's smile remained the same after hearing Qin Miao's words, but soon he seemed to have thought of something, and the smile on his face gradually faded, and his expression became a little heavy.

Because Toto thought of some of the difficulties that the Mercedes team encountered this season from Qin Miao's words.

Will next year be better?

This question emerged in Toto's mind involuntarily.

……

After all, he was busy at Silverstone until 2 a.m., and it was already 3 a.m. by the time Qin Miao got home, washed up, and lay in bed.

At this time, it is basically impossible for Qin Miao to catch up with Leclerc's party tomorrow.

So Qin Miao sent a message to Leclerc to apologize.

Although Leclerc was a little sorry for Qin Miao's absence, he also expressed his understanding.

On Sunday, Qin Miao stayed at Brackley's home to rest for the day.

(End of this chapter)