How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 1352: Chapter 509: 2023 Winter Testing (6K, Please Update 1/2)

Meanwhile, although Lynk & Co has set up a power unit design department with Red Bull.

This power unit design department is merely an experimental project between the two teams, and it’s not like you can manufacture the engine for 2026 just because you want to. If you haven’t registered with the FIA beforehand, even if you come up with a Mars rover engine, the FIA won’t allow you to install the engine in the racing car, let alone sell it to other teams to recoup your investment.

The registration deadline for the 2026 engine was originally set for October 15th, 2023, but due to applications from other teams, it was eventually adjusted to November 15th.

Therefore, during this period, Red Bull and Lynk & Co have invested a significant amount of money and personnel into researching the power unit, led primarily by Lynk & Co.

If the performance of the power unit developed before the deadline is good, warranting further research and potential, Lynk & Co and Red Bull will register with the FIA.

After all, Lynk & Co is investing more funds, while Red Bull is mainly providing personnel. Consequently, the name of the power unit remains Lynk & Co, while Red Bull benefits from obtaining the engine at cost, avoiding the various commercial activities and conditions imposed by Honda.

More importantly, the data generated from engine construction can support Red Bull’s supercar project.

However, the ultimate outcome will have to wait until after October.

After staying a little over ten minutes at Lynk & Co and chatting with their team leader, Qin Miao left.

Regarding the implications from Lynk & Co, Qin Miao outright rejected them, insisting on staying well at Mercedes where he can compete for the championship and have a seven-time champion to prove his abilities.

Until he completely loses interest in the F1 world champion title, Qin Miao has no intention of stepping down to offer assistance.

After all, the foundation of this team hasn’t changed; it’s still a lower-tier F1 team. What Lynk & Co brings are merely new ideas and goals, and real transformation and progress will likely come after two years once the Chinese engineers and technicians sent over completely take over and understand this team.

Honestly, Qin Miao is quite curious about what level this team will ultimately reach.

After all, Chinese creative and learning abilities are world-leading, and this is a team controlled by the Chinese.

However, these matters are unrelated to the current Qin Miao; he has to head to the team’s Pit Room to prepare for today’s winter testing.

Qin Miao is also quite curious about how strong the team’s W14 will be this year, since several designs accumulated last year couldn’t be installed due to budget constraints, and this year, just the preliminary upgrades for the car have consumed 20% of the team’s overall upgrade budget for the year.

As for the 20 kilograms of excess weight...

It’s merely a loss of 0.7 seconds per lap in speed, which Qin Miao feels he can make up for with his abilities.

Of course, Qin Miao also hopes the team can resolve the issue of the car being 20 kilograms overweight through later upgrades.

Besides aerodynamic, engine, durability, and structural upgrades to the hardware of the car itself, the team has also upgraded the car’s software.

Primarily optimizing the ERS startup logic, increasing ERS power release, as well as fixing some minor bugs and replacing the lighter steering wheel CPU.

After replacing this CPU, the computing power of the steering wheel hasn’t decreased; in fact, it’s even stronger.

In addition, a steering wheel self-check program before the race has been added.

Using the car’s onboard camera bandwidth, some telemetry data has been obtained from the team, allowing Qin Miao during the safety car period or before the start of the race to check his car’s tire pressure, fuel level, wind speed and direction on the track, and even view a weather cloud map for the next half-hour.

However, since these aren’t calculated locally but transmitted from the cloud, these things have a certain delay.

Nevertheless, Qin Miao won’t be looking at these things during the race.

As Qin Miao left Lynk & Co to return to his team’s Pit Room, several senior leaders from other teams eagerly greeted Qin Miao as they saw him.

On the way, he even encountered Red Bull’s team leader, Horner, who was very enthusiastic in engaging Qin Miao in conversation.

During the chat, Horner was subtly probing whether Qin Miao had any intention of joining Red Bull.

Qin Miao had a pleasant conversation with Horner but never indicated he was considering a switch, nor did he clearly state he wasn’t planning to go to Red Bull.

At this time, Qin Miao hadn’t truly decided between moving to another team or staying at Mercedes to continue his role as the Crown Prince.

Interestingly, last season Red Bull won the team championship, so during Bahrain’s winter testing, Horner’s Red Bull team’s Pit Room was located closest to the external exit, while Mercedes’ Pit Room was behind Red Bull’s.

But now Qin Miao is at the Pit Room behind McLaren’s team, which ranked fifth last year, leaving no reason for Horner to be here at this time?

Even if he wanted to find AlphaTauri... Oops, I forgot AlphaTauri no longer exists.

If other team leaders could use the excuse of happening to see Qin Miao at the Pit Room rear entrance to greet him and chat for a bit.

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