Schumacher asked rhetorically in his heart, he didn't see Zhang Yifei on the track for the first two days, so this is most likely his first test.

The first test means that this is the first time Zhang Yifei has driven on the Catalan circuit, and it is also the first time to participate in the F1 car test. Theoretically, this kind of pure newcomer will not have a good lap time in the first test, after all, this is a completely foreign thing to them.

However, Zhang Yifei's performance makes it difficult to see that this is a rookie driver who is participating in the winter test for the first time. Not to mention the speed, it can be seen from the line that he is very familiar with the track, which is really unbelievable.

Zhang Yifei is indeed very familiar with the Catalan circuit, this familiarity is not run on the spot, but on the racing simulator before, Zhang Yifei simply ran through the winter test track!

During the entire winter break of nearly a month, Zhang Yifei was like an "Internet addicted teenager", driving a racing simulator frantically all day long.

He has run 17 races in the new F1 season, but the main direction is still on the Catalan circuit in the winter test, and the first race in Australia - Albert Park.

Compared with the field test run, the racing simulator is naturally not realistic enough, after all, the technology of this era is still far behind compared with later generations. Not to mention the most advanced virtual VR driving in later generations, even if it is a surround-screen cockpit, the current technology can't do it.

But it's not so realistic, and there is also a little benefit, that is, driving a racing simulator will not be as tiring as a track test run. The feedback dynamics are all the same, but there are also various acceleration and roll simulations.

But the G-value that comes with high acceleration, which is something that racing simulators can't do. For example, running on the track for two or three hours a week is already considered high-intensity training.

After all, the dehydration is as high as several pounds after the test run, and if the body is subjected to total pressure like this every day, it is estimated that he will have to lie in the hospital for a month.

As for the racing simulator, even if Zhang Yifei drives for seven or eight hours, except for a little backache, he can basically stick to it every day.

"Shumi (Schumacher), what do you think of the Chinese newcomers?"

"It's very good by the standards of a newcomer, and the fundamentals are solid. But how strong it is will have to wait for the lap time to come out. ”

Schumacher praised that, as a man at the level of a car god, he could naturally see the accuracy of Zhang Yifei's alignment when he cornered. There are even some corners that Schumacher feels completely overlap with his own alignment, which is difficult to do with solid driving skills.

However, this is only the first lap, many things are uncertain, if Zhang Yifei comes down the second lap, he can perfectly copy his own line. There is no doubt that the strength of the Chinese newcomers has reached the entry standard of F1 drivers, rather than the rookie level that many people questioned before.

"By the way, I saw that he was using red tires, Prost Strategy Team, should know that the Catalan circuit is not suitable for supersoft tires, Chinese newcomers choose this kind of tires, is it to brush up on lap times?"

Schumacher asked Simmonds suspiciously, and no F1 team will switch to super-soft tyres during the winter testing phase in Catalonia, unless the tyre supplier's formula changes and the tyres need to be re-evaluated.

In this way, the frequency of pit stops is too high, and in addition to the increase in the cost of the fleet, a lot of time will be wasted.

You must know that F1 teams are very rich, but when it comes to team budgets, many times they are very budget-conscious. At one point, the FIA wanted to move the winter test from Barcelona, Spain, to Bahrain in the Middle East.

Because the climate there is relatively warmer, and the impact of extreme weather such as snow and ice on the test of the car can be completely avoided.

But because the transfer fee was too high, the vast majority of F1 teams rejected the proposal. It can be seen that the landlord's family has no surplus food......

"It's a possibility, but I've heard from the technician that there seems to be some trouble between the Chinese newcomers and the Malay newcomers in Minardi. Just now, the Malay driver Yang Long chased Fei on the track, but Fei took the initiative to make a pit stop. ”

Now that he has come out of the pit to change to super soft tyres, he must be trying to catch up with Malay newcomer Yoong Long. On the F1 track, there can also be a duel between two Chinese drivers, which is really interesting. ”

Hearing the explanation of race engineer Symonds, Schumacher looked further ahead, and sure enough, there was a Minardi car in the distance.

Faintly Schumacher could also see Minaldi's racing tires, which also had red marks. There is no doubt that the car in front of it has also been replaced with ultra-soft tires that pursue more speed.

Seeing this scene, a playful smile also appeared on Schumacher's face. Indeed, as Simmonds said, there has never been any Chinese on the F1 track, but this year there were two at once, and the duel began during the winter test, which is really interesting.

On the track, Zhang Yifei was more than ten seconds behind Xiong Long, and he had basically opened up a distance of one kilometer. At this distance, not to mention the taillights, you can't even see the racing cars.

But Zhang Yifei not only wants to challenge Yang Long this time, but also wants to prove his strength, so that the winter test team, which is also on the Catalan circuit, will let go of those doubtful thoughts and look at himself as a Chinese newcomer with the same eyes as an F1 driver.

The speed is still rising, and all the adjustments after Zhang Yifei entered the pit stop are actually only pursuing one word, that is, "fast"!

But this tuning did not come without a cost, and the consequence was that the handling of the car became extremely difficult. The slightest mistake in any corner can lead to a loss of control of the car.

It can even be said that now Zhang Yifei is driving at this speed, and what he experiences is a feeling of dancing on the tip of a knife.

Compared with the decision-making level in room P, Ah Hu and Chen Zhi just stood behind the nearest protective fence from the track, watching Zhang Yifei's car from a distance.

"Brother Zhi, Feige's tuning style this time is too aggressive, I'm really worried that he won't be able to control this new car."

In the past few months since joining the F1 team, the biggest improvement is not Zhang Yifei, but Ah Hu and Chen Zhi.

Although they were also by Zhang Yifei's side before, they took on the important role of formula technicians. But in fact, there is no thorough learning opportunity, even if the Toyota technical team did not evacuate at the beginning, Ah Hu and Chen Zhi can only be regarded as stealing teachers and have not integrated into it.

Not to mention the "grass platform team" in the back, it has nothing to do with the F1 top technician team, it is purely private maintenance.

However, in the past few months after entering the Prost team, Ah Hu and Chen Zhi have become the world's top maintenance team, and they get along day and night to learn F1 maintenance knowledge and team cooperation experience.

They begin to really understand the structure, operation, maintenance and tuning of an F1 car. In all the tunings of the primary formula before, Ah Hu was only informed by Kossel and Yamamoto Ukyo, and played the role of a "tool man".

He didn't understand why he was doing it, or what kind of change it would make.

But now it is completely different, he knows the direction that Zhang Yifei chose to adjust, and he understands the consequences that will occur after radical adjustment. That's why he showed a worried posture and asked Chen Zhi.

"I believe in the strength of Yifei."

Chen Zhi replied slowly, he was older than Ah Hu, and he had the foundation of professional maintenance.

So he understood Zhang Yifei's tuning style earlier, and knew that this kind of radical tuning was exactly what Zhang Yifei was good at. It may be risky, but the more familiar controls make up for the risk.

What really worries Chen Zhi is the engine provided by Peugeot!

You must know that the engine on Zhang Yifei's racing car is still the one that Alessi drove before, and there was a hydraulic leak. Although after the secondary sealing, plus the downgrading of engine parameters, it seems that there is no problem.

However, the air tightness of the cylinder body of the secondary seal is not as good as the original level, and more importantly, Zhang Yifei adjusted the power parameters back, which is a challenge for the secondary seal.

Laps are going on, Zhang Yifei's speed can be described as amazing, and his fastest lap has come to 1:22.933.

This lap time has already surpassed the first test time of 1:23.221 by Gemini rider Kimi Raikkonen. Even after two days, Kimi's fastest lap time barely exceeded the limit of Zhang Yifei's lap time by a few milliseconds.

However, you must know that Zhang Yifei only started the first test today, and if he is allowed to run two more laps and surpass the current fastest lap of Kimi Raikkonen, it is almost a sure thing.

The rider members who compared Zhang Yifei with Kimi Raikkonen before, and even questioned Zhang Yifei's strength, gasped when they saw this lap time.

“OH MAN！ The Chinese newcomer is about to catch up with the lap time of the Finnish genius, can he complete the same triple jump miracle and become an F1 driver, and indeed have the same strength. ”

“MY GOD！ In this year's Renault Formula, are there all monsters of this level? You don't even have to run F3 and F3O00 races, you can get a foothold in the F1 paddock. Should we say they are too strong, or should we say that the entry bar for F1 is too low? ”

"F1 entry standard is low?"

A member of the winter test team next to him retorted in a disdainful tone.

"There are only 22 official F1 drivers, even if you add the test driver and the third driver, there will be no more than 40."

"On the earth, these 40 people are qualified to drive F1 cars on the track, I'm afraid the selection probability of astronauts will not be much higher than this, is this entry standard low?"

"Then why can a Chinese newcomer come in and run such a result?"

When he heard this, the team member who answered could no longer be described in a disdainful tone, and even a look like a mentally handicapped appeared on his face.

"The entry standard for F1 drivers is already very here, but the entry standard for F1 technician teams seems to be really low!"

Do you still need to ask this kind of question? The Chinese newcomer can run such a result, of course, because he is amazing! ”