In the bright machine workshop of the R&D base of Prost Racing Team, there are hundreds of R&D personnel working in an orderly manner. Because all the parts of the F1 car are specially made and the mechanical wear is very severe, there are up to 18 machine lathes to make the parts needed for the Prost car.

And this is the size of the Prost team after the layoffs, and it would be even more exaggerated if it was in full condition.

In the later F1 documentaries, even the Williams team, which is already in the last stage, has more than 500 staff in a research and development base, and the number of robot lathes alone is as high as 23, constantly cutting various metal blocks to customize racing car parts.

This is why F1 cars burn money unably, without capital and technology, they really can't even afford to develop new cars.

To the southeast of the machine shop, under the white lights, there is a new frame that has not yet been painted, but blooms with a metallic sheen.

This frame is Prost's prototype for next season, officially codenamed AP05!

This code name is named according to the engine model, because this time the Prost car, instead of continuing to use the Peugeot engine, replaced with a Ferrari 051 V10 engine, so the new generation of the car was named AP05.

This model is actually the last prototype model developed on the eve of the collapse of the Prost team. It's just that the historical AP05 car did not have a chance to drive on the track, but was auctioned off for hundreds of thousands of dollars after the bankruptcy of the Prost team, and is now in the hands of a private collector.

Looking at the Prost APO5 prototype in front of him, Zhang Yifei sighed a little, at least it avoided the fate of dying as soon as it came out, and finally had the opportunity to drive on the track to prove itself!

"BOSS, hasn't the R&D problem been solved yet?"

Zhang Yifei asked.

After the Austrian Grand Prix, he personally called Prost to report the good news of his victory.

But at the same time, I also learned the real reason why Prost was absent even from European competitions. It's not that the development of the car is slow, it's that there is no progress at all, and now it's completely stuck!

The serious setback in the development of the new car led to Prost having no way to walk away, so he could only stay here and keep an eye on it. Otherwise, even if he missed the practice match and qualifying match, after learning that Zhang Yifei got the pole position, how could he come over overnight to watch the race.

"No, the frame structure was originally designed according to the Peugeot engine. We only came to a deal with Ferrari halfway through, and by the time we got their engine data, the frame was already ready. ”

"At that time, the R&D department seized the time to modify some data of the frame, and then produced a prototype frame, but when Ferrari sent the engine over, it still could not be installed, and some data were wrong, so the previous design had to be overturned and the frame was rebuilt."

Hearing Prost say this, Zhang Yifei's brows furrowed, and he knew that the new car was at a standstill on the phone.

As a result, I didn't expect that even the most basic frame and engine matching were not made, which is equivalent to starting from scratch!

The 2000 season is now over and there are two final races to go, in mid-to-late October. If you add in the winter break, Prost has only three months of development time at most.

At this time, it is likely that there is no way to do a perfect enough debugging.

Historically, Prost received the Ferrari engine a year earlier than it does now, the 050 race engine currently used in Ferrari cars.

Historically, however, in 2001, Scuderia Ferrari won both Drivers' and Constructors' Championships, winning more than half of its races. The Prost team, which uses the same engine, only scored 4 points, which is a little stronger than the 0 points in the Peugeot engine period, but it is not much stronger.

Engine performance can only determine the upper limit of a car, and there are too many reasons for the lower limit of a car. For example, the chassis is not good, the aerodynamic layout is not good, the gearbox is not good, and even the driver is not good.

Prost's current R&D capabilities are still much worse than those of Scuderia Ferrari, and there were also problems with the previous management, and all the employees were relatively lazy, otherwise there would not have been so many problems.

At present, the attitude of the Prost team has improved, and the first thing to change is the attitude of the team members, after all, they are facing the drivers directly and can experience the excitement and motivation brought by the team's ascension.

However, the R&D base is different, and it is difficult for their enthusiasm to be mobilized with one or two events. In addition, Prost was the boss before, and he was a little bit untidy, but because of Zhang Yifei's joining, he had the hope of turning over, so he did his best to stay in the R&D base.

If Zhang Yifei was the same as Heidfeld before, then it is estimated that the entire team would have given up on itself now, waiting for the collapse to go their separate ways......

"Is that a team development problem, or is it a Ferrari problem?"

Zhang Yifei opened his mouth and asked, this kind of oolong incident is not a trivial matter, and a reason must be found and someone will take responsibility!

Although he is not a direct shareholder of the team, the Prost team will be the base camp for the rise of China's automobile industry in the future. Zhang Yifei doesn't want the R&D team to be full of people who are indiscriminate.

The results have improved, and the team's mental outlook must also be improved!

"The Ferrari problem."

Prost gave a very simple answer.

"Is it really a Ferrari problem?"

Zhang Yifei asked a little suspiciously.

Ferrari's ability to win six Constructors' Championships and five Drivers' Championships in the space of six years and build a dynasty is at least one proof of the fact that the team's internal operations are absolutely good.

Zhang Yifei is a little unconvinced that Ferrari in this unstoppable state will make obvious mistakes such as data errors in commercial cooperation. If Ferrari doesn't do any of this, it won't be able to win consecutive world championships.

At the same time, Prost's answer also reminded Zhang Yifei of the 2017 McLaren Racing Documentary, which was also changed from a Mercedes-Benz engine to a cheaper Honda engine, and the result was that the gearbox and the main bolts of the engine did not match.

Then you can only compare the design drawings once, overturn the previous design, and recustomize the accessories.

At that time, McLaren's reaction was also to frantically dump the pot on Honda, because their data was wrong and the engine was slow to send, which led to the mismatch. However, these excuses have been frantically complained about by outside fans, because as a team with a background and has reached the top, it should not be unscrupulous.

Later facts also proved that it was McLaren's own reasons, and it can also be seen from this that McLaren's fall from the top is not only a problem of driver strength, but also a problem with the entire team atmosphere.

Zhang Yifei didn't want the Prost team to have this kind of dumping behavior before they reached the top. After all, this team is not just an employment relationship with Zhang Yifei, there may be no major accidents, or Zhang Yifei wants to challenge, he is afraid that he will have to "retire" in the Prost team.

In the face of Zhang Yifei's rhetorical question, Prost inexplicably felt a little weak, so he added: "This is what the production director said." ”

"BOSS, I think you'd better find the real reason, there is an old Chinese saying called "Prevent the slightest. The current Prost team is no longer the one at the bottom of the original team, and I have the determination and ambition to hit the world championship! ”

The meaning behind Zhang Yifei's words is to clearly tell Prost that he wants a stronger car to help him hit the F1 world championship.

This tone seems to be arrogant, as if it is threatening the boss, but in fact, in the F1 field, it is a scene that can be seen often, and some of the more arrogant drivers have said it.

For example, Senna, McLaren, is not good at racing, he transferred to the black technology Williams team. Montoya felt that the Williams team was not good and went to McLaren, which was equipped with Mercedes engines.

These drivers who move for the sake of a stronger car can be described as commonplace in F1. And the boss also likes the driver's request, after all, it means that his driver has the fighting spirit to hit the championship!

"You can rest assured that next year's Prost will be even stronger."

Prost replied confidently that the paper data of the Ferrari engine was much better than the previous Peugeot engine.

In terms of pure horsepower, the Ferrari engine parameter is 930P, and the speed can exceed 19,000 rpm, while the previous Peugeot engine is at 890P, and the speed is slightly lower.

Looking at the data, this means that the Peugeot engine is 4.3% worse than the Ferrari engine. You must know that the performance of Prost and Ferrari this year is only two percent.

This means that next year, at least in terms of power, the Prost AP05 car will be extremely competitive!

"Is there anything else wrong with the frame?"

Zhang Yifei asked again, he is indeed very concerned about the AP05 car, after all, he has suffered a loss from weak chicken racing this year, and he doesn't want to eat it again next year.

If memory serves, Schumacher will have a whopping 144 points for next year, compared to 77 points for second-place Barrichello. It wasn't just Schumacher who won the championship by an absolute margin, but the two Ferrari drivers combined for points that couldn't match the next 10 teams.

Zhang Yifei does not expect Prost to develop a "Mars rover" that is on the same level as Ferrari, but at least it must have the strength to fight.

"It's a bit of a problem with the engine and gearbox, after all, the power parameters are completely useless, and the gears need to be rematched. In addition, the suspension also needs to be changed, and the aerodynamics of the shell are not good enough, and there is also ......"

Hearing Prost say a lot directly, Zhang Yifei was a little blindsided, after the three-year contract was signed, the boss didn't treat himself as an outsider at all. If you don't sign a long-term contract, you will have to run away overnight!

"Stop...... I know the boss, you can take care of this! ”

"But I think there are so many problems, maybe it will be too late, do you need to expand the number of people?"

At present, there are less than 200 staff in the Prost R&D base, and even if the small fleet requires a low level, it will take 300 people to meet the demand.

"I have the idea of increasing the number of R&D personnel, but the sponsorship and advertisers are just beginning to be interested, and there are difficulties in funding."

Hearing this, a sly smile appeared on Zhang Yifei's face, and he came to Prost's side.

"BOSS, in fact, I have an idea to recruit a group of high-quality and low-cost R&D personnel. It may be a little lower, but it's not unusable! ”