It is true that the Prost team has no choice now, even if they have the money, they have already missed the time to change the engine supplier.

You must know that the development of new cars for F1 teams usually starts half a year in advance, and the chassis of the car is also designed according to the characteristics of the engine, rather than any engine, which can be easily stuffed into the body.

Historically, it's not unheard of teams doing this kind of stupid thing, like McLaren-Mercedes in '05.

Because of the slow progress of the research and development of Mercedes-Benz's new engine, McLaren's R&D department simply opened its mind and directly designed the chassis without an engine.

As a result, when the engine arrived, everyone was dumbfounded, because the new engine did not match the chassis, so it could not be installed in the racing car. Now whether it is McLaren or Mercedes-Benz, it is estimated that it is a capital MMP in my heart, and this kind of mentally retarded thing can actually occur, and I don't know which IQ link has a problem.

But reality tells us that the lower limit of IQ is unimaginable, and McLaren did such a stupid thing again in 17 years, only this time it was replaced by a Honda engine.

This kind of comical operation can occur twice in a team, and McLaren is not at the bottom in the later stage, which is really unreasonable.

Believing that they were not up to the task, Prost Racing developed a new chassis with just one month to go before the Formula 1 race, and passed the tests. Therefore, the only way to "make up for the dead" is to do so.

Charlie led a team of technicians to carry out a secondary seal on the cylinder connection, and in order to ensure the smooth progress of the next winter test, the maximum horsepower of the engine was reduced from 890P to 820P.

Originally, the parameters of the Peugeot engine had no advantage in the eleven F1 teams, and after the horsepower was lowered again, it directly became the bottom of the existence. Only wait for the R&D engineers of the Peugeot Group to come over and improve the problem from the root, and then adjust the power parameters back.

The Peugeot engine was lowered and in the following tests, there were no further problems. It's just that this time no one is as relieved as before, after all, two consecutive engine failures have made the team members question the reliability of the engine.

In the afternoon, the Catalan circuit, which is relatively warm in winter, experienced a round of cooling, and the temperature reached about 5 degrees. And the weather station also issued a forecast that a cold wave will sweep through Catalonia in the next few days, and snow may fall.

If there is snowfall, the temperature rises more slowly and the grip is much reduced. Based on the experience of previous winter tests, bad weather can shorten valuable testing time, which is undoubtedly a matter of experience for the Prost team, which is eager to verify the reliability of the car.

However, the difficulties encountered by the Prost team are still coming, but this time it is not the fault of the car, but the problem of the driver.

Towards the end of the test the next afternoon, French veteran Alessy almost crashed on the track due to fatigue, so Henry stopped his track test.

You must know that after two days of winter testing, Alessi ran nearly 200 laps, and an F1 race is at most about 70 laps. In the winter test of a normal F1 team, the first and second drivers plus the test driver, at least three people take turns to change shifts for testing, so that they can all get time to rest.

However, the Prost team, the test driver Emil has left the team, and Zhang Yifei is a rookie who came up from the "triple jump", and he has no winter test experience at all. Therefore, the heavy task of the test in the first two days can only be placed on Alessi's body, waiting for Zhang Yifei to learn and become familiar with it, and then he will start the first test.

As a result, the car suffered from frequent breakdowns, forcing the team to intensify testing to explore the limits of the engine's operating conditions. Add in the various pit stops, and Alessi wears a full set of heavy gear, and it takes four or five hours just to run on the track.

Fortunately, it is winter in the northern hemisphere, and if it were changed to summer, it is estimated that after a day of testing, Alesi will be seriously dehydrated and have to interrupt the test.

But even so, Alesi couldn't hold on a little anymore, and he had to be given some time to rest, so he changed Zhang Yi to the top in advance to test.

To be honest, Zhang Yifei's previous impression of Alessi was not very good, because the behavior of the French veteran last season was not much different from eating and waiting for death.

If an F1 driver doesn't even have the most basic fighting spirit and championship aspirations, what's the point of still being in the paddock and being a runner at the bottom every time?

But Alessi's performance during this period of time has made Zhang Yifei have a great change in his opinion. The French veteran still has fighting spirit in his heart, but he was a little "rotten" before.

Perhaps because the loss to the newcomer to himself stimulated the self-esteem of the French veteran, he finally got rid of his previous bastard form and fulfilled his professionalism as an F1 driver.

So in the face of Alessi, whose physical strength has reached the limit because of the winter test, Zhang Yifei expressed his respect for the French veteran in his heart.

In the last hour of the afternoon, Zhang Yifei drove the JS53 car and drove it to the track for testing.

Because it was Zhang Yifei's first test, the team did not give him any heavy test feedback, but asked him to adjust the car according to his driving habits, and at the same time verify the stability of the engine.

There are no requirements, Zhang Yifei naturally has no pressure, more of a curiosity and excitement to participate in the winter test for the first time.

Since 1991, Circuit de Catalunya has been the FIA's official team test track, where numerous vehicle tests and development activities have been carried out. It's fair to say that no F1 team is unfamiliar with the circuit de Catalonia.

However, this familiarity does not make the track less challenging, and the combination of various corners, coupled with rough and bumpy appearances, requires a high level of physical strength and mechanical performance of the drivers.

Prost Racing inherited the database of the Ligier team, so Zhang Yifei has a sufficient understanding of the data of the track. And during the winter break, Zhang Yifei drove many times on the Catalan circuit on the racing simulator.

Coupled with the two-day on-site viewing, even if Zhang Yifei is really driving on the Catalan circuit for the first time, there is still no strange feeling.

Zhang Yifei's first winter test made many other team members come to the fence to watch the battle.

Their motivation for watching the game is different from that of Schumacher's previous winter test. You must know that Schumacher has attracted a lot of onlookers because he and the Ferrari team are too strong, and these team members want to see if the new Ferrari cars this year can maintain the strong position of last year.

And when they watched Zhang Yifei, they were only left with pure curiosity. After all, Prost racing is really not very good, and there is nothing to refer to the black technology of copycats.

What's more, it is the various failures that have occurred in Alesi in the past two days that have also made other teams feel confident. That is, compared to last year, Prost Racing is still not very competitive as always.

So their focus is all on Zhang Yifei, a newcomer from China, who has completed the same "triple jump" miracle as the talented European driver Kimi, does he really have the strength of an F1 driver?

If so, what kind of lap time can Zhang Yifei run in a mediocre Prost car?

Among the curious crowd were two eyes from McLaren, McLaren's No. 1 driver David Coulthard, and super-newcomer Kimi Raikkonen, who replaced Mika Hakkinen's retirement.

"Kimi, the COPY from China is finally going to play, what do you think his fastest lap will be?"

Coulthard asked with a smile, his COPY has two meanings, one is literal, and now the F1 circle sees Zhang Yifei as a replicator of Kimi's "triple jump" miracle.

The other layer is a metaphor that Zhang Yifei is a copycat from China, after all, in this era, whether it is a Chinese driver or a Chinese product, it is a spokesperson for low-end copycats in Europe and the United States, and they are habitually ridiculed.

"I don't know."

Kimi Raikkonen simply spat out a word, and then didn't speak again.

This is also the character of Kimi Raikkonen, who has always maintained an indifferent image of "cherishing words like gold" in the outside world, so he is called the "Finnish Iceman".

Coulthard has long been accustomed to Kimi's attitude, and he said to himself: "I hope the Chinese kid can run a little well, after all, the Prost team is in a difficult situation right now, if there is no improvement in results this year, there may be one less team in the F1 paddock next year." ”

"It's a shame to lose any team in F1, so good luck to the Chinese kids."

Although Coulthard uses the vulgar adjective COPY, he actually does not have much malice towards Zhang Yifei, but more of a strong sense of superiority subconsciously of Europeans and Americans.

Since Kimi Raikkonen didn't go along with his vulgar jokes, he naturally didn't go any further, but seriously talked about the current state of the Prost team.

However, Kimi next to him still didn't respond, he just looked at Zhang Yifei on the track.

Although Kimi's performance is not obvious, in the hearts of the Finnish iceman, he is also curious about whether the Chinese driver who has copied his miracle can show the strength of a qualified F1 driver in the F1 paddock.

Zhang Yifei on the track didn't know the attention of these people, and he didn't have the energy to care about these things.

Because Zhang Yifei was tested by Alessi, there were no steps to warm up the tires. As soon as he got on the track, Zhang Yifei was like a dragon entering the sea, and he accelerated wildly with one foot on the floor.

The driving images of the racing simulator, combined with the track data in his mind, allowed Zhang Yifei to start challenging the extreme speed when he drove the Catalan circuit for the first time.

However, the reduction of power parameters, coupled with the unadaptability of the tuning style, in fact, Zhang Yifei's lap time is not fast. When his first lap came out, the rest of the team members who watched his first lap were all smiles on their faces.

Do you think that the Chinese kid can run an amazing lap time, and the result is at this level?