Zhang Yifei's mentality made the team members, especially Junko Takeda and Ukyo Yamamoto, feel a lot more relieved. You must know that compared to Zhang Yifei, who encountered this kind of scene for the first time, they can be said to have seen it many times.

It has been the norm for Japanese drivers who have landed before to be criticized by the European media, and even other European drivers have publicly accused Japanese drivers of making mistakes, which can be described as shameless.

Formula racing is different from traditional sports in that it is also a business, so many times it is not just about getting on the podium, but also about commercial interests, not only on the track, but also outside the paddock.

It's just that these Japanese drivers have all been trained in Japan's F3 and F3000 races before landing in European F1.

In terms of age and experience, he is far beyond the current Zhang Yifei, and his ability to resist pressure is naturally much stronger.

So compared to these difficulties, Junko Takeda is more worried that Zhang Yifei will lose his mentality or make radical moves, which will really affect his career.

Looking at it now, Zhang Yifei's psychological quality is far higher than he imagined, so he really doesn't have to worry too much.

After a five-hour drive, the group finally arrived in Heidelberg, Germany, which is a cultural city in a different style from Milan, a modern fashion capital.

It can also be seen from the name that the whole city was built on a medieval castle called Heidelberg, and Zhang Yifei and his party, who have seen a lot of metropolitan scenes, suddenly saw a small cultural city like Heidelberg, which does have a different scenery.

However, Zhang Yifei and the others didn't have time to enjoy the scenery, and when they arrived in Heidelberg, it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon, so everyone first found a hotel to check in, ate lunch by the way, and then considered the next plan.

"Ukyo, are we going to visit your mentor tomorrow, or are we going to take a look at the track first?"

"Let's get familiar with the track first, if you want to impress the instructor, you can only do it on the track, so be prepared for everything."

Yamamoto Youjing actually has no bottom in his heart about whether Zhang Yifei can impress his mentor, after all, compared to the current identities of the two parties, this is equivalent to doing something like a snake swallowing an elephant.

Therefore, I can only continue to increase Zhang Yifei's chips, get familiar with the track as soon as possible, and show my strength and potential.

After deciding on this, the next morning the group headed to the Hockenheimring Circuit, about 20 kilometers from Heidelberg.

Coming to the Hockenheimring, it was different from the previous scene at Monza, and the track was in full swing at the moment.

Because the Renault cars that were transferred from the Monza circuit are being transported to the P room one by one, and not only the race cars, but also various spare cars, as well as official work cars, and so on.

Coupled with the layout and preparation of the track, there are a lot of Renault event staff now, which is naturally much more lively than the scene where everything is ready at the Monza circuit.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Yifei frowned, he had already come to the Hockenheimring Circuit one day later than the established plan, but he didn't expect that the transportation work of the Renault side of the event had not been completed, this group of Europeans had been developed countries for a long time, and the work efficiency was really low, this should be placed in China, and it would be done for you in half a day!

But fortunately, the vehicle transportation work is mainly outside the paddock, and the impact on the track is not very large, and when there are fewer people eating at noon, Zhang Yifei should be able to seize the opportunity to practice on the track for about an hour.

This is the disadvantage of falling behind at the starting line, and other drivers basically don't need to rush to practice like Zhang Yifei, because they can take advantage of the winter break, or the closed days of the track, and don't care about the difference between these days.

In room P, Zhang Yifei's racing car has been placed, and Yamamoto Youjing took Ah Hu and Brother Zhi to start inspecting the racing car to prevent any damage during transportation.

After all, formula cars are not durable, whether it is a carbon fiber frame or a glass fiber shell, they are fragile products, and it is easy to cause aerodynamic effects due to a little damage during transportation.

This is very similar to the expensive supercar of later generations, a little damage to the paint, it is very difficult to repair the paint, and the cost is tens of thousands of yuan, and there will be a detailed inspection at each delivery ceremony.

Taking advantage of Yamamoto Ukyo's inspection, Junko Takeda handed Zhang Yifei the basic information of the Hockenheim Circuit, and asked him to take a look at it first, and he would be more familiar with it when he practiced on the track.

Compared with the Hockenheim Circuit, in fact, the German circuit that is more familiar to Chinese people in later generations should be the Nürburgring. Its northern area, commonly known as the New North Circuit, is a mecca for racing.

Many new car test drives, performance car tests, and driver lap times will be held at the New North Circuit.

As its fame grew, it became the final test track for high-performance models from all over the world, and lap times of less than eight minutes were recognized as the standard for "supercars" in the world of automobile.

At the same time, a famous production car lap list was born, and it became a dream for many drivers to challenge the lap record.

In his previous life, Zhang Yifei, after getting the test driver contract of the European team, also had the idea of going to the New North Circuit, driving a high-performance racing car, and challenging the lap record.

It's just that people have not yet arrived in Europe, but they have come to the world of twenty years ago, and this idea has weakened a lot.

Because even the fastest sports car can't see the taillights of the F1 car on the track, and when there is a higher challenge goal, the expectation of refreshing the lap time in New York will gradually disappear.

Like the Monza circuit before it, the Hockenheimring is a high-speed circuit, even faster than Monza. Before the '02 track remodeling, it held the title of the fastest track in F1, with a top speed of 360km/h and a long straight with full throttle of 15 seconds.

In the late 80s, with Senna winning three consecutive victories at Hockenheim, it became the home of McLaren and reached the pinnacle of its fame with McLaren.

However, with the renovation in 02, the old course of 6.8 kilometers was replaced with a new track with a length of 4.574 kilometers, which was shortened by two kilometers.

The maximum speed has been reduced from 360 km/h to 326 km/h, and the longest section at full throttle has been reduced to 12 seconds.

More importantly, he gave up the title of the fastest F1 circuit to Italy's Monza.

Just as McLaren Racing has gradually dimmed after 98 years, Hockenheimring has lost to Germany's twin star Nürburgring after 02 years.

At noon, the staff on the track were basically evacuated, and Zhang Yifei began his test time.

The suspension and air package tuning, like the Monza, are tuned with stiffer suspension and low downforce, so that acceleration can be faster when exiting corners.

But this time Zhang Yifei wanted to make a change in the tires, he did not choose the soft tires that are common on the general track, but chose the neutral tires!

"Yifei-kun, are you going to use a neutral tire? But you should know that medium tires don't have the same grip as soft tires, and the tire temperature rises more slowly, so it's easy to have accidents when cornering at high speeds. ”

Yamamoto Ukyo reminded at this time that tires in the era of formula racing are generally divided into two categories and six types.

The two categories are naturally dry tires and wet tires, of which there are four sub-categories of dry tires, namely ultra-soft tires, soft tires, neutral tires, and hard tires.

If you want to know more about the performance of each type of tire, it can be easily understood that the softer the tyre, the better the grip, so that the cornering speed can be faster. But the disadvantages are also obvious, the soft tires are not wear-resistant, especially the extremely soft tires, which will be smoothed out after about ten laps, and the grip will drop rapidly, and the tire must be changed by pitting.

At the end of the 90s, due to the limitations of technology and technology, the wear resistance of tires was lower than that of later generations. According to the tire standards of later generations, the soft tires are enough to ensure that Zhang Yifei's junior formula car runs the whole distance, and basically the grip will not drop significantly.

But not now, Zhang Yifei has gone through the experience of qualifying and racing, and when the soft tires reach the last few laps, the cornering limit begins to drop, and the natural speed is forced to slow down.

However, the advantages of soft tires are also obvious, that is, the tire temperature rises quickly in the initial stage, and the grip is significantly better than that of neutral tires.

That's why most riders, who don't have extreme weather conditions, use soft tyres, just like general-purpose tyres.

"Ukyo, I understand the disadvantages of the medium tyres, but it's summer, and the road surface temperature at Hockenheim, I estimate it will reach more than 40°C. On the day of the race, there are no special circumstances, and the air temperature will also be above 32°C, which will greatly avoid the disadvantages of neutral tires in this hot and hot situation. ”

After speaking, Zhang Yifei said his other considerations: "There is also this stop I plan to challenge the Monza champion Massa, he is very strong, and he must use a more extreme strategy." ”

In the last stop at Monza, the feeling of standing on the left side of the championship was not pleasant, and with the fermentation of the media, Zhang Yifei's personal image has fallen to the bottom, and he is even more ostracized by other drivers.

In the competitive arena, if you want to save all this, you only rely on strength and results. After all, seriously speaking, these are some small stains, and Zhang Yifei did not have any principled black spots, which can completely change the public's opinion.

If you want to challenge for the championship, you naturally have to be stronger than the champion, Zhang Yifei knows the risk of neutral tires, but he wants to pursue faster speed in the second half.

In the pursuit of speed and limits, there is never a moment of absolute safety, even if it is as strong as Senna, it is also on the San Marino circuit.

Without the courage to be on the verge of losing control at any time, there is no qualification to win the championship, and he would rather be crushed than slow down, this is Zhang Yifei's track spirit.

Yamamoto Ukyo thought about Zhang Yifei's thoughts, as a current race engineer, he must weigh the risks and benefits, blind risks are not worth it, but if you want absolute safety, it is even more impossible.

"Yifeijun, then let's test run with neutral tires today, and then make a decision according to the test run effect."

"Yes."

Zhang Yifei nodded, now that Heidelberg is clear, the air and ground conditions should be similar to the day of the game.

If the effect of today's test run of neutral tires is ideal, then you can consider changing tires during the race, and if the effect is not obvious, you need to focus on whether to take risks or seek stability.