The Prost team's maintenance team quickly removed the engine from the JS53 and opened the cylinder head to check the cause of the blowout.

"Henry, I think there was a problem with the big end bearing in the axle, which eventually caused the engine to burst."

At present, Prost did not follow the team to the Catalan winter test circuit, so the team leader Henry is the only management of the current team, so Charlie first reported the reason to Henry after discovering the problem.

"Are you sure it's the engine bearing?"

Henry asked with a solemn face, if it was really because of the engine bearing, it was a design flaw, and it was not easy for the Prost team to solve.

You must know that the F1 team is only the chassis manufacturer, and the power unit is the engine supplier unless it is the factory team. This kind of design flaw is a bit difficult for the chassis manufacturer to solve the problem, and it is not capable of solving it.

Last season's results were already in shambles, and if there are still engine problems this season, it could be a fatal blow to the team.

"Well, I'm sure. It is estimated that Peugeot Group also understands the defects of their engines, so they will comprehensively reduce the operating parameters of the engine to prevent engine failure under high loads. ”

"But the fight between Alessi and Schumacher just now almost made the engine run slowly, so under the overwhelm, there was a cylinder burst."

"With the strength of the grappling just now, it can be regarded as overwhelming?"

Heng asked rhetorically in a surprised tone, this is just a joke. There is no official competition yet, but the track is just a winter test, and if this kind of grappling can be regarded as high-intensity, what will happen to the official competition in the future, whether it is ultra-high strength or ultimate intensity?

Hearing this, Charlie's expression was a little embarrassed, and he could only reply: "There is no absolute law to be found for engine failure, and it may have something to do with the assembly process of this engine." Now replace the spare engine, and if such a cylinder burst occurs, you can only negotiate a remedy with Peugeot. ”

"That's the only way, let's get a spare engine first."

Henry agreed, and now that it was winter testing, the Prost team didn't have much choice.

"In addition, I will report to the boss first, so that he can be mentally prepared."

"No problem."

After saying that, Charlie beckoned to the maintenance team and began to replace the JS53 car with a new engine.

This time, the Prost team brought a total of five Peugeot engines, which were enough for the testing phase. It's just that Alessi's burst accident has cast a shadow on the winter test, and if there is no way to completely solve it, then this year's F1 season is worrying.

Just as the Prost team was replacing the engine, there was a burst of cheers outside the pits. Zhang Yifei happened to be in the stage of nothing, so after hearing this cheer, he walked out of the pit to see what was going on.

As soon as he walked out of the pits, he saw Schumacher's red Ferrari entering the pit lane, while the lap time display on the track showed that Schumacher's fastest lap time was 1:22.312, less than 0.5 seconds behind the track record.

It is almost a second faster than the lap time of the newcomer Kimi Raikkonen just now!

You must know that this is the beginning of the winter test, and many cars are not very well tuned, and there is a lot of room for improvement. Schumacher achieved such an astonishing lap time in the first round of the test that it was not surprising that there were cheers.

If Ferrari's car can maintain this level, Schumacher will have a chance to break the Circuit de Catalunya's lap record.

In addition, there is another meaning in this cheering voice, that is, Schumacher has just won very beautifully over Alesi. Although this is not an official match, it is clear that both sides are getting serious.

The combination of the fastest lap and the victory over the rivals caused the Scuderia Ferrari to cheer for Schumacher.

"Scuderia Ferrari is really high-profile."

Zhang Yifei looked at this kind of scene and said sourly, to be honest, he was still a little envious in his heart.

After all, in the winter test of eleven teams, Schumacher has occupied the absolute leading position.

"If you have a grade, you can be just as high-profile."

Next to Korcel took this sentence, this scene is not considered high-profile in his opinion, and it is very difficult for a capable driver to keep a low profile.

Hearing Cosell's words, Zhang Yifei didn't refute it, but remembered a famous Internet quote in his mind.

That is Schumacher really confirmed a sentence, that is, I also want to be low-key, but my strength does not allow it!

The JS53 racing engine is replaced quickly, which is also the advantage of formula racing, almost all parts are standardized, modular design in the words of later generations, which can greatly provide maintenance efficiency.

That's why formula car pit stops can be counted in seconds, which is not possible without a high degree of standardization.

After the JS53 car is restored, it will be the second winter test by Alessi. You must know that under normal circumstances, the total number of laps of the team's winter test will reach about 700 laps, so just a start.

The final number of test laps will depend on the car's reliable performance, and if the reliability performance is quite poor during the test and there are various mechanical failures, it is possible to drop the number of test laps to 600 laps, or even in the early 500s.

The team with very strong car stability can run up to 1,000 laps after two rounds of winter testing, providing sufficient tuning data for the team's technician team, so that in F1 events, in the face of various track conditions, tuning will be more comfortable.

Alessi was once again on the Circuit de Catalunya, with the team's eyes fixed on his car. If the same problem still occurs with the new engine, then the only way to change the engine supplier is to find a way.

If you drive this unreliable racing engine to F1, the results can be imagined. However, it is not easy to change the engine of the race, especially for a small private team such as Prost Racing, which will be tested both financially and technically.

So at this moment, the team members hope that the cylinder explosion just now is just accidental, otherwise it will be a big trouble.

On the track, Alessi drove smoothly on the first lap and was constantly communicating with the team of technicians.

Charlie was on the phone with Alessi to learn about the feedback from the car, and on the other hand, his eyes were fixed on the pit screen, which contained various car data transmitted from the car sensors, to ensure that the anomaly of the JS53 car could be detected at the first time.

Lap 2, lap 3, lap 4......

Alessi drove the JS53 car, constantly increasing the number of laps and began to make some relatively intense driving maneuvers to test the car's extreme working conditions.

After more than 20 laps, all the sensor data of the JS53 car is normal, and there is no sign of a cylinder blowout. This situation also made the team members breathe a sigh of relief, it seems that the previous cylinder burst may be just an accident, Peugeot Group can be regarded as a world-class car company, and there is no big problem in competing in Le Mans, in theory, it should not be so pitted.

The engine did not fail, and the focus began to be on the car test, and the team's voice channel continued to hear Alesi's driving feedback.

"Michelin tires are stiffer this year, and the early grip on the track is not very sufficient, so it is recommended to reduce the tire pressure compared with conventional tires and increase the contact area between the tires and the ground."

"The suspension is stiffer, and although the steering wheel responds faster, the increased difficulty of handling can be adapted to a little softer."

"The car lacks power on the long straights, so we need to use a low downforce setting, combined with the lower tire pressure in front, so that we can also ensure grip in corners."

"The braking force of the front wheels is relatively large, and there is a chance that the tires will lock up when braking hard, so adjust the front and rear braking ratio."

Alesi's feedback on the JS53 race car was passed on to the team's pit station one by one, and the team's technician team also recorded Alesi's feedback in detail to prepare for the next adjustment.

At the same time, Zhang Yifei also brought a headset and listened carefully to Alessi's suggestions on car tuning. You must know that these things belong to the experience accumulated by a driver for more than ten years on the track, which is of great help to new drivers.

Although he defeated Alessi in the team competition, when it is time to study modestly, Zhang Yifei will never pretend to think that he can do anything. Especially after seeing Schumacher's strength just now, if you want to surpass this kind of opponent at the level of the car god, you must raise yourself to the same level as the car god, otherwise you can only look up to Schumacher standing at the top of the podium forever.

After a round of feedback, Alessi pitted the car and asked the team mechanics to adjust it with the previous feedback. After refueling and changing to tires of different hardnesses, Alessi took the car back to the track and continued the test car.

It may be because of the loss of the No. 1 driver battle in the previous intra-team race, and the ruthless victory by Schumacher on the winter test track today. The successive blows and "humiliations" made Alessi eager to prove himself in this F1 season, so this test was extraordinarily long and the feedback was extraordinarily detailed.

When the track command center gave the end of the notice, Alessi pitted the car and the total number of test laps was close to 100.

Such a high-intensity test also indirectly tested the working condition of the engine, and the new spare engine this time did not have other problems except that the power was not very strong.

Faced with this situation, Charlie wondered in his heart, could it be that he made a mistake in judging the engine design flaws?

On the other hand, with the end of today's test, Zhang Yifei and his party also began to return to the hotel, waiting for tomorrow's winter test.

But when Zhang Yifei walked out of the pit, there were two people standing at the door unexpectedly, one of whom was Zhang Yifei's "old acquaintance", that is, the former opponent of Formula Renault and the enemy Madu!