Car Racing without Money-Chapter 502 - 196: Race Strategy Is a Math Problem

Chapter 502: Chapter 196: Race Strategy Is a Math Problem

The humble exterior cannot conceal the inherent "rebellion."

Just like many people often say, Chen Xiangbei does not resemble a traditional Asian driver, or even a typical Chinese athlete.

As Chen Xiangbei was lost in thought, Odetto had already led the team members inside.

"Bei, let’s finalize the starting strategy now."

The new season’s FIA fuel policy removal means that the strategy team now only has tire strategy.

The main decision-making direction is determining the number of pit stops in the race, abbreviated as "pit stops."

Under normal circumstances, the lifespan of F1 tires in the eyes of engineers is actually much shorter than the public perception.

Take the commonly used soft red tires as an example; their theoretical lifespan is only eight laps!

Yes, you read that right, red tires can only run forty kilometers.

The first lap is the "golden lap" in the eyes of the team strategy group, where grip can reach its peak.

On the third lap, tire tread rubber granulation starts, speed surpasses the peak, and each lap can be 0.3 to 0.5 seconds slower.

By the eighth lap, the rubber layer becomes excessively molten, grip can experience a precipitous drop, with old tires being more than a second slower per lap than new tires.

Exceeding twelve laps, the tire structure becomes fatigued, presenting a high risk of instantaneous blowout!

Of course, if the driver does tire management in advance, coupled with excellent tire preservation abilities, it’s not impossible for red tires to run beyond twenty laps.

It can even be said that within the modern F1 rule restrictions, tire management ability has already become the most important indicator of a driver’s strength!

Single lap speed can only represent talent, but tire management can guarantee results.

"I believe that as a newcomer and given Xiangbei’s excellent qualifying performance, maintaining the ranking is the biggest victory, we could safely adopt the conventional two-stop strategy."

Sawano Hiroyuki was the first to express his opinion.

FIA race rules mandate that two different tire compounds must be used in a single race, implying that one stop is the baseline, and must involve a tire change.

Watching F1 races later, on some tracks with low tire wear, coupled with a super tire preservation expert, starting with hard white tires can be managed to run the entire distance.

Certainly, during the last phase not pitting sees rankings rise to point-scoring area, yet a required tire change wastes over twenty seconds.

This is because of FIA rule restrictions, a pit stop tire change is mandatory.

Furthermore, reducing the number of pit stops also carries benefits for newcomers like Chen Xiangbei and new teams like HRT.

That is avoiding errors and disruptions brought by pit stops, improving tolerance and teamwork within the crew.

No matter how strong the HRT technician team’s pit stop tire change training is, their duration can’t rival major teams.

The reason is simple, the real car training cost is staggering, the HRT team cannot maintain it.

At the same time, technician team members, to save costs, are all part-time team engineers with primary roles involving car maintenance and various equipment operation, unable to transform entirely to dedicated tire changers.

Don’t say the HRT team cannot do it, even major teams like Ferrari or Mercedes cannot afford to keep two drivers and over fifty dedicated tire workers.

Sawano Hiroyuki’s words made the strategy group members subconsciously nod.

Conservatism doesn’t necessarily equate to error, nor does aggression mean correctness.

Right or wrong more depends on if it aligns reasonably with current conditions.

"Odetto, what do you think?"

Briatore turned to ask Odetto.

Faced with Hua Bu’s ill-intentioned inquiry, Odetto’s expression was somewhat cold.

After a moment of contemplation, he provided his response: "Two-stop."

"Odetto, you’re really getting old and more conservative, no longer keeping pace with the times."

Indeed, as expected, the old rivals of the "red-blue battle" began to be sarcastic.

Regardless of Briatore’s status as the team manager, Odetto still couldn’t suppress the anger in his heart.

When he planned to "retaliate," Hua Bu turned to Chen Xiangbei and said, "Bei, remember times have changed, and the tire strategy is no longer a simple tactic, but a mathematical question!"

After speaking, Briatore once again looked towards Mizutani Sho.

"Mizutani, it’s your turn to speak."

Upon hearing Briatore’s instruction, Mizutani Sho, who usually didn’t participate much in decision-making, unusually proactively offered his opinion this time.

"I think the optimal pit stop plan is three-stop."

"Explain your reasoning."

Odetto immediately questioned, knowing Briatore could talk nonsense but trusting Mizutani Sho to provide convincing justification.

"The Bahrain Grand Prix spans 57 laps; with traditional two-stop red-yellow-red or red-white-red tactics, it means each set of red tires needs to run at least fifteen laps to ensure yellow or white tires’ lifespan covers the whole race."

"However, according to my calculations, even with excellent tire preservation, overall speed loss will still exceed a standard pit stop’s 22 seconds as long as the window period is well timed and no special situations arise."

"Theoretically, a three-stop strategy can be 2.531 seconds faster than a two-stop."

Briatore’s words were correct; with advancements per era and rules change, tactical choices for pit stop amounts can be determined through precise calculations for optimal results.

There’s even a standardized formula: Window period = (Old tire lap time × remaining laps) vs (New tire lap time × remaining laps + 22 seconds)

Once calculations reveal the latter’s time is shorter, it triggers pit stop orders.

However, these are merely theoretical figures, as weather changes, opponent strategies, track incidents, and errors during tire changes influence the final result.