F1: I was born to be useful, and you are all destined for greatness.

Chapter 15 Retrospective

After the interview, F1 drivers need to take an ice bath, followed by an extremely important post-race debriefing.

Taking an ice bath primarily helps to cool down, reduce inflammation, and prevent muscle soreness.

One to two hours after a race is the peak period for a driver's core body temperature, muscle inflammation, and lactic acid buildup. At this time, ice baths are most effective in cooling down, reducing inflammation, and relieving muscle soreness.

Post-race debriefing requires some time to prepare data and information, and the engineers took advantage of the time while the drivers were taking an ice bath to do so.

Tang Che and Gasly were taking ice baths in the physiotherapy room at Motorhome, each with their own tub next to each other, chatting with each other if they got bored.

(I'm not sure how to translate "motorhome" more accurately, but I'll just understand it as the team's temporary headquarters in the paddock.)

But Gasly didn't chat with Taunter; the guy was on the phone with his family and didn't have time to talk to him.

Tang Che didn't want to just sit there, so he picked up his phone and started playing a game with Alben.

After finishing the game, the ice bath was almost over.

On his way to the conference room, Tang Che received a message from Zhou Guanyu: "Want to have dinner together later?"

Tang Che: "Okay, I'll contact you after the meeting."

The two official drivers, team leader, race engineer, strategy director, performance team leader and other core team members all had to go to Motorhome's conference room to participate in the debriefing, which was a very grand occasion.

"Before the post-mortem analysis officially begins, I need to know the progress of the root cause analysis of the vehicle failures," said team principal Franz Tost.

"It has now been determined that the problem with both cars lies in the ERS high-voltage electrical system, and the specific module is still under investigation. Furthermore, I can assure you that the vehicle malfunction has absolutely nothing to do with the driving style of either driver," said team technical director Jody Eckington apologetically. "I'm sorry, Tom; I'm sorry, Pierre. We couldn't provide you with a reliable car."

Jody Eckington is feeling incredibly guilty right now; he almost made it to the podium! Even without a podium finish, that's still a lot of points! Many teams don't even get that many points in a whole season!

(As is well known, it is extremely difficult for bottom-tier teams to score points; some may not even score a single point in an entire season.)

What could Toncher and Gasley say? They chose to comfort him, of course.

Tang Che: "A temporary setback is nothing. The season has only just begun, and we have many more opportunities. I believe the team will be able to optimize a stable car as soon as possible."

Gasly: ​​"Me too!"

The debriefing officially begins, with the two drivers first asked to share their driving experience lap by lap.

Tanger: "The start felt great, but the cars in front blocked the space, so I could only follow Hamilton and wait for my chance."

"The wheel-to-wheel battles with Cheko afterwards were very difficult. The grip in the corners was seriously insufficient, and it was very difficult to defend in the corners. The traction when exiting the corners was still unstable. The straight-line performance was good, but the dolphin jumps affected the driving too much."

"..."

Gasly: ​​"The grip of the starting grid was slightly worse than during the winter test, but the clutch control was normal, and the starting position only dropped by one position."

"We successfully regained the line in the first corner, and throughout the wheel-to-wheel battle, the vehicle's steering response and braking stability were in full compliance with expectations."

"The dolphin jump still affects driving a lot; I can hardly see the braking point."

"..."

When subjective feelings are compared with objective data, it becomes clear that Tontatta's subjective feelings are entirely true, and Gasley's subjective feelings are not much different from the objective data.

Before the engineer could react, Gasly was already numb.

Gasly: ​​Tom's car has just as many problems as mine, so how come it's so much faster than mine?

The engineer explained Gasly's doubts: "The difference lies in the tuning. Tom's tuning brings out the car's performance better than Pierre's. Tom almost pushed the car to its performance limits."

In fact, differences in driving ability do exist, both subjectively and objectively, but this is not something that can be said.

In short: Tang Che has taken the AT03 to a level that it doesn't deserve!

Engineer: What defines a top-tier driver? (Leans back tactically)

After the debriefing session, everyone in the team, except Gasly, was very excited.

They all realized that with Tontatta, the team's performance this season might far exceed their expectations.

The prerequisite is that they can provide Tanger with a car that can consistently finish every race.

Go optimize the car! The better the car, the better Townter's performance; the better Townter's performance, the better the team's performance; the better the team's performance, the more year-end bonus the team can receive; the more year-end bonus the team can receive, the higher the bonuses the team members can receive.

Team engineer: We are of one mind!

It was 11 p.m. when Tang Che walked out of the conference room. He took out his phone to contact Zhou Guanyu. On the screen was a message from Verstappen that had been sent ten minutes earlier: "Want to have dinner together? Daniel, Alexander, George, and Lando are all coming too."

Tang Che: "Your invitation is too late. I've already accepted Zhou Guanyu's invitation to dinner."

Verstappen replied instantly: "Then take him with you."

Tang Che asked Zhou Guanyu for his opinion, and Zhou Guanyu readily agreed.

Tang Che told Tang Jingqing and then drove with Zhou Guanyu to the restaurant that Vistapan had booked.

Verstappen, Alben, Norris, Russell, and Ricardo were all present.

Alben winked and said, "Ah~ the seven-time champions are here!"

The seven-time champion refers to Tomcher, a title derived from the Rosberg formula.

In case you're unaware of the Rosberg formula—if you beat a driver, their championship title should also be credited to you.

Rosberg first defeated Schumacher to win seven championships; then he defeated Hamilton to win seven championships; adding his own championship, he became a 15-time champion!

Tanger defeated Hamilton to win seven titles, earning him the title of Seven-Time Champion!

Norris laughed, "We both beat Tom today, we're both seven-time champions!"

"Eight titles!" Russell corrected very elegantly, "Don't forget about Max's title too."

Verstappen rolled his eyes: "If Tom and I hadn't both broken down, you wouldn't have seen our taillights."

Lies don't hurt, truth is the knife.

Russell was furious (doge). When he wasn't there, Mercedes was a force to be reckoned with; but as soon as he arrived, Mercedes started to falter.

Alben, Norris, and Ricardo all received a 100-point critical hit because they were all driving tractors.

Considering that all of their race cars use Mercedes' power units, perhaps we can pay homage to Alan Tam – the GP2 Engine!

Alben was furious beyond measure, his anger blazing like fire: "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, never underestimate a young man's potential!"

"I bet this was taught by Tang," Norris remarked. "Alexander wouldn't say something so profound."