Chapter 682: Chapter 272: Changing Team Atmosphere (Part 2)

This is the power unit just removed from Chen Xiangbei’s car No. 13!

During the post-race inspection, the team engineer discovered oil stains on the engine and found through the ECU (vehicle computer) that sensors had issued a hydraulic leak warning.

However, during the race, the whole power unit was in a high-temperature alert state, and the low-priority hydraulic leak warning did not catch the engineers’ attention.

It’s like how modern civilian cars slightly leak oil, which is not much of a problem.

But the large oil stains found during the post-race inspection indicate that it’s far more serious than just a minor oil leak.

Moreover, Chen Xiangbei’s engine is a newly opened power unit, which theoretically should not have faced such issues.

There’s no choice; the technician team can only disassemble the car and conduct a thorough check on the steering system, gearbox, and engine, using means like fluorescent agents and X-ray diagnostics, finally confirming the deformation and leaking of the cylinder casing due to high temperature and pressure.

When this result came out, every member of the team looked grim.

Sure enough, an old Chinese saying proves right: Fortune and misfortune are interdependent.

The deformation of the cylinder casing means either the casting material is substandard or there’s a fatal design flaw; either way, the HRT Team cannot eliminate it.

"Bell, it seems Ferrari’s technology team only postponed the problem without solving it."

After confirming the cause of the problem, Odetto shook his head in a video call toward the technical director Bob Bell at the London headquarters.

This fault surpassed the capabilities of the accompanying engineers and technicians, requiring communication with the headquarters’ research center.

"The root lies in the overpowered mode."

After reviewing the data analysis, Bob Bell offered his opinion.

Though the HRT Team has made rapid progress over the past six months, their research is still concentrated on the aerodynamic packages, barely touching the chassis design, let alone the manufacturing of power units.

Perhaps putting it another way, among the dozen or so F1 teams, besides specific factory teams, most cannot reach the threshold for manufacturing power units.

This includes famous teams like McLaren, and Red Bull, among others.

Even teams at the level of Renault have later shifted into customer teams, unable to master power unit manufacturing.

"What can we do then?"

Team engineer Mazzola asked back.

Since the problem has emerged, dwelling on it is meaningless.

Even if we want to switch power unit manufacturers, we have to wait for next year’s new car.

"Without changing the materials and design, the overpowered mode certainly can’t be misused, unless replacing the power unit with a new one at every race station."

"We don’t have new power units anymore; Trulli’s crash will deplete the last set of stock."

Odetto responded smoothly.

The F1 China Station and Korea Station both are in East Asia and belong to back-to-back division races.

The HRT Team prepared two sets of spare power units, theoretically thinking they would suffice.

But the plan couldn’t keep up with the changes; the Chinese Grand Prix saw Chen Xiangbei’s engine blow along with Trulli’s accident, directly exhausting the reserve power units.

Stepping back, even without Trulli’s crash, the HRT Team couldn’t afford to replace two new power units for every race.

Not considering productivity issues, the cost alone would reach tens of millions of US dollars, with penalties added for high-frequency power unit replacements.

This season at the East Sea home track, Chen Xiangbei managed to perform exceptionally, catching up from eleventh place to become the champion.

Can he do it on another track?

The answer is evidently no.

"First, revert to low-power operation mode, and also, I will immediately fly to Japan Toyota headquarters to communicate with their racing engine department and see if they can provide technical support to solve the issue."

"If that’s not possible, at least urge them to increase power unit production capacity!"

Bob Bell spoke resolutely; previously, HRT’s capability was limited to being a mid-tier team, and they could grit their teeth to accept power unit instability.

After all, F1’s mid to lower-tier teams have various defects and issues; one team’s operational intensity is more exaggerated than the other, and having a slightly higher engine fault rate wasn’t a big deal.

Take the later widely known Sauber Team for instance; gearbox matching issues could drag on for two seasons, anti-stall programs could malfunction easily, and even simple tire-changing bolt jams took months to fix.

Others like Toro Rosso, Haas, Williams, and so on weren’t much better either; Chinese fans just didn’t pay much attention, or everyone got accustomed to operational mishaps.

However, all these changed with Chen Xiangbei’s victory at the East Sea International Circuit, as HRT Team completely gained the strength and capital to compete for the championship, and couldn’t just muddle through anymore.

Toyota Group must show their stance and solve the problem.

"OK, let’s leave it at that for now."

Odetto nodded.

His decades-long professional career had already made him calm about racing issues.

Not to mention HRT, a "rookie" team entering the F1 Paddock through acquisition, Ferrari, a top luxury team, had also committed countless clown acts in recent years.

As for McLaren, it had gotten even more exaggerated, even experiencing blunders where engine and chassis dimensions did not match. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

In the non-"Mars Rover" era, the teams were not competing over who was stronger.

But over who made fewer mistakes!

After the communication ended, Odetto turned around and said to Chen Xiangbei, "Xiangbei, you should go back to rest first, leave it to us here."