The Prost team R&D base and in the bright machine workshop, there are hundreds of R&D personnel working in an orderly manner. Because all the parts of the F1 racing car are specially made and the mechanical wear is very serious, there are up to 18 machine lathes here to manufacture the parts needed for Prost racing car.

Moreover, this is the size of the Prost team after layoffs, and it will be even more exaggerated if it is fully physically.

In later F1 documentaries, even in the late stage of Williams team, which was already in the late stage, has more than 500 staff members in a research and development base, with a number of robot lathes alone reaching 23, constantly cutting various metal blocks to customize racing parts.

This is why F1 racing is extremely expensive. Without capital or technology, it really can't even afford to develop new racing cars.

In the southeast of the machine workshop, under the white lighting, a new frame with a metallic luster is placed under the white lights.

This frame is the prototype car that Prost will compete for next season, officially code-named ap05!

This code name is named according to the engine model. Because this Prost car did not continue to use the Peugeot engine, but instead replaced it with Ferrari's 051 v10 engine, so the new generation of racing cars was named ap05.

This model is actually the last generation prototype developed on the eve of the collapse of the Prost team. However, the AP05 racing car in history did not have the opportunity to drive on the track, but after the Prost team went bankrupt, it was auctioned for a low price of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and now it is in the hands of a private collector.

Looking at the Prost Apo5 prototype car in front of him, Zhang Yifei felt a little moved. At least it avoided the fate of aborting death as soon as it was released, and finally had the chance to drive onto the track to prove itself!

"Boss, has the R&D problem not been solved yet?"

Zhang Yifei asked.

After the Austrian Grand Prix, he personally called Prost to report the good news about winning the championship.

But at the same time, I also learned that the real reason why Prost was absent from even European events was not that the racing development process was slow, but that there was no progress at all and it was completely stuck now!

The serious setback in the development of new racing cars led to Prost not being able to walk away and could only stay here and pay attention. Otherwise, even if he missed the practice and qualifying competition, he would have been able to come over to watch the main race overnight after learning that Zhang Yifei had the pole position.

"No, the initial design standard for the frame structure was designed according to the Peugeot engine. We reached an agreement with Ferrari midway, and when we got their engine data, the frame had already been made."

"At that time, the R&D department seized the time to modify some data on the frame, and then made a prototype frame. As a result, when Ferrari sent the engine over, it still couldn't be installed. There were some data errors, so we had to overturn the previous design and rebuild the frame."

When Zhang Yifei heard Prost say this, he frowned, and he knew on the phone that the new car was in a standstill.

Unexpectedly, even the most basic frame and engine matching were not made, which is equivalent to starting from scratch!

Now there are two final races before the end of the 2000 season, which is in mid-to-late October. If the winter break is included, the Prost team will only have three months of research and development time at most.

At this time, it is very likely that there is no way to achieve perfect debugging.

You should know that in history, Prost obtained the Ferrari engine one year earlier than now, which is the current 050 racing engine used in Ferrari cars.

But in history, in 2001, Ferrari won the drivers and team championships, winning more than half of the sub-stop events. The Prost team, which uses the same engine, only scored 4 points, which is a little stronger than the 0 points in the Peugeot Engine period, but it is not much stronger.

Engine performance can only determine the upper limit of a racing car, and there are too many reasons for the lower limit of a racing car. For example, the chassis is not good, the aerodynamic layout is not good, the gearbox is not good, or even the driver is not good.

Prost's current R&D capabilities are much worse than those of the Ferrari team, and there were problems with previous management. All employees are relatively lazy in their condition, otherwise there would not be so many problems.

At present, Prost team's performance has improved, and the first thing that changed is the crew members. After all, they are facing drivers and can personally experience the excitement and motivation brought by the team's rise.

However, the R&D bases are different, and it is difficult for them to mobilize their enthusiasm in one or two games. In addition, as the boss, Prost was a little unscrupulous. It was because of Zhang Yifei's joining and the hope of turning the table with the hope of a salted fish turning over, so he worked hard to stay at the R&D base.

If Zhang Yifei were the same as Hydefield before, then the entire fleet would probably have given up on itself and waited to go its separate ways after closing down...

"Is that a team development issue, or a Ferrari issue?"

Zhang Yifei asked, "This kind of misunderstanding is not a small matter, one must be found out and someone will be responsible!"

Although he is not a direct shareholder of the team, the Prost team will be the base camp for the rise of China's automobile industry in the future. Zhang Yifei does not want the R&D team to be full of people who are just making up for their own lives.

As the performance improves, the team's mental outlook must also improve!

“The Ferrari issue.”

Prost gave a straightforward answer.

"It's really a Ferrari problem?"

Zhang Yifei asked again with some doubts.

In these six years, Ferrari can win six team championships and five driver championships and create a dynasty. At least one thing can prove, that is, the internal operation of the team is absolutely good.

Zhang Yifei is a little unbelievable. In this unstoppable state, Ferrari will have obvious mistakes such as data errors in business cooperation. If Ferrari cannot do this well, it will not be able to win the world championship in a row.

At the same time, Prost's answer reminded Zhang Yifei of the 2017 McLaren team documentary, which was also replaced by Mercedes-Benz engine to a cheaper Honda engine, but the main bolts of the link transmission were not matched with the engine.

Then I could only compare the design drawings, overturned the previous design, and re-customized the accessories.

At that time, McLaren's reaction was also crazy about robbing Honda. It was because their data was wrong and the engine was delivered slowly, which led to the incompatibility. However, these excuses were crazily complained by outside car fans, because as a team with heritage and reaching the peak, they should not be unscrupulous.

Later facts also proved that it was caused by McLaren's own reasons. From this point, it can be seen that the fall of McLaren team from the peak was not only a problem with the driver's strength, but also a problem with the entire team atmosphere.

Zhang Yifei didn't expect that Prost team would be trashing the blame before they reached the peak. After all, this team is not only engaged in employment, but may not have any major surprises. Or if Zhang Yifei wants to challenge him, he may have to "retire" in Prost team.

Facing Zhang Yifei's replies, Prost felt a little guilty, so he added: "This is what the production director said."

"Boss, I think you'd better find the real reason. There is an old saying in China that is to prevent the problem from escalating. The current Prost team is no longer the one at the bottom. I have the determination and ambition to strive for the world championship!"

The meaning behind Zhang Yifei's words is to clearly tell Prost that he wants a stronger racing car to help him win the F1 world championship.

This tone seems to be a bit arrogant, as if it is a threat to the boss. In fact, it is a scene that can be seen frequently in the F1 field, and some more arrogant drivers have said it.

For example, Senna is not good at McLaren racing, so he transferred to the Williams team of Black Technology. Montoya felt that Williams team was not good at it, so he went to McLaren equipped with Mercedes-Benz engines.

These drivers who transfer to more powerful racing can be described as commonplace in F1. The boss also likes drivers to make such requests, after all, this means that their drivers have the fighting spirit to win the championship!

"Don't worry about this, next year's Prost car will definitely be stronger."

Prost replied confidently, the paper data of the Ferrari engine is much better than the previous Peugeot engine.

In terms of horsepower alone, the Ferrari engine parameter is 930p, and the speed can exceed 19,000 rpm, while the previous Peugeot engine was 890p, and the speed was slightly lower.

Judging from the data, it means that the Peugeot engine is 4.3% worse than the Ferrari engine. You should know that the performance of Prost and Ferrari this year is only 2%.

This means that next year, at least in terms of power, Prost AAP05 racing has extremely strong competitiveness!

"Is there any other problem besides the frame?"

Zhang Yifei asked again, and he was indeed very concerned about AP05 racing. After all, he suffered a loss from weak chicken racing this year, so he didn't want to eat it again next year.

If you remember correctly, Schumacher's points will be as high as 144 points in history next year, and second place Barrichello will be 77 points. Not only Schumacher won the championship with absolute advantage, but the points of the two Ferrari drivers combined, the next ten teams will not be as good as that.

Zhang Yifei does not expect Prost to develop a "Mars rover" of the same level as Ferrari, but at least he must have the power to fight.

"There are some problems with the matching of the engine and the gearbox. After all, the power parameters are not needed at all, and the gear needs to be re-matched. In addition, the suspension needs to be changed, and the aerodynamics in the shell are not good enough, and there is also..."

When Zhang Yifei heard Prost say it in a bunch of ways, he was a little confused. After signing the contract in the past three years, the boss did not treat himself as an outsider at all. If he had not signed a long-term contract and had improved so many problems, the driver would probably have to run away overnight!

"Stop... I know the boss, you can get these things done slowly!"

"But I see that there are so many problems, so it may take too long to go through time. Do you need to expand the recruitment of a little manpower?"

At the Prost R&D base, the current staff is less than 200. Even if the small fleet requires a low point, it will take 300 people to meet the demand.

"I have the idea of ​​increasing R&D personnel, but I just had the intention to sponsor and advertisers, and I had difficulties in funding."

Hearing this, Zhang Yifei showed a sly smile on his face, and he came to Prost.
Chapter completed!