"Selamat datang kembali di Bahrain untuk sesi terakhir uji pra-musim ini untuk musim Formula 1 2021. Semuanya berujung pada ini: empat jam lagi waktu berlari di lintasan sebelum tim-tim harus siap untuk akhir pekan balapan pertama kembali di Bahrain dalam dua minggu. Senang bisa berkata aku bergabung di sini dengan Karun Chandhok," ucap Rachael Brookes, membuka siaran sesi terakhir pekan uji coba ini.
"Karun, saat matahari mencapai puncaknya dan mulai terbenam, apakah di sinilah kita akan melihat gambaran urutan kekuatan untuk musim 2021?"
"Aku tidak yakin," jawab Karun, berhenti sejenak sebelum menambah, "tergantung apakah tim-tim memutuskan untuk melakukan simulasi kualifikasi, jenis *full-blown*, bahan bakar minim, satu putaran ajaib pada ban *soft*.
Aku tidak pikir semua tim akan melakukannya; beberapa tim pasti akan, tapi yang menarik bagi mereka adalah fakta bahwa pukul 18.00 sore ini, kondisinya akan persis sama dengan yang akan kita hadapi dua minggu lagi. Sebenarnya ide bagus untuk merasakan keseimbangan mobil itu, bahkan kalau *engine* tidak dinaikkan, bahan bakar tidak diambil semua. Setidaknya soal *setup* mobil dan ban, bisa dapat gambaran jelas posisi mobil untuk kedua pengemudi dan insinyur."
"Tapi tergantung tim, kan, mau memperlihatkan *pace*-nya atau tidak. Namun, ke hal lebih menarik untuk didengar dan dibicarakan, di sisi inovasi tim ada *diffuser* McLaren; ceritakan saja soal itu," tanya Rachel, memberi Karun kesempatan menjelaskannya untuk penonton.
"Masalahnya, cara McLaren menafsirkan regulasi aero dan posisi *diffuser*..." Karun mulai mendetailkan saat siaran menayangkannya. Tim-tim sudah sibuk menyiapkan *setup* mobil agar siap dikirim ke lintasan begitu sesi dimulai.
.......
"Semoga lancar," ucap Fatih sambil *dap* Gasly, yang baru selesai memakai helm dan masuk ke mobil.
Setelah berdekatan selama tiga hari berjam-jam, mereka tak bisa tidak jadi dekat. Semakin dekat karena perubahan keseimbangan mobil; saat masalah yang dia tunjukkan terpecahkan, keseimbangan mobil terasa sangat bagus, dan ini membuat Gasly dan Yuki lebih terbuka untuk percakapan detail dengannya.
Tembok kompetitif tetap ada, tapi mereka tetap membangun semacam persahabatan karena keduanya diharapkan mengendarai mobil yang sama.
Gasly hanya mengangguk sebelum masuk mobil, dan mekanik mulai mengikatnya.
Fatih dan Yuki berjalan tenang ke *pit wall*, karena mereka akan menghabiskan waktu di sana selama sesi, belajar dari sisi *pit wall* agar punya pengalaman bagaimana cara kerjanya saat mereka di dalam mobil.
Beberapa menit setelah sesi diberi bendera hijau, yang pertama memasuki lintasan adalah Gasly untuk *race simulation run* guna mengumpulkan data paket aero, tapi juga perubahan keseimbangan saat ban mengalami keausan.
Tim di pabrik sudah bekerja mengolah data terkumpul untuk memecahkan beberapa masalah secepat mungkin. Meskipun kedengarannya mereka punya dua minggu setelah sesi terakhir sampai balapan pertama, tidak lebih dari tujuh hari produktif kalau dihitung transportasi kendaraan kembali ke pabrik untuk inspeksi lalu ke Bahrain lagi.
Dua pengemudi di *pit wall* berbincang sambil melihat data telemetri dan mendiskusikan bagaimana mereka akan mengakhiri tikungan, trik mereka, dan cara lain menghadapi situasi, dengan beberapa insinyur ikut campur bertanya saat mobil kembali ke *garage* untuk isi bahan bakar, ganti ban, dan perubahan *setup* aero.
Ada beberapa masalah, tapi semua ditangani sebelum Gasly dikirim kembali ke *garage*. Di dua puluh menit terakhir, tim-tim akhirnya mulai simulasi kualifikasi.
Dalam menit-menit pembukaan, sudah jelas Red Bull paling cepat saat Max Verstappen mencatat *lap* tercepat, lebih dari satu detik lebih cepat dari yang Mercedes catatkan di *timing wall* setelah Hamilton *spinning* di usaha *lap* kualifikasinya karena terlalu lambat selama *preparation lap*.
Mengejutkan, Gasly menempatkan diri di P5 di *timing sheet* di *push lap* pertamanya pada ban C4 sebelum kembali ke *pit lane*.
Pengemudi tiap tim bergiliran *shootout*. Beberapa memperbaiki, yang lain tidak pada *best lap*-nya, tapi bagian paling mengejutkan adalah perbaikan aktif yang Gasly buat pada set ban baru.
...
"Dan pengemudi *yellow bull*, Gasly, tampak memperbaiki lagi setelah sektor pertama kurang memuaskan, dan saat menutup garis *start-finish*, dia naik ke P3, hanya dua persepuluh detik di belakang Verstappen dan Hamilton. Tahu kan kita tidak bisa percaya hasil *test weekend* ini, tapi *yellow bulls* memberiku harapan bisa bersaing di puncak pertengahan dan menunjukkan peningkatan dari musim lalu, di mana mereka berakhir dengan satu kemenangan balapan.
Tapi aku terus bertanya-tanya apakah mobil yang ini bagus itu hal baik untuk tim yang khusus jadi tempat latihan *junior* mereka karena, oleh naturanya, seharusnya lingkungan bebas tekanan. Tapi kompetisi yang terbangun karena tim punya tiga pengemudi justru menimbulkan tekanan lebih dari perlu pada pengemudi saat mereka berebut *seat*, dua di antaranya *rookie* pertama kali di F1. Tapi itu sendiri adalah hal yang akan kita tunggu..."
Saat komentator dengan antusias mengomentari *pace* AlphaTauri, atau yang kini dijuluki "yellow bulls", Gasly kembali ke *pit lane* untuk terakhir kalinya dalam uji coba tiga hari, setelah mencatat waktu tercepat ketiga. Dengan itu, tim punya dua minggu untuk menyelesaikan sebanyak mungkin masalah yang terungkap dan kembali di sini lebih kuat dari sebelumnya.
Fatih, di sisi lain, tidak terlihat lebih bersemangat karena akhirnya dia punya waktu masuk simulasi dan berkendara puas hati selama magang di pabrik dalam jendela dua minggu ini, sekarang dia resmi jadi *intern*.
"Welcome back to Bahrain for this final session of this pre-season testing for the 2021 Formula 1 season. It all comes down to this: four more hours of on-track running before the teams have to be ready for the first race weekend back here in Bahrain in two weeks’ time. I’m pleased to say I’m joined here with Karun Chandhok," Rachael Brookes said, opening the broadcast of the final session of the testing weekend.
"Karun, as the sun reaches its peak and starts to set, is this where we are going to get a glimpse of the pecking order for the 2021 season?"
"I’m not sure," Karun said, pausing for a moment before he added, "it depends on whether the teams decide to go for a qualy run, the kind of full-blown, low-fuel, one-lap wonder on soft tires.
I don’t think everybody will; some teams definitely will, but what is interesting for them is the fact that at 6 PM this evening, it will be the exact conditions we are going to have in two weeks’ time. It is actually a good idea to have a sense of what the balance of that car is, even if you don’t turn the engine up, you don’t take all the fuel out. At least in terms of car setup and tires, you can have a clear idea of where the car is at for both the drivers and the engineers."
"But it depends on the team, I guess, on whether they want to reveal their pace or not. However, on to more interesting things to hear and talk about, on the innovative side of the teams is the McLaren diffuser; just talk to us about it," Rachel asked Karun, allowing him to explain it for the viewers.
"The thing is, the way McLaren has interpreted the aero regulations and where the diffuser..." Karun started going into the details as shown on the broadcast. Teams were already frantically working on finishing their car setups to be ready to send them out the moment the session started.
.......
"Break a leg," Fatih said as he dapped Gasly, who was done putting on his helmet and getting into the car.
After being in close proximity for the past three days for hours on end, they couldn’t help but get close. It was helped even more by the changes to the car’s balance; the moment the problem he pointed out was resolved, the balance of the car started feeling very good, and this made Gasly and Yuki more open to having detailed conversations with him.
The competitive wall still remained, but they still built a sort of friendship due to both of them being expected to drive the same car.
Gasly just nodded before he got into the car, and the mechanics started strapping him in.
Fatih and Yuki calmly walked to the pit wall, as they were to spend time there during the session, learning things from the pit-wall side so that they would have experience of what the workings are like when they are in the car.
A few minutes after the session was green-flagged, the first one to enter the track was Gasly on a race simulation run to gather data on the aero package, but also on the change in balance as the tires experienced wear.
The team at home was already working on using the gathered data to solve some of the problems as fast as possible. Although it sounded like they would have two weeks after the final session until the first race, it wasn’t more than seven productive days if the transportation of the vehicles back to the factory for inspection and then back to Bahrain again was taken into consideration.
The two drivers on the pit wall conversed between themselves, looking at the telemetry data and discussing how they would have taken the corners, what their tricks were, and other ways of dealing with the situation, with some of the engineers chiming in a bit, asking a few questions whenever the car was back in the garage for refueling, tire changes, and aero setup changes.
There were a few problems, but all were dealt with before Gasly was sent back into the garage. In the final twenty minutes, the teams finally started going for qualifying simulations.
Within the opening minutes, it was very clear that Red Bull was the fastest as Max Verstappen set the fastest lap, which was more than a second quicker than the one Mercedes managed to put on the timing wall after Hamilton was sent spinning on his qualifying lap attempt after going too slow during the preparation lap.
Surprisingly, Gasly set himself in P5 on the timing sheet on his first push lap on the C4 tires before coming back into the pit lane.
Each team’s on-track driver went on the shootout, one after another. Some improved, while others couldn’t on their best lap, but the most surprising part of it was the improvement Gasly was actively making on the new sets.
...
"And the yellow bull’s driver, Gasly, is looking to be improving once again after a subpar first sector, and as he closes the start-finish line, he moves to P3, only two-tenths behind Verstappen and Hamilton. I know we can’t trust the results we see in these test weekends, but the yellow bulls are giving me hope of fighting on the top end of the midfield battle and showing an improvement over last season, where they ended with one race win.
But I keep wondering whether the car being this good is a good thing for a team that is specifically there to act as the training ground for their juniors since, by its nature, it is supposed to be a pressure-free environment. But the competition that is being built due to the team having three drivers is setting up to put more than necessary pressure on the drivers as they fight for their seat, two of them rookies in their first time in F1. But that in itself is something we will be looking forward to..."
As the commentators excitedly commented on the pace AlphaTauri, or the now-dubbed "yellow bulls," was showing, Gasly returned to the pit lane for the final time in the three-day testing, having set the third-fastest time. With that, the team now had two weeks to resolve as many of the discovered problems as possible and come back here stronger than ever.
Fatih, on the other hand, couldn’t look more excited as he would finally have the time to enter the simulation and drive to his enjoyment as he interned at the factory during this two-week window, now that he was an official intern.
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