The advent of the hybrid power unit formula in 2014 lost Red Bull their previous dominance of F1 and paved the way for the Mercedes era. It took a long time for Red Bull to regain their status as F1’s top team but that era is now firmly in place as Max Verstappen chases his third consecutive world title…

2014年，混動(dòng)動(dòng)力單元的出現(xiàn)終結(jié)了紅牛先前對(duì)F1的統(tǒng)治，同時(shí)為梅奔時(shí)代鋪平了道路。紅牛花了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間才重拾F1霸主地位，但隨著維斯塔潘開始追求三連冠，又一個(gè)屬于紅牛時(shí)代已穩(wěn)穩(wěn)到來(lái)……

（書接上回）

2011賽季——RB7

19場(chǎng)大獎(jiǎng)賽/12勝/27臺(tái)/18桿/車手車隊(duì)年度雙冠

For this first year of Pirelli tyre supply (and the Drag Reduction System), the double diffuser had been banned, so exhaust blowing around the new single diffuser became even more important.

2011年是倍（不）耐力成為新輪胎供應(yīng)商的第一年（同樣也是DRS系統(tǒng)的第一年）；同樣是這一年，雙層擴(kuò)散器被禁。因此，圍繞著單層擴(kuò)散器的吹氣研發(fā)就變得越發(fā)重要。

On the RB7, the exhausts exited low, ahead of the rear wheels. This energised the tyre-squish area, redirecting it to the diffuser, giving a huge downforce increase which even offset the losses incurred by the double diffuser ban.

在RB7上，尾氣從后輪之前較低的位置排出。這些廢氣激活了輪胎和地面相互擠壓的區(qū)域（下圖黃色區(qū)域），改變廢氣流方向并使之流向擴(kuò)散器。這使得下壓力大大增加，甚至抵消了雙層擴(kuò)散器被禁造成的下壓力損失。

The gains were maximised by the blowing continuing off-throttle. The throttles?were kept open even off-throttle – pumping the gases through to the diffuser regardless – and control of the power was done electrically, with spark plug?cut.

即使松開油門時(shí)，引擎節(jié)流閥依舊開啟，源源不斷把氣流抽向擴(kuò)散器，最大化了氣動(dòng)收益。而對(duì)動(dòng)力的控制通過(guò)斷開火花塞，以電動(dòng)方式達(dá)成。

譯者注：對(duì)冷吹擴(kuò)散器的詳細(xì)解釋，可以參看老耿頭在維特爾傳第6章：維特爾傳第6章：神之RB7！神之2011！5分30秒至6分45秒的說(shuō)明

Red Bull’s engine partner Renault Sport developed some super-intricate software, which later encompassed?hot blowing, whereby?fuel injected into the exhausts off throttle was ignited, increasing its blowing velocity, though Red Bull didn’t use it until late in season as the rear tyres were the limitation.

紅牛的引擎伙伴雷諾開發(fā)了一系列極為復(fù)雜的軟件系統(tǒng)。其中就包括熱吹系統(tǒng)。原理如下：松開油門踏板時(shí)，燃料會(huì)注入尾氣中，再進(jìn)行點(diǎn)燃。這加快了尾氣排出的速率。不過(guò)紅牛并未第一時(shí)間亮出這套殺手锏。直到賽季后期后輪磨損限制賽車表現(xiàn)，這套系統(tǒng)才投入使用。

This was the first Red Bull with a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (though with only 60% of the permitted battery size for packaging reasons). The car only failed to score pole once all season and won 12 races. It even won at the low-drag venues of Spa and Monza, previously bogey tracks.

另外，這還是紅牛第一款搭載KERS（動(dòng)能回收系統(tǒng)）的賽車。然而由于裝配原因，他們的電池體量只有規(guī)則允許的六成。整個(gè)賽季RB7僅丟掉一次桿位，并拿下12場(chǎng)大獎(jiǎng)賽勝利。這其中甚至包括從前他們的弱勢(shì)賽道——低阻高速的斯帕與蒙扎。

The car carried so much downforce it could overwhelm?the Pirellis on fast, long-duration corners. The team had to sometimes take downforce off the car just to get good stint lengths.

RB7下壓力實(shí)在太大了，以至在高速長(zhǎng)彎中十分吃胎。為了在正賽中保證每個(gè)stint長(zhǎng)度，紅牛有時(shí)必須故意減少賽車下壓力。

2012賽季——RB8

20場(chǎng)大獎(jiǎng)賽/7勝/14臺(tái)/8桿/車手車隊(duì)年度雙冠

For this season, there were big regulation restrictions on exhaust blowing, causing Red Bull – which had gone further down the exhaust blowing route than anyone else – some difficulty. There were also tighter front wing flexibility tests. The more extreme of the trick engine software had been outlawed as well.

2012賽季，規(guī)則對(duì)吹氣擴(kuò)散器做出了嚴(yán)格的限制。紅牛在這條路上比其他車隊(duì)走得都遠(yuǎn)，因而規(guī)則的限制向他們提出了挑戰(zhàn)。其他方面，對(duì)前翼柔性的檢測(cè)變得越發(fā)嚴(yán)苛。更極限的引擎軟件也被繩之以法。

The regs defined where the exhaust could exit, much further forwards than before, theoretically destroying its blowing effectiveness. This led to the Coanda-effect exhausts, exiting at the bottom of the sidepod ramps.

規(guī)則對(duì)排氣孔位置做出定義，使其大大前移，從理論上破壞了吹氣擴(kuò)散器的表現(xiàn)。這引出了利用科恩達(dá)效應(yīng)的新排氣，排氣孔位于側(cè)箱下斜處的底部。

譯者注：科恩達(dá)效應(yīng)(the Coanda-effect)指流體總傾向于沿壁面流動(dòng)，這也是為何倒飲料時(shí)總灑到桌上。

Red Bull’s were more sophisticated than others, with a letterbox channel to direct airflow from the bottom of sidepod to an opening ahead of the diffuser, with the Coanda-effect exhaust flow coming in over the top. Also, there was a triplane of wings around the driveshaft-beam-rear wing arrangement.

紅牛的設(shè)計(jì)依舊比對(duì)手們復(fù)雜。他們用一個(gè)信箱形狀的通道引導(dǎo)氣流從側(cè)箱底部流向擴(kuò)散器前的一個(gè)開口，尾氣則在科恩達(dá)效應(yīng)下流過(guò)擴(kuò)散器頂部。另外，在傳動(dòng)軸-梁翼-尾翼結(jié)構(gòu)周圍還有一個(gè)三面翼。

This allowed the RB8 to regain a reasonable proportion of 2011’s rear grip. It wasn’t such a counter intuitive car to drive, so Mark Webber was much more competitive against Sebastian Vettel, who had mastered the technique to fully exploit exhaust-blowing.

這使得RB8重拾了一部分2011年的后部下壓力。這輛車開起來(lái)并不“違反直覺(jué)”，因此機(jī)長(zhǎng)相對(duì)歪頭變得更有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力——在壓榨吹氣擴(kuò)散器性能方面，后者頗有心得。

The enhanced inlet tunnels seen from Valencia onwards?meant that as the diffuser began to stall at the lowest ride heights, the floor sucked harder on the inlet tunnels instead. From Singapore onwards the car had a double DRS system, with channels inside the rear wing endplates?which were revealed when DRS was activated.

從瓦倫西亞站開始，紅牛推出了升級(jí)版進(jìn)氣通道。在低行駛高度下擴(kuò)散器會(huì)開始失速，因此底板會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)而緊緊吸附于進(jìn)氣通道。新加坡站，紅牛又為RB8帶來(lái)了雙DRS系統(tǒng)（DDRS）。當(dāng)DRS被激活時(shí)，尾翼端板內(nèi)的通道便會(huì)顯露出來(lái)。

譯者注：DRS打開后，便會(huì)暴露出藏在端板內(nèi)的通道（下圖藍(lán)色虛線）。氣流從通道入口（下圖左上圓圈內(nèi)的黃色部分）流進(jìn)通道，從梁翼上的小開口（下圖紅色箭頭處）流出，達(dá)到雙重DRS效果

The car worked brilliantly at all ride heights because of the inlet system and this allowed the DRS gain to be bigger. It enabled the team to get back onto the high-rake route and by India was working almost like the 2011 car despite the regulation restrictions.

得益于進(jìn)氣系統(tǒng)，RB8在各種行駛高度都表現(xiàn)自如，這也使DRS收益變得更大。以上種種設(shè)計(jì)使車隊(duì)又能回到2011年RB7的高前傾角思路上。到印度站，盡管這一年規(guī)則針對(duì)車隊(duì)做出種種限制，但RB8已經(jīng)幾乎能達(dá)到去年RB7的水準(zhǔn)。

2013賽季——RB9

19場(chǎng)大獎(jiǎng)賽/13勝/24臺(tái)/11桿/車手車隊(duì)年度雙冠

This car worked the delicate 2013 Pirellis too hard in the first half of the season and it was only occasionally a winner in that period. But after the Silverstone tyre blowouts Pirelli reintroduced the stronger 2012 tyres and, from then on, the RB9 was unbeatable.

賽季前半段，RB9的吃胎屬性令倍兒不耐力的輪胎不堪重負(fù)，只能偶爾贏下一兩場(chǎng)比賽。但銀石爆胎門后，去年的倍兒耐力配方重新回歸。此后，RB9便開啟暴走模式，無(wú)人能敵。

On this car the exhausts exited from a more sharply descending sidepod ramp and it retained the airflow inlet tunnels below. Renault Sport made a map?which varied off-cylinder cut from one bank to another according to which way the steering was turned.

RB9的尾氣從更加下斜的側(cè)箱排出，而下方的進(jìn)氣隧道也被保留。雷諾為紅牛設(shè)置了一套新的引擎模式/映射(map)，依據(jù)賽車轉(zhuǎn)向情況改變兩排氣缸的開閉和噴油情況。

譯者注：對(duì)引擎映射的解釋，可參見(jiàn)【中字 Chain Bear F1】“引擎映射/脈譜”及其對(duì)賽車表現(xiàn)的影響

Sebastian Vettel secured the title in India, with three races still to go, and radioed to his team,?

歪頭在印度站提前三站拿下了自己的第四罐。在TR中，他對(duì)車隊(duì)說(shuō)：

Remember these days. They won’t last forever！

請(qǐng)銘記這段光輝歲月吧。命運(yùn)不總眷顧一人！”

It would be another eight years before a Red Bull driver won the title again.

確實(shí)，此后紅牛便陷入蟄伏，直到八年后才重返王座……

（完）

摘自F1官網(wǎng)

翻譯：mrysdy