博塔斯解释阿塞拜疆大奖赛糟糕表现的原因
博塔斯表示，阿塞拜疆大奖赛表现不佳的原因可能是减震器性能衰减，导致他的凯迪拉克在比赛中行驶特性越来越差。整个巴库周末他基本垫底，而队友塞尔吉奥·佩雷斯在该赛道延续了以往的强势表现。
博塔斯解释他在阿塞拜疆F1的糟糕表现
减震器“性能衰减”问题和旧规格法拉利动力单元造成了较大的性能差距
博塔斯为他阿塞拜疆大奖赛不佳的表现提出了自己的看法，认为减震器性能衰减让他的凯迪拉克在比赛过程中的行驶特性越来越差。
这位芬兰车手在巴库的整个周末都举步维艰，基本牢牢占据成绩榜末位。而队友塞尔吉奥·佩雷斯在这座阿塞拜疆首都的赛道上延续了一贯的强势周末，这条赛道历来是这位墨西哥车手的福地。
博塔斯的比赛在最后一圈结束，他在15号弯撞上护栏，撞车时赛车的动力单元未能在超级压弯（superclipping）过程中为后轴提供正确的发动机制动力。
回顾阿塞拜疆大奖赛，博塔斯承认这是一个“相当糟糕”的周末，并解释了导致他表现平淡的几个关键问题。
“我明白从外面看起来相当糟糕；我在车里也感觉很糟。根本没办法跟上大部队，”博塔斯说道。
“比赛中我尝试了一切。得到了很多关于我在哪里损失时间的反馈。很大一部分是在直道上。但也有相当大一块是在整圈的各个弯角里都有损失。所以我就一直坚持推进到最后。这也是为什么我在最后一圈的1号弯出现了锁死。”
"最主要的是，我们在练习赛中就已经看到我的速度不足。我无法像佩雷斯那样在弯道中保持同样的速度。所以我们为排位赛做了很多改动，包括一些减震器和底板。实际上感觉好多了。"
"但在比赛中，行驶表现又退化得很厉害。我认为这和减震器有关，[它们]会随着温度升高而退化。"
"底板[也一样]，我们在这里那里还缺少一些压力测量点。所以我们[还]没有掌握空气动力学部件的完整信息，不像我过去习惯的那样，可以立刻看出自己是快了还是慢了。"
"但现在底板有些部分我们是盲区。不过对我来说，从感觉上讲，更多是行驶表现的问题，再加上动力转向在整个周末[不断退化]，导致我在比赛中也很难感受到赛车状态。所以，这些因素叠加在一起。"
博塔斯解释了为什么相比佩雷斯存在性能差距——他在直道上始终慢6到7公里每小时，原因在于队友换上了新的法拉利动力单元；佩雷斯用的是法拉利“ADUO 2”发动机，而博塔斯用的还是旧规格的动力单元。
在谈到凯迪拉克与其他车队整体差距时，博塔斯认为这支美国车队的基础设施相当扎实并且还在不断改进，但他解释说，为了赶工设计和制造他们的第一辆一级方程式赛车而进行的“仓促推进”，导致最终性能做出了妥协。
这与新车队负责人马尔钦·布德科夫斯基的说法相符，他指出车队为了赶上生产期限不得不走一些捷径。
“在调校方面，比如差速器映射、刹车映射等等，我们处于一个不错的状态，”博塔斯解释道。“我觉得我需要的东西都有。在发动机刹车映射这些方面，法拉利的支持也很到位。我们目前的主要限制仍然是在机械层面。”
"显然，设计这辆赛车的时间有点仓促。我们有一些不错的工具，但还没有达到我们希望的先进程度。而且明年的赛车在悬挂方面肯定会有改动，这将为调校方面的变化打开更多机会。但这正是我们欠缺的地方，也就是机械方面。"
谈到自己在巴库的比赛周末，佩雷斯认为"我在方向盘后面做出了巨大的差别"，在那场比赛中，这位前红牛车手一度看起来有望爆冷拿到一个积分。
比赛重启后，佩雷斯一度处于前十名的边缘，但最终掉了下去，因为他无法跟上身前的赛车。即使换了法拉利的新引擎，他也表示超车模式仍不足以抵消凯迪拉克MAC-26的阻力输出。
他表示，本周末在马来西亚雪邦赛道举行的巴林大奖赛上，车队将照常运作，不能再依靠他对巴库的特殊感情了。
"我认为目前的问题基本上是缺乏下压力，我们的赛车严重缺乏下压力，而且阻力也不大," 他说。"你知道，在巴库，我基本上整场比赛都保持在超车模式上，因此我能够跟上其他车手，但当我超越他们之后，我就完全是个乘客了，因为我没有直道速度。
"所以我们有两个大问题：没有下压力而且阻力很大——但我们一直都清楚，第一年会很艰难。
"很多事都可能发生，但我想，鉴于目前赛车的速度水平，我们差距太大了，而且这是一个很容易超车的地方。
"我对这个周末的前景并不太兴奋。我认为巴库只是个例外；在那里我做出了巨大的差异，而在这里，就赛车目前的状态而言，一切将回归我们的现实。
减震器的“衰减”会如何损害悬挂系统？
简单来说，当车轮压上路肩或颠簸而抬升时，或者当赛车承受任何形式的轴向运动时，减震器帮助控制通过扭力杆传递的能量。
在整场比赛过程中，减震器内部液体的压缩会产生热量。随着持续压缩，热量会改变液体的特性并降低其粘度，这意味着减震器产生的阻尼会变小。
因此，悬挂系统整体无法再吸收来自颠簸和路肩冲击的那么多能量，这意味着这些作用力会转而通过车架传递。
对于像巴库这样颠簸的赛道，燃油载荷开始对赛车的操控性能产生影响。底板表现也会出现小幅变化，因为这会对赛车的离地高度产生轻微影响。
英文原文
Valtteri Bottas reveals causes of his Azerbaijan F1 horror show
Damper "degradation" issue and the old-spec Ferrari power unit created a large performance deficit
Valtteri Bottas has offered theories behind his off-colour Azerbaijan Grand Prix performance, suggesting that damper degradation was giving his Cadillac increasingly poor ride characteristics through the race.
The Finn endured a struggle through the weekend at Baku, largely cemented to the bottom of the timesheets. This was magnified by team-mate Sergio Perez enjoying a characteristically strong weekend around the Azerbaijani capital, a circuit at which the Mexican has historically shone.
Bottas' race ended on the final lap with a crash into the barrier at Turn 15, in which the car's power unit failed to offer the correct level of engine braking on the rear axle while superclipping.
Reflecting on the Azerbaijan GP, Bottas admitted that it was a "pretty poor" weekend and explained some of the key problems that led to his muted showing.
"I understand it looked pretty bad from the outside; I felt pretty bad in the car as well. There was just no way to keep up with the pack," Bottas reckoned.
"Tried everything during the race. Got lots of feedback on where I am losing the time. A lot of it was on the straights. But also a big chunk was just all around the lap in the corners. That's why I just kept pushing until the end. And that's why I had the lock-up on the last lap in Turn 1.
"The main thing was we saw already in practice that I was lacking pace. I couldn't carry the same speed through the corners as Checo. So we changed a lot for the qualifying, including some dampers, the floor. And it actually felt a lot better.
"But then the ride again during the race degraded quite a lot. I think it's something to do with dampers, [degrading] with heat.
"The floor [too], we are still lacking a bit of pressure tappings here and there. So we don't [yet] have the full information on aero parts that I'm used to from the past where you could immediately see if you're down or up.
"But now there are some bits of the floor where we are blind. But for me, feeling-wise, it was more the ride, and that's in combination with power steering that was [degrading] throughout the weekend, and I was really then also struggling to feel the car throughout the race. So, those things combined."
Bottas explained the performance deficit to Perez, where he was consistently 6-7km/h slower on the straights, was down to the impact of his team-mate's new Ferrari powertrain; Perez had Ferrari's "ADUO 2" engine, while Bottas had the old-spec power unit.
Speaking about Cadillac's wider deficit to the other teams, Bottas reckoned that the American squad's infrastructure was pretty strong and continuing to improve, but explained that the "rush" to get its first F1 car designed and built had led to its ultimate performance being compromised.
This tallies with comments from new team principal Marcin Budkowski, who noted that the team had needed to make shortcuts to meet its production deadlines.
"When it comes to settings, like differential maps, brake maps and stuff, we're in a good place," Bottas explained. "I feel like I've got everything that I need. Also the support from Ferrari when it comes to the engine braking maps and stuff. The main limitation we have is still mechanically.
"Obviously it was a bit of a rush to design the car. We have some good tools, but not as advanced as we would hope. And there's going to be, for sure, a change to the suspension on next year's car. So that will open more opportunities for set-up changes. But that's where we're lacking, the mechanical side."
Speaking about his own Baku weekend, Perez reckoned that "I was making a massive difference" behind the wheel, in a race where the ex-Red Bull driver – briefly – looked like an outside bet for a surprise point.
Perez was on the cusp of the top 10 after the restart, but ended up falling back as he was unable to stay in touch with the cars ahead. Even with Ferrari's new engine, he stated that the overtake mode was not enough to counter the Cadillac MAC-26's drag output.
He suggested that it would be business as usual for the team at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix at Malaysia's Sepang circuit, without his affinity for Baku to fall back on.
"I think at the moment it's basically the lack of load, we have a massive lack of load in the car, and not a lot of drag," he said. "You know, in Baku, when I basically stayed on the overtake mode for the entire race and therefore I was able to stay with the others, but when I overtook them, I was just a passenger because I had no straightline speed.
"So we have two big issues: no load and a lot of drag – but we always knew this first year was going to be tricky.
"A lot can happen but, I guess given where the pace of the car is at the moment, we are just too far off and it's a place that you can overtake easily.
"I'm not too excited about the prospects for this weekend. I think Baku was a one-off; I was making a massive difference there, and here it will be just back to our reality in terms of where the car is at the moment."
How does damper 'degradation' hurt the suspension?
In short, the damper helps to control the energy moving through the torsion bars when the wheel jacks up over a kerb or a bump, or when the car sustains any kind of axial motion.
Through the course of a race, the compression of the fluid within the damper creates heat. With continued compression, the heat changes the properties of the fluid and the viscosity reduces, meaning that the damper produces less resistance.
As such, the suspension package overall can't absorb as much energy from bumps and kerb strikes, meaning that the forces are thus redirected through the chassis.
For a bumpy circuit like Baku, it can start to impact the handling of the car. There is also a small shift in floor performance, as this can produce a small impact on the ride height of the car.
Motorsport.com ·
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