A $500 million bet is not something that can be signed immediately. It has to go through a very complicated process and there are a lot of legal documents to prepare. Therefore, both Zhang Guan and Omi will find their own lawyers to prepare and work out a contract that both parties agree on, which will take some time.
In a mansion in Mumbai, two men in their sixties were sitting in front of Omi. They were his father and uncle, the ruling generation of the Maliya family.
Of course Omi couldn't come up with such a big figure of US$500 million, and he couldn't make the final decision, so he had to tell his father and uncle about the matter and seek help from the family.
"Omi, you disappoint me so much! I thought sending you to study in the UK would help you learn the composure and coolness of a gentleman, but look at what you have done! Five hundred million dollars! You Do you think it's just a kid playing house?" the father said seriously.
"Dad, I didn't agree on impulse." Omi said immediately: "Zhang Guan claims to become a Formula One driver next season and win the Formula One world championship. Do you think this is possible? How big is it?”
Before his father could speak, Omi asked and answered his own question: "The possibility of the former is possible, but the possibility of the latter is completely zero. Motorsport is different from other sports. Yes, Zhang Guan is the best in the world. He is the fastest person in the world, and he can also span multiple sports, but this does not mean that he will become the fastest person in the world. Motorsport is not just about good physical fitness. Formula One The world championship requires not only first-class technology, but also a good car. Even if Schumacher is given a car that is incapable of winning, he will not be able to create miracles."
"So far, Zhang Guan may be able to get an official Formula One driver's position. After all, some small teams can obtain driver positions through commercial sponsorship, but how can a small team have the strength to obtain a Formula One driver's position?" Where is the champion?" Omi continued.
In a Formula One race, a team has two official drivers, one test driver, and occasionally one or two second or third test drivers. Formula One is the top motorsport in the world. It is not easy to become a test driver in a Formula One team. Many champions of low-level formula races or low-level racing competitions may not even have a test driver in Formula One. You can't even mix it with your hands.
However, if you have money, you can obtain the official driver position through sponsorship. For example, the former Japanese driver Yamamoto Sakon, whose skills are terrible, can be called a "road killer" in Formula One, but he relies on sponsors. Obtained the official driver position of the Super Aguri team; in the future, there will also be a Russian driver who, with a sponsorship contract worth tens of millions of dollars, has secured a driver position for himself.
However, this is something that can only happen in small teams. Small teams have less money and less sponsors, and less money to invest in the team. A sponsorship worth tens of millions of dollars can almost offset the team's annual expenses. But big teams like Ferrari and McLaren that are capable of winning the championship will definitely not have sponsor drivers. What the big teams need are top racing drivers like Alonso, Hamilton, and Raikkonen. If If you have someone like Schumacher who is a car king, that is even more welcome.
Just listen to Omi go on to say: "Judging from last season's points, the only four teams that can compete for the Formula One championship are Ferrari, McLaren, Renault and BMW Sauber, but their drivers are all Already confirmed. Ferrari has Raikkonen and Massa, McLaren has Hamilton and Kovalainen, Renault has Alonso and Piquet, and BMW Sauber has Kubica and Heidfeld. Among these drivers , either a world championship-level racing driver, an experienced veteran, or a newcomer with unlimited potential. I think unless Zhang Guan buys these teams, he will definitely not be able to obtain an official driver position for these teams. "
Omi said this and laughed to himself: "These are all manufacturer teams, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BMW Sauber. Can Zhang Guanhui be able to buy them? I think even if he is rich, he They may not be willing to sell it!”
Omi's father and uncle nodded at the same time. As Omi said, century-old stores in Formula One such as Ferrari and McLaren would not be sold even if they were rich.
"The possibility of Zhang Guan winning the Formula One championship next year is completely zero!" Omi shrugged, and then said: "Dad, I didn't agree to this bet just because I was hot-headed; the reason why I agreed to this bet is , because I think this bet will bring huge profits to our Maliya family! It is impossible for Zhang Guan to win the Formula One championship next season. Five hundred million US dollars is enough for our Force India team in the next three years. Since Zhang Guanyin is here to send money, why shouldn’t we do it!”
"Brother, I think Omi is right." Omi's uncle turned around and said: "Formula One is more expensive than we thought. Our Force India team spent 127 million US dollars last year, but We still didn't get a single point in the end. Although a large part of it was invested in the research and development of new cars, this also proved that the gap between the cars has a huge impact on the final results. A small team, not Ferrari, not Mercedes-Benz Karen, nor Renault, let alone win the championship, it is very difficult to even get the top three starting rankings. Even if Zhang Guan has Schumacher's driving skills, it is impossible to achieve good results without a decent car Yes! I think we can accept this 500 million US dollar bet! Since someone is giving us money, we don’t want it in vain!”
…
At the same time, in the hotel, Zhang Guanzheng and He Yiming were on the phone.
"Fifty million US dollars, you're playing big enough this time!" He Yiming's voice was slightly excited, and it could be seen that even he, who had always been calm, couldn't sit still in the face of this number.
"Originally I wanted to say 10 to 20 million to teach that dude a lesson, but I didn't expect that he proposed 500 million! By the way, have you checked this Maliya family? Do they have the ability to get that much money? , Don’t end up defaulting on your debt!” Zhang Guan asked.
"I have never heard of this Maria family before, so I checked it for you. The result shocked me! This Maria family has many assets around the world. They are in the United States. The West Coast has a lot of assets, mainly concentrated in San Francisco and Los Angeles. They have hotels in Las Vegas, and they also have shares in the seaport of Monte Carlo in Monaco. Their family also has large financial investments in Hong Kong. In addition, their family is relatively The bulk of the asset is an airline." He Yiming said.
"Airline? Is it big?" Zhang Guan asked next.
"Whether it is big or not depends on who you compare with. Let me give you a brief explanation. In addition to domestic routes in India, the airlines of the Maliya family also have overseas routes. Their flight routes include London. , Dubai, Dhaka, Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong. Currently their airline has nearly 100 aircraft, of course some of which are on order. The main models are Airbus A320 and A321, and there are 15 Airbus A330 , 5 Airbus A350s, 5 Airbus A380s, and the right to order several aircraft." He Yiming said.
Zhang Guan silently calculated in his mind that the cheapest Airbus A320, a new aircraft, costs 30 million U.S. dollars, and the A350 and A380 are sold for more than 300 million U.S. dollars. Calculating the assets of this Maliya family airline, There are six to seven billion US dollars.
Zhang Guan didn't expect that he would really offend a rich man this time. He said: "So rich! Then this Maliya family must have tens of billions of dollars in assets! Why haven't you heard of it before? Why haven't you been one? Forbes rich list or something.”
"There are too many invisible rich people, and they don't want others to know. Look at the chiefs in the Middle East. They are all extremely rich, but they are not even on the rich list!" He Yiming paused. Then he said: "The Maliya family bought the Spyker team last year and then changed its name to Force India. It is said that they invested more than 100 million US dollars in the team last year. This number is second only to Ferrari, McLaren and Toyota. Both Renault and BMW Sauber are higher. So I think the Maria family can definitely afford US$500 million."
"That's great. I've signed so many advertising endorsements, but I haven't earned that much. After the Formula One race next season, we will have 500 million US dollars, so we can accept less advertising." Zhang Guan smiled. explain.
"Are you so confident? That's a Formula One car! This is different from the competitions you have participated in before. You participated in track and field competitions, running faster and jumping farther than others; participating in tennis and basketball, playing You have to be better than others, that’s because you do have an advantage in racing. If you don’t have a good car, it’s impossible to get good results! What’s more, you are not a racing driver yet. You must first pass the exam A Formula One super license, and then you have to find a team to ask for it." He Yiming said.
"This can be considered a thing." Zhang Guan said.
"Then are you going to contact that team? Williams? I think if you bring 20 million US dollars in sponsorship fees, they will definitely be willing to give you an official driver position." He Yiming said.
"Why go to someone else's team? This time we will be our own boss!" Zhang Guan said with a smile.
The first chapter has been sent, please give me a guaranteed recommendation vote.
(End of chapter)