At a yacht pier in Mumbai, a yacht slowly docked into the harbor.
The friend Omi said goodbye to got off the yacht. His butler was already waiting there, and the car that came to pick up Omi was parked not far away.
However, Omi took the lead and asked: "Has there been any news about Zhang Guan during the two days I have been out at sea? Is there any team willing to accept him?"
Recently, Omi has been constantly asking various teams through his connections, asking if there is any news about Zhang Guan's request to join, but all the answers are the same, that is, no! This answer also reassured Omi a lot. As the new season gets closer and closer, the drivers of each team have been confirmed, and Omi has become more and more calm. He feels that Zhang Guan can no longer find a team willing to accept him, so he went out to sea with his friends for a few days.
"I was just about to report this matter to you." The steward said, "Although no team is willing to accept Zhang Guan, he bought a team of his own!"
"What? Zhang Guan bought a team of his own? Is it Honda?" Omi immediately thought of this.
"Yes, it is indeed the Honda Racing Team. Zhang Guan and Ross Brawn jointly funded the purchase of the Honda Racing Team, and the name of the new team is 'China Power'!" the steward said.
There was anger in Omi's eyes, but he calmed down immediately: "Force China? This is obviously aimed at our Force India team! Unexpectedly, Zhang Guan would choose to enter the first level in this way. In a Formula 1 competition, buying a team is quite expensive! But what if there is a team? He doesn’t even have a super driver’s license now! I don’t believe that F1 will allow a person without any racing experience to board the official The arena for competition!”
…
On March 7, just two days after the establishment of the China Force Racing Team, the team's new official website was successfully launched.
The first news on the team's official website is the announcement of the two drivers who will compete for the team in the new season. When fans all over the world thought that Button and Barrichello would continue to stay in the team, a new name came into everyone's sight.
"Zhang Guan! The two drivers announced by Force China Team for the new season are Zhang Guan and Barrichello!"
"What the hell? How could it be Zhang Guan? Zhang Guan wants to drive a Formula One car? I read that right!"
"Today is March 7, not April 1, and it's not April Fool's Day yet! Are you kidding me?"
"I thought the maintenance staff of the website were going to be laid off. They posted the team owner's name in the driver's seat, which made such a big mistake! I didn't expect that the first news on the official website of Force China would make their team look bad! "
“See? The Chinese website is as shoddy as the products they make, even the driver’s name is wrong!”
Amidst all the doubts, some people also mentioned another possibility.
"Do you think that driver is really Zhang Guan? Did Zhang Guan buy the Honda team just to become a driver for himself?"
"How is this possible? I have never heard of Zhang Guan driving a racing car, not to mention GP2 and F3, he has never even driven a kart! Why can he drive a Formula One? What's more, he doesn't even have a super driver's license !”
It is true that Zhang Guan has not obtained a super driver's license yet, but his application for a super driver's license has been sent to the F1 review committee.
…
Jury.
To everyone's surprise, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone also came to the scene.
Bernie is 79 years old this year, but he is in good health. He just met a hot Brazilian girl in her twenties not long ago, and the two fell in love. So in the eyes of everyone, Bernie is not a dying old man.
"Everyone, I called you here today mainly because we have just received an application for a Formula One super license." Bernie said.
"We have already issued super licenses to last year's F3 champion and GP2 champion. This time it must be a team that wants to add a test driver, right?" Someone immediately asked.
"Yes, this is an application from the team, but what they added may not be a test driver, but an official driver." Bernie said.
"It's the driver?" Everyone expressed surprise. With the openness of the Formula One event, there are traces of who is qualified to become an official driver. Basically, anyone can drive a Formula One car. , all have such a super driver’s license.
"The application came from Honda... Oh, no, it should be called Force China now." Bernie said.
"It turns out it's a new team! It's the team from China. Since it's a new team, it's understandable to find new drivers, and maybe they will also find a Chinese driver!" someone said immediately.
"Yes, our Formula One has been held continuously for more than half a century, and today, we are finally welcoming a driver from China." Bernie paused, and then said: "Everyone should know his name. Very familiar—Zhang Guan!”
"Zhang Guan? Is it that Zhang Guan?" Everyone was surprised again.
"Yes, that's him, the Zhang Guan." Bernie nodded.
"But isn't he the boss of the new team? Why does he want to be a driver?" There was a faint sense of opposition in this man's voice.
"There is no rule that restricts the team owner from being a driver. And now it seems that he bought the Honda team just to be a racing driver!" Bernie shrugged, and then continued: "And the Force China team follows the regulations. We submitted test materials of Zhang Guan driving more than 300 kilometers in Formula One, and judging from the materials they submitted, there are no problems at all."
Everyone discussed carefully, and then someone asked: "Mr. President, should we approve their application?"
"This is why I brought you here. Judging from Zhang Guan's resume, he has never participated in any racing-related sports, and his file on the track is even blanker than Raikkonen! Raikkonen applied for Super When he got his driver’s license, he still participated in A-class races and Formula Renault races, but Zhang Guan has never even participated in a kart race. I’m worried that if we approve their application, it will cause controversy around the world.”
Bernie paused, spread his hands, and then said: "But you should also know the serious challenges we face in F1 this year. The economic crisis has a great impact on each team, and the Internet and various other competitions The rise of the epidemic has caused our viewership share to decline. The traditional markets in Europe and the United States have become rigid, and we need to make a difference in emerging markets. Behind Zhang Guan is not only a market with a population of more than one billion, he is also the most famous in the world An athlete who can bring more attention to our Formula 1 team."
"Mr. President, I understand, and I very much agree with your point of view. Formula One is both a sport and a business. So when necessary, we really need to surrender to the market. So we need to convert this super The driver's license is issued to Zhang Guan." Someone immediately expressed their support for Bernie.
Bernie nodded with satisfaction, and continued: "If we issue a super driver's license to Zhang Guan, it is likely to attract questions from the media or the public, so I hope that when you face questions from the media or the public, The caliber can be unified.”
Unifying the caliber, this is why Bernie personally came to the scene. Bernie knew that issuing a super driver's license to Zhang Guan, for example, would cause controversy. In the face of external controversy, internal unification is obviously very important.
"Okay, gentlemen, if you have any objections, let's take a look at the information sent by the new team!" Bernie smiled and waved to his assistant.
At this time, everyone seemed very relaxed. For them, this was just a formality.
"For a rookie who has never participated in a racing competition, his data must be terrible! I don't know how many cars their team crashed in order to produce these 300 kilometers of data." Someone whispered.
"It's Silverstone! This is a high-speed track, and driving on this track is quite difficult..." another person said.
"Huh? A score of less than 1 minute and 21 seconds? How could it be so fast?"
The first chapter has been delivered. In the last two days of this month, please buy a guaranteed monthly ticket. Thank you everyone!
(End of chapter)