On the afternoon of April 29, local time in France, which was the third day after the Bahrain Grand Prix, the FIA World Motor Sports Council finally announced the results of the McLaren team's "perjury scandal" incident: the McLaren team was banned from racing. Three games, suspended for 12 months.
The so-called "12-month suspension of execution" actually means that if no further facts related to this case emerge in the next 12 months; or McLaren no longer commits perjury in violation of the International Sports Code, it will not Any penalties imposed on McLaren. In other words, this punishment is only symbolic. It is equivalent to saying "Come on, come on, three drinks as a penalty!"
The McLaren team and Hamilton escaped the disaster. On the same day, the International Automobile Federation also approved another thing, that is, the F1 budget cap will be implemented in 2010.
There is no budget cap in F1, teams can spend whatever they want. In this most expensive sport in the world, many small teams are struggling to survive, while large teams invest hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The amount of money burned varies, and the intensity of the fire varies, especially A company like Ferrari that continues to burn money every year will of course achieve the best results.
The initial salary cap set by the FIA is 40 million pounds a year. However, this has obviously touched the nerves of the major teams led by Ferrari. It only costs 40 million pounds a year to be worth the price of several sports cars. How can this reflect Ferrari's performance? of nobility! So Ferrari publicly expressed its resistance to this budget cap and stated that if the budget cap is really implemented, Ferrari will not register for next year's competition.
At the same time, Ferrari has also received support from other teams, such as Toyota and Red Bull, both of which have stated that they will not sign up for next year's race. Ferrari then took a more drastic step. He summoned members of the F1 Team Association to write a joint letter to jointly protest to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
The F1 Teams Association is an organization united by the teams. It can be regarded as the team union, while the FIA can be regarded as the boss. All this move is equivalent to a struggle between the union and the boss.
Ferrari is a giant and they have the capital to compete with the FIA. Force China is an independent team and belongs to the bottom of the F1 pyramid. The two great men have nothing to do with ordinary people, so China Force, like other independent teams, chooses to follow the crowd.
…
"From the data point of view, the gap between other teams and us has further narrowed." Ross Brawn held a thick stack of documents and continued: "Since the beginning of this season, Red Bull Racing has always been our biggest competition. Opponent, Newey is indeed a master of racing design. Even if the car he designed does not have a double-layer diffuser, it is not far behind us in terms of speed. On a track like the China Grand Prix, our car cannot even perform well. It’s a huge advantage. The information we have received so far is that Red Bull is developing its own double-layer diffuser. Once their research and development is successful, the performance of the car may surpass ours.”
Ross Brawn turned over two pages of the document and continued: "McLaren's condition is picking up. McLaren performed very poorly at the beginning of the season, but since they also installed the double-layer diffuser, they have been improving recently. The state of the two stations recovered quickly, and they are currently using only a transitional version of the double-layer diffuser, which means that after they replace it with the official version of the double-layer diffuser in the future, the performance of the car will be even higher. This pair We will also be a big threat."
Ross Brown turned two more pages and continued: "In addition, we must also pay attention to Ferrari. After all, Ferrari is the real giant in Formula One, although it seems that this giant's results this season are a bit disastrous. , but with Ferrari’s strong R&D capabilities, it is very likely that they will start to show strength in the middle of the season.”
"Okay, okay, I understand. What you mean is that our opponents are getting stronger, right?" Zhang Guan waved his hand and said.
"Yes, if we want to maintain our advantage, we must increase our research and development efforts." Ross Brown nodded.
Zhang Guan knew that Ross Brown was here to ask for money. He just asked for money last week, and he asked for money again today, which obviously shows that research and development is really expensive.
"It has been prepared for you a long time ago. The sponsor bonuses from the Chinese station have been received, which should be able to support our research and development next month." Zhang Guan continued: "There are new sponsors willing to buy both sides of the rear wing of our car. It is estimated that there will be another 10 to 20 million in advertising fees for the advertising space in the position. My brokerage team is currently negotiating, and I will tell you the result after the negotiation is completed."
As Zhang Guanzheng was talking, the phone rang, and the caller ID showed it was He Yiming calling.
"Maybe there will be results now!" Zhang Guan picked up the phone.
…
"Zhang Guan, I have to discuss something with you. It's about the advertising endorsement on both sides of the tail wing of your racing car." He Yiming's voice seemed a little urgent, and he continued: "Something went wrong."
"What's the problem? The sponsor doesn't want to buy it?" Zhang Guan asked.
"It's not that I don't want to buy it, but I want to force it to buy it!" He Yiming said.
"Forcibly bought?" Zhang Guan frowned, and then said: "Brother He, don't be impatient, speak slowly."
"The anonymous group that wanted to buy racing advertising space showed a strong willingness to buy, so I quoted a price to them. They thought the price was too expensive and asked us to lower the price. I lowered the price slightly, but They still thought it was expensive, so I lowered the price again." He Yiming said.
Zhang Guan nodded silently. This is how business is done. Buyers and sellers ask for high prices and pay back the money at the same time. For example, the salaries of movie stars are quoted in the tens of millions or hundreds of millions, but this quotation is definitely not the final fixed price. It is necessary for the producer to make a counter-offer. Sometimes when you meet a producer you are familiar with, it is normal to give a friendly price.
Just listen to He Yiming continue to say: "After I sent the quotation for the third time, the Anonymous Group still found it too expensive, so I told them to ask them to come up with their ideal price, and we would discuss it slowly, but Guess what?"
"They won't be left without money, right?" Zhang Guan asked with a smile.
"Pull out! They gave me back 1 million, and it was still not US dollars, but national currency!" He Yiming said angrily: "I became angry at that time. At first I saw that this anonymous group was quite willing to buy, so I contacted They were wrangling for so long, but they were just teasing me! So I responded directly to them and let the deal go."
Other sponsors spend tens of millions of dollars to buy advertising space on racing cars, and it's still US dollars. For example, Mr. Liu, including the championship bonus, has spent more than 20 million US dollars. This anonymous group wants to Spending a mere 1 million to buy an advertising space. In F1, this amount of money is not even enough to pay the cleaning staff.
He Yiming on the phone continued: "I didn't take it seriously when I met someone who was just teasing you. I continued to look for new sponsors, but I didn't expect that the Anonymous Group would say something like this. We have to sell the advertising space whether we sell it or not, and it’s only 1 million, so we won’t give you a penny more!”
"So arrogant? Does this anonymous group have a backend?" Zhang Guan asked immediately.
"I thought so too, so I sent someone to inquire about it. Before I could find out the information, a friend gave me a heads up, or someone behind the Anonymous Group gave it to me in this way. Let’s say something. Let’s agree to this Anonymous Group.” He Yiming took a breath and then said: “The person who brought the message is really troublesome.”
"Who is that person?" Zhang Guan asked next.
"It's Mr. Wang..." He Yiming said a name, and Zhang Guan had heard of this name.
"Mr. Wang? Hasn't he already retired? People who have retired still care about such things? Why do you feel that you are still worried? Can people who have retired still have such great energy?" Zhang Guan asked next.
"You don't understand this! Do you think it's an ordinary low-level official at the county level who just wants to leave? When he reaches a certain level, he has countless disciples and former officials, and he will always find some way out before he retires." He Yiming continued: "Some people really retire when they retire, and some people retire, but their hearts have not yet retired!"
The second chapter is delivered, thanks to Canglong Elk, piao1234, xigua2022, Kite in the Sky 1, Blue Soul, Feng~Feng~Feng, Gentleman and Demon King. , Wings of Leaving Wings, Guafimao, yoyo is here, Xiaoqiang 19860627, cheap little butt, Jin%chu, don’t like bamboo shoots, Lotte Ledi Le Xiaoyao, sea5555, Yangcheng Yue, Like a Breeze 2008, Wang Shunfeng 1987 , Smile, Face, Prodigal Son Wolf S, Dancing with Butterflies, Unintentional Mingyue, gmlee, Bu Bumm, Jing Baoyue, Ruzheng, Wu Jiaqi 19, Wreck-It-Aid, lililiya, mantiangezi, reward!
(End of chapter)