At the end of the 8-day F1 winter test, Zhang Yifei's fastest lap speed was 1 minute 22 seconds 405. Compared with the fastest lap speed of 1 minute 22 seconds 617 when the match against Xiong Long, it was improved by about 200 milliseconds, which is not very exaggerated.

The main reason is naturally that as the lap speed is faster, the more difficult it is to improve. This is like a 100-meter sprint. It may be faster than 0.0 seconds in the later stage, but it will take several years of hard work.

But there is another aspect, that is, Zhang Yifei is a competition-type player. When there are opponents, his attention will be more concentrated, and even he is very excited and full of fighting desire.

So Zhang Yifei's fastest lap speed before was all in the competition, but the test run was slower.

But this time is an exception. After all, the winter test goes to the back, the various adjustments of the racing cars are becoming more and more stable and perfect, and their familiarity with new racing cars will also be greatly improved.

You should know that before Zhang Yifei entered the Prost team, he had never participated in the research and development and testing of JS53 racing. Even after joining the team, he had too much F1 knowledge to make up for, and he was not even proficient in driving the most basic F1 racing car. Naturally, the important task of testing feedback would not be handed over to Zhang Yifei.

All the previous new racing tests were completed by test driver Emile. It was not until the winter test of the Catalonia Circuit that Zhang Yifei really got into and drove the JS53 racing car. It was normal that he could not run out of his fastest lap speed in the first test.

After the final result of 1 minute 22 seconds 405 was announced, this lap was sixth in the team ranking, but in the driver ranking, it reached the top ten, even surpassing Kimi Raikkonen's 1 minute 22 seconds 522!

Zhang Yifei didn't feel much accomplishment in his heart for this result, because Schumacher's final lap speed entered the field of 1 minute and 21 seconds, and the fastest lap reached 1 minute and 21 seconds 847!

This lap speed is more than 0.5 seconds ahead of Zhang Yifei, which is definitely an exaggerated number. If it is placed in the official competition, Zhang Yifei can only look at Schumacher's taillights.

Although Zhang Yifei knew that Schumacher was very strong at this stage, and Ferrari racing has also been one of the strongest racing cars in recent years. However, in the face of such a big gap, he still felt a sense of loss. After all, his ultimate goal is to surpass Schumacher, the god of car!

Zhang Yifei was a little dissatisfied with his lap score, but the other team members were shocked in their hearts.

The first newcomers who participated in the winter test had already entered the top ten test drivers at the fastest lap. Among the newcomers, the first one is behind those old drivers who have been famous for a long time. You should know that this kind of backwardness may not be a backwardness in driving skills, but a difference in experience.

More importantly, Zhang Yifei surpassed the previous "newcomer king" Kimi Raikkonen!

As a Chinese newcomer who copied Kimi's "three-level jump" miracle, there is no way to avoid comparison with Kimi Raikkonen. Although many people would subconsciously think this way before, no one thought that Zhang Yifei would be better than Kimi Raikkonen!

Maybe the fastest lap speed in winter tests cannot represent everything, but there is no doubt that this is also a manifestation of strength!

And as Zhang Yifei's fastest lap was exposed, it triggered some European media reports.

"The Rise of Chinese Drivers, Prost team newcomers flew the fastest lap than Kimi Raikkonen!"

"The disruptor of the F1 track, the first Chinese driver may become the dark horse of the new F1 season."

"Who deserves the title of the strongest newcomer in the Battle of Gemini?"

"The winter test score is amazing. Has Fei proved that he is a qualified F1 driver?"

As soon as various media reports came out, Zhang Yifei could have been barely considered a hot topic in this year's F1 new season, and this has attracted a lot of attention.

Supporters are looking forward to Zhang Yifei's ability to achieve ideal results in the new F1 season to respond to previous questions about him and Chinese drivers.

Opponents also hope that Zhang Yifei will be on the F1 track early, so that the true nature of the chicken will be exposed! There are more teams with strong results in winter tests, and the Prost team's winter test results were also not bad last year. How did the track perform? It's not that they are eating zero eggs!

Zhang Yifei can now view these media reports and discussions with a normal mind. Competitive sports are always beaten by the way, but today these people praise themselves, but maybe one day the results collapse, those who praise will become critics.

As long as you achieve good enough results, opponents can also become fans. Thinking about the first stop of Renault in the Renault Formula, Renault became a "public enemy of the track" because of the accusations of Kubica and others. It was simply booing the whole audience.

What happened later? When Silverstone won, they could not still receive cheers and applause. The boo and ridicule before may not have completely disappeared, but at least they were all in their hearts.

Back at the headquarters of Verrace Team, Zhang Yifei still trained as usual. However, this time he focused on the simulation racing, the Australian Grand Prix that he was about to bring. Even if his debut was not awesome, he would not be embarrassed!

A few days later, Prost also returned to the team headquarters. The main reason why he missed the winter test as the founder of the team was to meet with sponsors for the new season of F1 and raise sufficient competition funds.

You should know that the $50 million worth of developing a new racing car is just a start. In the subsequent track competitions, except for the slightly cheaper tire change, other components range from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If you continue the full F1 new season in one year, even if you don’t get any serious damage to the car, you will have to prepare at least 5 to 7 million US dollars in participation fees.

Generally speaking, a little margin is required, so the loss cost of 15 million US dollars for two racing cars is basically impossible to escape.

Therefore, the subsequent participation fee of F1 racing will not be much cheaper than the car construction cost. With the current European Acer sponsor, plus several small sponsors such as Guo’s Group, even if there is a dividend sharing of Fia, it is not enough to maintain the operation of the team.

Historically, Prost team finally went bankrupt with a high debt of US$25 million because they really couldn't afford to burn this money.

However, this time, due to the change in the butterfly effect, history has seen a great deviation. After the cooperation with Renault and Peugeot was not going well, Prost actually reached a failed camel cigarette cooperation in history.

You should know that in this era, the richest sponsors of racing were various cigarette brands. For example, the most famous was the cooperation between Marlboro and Ferrari. The cigarette brand logo covered on the body was as expensive as 160 million US dollars a year.

Even the main sponsor of the racing port of Beijing Rally, which started in China, is 555 cigarettes.

It can be said that tobacco is extremely close to motorsports, and only the high profits of tobacco companies can burn the money for motorsports with great wealth. Just like the military expenditure of China in later generations, it was basically covered by tobacco taxes, and the contribution of smokers was also huge.

This time, Prost team reached a sponsorship agreement with Camel Cigarette, with a sponsorship fee of 20 million US dollars a year, which can basically fill the financial gap of Prost team. However, because Acer Network is the main sponsor and has obtained the team's joint naming rights, Camel Cigarette can only settle for the second best and get the advertising logo in the most conspicuous position of the team.

However, in recent years, it has been the last glorious period for tobacco companies to cooperate with motorsports. With the later European Union issuing a smoking ban, the tobacco sponsorship revenue of F1 events has fallen to the bottom.

The smoking ban has had a great impact on the F1 team. You should know that many tobacco companies have even become the main sponsors of the team. For example, Ferrari and Marlboro, West and McLaren, Camel Cigarettes and Williams teams, etc.

Later, British American Tobacco went directly to the market and formed its own brand of British and American fleet.

Even the Big Three fleets were smashed by tobacco companies with money, not to mention some small fleets. Tobacco advertising sponsorship is simply the lifeblood of the fleet's finances.

So when the smoking ban was issued, many small fleets encountered financial crisis and went bankrupt or were acquired if they could not hold on.

However, in some aspects of the smoking ban, there are also good sides. The ban on tobacco advertising can enable F1 to establish a healthier and positive brand image. For example, Zhang Yifei does not smoke or drink because he knows that racing is also a physical event, and tobacco and alcohol will have adverse effects on his heart and lung function and brain.

In the millisecond-level season competition, if you fall a little behind, you will miss the championship, so Zhang Yifei excludes all the factors that may lead to his lag.

At the same time, saying goodbye tobacco sponsorship can also attract funds from other fields to invest in motorsports. Because later tobacco companies have reached almost monopoly on general advertising sponsorships, other sponsors cannot compete with tobacco companies.

Let more sponsors in the field come in and spread the influence of F1 racing. The pain of reform must be experienced, and there is no choice for such F1 teams.

After solving the team's financial problems, Prost obviously improved his mental state and led the team members to the famous French attraction Moulin Moor and celebrated a pre-race game.

France is the European country that Zhang Yifei has been to for the longest, but he has never been to these entertainment and tourist attractions.

First, there is no time. After all, Zhang Yifei understands that all his achievements are achieved through his hard work in his previous life.

The backwardness at the starting line of the equation has left Zhang Yifei without the capital to indulge in it. He must seize every minute and every second to improve himself.

The second point is that he has no interest. Whether in this or the previous life, Zhang Yifei is a professional driver, with strict self-control, so he naturally does not develop the habit of going to bartenders.

So when going to places like Moulin Mofang, Zhang Yifei is more about looking at tourist attractions than about relaxing in the bar.
Chapter completed!