"Shumi, how long do you think Chinese newcomers can last?"

At the Ferrari Team Repair Station, Michael Schumacher did not get on the racing car. The first round of practice will be replaced by the Ferrari Team's test driver.

After all, for Schumacher, he no longer needs to run every track like a newcomer. One or two games of three practice games will be divided into test drivers. This will not affect the adjustment of racing data, but also maintain his physical strength. This is the best of both worlds.

The person who asked him this was Ferrari team manager Jean Todd, who later became the chairman of the FIA. It was in his hands that Ferrari team achieved six consecutive championships and became the top team led by the Big Three.

Moreover, this foundation is extremely reliable. Even though twenty years have passed, Williams and McLaren have fallen behind, Ferrari is still standing and maintaining the decentness of his Big Three team.

However, the reason why he was well-known to the Chinese was not the identity of the Ferrari team manager or the FIA ​​president. It was his relationship with a Chinese Hollywood actress, which made many gossipers recognize this old French man.

After all, in the early 20th century, movies such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Sword Rain", "Memoirs of Geisha" were quite popular. In addition to bringing Zhang Ziyi to the position of international superstars, Michelle Yeoh was also at the peak of her career.

I have to say that compared to the influence of racing in China, it is obvious that the audience in the entertainment industry is much larger. This legendary manager who has created the peak of the Ferrari team, and when he was the most famous in China, he relied on dating with actresses, and he really didn't know what to say.

Facing Todd's question, Schumacher just replied lightly: "Still hold on for one or two at most."

Judging from Schumacher's current experience, Zhang Yifei has difficulty dealing with Barrichello's attack. Many times, it is time to block cars by relying on dangerous limits and radical barbaric obstacles, otherwise Barrichello would have already surpassed him.

After all, what Barrichello wanted to do was to crush the Chinese newcomers, rather than die with the other party, so he did not do some extremely risky overtakings, otherwise Zhang Yifei would no longer be able to withstand it.

"But as a newcomer, Fei is already doing very well now."

Schumacher added that he faced Barrichello in the first lap of the practice race. On this completely unfamiliar track, he challenged a home driver. Zhang Yifei was defeated and overtaken without a fight. This was already a very good performance.

And it is obvious that Zhang Yifei's control level is actually very good, but he is not familiar with the track, and his routing and brake points are slightly better than Barrichello.

But Schumacher knew that Barrichello had given all his strength in this duel, and had almost all the advantages. He could still be blocked by Zhang Yifei for a few laps, which was enough to show the strength of the Chinese newcomer.

Todd nodded in response to Schumacher's opinion. After all, this is the strongest driver in the f1 paddock at present, no one, and it also sets the other drivers apart.

Therefore, Schumacher's vision is unquestionable, otherwise Todd would not have taken the initiative to ask Schumacher.

"Shumi, you seem to be optimistic about the new Chinese people."

Few newcomers on the track can get Schumacher's "good" evaluation, especially now that Zhang Yifei is Barrichello's "enemy". Schumacher can still give such a high evaluation, which only shows one thing, that is, Schumacher has a good impression of Zhang Yifei.

"I think he has great potential, and the rain battle allowed me to see Senna's shadow. But his driving style is a bit too tough. Many times he is rescued by luck on the verge of losing control. When one day he doesn't have such luck, it is a real test of a driver's ability to bear it."

Schumacher said it very directly. He believed that Zhang Yifei seemed to perform well now, but in fact he had successfully survived on the brink of thrillingness and had not really experienced a crushing defeat or faced the test of a strong enemy.

Career is like life. In many cases, only in the trough can one truly see a driver's potential and ability to withstand. There are too many genius drivers in the car world who are similar to Zhongyong, but after a flash in the pan, they will never be found again.

Schumacher believes that two games are not enough to really define Zhang Yifei.

"Luck is also a kind of strength. Chinese drivers can reach this point, which has exceeded many people's previous imagination and predictions. I guess Renault and the Jaguars regret it. They should have given a formal driver position at the beginning, at least much better than they are now."

Todd said with a smile that the Ferrari team is now the kind that looks high above. Except for Williams and McLaren, it can also cause a little threat. Other teams are no longer enough to watch, so they can judge these things more objectively.

Zhang Yifei can perform well in the Prost team. If he enters Renault or Jaguar team, he might really soar. After all, behind these two teams are Renault and Ford's two major automotive giants, and their strength and capital are not comparable to Prost.

f1 is a money-burning game. The absolute hard power of a driver may only account for 50% of the quality of the performance, and the other 50% depends on the performance of the car. If you really encounter a super Mars rover, unless it is a special track situation such as rain battles, you will really try your best to keep up with your opponent.

"By the way, what do you think of Jason Patton?"

Todd asked again. In the last stop of the Malaysian Grand Prix, in addition to Zhang Yifei completing the shocking counterattack, there was actually another driver who performed amazingly, and he was Jenson Barton, who finally ran to sixth place.

You should know that his qualifying result is 17th. Although he is not as impressive as Zhang Yifei's 18 opponents in a row, he is also more than 11 opponents. Moreover, Todd found that the driver was very stable on the rain battle track, with almost no thrilling scenes, and all the situation was under his control.

This performance surprised Todd, and his intuition told him that the new driver who was abandoned by Williams had more potential than that. If he could, he had the idea of ​​digging Jason Patton to become the third driver.

"The basic skills are solid, and the performance on the track is also very stable, but there is nothing eye-catching."

Schumacher only watched some clips of Jason Patton in the game video, but he didn't have a deep impression of him. In comparison, Zhang Yifei occupied at least 50% of the rookie in this year's F1 season, even Montoya and Raikkonen were suppressed.

Jason Patton, who was unable to do outstanding and eye-catching, was naturally much worse.

"Um."

Todd nodded and did not continue talking. He just had a sudden idea.

The structure of the Ferrari team is very stable now, and the partnership between Schumacher and Barrichello is also perfect. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the strongest combination in the f1 paddock at present.

Moreover, both of them are at their peak, and the Ferrari team does not have to worry about the preparation drivers in the next few years. So even if Patton comes to the Ferrari team, he will not have a formal driver position to him.

A top driver with truly ambition and ability will not waste his career on the test driver's position. This is not a question of the phoenix tail and the chicken head, but a question of whether he can play. Even if the third driver is a chasm with the No. 2 driver, there is an insurmountable gap.

When Schumacher and Todd were discussing, the situation on the track also developed in Schumacher's prediction.

After Zhang Yifei blocked Barrichello for two laps, he began to lose his energy. Especially in several low-speed sharp turns, because the suspension was too hard and the mechanical grip was insufficient, Zhang Yifei felt that the car had a slight sign of a tail-swing.

At this time, he had to play the steering wheel control mode twice to adjust the car's cornering trajectory.

If it weren't for the narrow track of the Interlagers, this kind of sharp turn is difficult to overtake, and Barrichello did not intend to "died together". Maybe when Zhang Yifei made a tail-shifting mistake, he would be able to seize the opportunity to surpass him.

After Zhang Yifei passed the No. 10 Kafi Bend at the Interlagus Raceway, he came to a very long straight road at the starting point of the link.

To describe it as a super long straight, it may be a bit inaccurate, because this track has some arc and the speed cannot reach the limit of 7 gears of 320km/h, and the average appearance is only about 270km/h.

However, the length of this track is more than 1 kilometer, which is the place where the racing car can perform its absolute performance. A large part of the reason why Zhang Yifei chose hard suspension is that it is on this super long straight.

After all, as Kossel said, Prost's performance is not outstanding. To be precise, it is one of the cars with the lowest absolute speed in the current F1 team.

If this long straight line does not have strong downforce to maintain speed, it will be eaten by the opponent in minutes by relying on the racing performance.

In the past two laps, Zhang Yifei used a crazy lane-changing car to block Barrichello behind him. He may have tried his best to make up for the shortcomings in the face of the car's performance disadvantage.

But this time, Barrichello did not plan to give Zhang Yifei any more chance.

His provocative action today is to prove to his compatriots at Brazil's home court that the Brazilian drivers are still strong and have a day to revive glory.

Now the right time, place, people and everyone are on their side, and they are still tangled with a Chinese novice on the track, so that they will not achieve any effect of establishing authority.
Chapter completed!