"Shumi, do you think your fastest lap will be broken?"

Ferrari Chairman Jean Todd's eyes were placed on the two race cars that were about to set off, and asked Schumacher who was paying attention to him.

Faced with such questions, if it were someone else, Schumacher would probably say confidently that he would not.

But seeing Zhang Yifei and Helio's condition, he really wasn't sure, and his fastest lap would not be surpassed.

Seeing Schumacher not answering, Jean Todd already knew the answer, and his emotions were very complicated.

Although the racing industry calls Ferrari, McLaren and Williams the Big Three teams, Ferrari's status and qualifications are actually surpassing the other two teams, and they are ranked first without any dispute.

Todd has been involved in professional racing since the late 1950s. It can be said that over the past few decades, he has witnessed countless changes. However, the rise of newcomers in F1 Waichang in recent years still exceeds his inherent ideas.

I don’t know when the newcomers have become terrible. Even the top drivers at their peak cannot say that they can crush these rookies.

Was it the change brought about by Villeneuve?

This name popped up in Jean Todd's mind. The first rookie started with Villeneuve. He won the second driver in the season. If it weren't for the team strategy, he might have become the first F1 driver in history to win the championship in the season.

It is not surprising that exceptions appear. This situation has not happened in F1 for fifty years. Especially when it was not standardized in the early days, various super dark horses often appear.

But they have all come to this era. Kimi, Montoya, Fei, Helio, and even Masa, Alonso, who performed well this year, have begun to emerge one after another, which really makes Todd feel like the times have changed.

No! Times have not changed. I, Ferrari, are still the strongest drivers, and Schumacher and Barrichello, are still the strongest driver combination!

Jean Todd drove out the messy thoughts in his mind. This year is the time when Ferrari wins the fourth team championship in a row. He wants to lead the team to create an unbreakable history!

These ideas are just doubts about the strength of the team and drivers, which is simply a manifestation of cowardice!

In fact, there are really a large number of team management teams with Jean Todd's idea in the paddock. Especially those old teams, looking at the "young frivolity" of Zhang Yifei and Helio, Renault and Prost's vitality can't help but have a thought that the times have changed.

"Lauda, ​​do you think Helio is faster this time, or is it faster?"

The Jaguars Racing Repair Station, manager Steiner, couldn't help but ask Nicky Lauda beside him.

Although the convoy struggle is now on the surface, it is all a struggle of power. No member of the crew is unwilling to accept Lauda's strength and vision.

Just based on him early on, it is enough to be amazed that Zhang Yifei, a Chinese driver, will become a super newcomer in the f1 paddock.

One side is the super newcomer from F1 last year, and the other side is the Indy champion, which is very likely to become the super newcomer this year. Steiner really wants to hear what Lauda, ​​the legendary driver, thinks.

Faced with Steiner's problem, Lauda did not deliberately show his face and refuse to answer because of the power struggle. He still upholds his professional spirit and said, "I am still optimistic about Fei. The winter test of 1 minute, 21 seconds, 317 is definitely not his limit."

"What about Helio, he ran a terrifying speed of 1 minute 21 seconds 312 in the first winter test. Is this his limit?"

Steiner asked a question.

"No, if he only had this strength, he wouldn't choose to challenge Fei at this point in time."

"Don't be fooled by Helio's arrogant appearance. He thinks he is a driver who does things without a brain. Racing is also a sport that requires IQ and judgment. Otherwise, Helio will not be the strongest newcomer in Indy Racing history."

"Thinking about Villeneuve and Montoya's strength, we should be able to roughly understand the potential of this American newcomer. However, the experience of Indy Racing was too smooth and did not hone his patience well. Otherwise, we should wait for a more confident opportunity to kill one blow and complete the revenge of the flying!"

Unlike other team management teams, Lauda is very clear about the shortcomings of the Jaguar team, that is, the depth of the bench and the reserve force are insufficient, and the struggle for power has led to the lack of a good echelon training system, such as third drivers, test drivers, youth training drivers, etc.

With Ford's financial resources and capital, it is possible to build a world-class fleet, and it does not need to survive like private capital and independent operation.

So Lauda started with great ambitions, which was to run the Jaguar team according to the standards of the Big Three teams, paying special attention to the training of newcomers. Lauda has conducted background checks for the newcomers who have entered F1 in the past two years, and he is very clear about Helio's strength and ideas.

After the US Grand Prix, Helio went to F1 for trial training, not missing any opportunities, and clearly wanted to take revenge. Moreover, through relationships, Lauda roughly understood Helio's trial results at Williams and some of his performances at Renault.

Under the arrogant appearance, this driver has extremely tough perseverance. No matter how hard and arduous the training tasks are, they can be completed, and often exceed the standard.

According to Hylio's efforts and improvement speed, wait for the timing and results before challenging Zhang Yifei. It is really possible that he will be surprised and kill with one blow!

And the confidence increase brought by the success of revenge and victory will once again boost Helio's strength, and a legendary driver may appear in the f1 paddock.

It’s just a pity that the indy career was too smooth, which made Helio a little arrogant. The patience during the winter test had reached his limit, and he finally couldn’t help but challenge Zhang Yifei on the last day.

Helio is likely to become a legendary driver, but in Lauda's heart, Zhang Yifei is destined to become a legendary driver.

This American newcomer still underestimates the driver Fei's strength. He thought he still had enough energy, so Fei would be gone? The premature challenge will not only lose the effect of a future killing, but will also alert the enemy!

Under Fei's arrogant appearance, he was far from being arrogant.

Listening to Lauda's analysis, Steiner never expected that the legendary driver had already touched Helio so clearly. In an instant, Steiner couldn't help but feel admiration and admiration in his heart.

However, this idea was a flash of time. For the identity of management, it is necessary to undermine and squeeze Lauda out of the fleet.

Admiration and worship, vulnerable in the face of power!

Both racing cars at the repair station have been reignited. Zhang Yifei and Helio both set their eyes on the outbound signal lights, waiting for the departure signal from the track console.

The engine's idling silence and roaring, touching the hearts of everyone in the f1 yard. If these two people really run at an astonishing speed, they will be the enemy of this season.

After all, the lap speed of the test was already fast enough, and being able to be fast represents hidden strength and explosive potential. With such terrifying strength, the other two giant teams except Ferrari dare not say that they can hold a firm position in the future.

The signal lights of the Renault team's repair station turned green first, and Helio rushed out of the repair station with a "swish" and was extremely skillful in action. He could not feel that this was a newcomer to this year's F1 season.

I have to say that I started as a kart and my basic skills are very solid. Even if I crossed the border from Indy to F1, Helio did not have the feeling of being unfamiliar with newcomers, which is much better than Zhang Yifei last year.

To be honest, in the face of this kind of Formula driver who has been trained since childhood, Zhang Yifei's experience in his previous life is really not enough. He can achieve today's results by relying on his own efforts and his life on the track.

After about 5 seconds of interval, the starting lights of the Prost maintenance station also lit up. Zhang Yifei stepped down the accelerator and rushed out of the maintenance station to start the last lap of the duel.

The car's good working temperature and the ultimate light oil support made Zhang Yifei speed up very quickly. However, the timing did not start at this time. It takes a wait for the two cars to leave the repair channel and pass the starting line before the speed of the last lap will be counted.

Helio passed through the starting line at full throttle speed, and the timing officially began. It was completely different from the previous test state. Helio frantically suppressed the racing performance and maintained its ultimate speed.

The route and cornering method are also extremely extreme. This mode of running the last lap does not have to care about the life of the racing suspension, etc., so it has become the norm to use the road shoulder to turn around.

It can only be said that Helio is worthy of being an Indy driver. His wildness is no less than Montoya before, and he pushes simplicity and rudeness to the extreme!

Zhang Yifei on the other side also interprets what the radicalization of the F1 driver is! And he has an advantage over Helio, that is, this test track. Helio only ran for 7 days, while Zhang Yifei ran for 14 days!

It can be said that Zhang Yifei has no track that can run for so long in his entire career. Moreover, even if he adds practice and qualifying competitions, his total lap speed will not exceed 300 laps.

However, in the winter test track, each driver has a 600 lap. It is a starting point, and a diligent driver can even break through 1,000 laps!

This means that Zhang Yifei ran no less than 1,500 laps on the Catalonian track. Not to mention the track layout and curve characteristics, even in the buffer zone next to it, Zhang Yifei knew exactly which tire wall was closer to the track!

Zhang Yifei is not inferior to anyone about routing and limit competition, including Indy driver Halio, who is known for his wildness!

"I'm so young and energetic. Some of the extreme turns of these two people have exceeded the technical level, and it even depends on luck!"

The owner of the Sauber team, looking at the madness of Zhang Yifei and Helio on the track, couldn't help but exclaim with his rich experience.

Many of these two people are cornering at the extreme, which is completely the state of who loosen the accelerator and who is grandson. As for whether the tires can catch the ground in the corner, it really does not depend on how awesome the operating technology is, but on the wear status of the tires and the wind speed on the track at that time.

Because these two people are almost overlapping, it represents a closeness in driving skills.

Masa stood behind Pete Sauber, listening to the boss' praise for Zhang Yifei and Helio, and he was also full of thoughts in his heart.

He once thought that the gap between him and Zhang Yifei and Helio was not very big, at least he had a chance to defeat them.

After the 7th winter test, it also confirmed Masa's idea in a sense. Apart from Schumacher's success, the lap difference between him and them was less than 0.5 seconds.

This gap is not small in F1, but considering that one of them is the newcomer king last year, he has been running for a season. Not to mention the other, the Indy World Champion driver is much more familiar with the control of top Formula car cars than he himself.

Masa felt that the gap within 0.5 seconds was acceptable. As a driver from Brazil, even if his idol was not Senna, he had to have Senna's will!

But judging from the current broadcast screen, the speed of 1 minute 21 seconds 31 is not their limit, while the lap speed of 1 minute 21 seconds 795 is almost their limit.

Mass even asked himself, as for the current limit route between Zhang Yifei and Helio, can he copy it perfectly if he did it himself?

The answer is no, this is the difference between you and them!

However, this cannot destroy Masa's fighting spirit. Only when he recognizes the gap can he know how to catch up. He believes that the spotlight of the future f1 paddock is not only on Zhang Yifei and Helio like today, but also on Masa!

"No, the flying skills are better."

Sauber team manager Zeheld expressed his objection.

"Boss, you carefully look at the curve tangent line, and Zhang Yifei passes through the apex point accurately than Helio."

"Helio blindly wants to use the fastest cornering, but instead ignores the best speed of cornering, resulting in defects when cutting the apex point, and even a brake is repaired!"

Zeheld is a professional manager, once a race engineer, and he needs to observe racing technology more carefully than Sauber, who is now focusing on team operations!

"Yeah?"

With questions, Sauber once again locked his eyes on the broadcast monitor, but he could not see any difference.

"It seems to be almost the same."

Hearing Sauber's reply, Zeheld's face showed a helplessness. If it was obvious that the routes were different, would he still be called a driver of the same level?

"Boss, when the final lap results come out, you will know who will be the winner."

"Helio's hard power is not bad, he lost because of his mentality."

Zeheld even gave the result in advance. If a master fights, he will lose a thousand miles if he gets a slight difference.

Under the premise of a thousand-minute strength gap, there is no need for any mistakes. As long as any flaws occur, it will lead to the ultimate backwardness.

Helio's flaws are more obvious than Zhang Yifei, so they are doomed to end unless Zhang Yifei makes a mistake.

However, this scene did not appear. The schedule of one lap was only more than one minute, and it was almost completed in the blink of an eye.

At this time, everyone stared at the track display, which will show the final lap speed of the two drivers.
Chapter completed!