April 8th is the first time to practice in the Malaysian Grand Prix. After more than a week of racing simulator training and "paper talk" with Yamamoto Ukyo, it is time to really run on the track and verify your strength.

Zhang Yifei still came to the maintenance station early to prepare according to his previous habits. But when he just arrived at the entrance of the maintenance station, his boss Prost stopped him and said, "Fei, prepare for it and attend the pre-match press conference."

"Pre-match press conference?"

Zhang Yifei was stunned for a moment. Why did he suddenly want to attend the pre-match press conference by himself?

According to the convention, there is actually a pre-race press conference, but unlike the type of drivers I imagined that they all went up to speak and speak, the F1 League only selects about four to five drivers to accept interviews and questions from reporters.

Theoretically, these four to five drivers are all the star drivers of the season. For example, at the previous Australian station, those who attended the driver's press conference were Schumacher, Barrichello, McLaren's Cooterhard, Jordan's Frenzen, and the new star of the track and Montoya of Williams.

According to the current historical performance and popularity ranking of F1 drivers, even if Zhang Yifei has many reports and halos, it may be in the minds of most people that his influence is not as good as that of French veteran Alessi, who has participated in the competition for more than ten years.

Even if we arrange newcomers to interview, Montoya is ranked first in the F1 league, followed by Kimi Raikkonen, and Zhang Yifei's turn is the third.

However, it is already very good to be ranked third. Think about the two world champion players in the future, Alonso and Patton, who are still at the level of a cat and a dog in the current f1 yard.

"That's right, it's just a pre-match press conference. Let's go to the media center."

Prost patted Zhang Yifei on the shoulder and signaled him to take action.

Although he was full of doubts, he had already chosen himself, so Zhang Yifei dared not face the camera.

This is the convenience of the f1 driver. He puts a baseball cap on his head, and does not have to consider clothing, makeup, or something, and can directly face the camera for interviews.

The media center of the track is already full of pre-race reporters. When Zhang Yifei came to the backstage, he found that Schumacher of Ferrari, Kurthard of McLaren, and Villeneuve of British and American teams were all present.

However, there is another person here that surprised Zhang Yifei, that is, Xiong Long, the third driver of Minardi team, who actually appeared in the backstage.

If Zhang Yifei's qualifications to become a pre-race interviewer are a little worse, then Xiong Long doesn't even have the qualifications to become an interviewer. Now Minardi's color pen driver Marquis has not been cut yet. He is the official driver. In theory, the third driver and the test driver do not have the qualifications to interview before the race.

However, considering that this stop is the Malaysian Grand Prix, Xiong Long is Malaysia's first F1 driver. Whether it is to take care of the emotions of the audience in the host country or to promote the F1 event outside of Europe, it has become a relatively reasonable thing to make Xiong Long accept pre-match interviews.

This is like the later Chinese Grand Prix. When the Donghai Station started, the Carterham team specially asked Chinese driver Kama Qinghua to accept a pre-race interview and allowed him to participate in the official first practice competition.

Seeing Zhang Yifei come in, Xiong Long's face is not very good-looking. The "Chinese duel" on the winter test track still attracted a lot of attention.

This is not about paying attention to the team and thinking that the "Chinese duel" is such an earth-shaking PK, but in the F1 paddock, it is not easy to see two Chinese drivers. If you want to see two Chinese drivers, it will be once in a few decades.

As a result, Xiong Long lost a lot in this duel. Coupled with high attention and some remarks in the team, Zhang Yifei became a shadow in his heart.

Later, because of the difference between the official driver and the third driver, Zhang Yifei never had the chance to fight with Xiong Long again, and it was difficult for both sides to meet. Today, the backstage meeting was the first time that the two of them met after the winter test.

Zhang Yifei came in, and several F1 drivers in the backstage greeted each other, which was completely different from the "isolated" scene of Australian drivers parading.

Perhaps this change is related to the venue, but more because Zhang Yifei's performance on the Albert Park track has won the respect of other drivers, they are willing to communicate with this Chinese newcomer.

After Xiong Long's turn to die, he looked at Zhang Yifei and nodded with a stiff expression, which was considered to have said hello. Zhang Yifei was not stingy, but instead waved at him, as a response.

In fact, Zhang Yifei did not feel much hostility towards Xiong Long, on the one hand, because of the other party's identity as a Chinese. In terms of intimacy, it is always better than the white European drivers.

And when faced with some European car fans with a strong sense of superiority, they don’t care whether you are Chinese or Malaysian Chinese, they all are hinese.

A great man once said a famous saying: unite all the objects that can be united! Even if both sides cannot unite, there is no need to fight in the nest.

It's just a pity that Xiong Long doesn't think so. In fact, it's just a small matter to lose in the Dongchao, but he is in the Minardi team and is often rude and slandered by Madu. Naturally, he can't let go of the knot with Zhang Yifei, so this kind of inconsistent situation occurs.

F1 is a place that pays attention to efficiency. After interviewing the drivers, they were taken to the front desk by the staff.

At this moment, five chairs have been placed on the press release station, and there are densely packed reporters underneath. As a grand event for Southeast Asian sports, not only Malaysian local journalists, but also Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and other countries have sent reporters to interview.

Even the Xinhua News Agency of China sent special invited reporters stationed in Southeast Asia to convey the latest news about Zhang Yifei to the country as soon as possible.

When the five riders walked out of the backstage, the flash lights below were as bright as daylight, and many even exclaimed excitedly.

"Bear Dragon!"

“alex”

“The pride of Malaysia!”

"Come on, Xiong Long, become a formal driver as soon as possible!"

"I hope I can see you driving a racing car in the practice race!"

Various cheering sounds even surpassed Schumacher's attention. It is worthy of being a local battle, and it also has the title of Malaysia's first F1 driver. Xiong Long's attention in Southeast Asia is really high.

Faced with these supportive voices, Xiong Long kept waving and bowing. He could tell from the expression on his face that he was excited at this moment.

After all, as a third driver, every event can only be seen as formal drivers fighting on the track, watching them enjoy applause and cheer, and I am like the person in the shadow.

But the current scene gave Xiong Long a great sense of belonging and honor, and even made his eyes a little moist.

The five drivers began to take their seats one by one, and the next was the time for the reporter's interview. Unlike some regular press conferences, the pre-race press conference of the F1 driver is like an interview, and the drivers can easily respond and chat, without so many rules and regulations.

A reporter with slightly dark skin in the audience asked the first question. He stood up and asked Xiong Long: "alex, I am a reporter from Malaysian News Agency. As we all know, you are a newcomer to F1. How are you adapting now?"

"It's very good. The team is working hard to help me adapt and improve. I'm very grateful for their help."

Xiong Long replied in a very official way.

"Then what plans and ideas do you have in the future, such as becoming a formal driver?"

This problem came out, and the Malaysian reporters at the scene pointed the camera at Xiong Long. After all, there is an insurmountable gap between the F1 driver and the F1 official driver.

Like Ma Qinghua, the first F1 driver in China in the future, although he said so, he can only be considered a test driver. A driver who has never participated in the Grand Prix race will never be considered a real F1 driver!

"I am working hard to improve myself and hope to become a formal driver as soon as possible."

Xiong Long and Xi Ni replied, after all, if you want to "get the top", you just pull down a formal driver. Not every Chinese is like Zhang Yifei, and often speak out his ambitions out of the blue.

Obviously, such an answer is not very good for news hot topics, so another reporter turned the topic to Schumacher.

"Hello Shumi, I am a reporter from Singapore Lianhe Zaobao. Congratulations on becoming the Australian branch champion. What is your goal in the Malaysian Grand Prix?"

"Of course the champion."

Schumacher replied easily, even with a playful smile on his face. The reporter still lacked knowledge and actually asked himself such a question?

And Schumacher's "crazy" answer, no one thought it was inappropriate, and everyone even took it for granted.

After all, Schumacher is too strong on the track and has already made his opponent breathless. This is the difference brought by strength!

"Mr. Coothard, you won the runner-up in the last stop with a very small gap. Do you plan to challenge Shumi again this time?"

"Challenge? Sorry, challenge is a word used on the weak, and I am the strong on the track, so I hope you change the vocabulary."

Coothard replied with a domineering voice that his style on the track is also relatively tough. He even took a brake two years ago and almost made Schumacher, who was rear-ended, go to the sky, which directly triggered a conflict at the famous repair station.

Coothard's condition has begun to recover in the new season, which gives him strong confidence and confidence. The weak are called challenges to the strong, while those who are both strong should use competition!

Schumacher was not very angry or surprised when he heard Coothard's answer. This is the confidence and confidence that a top F1 driver should have.

Back then, I was as tough as Coothard today!

The reporter asked the question was not at all conscious of being criticized. He changed his subject and looked directly at Zhang Yifei and asked: "Mr. Zhang Yifei, your results were very good in the last stop. You are the most eye-catching newcomer in the new season."

"But there are reports that you are arrogant and even despised the Malaysian driver Xiong Long, who is also a newcomer, in the winter test track. Is this true?"

When this question was said, all the cameras and microphones were aimed at Zhang Yifei. This is the hottest event that the Malay media present today is the one that is most concerned about!
Chapter completed!