All-round Athlete

Chapter 608 Issuing a Driver's License

At a yacht dock in Mumbai, a yacht slowly docked into the port.

Omi bid farewell to his friend and got off the yacht. His butler was already waiting there, and the car that came to pick Omi was parked not far away.

However, Omi was the first to ask: "During the two days I went to sea, is there any news about Zhang Guan? Is there any team willing to accept him?"

Recently, Omi has been inquiring about various teams through relationships, asking if there is any news about Zhang Guan's request to join, but all the answers are the same, that is, no! This answer also reassured Omi a lot. As the new season is getting closer, the drivers of each team have been confirmed, and Omi is also more calm. He feels that Zhang Guan can no longer find a team that is willing to accept him, so he just went out to sea with his friends for a few days.

"I just wanted to report this matter to you." The steward said, "Although no team is willing to accept Zhang Guan, he bought a team himself!"

"What? Zhang Guan bought a team himself? Could it be the Honda team?" Omi immediately thought of this.

"Yes, it is indeed the Honda team. Zhang Guan and Ross Brown jointly invested in the purchase of the Honda team, and the name of the new team is 'China Power'!" The steward said.

There was anger in Omi's eyes, but he calmed down immediately: "China Power? This is obviously aimed at our Force India team! Unexpectedly, Zhang Guan would choose to use this method to enter the first level In formula competitions. Buying a team is enough money! But even if there is a team? He doesn’t even have a super driver’s license now! I don’t believe that F1 will allow a person without any racing experience to board the official The arena of the game!"

...

On March 7th, just two days after the establishment of China Power Racing Team, the team's new official website was successfully launched.

The first news on the team's official website is the announcement of the two drivers who will compete for the team in the new season. When fans all over the world thought that Button and Barrichello would continue to stay in the team, a new name came into everyone's sight.

"Zhang Guan! The two drivers for the new season announced by China Force are Zhang Guan and Barrichello!"

"What the hell? How could it be Zhang Guan? Zhang Guan wants to drive a Formula One car? I read it right!"

"Today is March 7th, not April 1st, and it's not even April Fool's Day! Are you kidding me?"

"I think the maintenance personnel of the website are going to be laid off, and they posted the name of the team owner on the driver's position, causing such a big oolong! I didn't expect that the first news on China Power's official website would embarrass their team! "

"See? The Chinese website is as bad as the products they make, even the driver's name is wrong!"

Among the voices of doubt, someone also mentioned another possibility.

"Do you think that the driver is really Zhang Guan? Did Zhang Guan buy the Honda team just to be a driver for himself?"

"How is this possible? I have never heard of Zhang Guan driving a racing car, let alone GP2 and F3, he has never even driven a kart! How can he drive Formula One? What's more, he doesn't even have a super driver's license !"

It is true that Zhang Guan has not yet obtained a super driver's license, but his application for a super driver's license has been sent to the F1 review committee.

...

Jury.

To everyone's surprise, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone was also on hand.

Bernie is 79 years old this year, but his body is very tough. Not long ago, he just met a Brazilian hot girl in her twenties, and the two even talked about love. So in the eyes of everyone, Bernie is not a dying old man.

"Everyone, I called everyone here today mainly because we have just received an application for a Formula One super driver's license." Bernie said.

"Last year's F3 champion and GP2 champion, we have already awarded them super driver's licenses, this time must be a certain team wants to add a test driver?" Someone asked immediately.

"Yes, this is an application from the team, but they may not add a test driver, but an official driver." Bernie said.

"It's the driver?" Everyone showed surprise. With the openness of Formula One, there are traces of who is eligible to become an official driver. , have such a super driver's license.

"The application comes from Honda...oh, no, it should be called China Force now." Bernie said.

"So it's a new team! It's the team from China. Since it's a new team, it's understandable to find a new driver, and maybe they will find a Chinese driver!" Someone said immediately.

"That's right, our Formula One has been held continuously for more than half a century, and today, we are finally welcoming a driver from China." Bernie paused, and then said: "His name should be familiar to everyone." Very familiar - Zhang Guan!"

"Zhang Guan? Could it be that Zhang Guan?" Everyone was surprised again.

"Yes, that's him, that Zhang Guan." Bernie nodded.

"But isn't he the boss of the new team? Why does he want to be a driver?" There was a faint sense of disapproval in this man's voice.

"There is no rule that the team owner cannot be a driver. And now it seems that he bought the Honda team, maybe he just wanted to be a racing driver!" Bernie shrugged, and then continued: "And the China Force team follows the regulations. They submitted the test materials of Zhang Guan driving Formula One over 300 kilometers, and judging from the materials they submitted, there is no problem at all.”

Everyone discussed carefully, and then someone asked, "Mr. President, shall we approve their application?"

"This is also the reason why I brought you here. Judging from Zhang Guan's resume, he has never participated in any sports related to racing. His file on the field is even blanker than Raikkonen! Back then Raikkonen applied for the Super When I got the driver’s license, I still participated in A-level races and Formula Renault races, but Zhang Guan didn’t even participate in karting races. I’m worried that if we approve their applications, it will cause controversy all over the world.”

Bernie paused, spread his hands, and continued: "But everyone should be aware of the serious challenges we face in F1 this year. The economic crisis has a great impact on all teams. The Internet and various other competitions The rise of the TV series has caused our ratings share to decline. The traditional European and American markets have become rigid, and we need to make a difference in emerging markets. Behind Zhang Guan is not only a market with a population of more than one billion, but he is also the most famous in the world. Sportsman, he can bring more attention to us in Formula One."

"Mr. President, I get it, and I agree with you very much. Formula 1 is a sport, but it is also a business. So when necessary, we really need to bow to the market. So we need to put this super The driver's license will be issued to Zhang Guan." Immediately, someone expressed support for Bernie.

Bernie nodded in satisfaction, and he continued: "If we issue a super driver's license to Zhang Guan, it is likely to attract doubts from the media or the public, so I hope that when you face media or public doubts, Can unify the caliber."

Unifying the caliber, this is why Bernie was present in person. Bernie knew that awarding the super driver's license to Zhang Guan, for example, would attract controversy. In the face of external disputes, internal unity is obviously very important.

"Okay, gentlemen, if you have any objections, let's take a look at the information sent by the new team!" Bernie smiled and waved to his assistant.

At this time, everyone seemed very relaxed. To them, this was just a formality.

"A rookie who has never participated in racing competitions, his data should look terrible! I don't know how many cars their team crashed in order to make the data of 300 kilometers." Someone muttered softly.

"It's Silverstone Circuit! This is a high-speed circuit. Driving on this circuit is quite difficult..." another person said.

"Huh? A score of less than 1 minute and 21 seconds? How could it be so fast?"

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