In the driver's lounge, in addition to Zhang Yifei, there are also Alessi and boss Prost.

Cosell was in room P, with chief technician Charlie and the maintenance team, after the final inspection and adjustment of the car, he did not come to the lounge to give Zhang Yifei pre-race guidance.

And then again, with Korcel's character, he can't say anything about pre-game guidance, and he doesn't have that interest in saying it.

After all, to become an F1 driver, you can't even do the most basic anti-pressure, so what race is it to compete on the track?

What the? Newcomers, you say? I'm sorry, but in my Kossel's dictionary, the new and the old are treated equally.

"Fly, relax, don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Prost saw that Zhang Yifei's expression was more serious, and he understood that there must be tension in his heart. After 20 years of playing in the F1 paddock, the newcomer doesn't know how much he has seen, and he can feel any small emotional fluctuations.

"I'm not very nervous."

Zhang Yifei replied with a smile, he did feel nervous, but it was nonsense to say how nervous he was, it was just some emotional fluctuations that naturally came from the newcomer facing the first game in his life.

"That's good, I'm very happy with your performance, just play normally in the game."

Prost replied with a smile again, he was indeed very satisfied with Zhang Yifei's results, which was simply unthinkable last year.

You must know that Prost signed a newcomer to Heidefeld last year, and he was full of confidence at the beginning, but he was incompatible with Alessi, which led to the collapse of the atmosphere of the entire team.

Although Zhang Yifei is also a newcomer, he is different from Heindfeld in one thing, that is, he completely suppressed Alessi.

Many teams are not afraid of being strong or weak, but even more afraid of being evenly matched, because unlike other sports, almost every race is a race against their teammates.

When the two drivers are evenly matched, unless the two sides are in harmony or the team management is extremely tough enough to suppress the ideas of the two drivers, most of the time it is not a cooperation, but an internal struggle.

For example, Prost and Senna, Hamilton and Alonso, etc., these are just well-known drivers, and there are even more unknown internal struggles. In the history of F1, there are few examples of two teammates with similar results who can get along with each other, and there are more conflicts and fights.

Alessi's current retirement and "goodwill", in a sense, are also because Zhang Yifei defeated him with his results. And at the end of his career, after last season's heavy defeat, the French veteran didn't want to embarrass the situation too much, so he regressed and has the current state of peace and progress together with the team.

"No problem."

Zhang Yifei nodded, the pressure is still a bit after all, but he is also confident that these pressures will not affect his game and can ensure normal performance.

After the opening ceremony, the FIA began the circuit inspection. The main content of this inspection is to find out if there are any foreign objects or unsafe factors on the track, in case any of the extremely low-quality spectators throw garbage on the track, which is undoubtedly equivalent to a bomb for a car with a speed of up to 300 km/h.

Once the track is inspected, the grid area is open and the team mechanics will push the F1 cars into the parking lot in the order of qualifying.

This is different from Formula Renault, where the F1 car moves over short distances, basically does not ignite and drives, and relies on the team members to push the car. On the one hand, many parts of F1 have a limited lifespan, and each launch is a large expense.

Another point is that at low speeds, there is not enough wind to shuttle through to dissipate heat, and the temperature of the whole car is extremely high. That's why, when the F1 car starts and stops in place, you can see two technicians holding air ducts and constantly blowing air towards the engine air intakes, just to dissipate heat from the engine.

Closer to two o'clock, all the drivers will come out of the lounge and stand on the track to participate in the flag-raising ceremony of the host country. At this time, everyone will stand up and play the national anthem of the country where the station is located, which is also the last ceremony before the start of the competition.

Zhang Yifei stood on the track with the other drivers, listening to the Australian national anthem. Although he doesn't like Australia very much, he also hates those Australians who have sneered and laughed at him.

But he will not be like some Australians, in the face of the flag-raising ceremony, some rude or even disrespectful acts. After all, when you are abroad, many times, whether you admit it or not, your every move represents the country behind you. So Zhang Yifei stood straight in place, waiting for the end of the flag-raising ceremony with a salute.

After the flag-raising ceremony, Zhang Yifei came to his car, unlike the previous junior formula, only Ah Hu and Brother Zhi were two maintenance technicians, this time there were more than a dozen people beside him, and it could be said that the water was impassable.

There are even special people who hold up an umbrella to shade Zhang Yifei from the sun to prevent the high temperature in summer from affecting his performance during the competition.

Zhang Yifei sat in the car, and Ah Hu ignited the car for the first time and warmed up the engine and oil. At the same time, in order to prevent the temperature from getting too high, two team technicians, holding hand-held air guns, aimed at the air intakes to blow air to keep the engine at a reasonable temperature.

It can be said that the F1 engine, under the premise of having terrifying power, also has an incomparably delicate "physique", and it is necessary to pay attention to its working conditions at all times.

Korsell leaned his head on Zhang Yifei's ear and gave his last instructions before the race: "This team's strategy, if there is no accident, is three stops, so now the car is light fuel and super soft tires." You have to pay attention to the team instructions inside the headset and don't miss the pit stop time. ”

"I understand!"

Zhang Yifei responded vigorously, even if the F1 car did not hit the accelerator, the idle speed was as high as more than 5,000 rpm, so the noise was really not small.

"Race with a normal mind, face the pressure of other drivers, don't be too weak, you know?"

Korsell reminded again, but this sentence has little to do with the event, and is more about Zhang Yifei to maintain his usual tough style.

You must know that F1 events benefit from the strength of the drivers, and many times the two cars will be very close to each other, and this sense of pressure caused by the possibility of crashing at any time is a lot of pressure for a newcomer.

Many times newcomers will follow their own hedging instincts and subconsciously change lanes and deviate from the route, which is equivalent to giving the opponent a chance to overtake.

There will be no such fierce competition in the previous practice matches and qualifying rounds, and Zhang Yifei will also face the intensity of F1 for the first time, so Kossel will say more.

"You know, I'm not going to let the car go!"

Zhang Yifei replied stiffly, just like people's first impressions, the style shown in the first game will easily form an inherent impression in the hearts of others.

Once there is a weak move, then the other drivers will treat you as a soft persimmon, and when you turn a corner and grab the line, it will be more intense, and even make some dangerous moves.

Even if you don't give an inch in the future and don't hesitate to crash with your opponent, this is also a lose-lose thing. Because one F1 driver is on the track, you have to face not just one opponent, but all the other drivers!

So Zhang Yifei has already made up his mind in his heart, if anyone thinks he is a rookie in China today, he wants to check the soft persimmon pinch. That's embarrassing, even if it is to crash the opponent on the track, Zhang Yifei will not hesitate to do it!

Seeing that Zhang Yifei was ready, Corer didn't talk too much nonsense. The indicators on the track soon appeared with two red lights, which meant that the warm-up lap was about to start and all team members were evacuated from the track.

As members of the professional F1 team, their evacuation was swift and methodical. Tire warmers, ignitions, air guns, sensors, and even parachute mechanics are all quickly retreating to the edge of the track, waiting for the F1 car to start.

This is also completely different from Renault's races, there is no so-called track interview, and there is no need to completely evacuate outside the fence in the first place. They can stay on the edge of the track for a while, dealing with unexpected accidents, such as starting off.

The first lap was a regular warm-up lap, because of the speed limit and no overtaking, etc., all the drivers drove more Buddha, and Zhang Yifei was the same, and there was no idea of doing things.

And having said that, with the current level of the opponent, there are not many people who can let him do things, except for rookies like bullying Yang Long and Bernaldi, who are also newcomers, none of the other old birds can hardly eat.

The problem is that it is still Marquis on the Minardi team, and he can't bully Yang Long. However, it seems that Marquis is more rookie than Yang Long, and he has no chance to run in front and let Zhang Yifei do things, unless it is the effect of running out of the ring.

So at this moment, Zhang Yifei is more to observe the tires of other cars, as expected, the Big Three teams without exception have chosen the three-stop tactic, they are very confident in their pit and team cooperation, naturally use the fastest strategy and tactics.

Some midstream fleets have super soft tires with three stops, and soft or medium tires with two stops. Except for super rookies like Minardi Marquis, basically no one chooses a stop-and-go tactic.

Fortunately, I didn't agree with the one-stop strategy, otherwise wouldn't it be the same level as Marquis? This is the second-to-last "legendary" rider who can be a full three seconds slower!

However, there is one "newcomer" who has chosen to make three stops, and he is Montoya of the Williams team. With a strong team behind him, and the confidence and experience of the Indy 500 champion, there is no doubt that Montoya cannot be viewed through the eyes of a traditional newcomer, and it is not surprising that he opted for a more challenging three-stop strategy.

The warm-up lap was over quickly, and all the cars stopped in the grid again, this time the atmosphere was completely different, you could feel the sound of the racing engine getting louder, and many drivers were slamming the throttle to increase the idle speed, so that they could get more torque at the start.

The five red lights on the track were lit up one after the other, the roar of the engines began to reverberate through the sky, and all the drivers were focused and ready to start.

The moment the red light goes out, the roaring engine begins to burst into its furious power, and the F1 car rushes out like an arrow from the string!