This world championship is Zhang Yifei's most arrogant ambition, and it is also the first time that the world has heard the declaration of competing for the world championship in the top automobile competition from the mouth of a Chinese driver.

After hearing this sentence, the audience at the scene can be described as emotional, excited, inspired, excited, disdainful and sarcastic. But in any case, it cannot change the reality that on the stage of F1, there may really be a chance for Chinese drivers to become the protagonists.

"I finally said it, and this may be what he has been determined to achieve since the beginning."

In the Williams team pit pit, Sir Williams is still sitting in front of the console, watching the broadcast of Zhang Yifei's interview on the screen.

At this moment, the picture in his mind is recalling the Renault equation, when he first saw Zhang Yifei.

A junior formula driver at the bottom of the ladder refused a test driver seat for the Renault team, rejected an olive branch from the Williams team, and went to the Prost team, the bottom of the F1 league, to want a seat as an official driver.

At that time, in the eyes of many high-level executives, they thought that Zhang Yifei simply didn't know what to do, the world's top factory teams like Renault, and the Big Three teams like Williams, all looked up to your small role, so they should be happy, but I didn't expect that there was still a refusal.

But in fact, Sir Williams knows very well in his heart that the refusal represents Zhang Yifei's ambition and his confidence in his own strength. What he wanted was a chance to get on the track, and even in the bottom of the Prost team, he was confident that he could run it.

What happened later proved that gold will always shine, if it wasn't for the original refusal, maybe now Zhang Yifei is just a bystander, watching the victory and glory of others.

Recalling that Zhang Yifei said that he wanted to win the championship, which attracted the cold eyes and ridicule of many people, but in fact, the subtext in Zhang Yifei's heart was to add the word "world" in front of the noun champion.

World Champion! is his original ambition and goal!

"Boss, can he really succeed?"

Pat Simmonds next to him asked, he knew that Sir Williams was on the track many times, especially against Zhang Yifei, not because of hostility, but because of attention!

From beginning to end, this iron-blooded boss has put the Chinese kid in a very high position, which may be something that many people never expected.

No one can answer this question. Just like Senna in today's F1 paddock, no one can guarantee that he will win the world championship. ”

"But I only know one thing, and that is flying, and I'm getting closer and closer to success."

Hearing Sir Williams' answer, Simmonds had a thoughtful expression on his face.

Yes, the driver Fei seems to be really achieving his original goal step by step.

In the celebration area, Zhang Yifei was still smiling, watching the audience's reaction to his remarks.

Encouraging and excited, he is naturally very happy, and for those cold eyes and ridicule, Zhang Yifei can also laugh at them now.

The reason is very simple, that is, the ambition of the bird!

That's the end of Zhang Yifei's interview, followed by a few brief interviews with Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen.

Although he lost this game, Schumacher still maintained his demeanor, and even expressed his congratulations to Zhang Yifei in the face of some questions from reporters who were more likely to lead the battle, showing the background of the king and veteran of the track to the fullest.

If it weren't for the beginning, Zhang Yifei saw the sharpness in Schumacher's eyes, and he might have thought that this was an encouragement from a track predecessor to a junior.

But it's a pity that Zhang Yifei knows that it's not, whether it's Schumacher or himself, the championship is the only thing that the driver pursues. There are only opponents on the track, no friends, even teammates.

After a brief post-race interview, the top three drivers went to the championship lounge to await the medal ceremony. Kimi Raikkonen has always been indifferent to strangers, but Zhang Yifei and Schumacher still had a polite chat.

Ten minutes later, everything was ready for the award ceremony, and Zhang Yifei stood on the highest podium, listening to the familiar national anthem play. This is the birth of the first winner of the Singapore Grand Prix, and it is also the first time that the Chinese national anthem has been played on the shores of the sea.

To be honest, Zhang Yifei at this time no longer has the excitement and excitement when he won the first championship in the Austrian Grand Prix. But the audience below was as fanatical as ever, and when the champagne was sprayed, there was only a deafening cry.

"Zhang Yifei~~! Zhang Yifei~~! Zhang Yifei ......"

This is a championship honor, and as the first Grand Prix winner in Singapore, Zhang Yifei will become unsurpassed history!

This is the end of the Singapore Grand Prix, but the more intense schedule of the new season has just begun.

On March 23, 2001, the dissatisfied Schumacher proved his domination at the Albert Park circuit in Australia and won the championship.

On April 6th, he returned to the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia, this time Zhang Yifei did not give anyone a chance, and won the second championship trophy of the new season on this track that made him famous for his rain battles, and once again stood at the top of the drivers' standings!

On April 20th, at the Monza circuit in Italy, the home circuit of Ferrari, Schumacher defended the dignity of the red Ferrari with an extremely exciting battle, and did not let the championship miss again.

On May 4th, at the Montreal circuit in Canada, Helio burst onto the scene in the Americas, retaining the last dignity of the Indy World Championship and winning his first victory in the F1 paddock!

On May 18, the Magnus circuit in France, which was supposed to be Renault's home circuit, but with the rise of Prost, the blue team flag flew on the track. In a sense, this has become the first real home track experienced by Zhang Yifei in his career.

Once upon a time, Zhang Yifei thought that his home track only existed at the Donghai Circuit, which had not yet officially held the F1 Grand Prix, but he didn't expect to be able to experience in advance what it was like to be at home.

There is no doubt that Zhang Yifei, who won the home bonus, can be described as unstoppable, and won the French Grand Prix without any suspense.

From this day on, a huge poster of a Chinese driver appeared on the Magnus circuit in France. Regardless of Zhang's ultimate achievement, French fans have enshrined Zhang Yifei as a Hall of Fame driver for saving the French team!

After one race, the 2002 season, which was supposed to be the sole performance of the Scuderia Ferrari, turned into a situation of two tigers.

The point difference between Zhang Yifei and Schumacher is very tight, as long as anyone can win a Grand Prix, then whoever will occupy the top of the standings. They were followed by Renault's Helio, Ferrari duo Barrichello and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen.

Further behind are Williams' Montoya, Prost's Alonso, and Sauber's newcomer Massa, who no one expected.

Among all these points, Zhang Yifei and Schumacher are the only ones, and Helio can barely keep up, and the drivers behind them have no difference of ten points from fourth to eighth place.

In other words, as long as the eighth-place driver Massa can win the race in any race, then Barrichello's position may be overturned.

Maybe this kind of standings is a result that no one expected at the beginning of the season, Zhang Yifei really practiced his words and regarded winning the world championship as his future expectation.

……

It's July, and the city-state of Monaco is home to eleven F1 teams in preparation for the annual Monaco Grand Prix.

Monaco is a very small city-state with an area of only 1.98 square kilometers and a population of less than 40,000. It may be too high to describe it as a township in China, and the larger villages are about this size.

But in the world of motorsport, especially in formula racing, Monaco can be said to have a very high status, and people have likened it to the "crown jewel of F1".

If you can't win the F1 World Championship in your entire career, then as long as you can win Monaco, fans will also recognize your quality around the world.

This status, like the Le Mans circuit in endurance racing and the Indianapolis circuit in India, is a symbol of peak influence and commercial value.

Many people even bluntly say that as long as they conquer Monaco, they are equivalent to conquering motorsports!

Among the three major circuits of the formula race, Zhang Yifei has conquered the Indianapolis circuit in a sense, and the Le Mans circuit does not have the opportunity and possibility to conquer it for the time being, so the only thing left is this Monaco Monte Carlo circuit.

Zhang Yifei had followed the convoy to Monaco, but he was not staying at the hotel or at the convoy maintenance station. Instead, you are at Monaco's famous attraction, which is the top of Monaco on the hill, overlooking the entire Port of Monaco.

And this time Zhang Yifei is not alone, there are two old acquaintances standing next to him, Xie Tiancheng of the former killer queen team, and Zhou Yunhui, the "car god of Wan Chai" on Hong Kong Island.

The two of them did not come to Monaco to watch Zhang Yifei this time, nor did they come to Monaco to play, but also participated in car racing.

Because the cushion race of this year's Monaco Grand Prix is the predecessor of the World Touring Car Championship - European Touring Car Championship (ETCC).

Many people may not know about the mat event, but it can be simply understood as the opening song and dance performance before the game to set off the atmosphere of the event and pass the boring time while waiting.

For example, if there are several hours between each practice match in Formula Formula, the spectators in the stands will not be able to go home for a few hours, so they can only sit in their seats and wait honestly.

But the problem is that these hours of waiting are as boring as you can imagine. So in this waiting time, other races will be held, which can not only solve the boring time of the interval, but also use the influence of F1 to advertise themselves.

This mat match mode is actually more famous in fighting events, and all large-scale boxing events will be held before the well-known boxers fight.

It's just that the mat match of the fighting event also assumes the function of returning the ticket price, because in case of a boxing championship, such as Tyson's event that year, everyone spent a lot of money to buy on-site tickets and waited for several hours.

As a result, your Tyson knocked out the opponent in a few seconds, and before he could taste it, the game was over and he had to go home, and the audience had to make a fuss?

Therefore, many large-scale events let similar events with a lower level or relatively low reputation serve as their own mat races. This is the case with the Porsche Carrera Cup that Zhang Yifei experienced before, and the same is true for the current European Touring Car Championship.

And because the status of the Monaco Grand Prix is relatively high, the level of the mat race has also been correspondingly raised, so this mat race will be held by the European Touring Car Championship.

Last year, Xie Tiancheng won the third place in the All Japan GT Championship, which is not the highest honor, but for him, it has also reached a bottleneck in a sense. The champion Yuji Ide has gone to compete in the French F3 event, and the runner-up Le Mans driver Lardan still chooses to nest in the Japanese GT just bad money.

Xie Tiancheng also aspires to a higher stage, and in this world motorsports, except for the United States and an Indian local program to compete, basically all automobile events are in Europe. So he, like Zhang Yifei before, chose to enter Europe and joined the European Touring Car Championship.

"Wan Chai Car God" Zhou Yunhui has been running in the German DTM for two years, it can only be said that the German Touring Car Masters in this era is too strong, even if Zhou Yunhui joins as a professional driver and has been running for two years, it is still difficult to gain a foothold in it.

Last year, he had fewer and fewer opportunities to play, and feeling the pressure of competition was too much, he decided to settle for a year in the slower European Touring Car Championship.

As the saying goes, trees die, people live, Zhou Yunhui thinks that if he changes the world, there may be better development.

So by chance, the three people who used to be underground racing cars on Hong Kong Island unexpectedly reunited in Monaco. The past is like smoke, when standing together again, everyone's heart is actually extremely emotional.

"Zhang Yifei and Zhou Yunhui, I didn't expect us to reunite in this way."

Xie Tiancheng said with a smile, he is the one who has the least pursuit of his career among the three people.

If it weren't for Zhang Yifei's encouragement, he might have continued to play in the underground racing car, and he didn't want to become a professional driver at all.

So this time I met, Xie Tiancheng was more of the joy of reuniting old friends.

"yes, who would have thought that we would be reunited in this way, Xie Tiancheng and I became rivals, and at the same time became a mat racer of Yifei."

Compared with Xie Tiancheng, there is a little more embarrassment in the tone of "Wan Chai Car God", it can be said that Zhou Yunhui's career yearning is the most obsessive among the three.

After all, whether it is Zhang Yifei or Xie Tiancheng, they have not experienced too many twists and turns in their professional journey, but Zhou Yunhui was almost removed from the professional competition, and it was not easy to wash away the "grievances" and return to the professional track.

When he went to DTM in Germany, he was so high-spirited, he met Zhang Yifei at the New North Circuit, and Zhou Yunhui was in a sense higher than Zhang Yifei.

At that time, Zhang Yifei was only a junior Renault driver, and Zhou Yunhui had already entered the top paddock of the touring car race.

Two years have passed, and Zhou Yunhui has not been as smooth sailing as he imagined, and his lack of strength and age disadvantage make it difficult for him to gain a foothold in the German Touring Car Masters.

When I saw Zhang Yifei again, he had already become the other party's mat racer. This feeling is like a big star performing in the spotlight, but he is like a backup dancer in the back, far from being on the same level.

Therefore, while Zhou Yunhui was happy, he still couldn't hide the deep loss in his tone.

Listening to Zhou Yunhui's words, even if Zhang Yifei is not a person with delicate feelings, he can also understand the loneliness in his heart. Indeed, in the past two years, he and Xie Tiancheng have been going up, while he is going downhill.

I think that at the beginning of the New North Circuit, Zhou Yunhui still had the style of "Wan Chai Car God", and he had a "gentleman racing" with himself. may have failed in his career, which also hit his morale, and even caused him to feel inferior.

In fact, it's not to blame Zhou Yunhui's strength, the DTM of this era can be said to be the strongest RV event. He goes straight to the top level, and if he can't win, he's going back against the current, and if he doesn't advance, he's going back.

In comparison, although Xie Tiancheng has not reached the height of Zhou Yunhui, at least he is still going up step by step. However, according to Xie Tiancheng's fighting spirit and strength, he may not be able to reach the height of Zhou Yunhui in his life.

Of course, everyone has their own ambitions, and at least thanks to Tiancheng, he is already very satisfied with his achievements in his career.

Zhang Yifei stretched out his arm at this time, patted Zhou Yunhui's shoulder and said, "What about the ruthless fan on Hong Kong Island back then?" What about the master's demeanor at the New North Circuit the year before last? You kid has this kind of resentful mentality, don't let me look down on it. ”

There is no pretentious comfort, Zhang Yifei can even be said to have unceremoniously broken Zhou Yunhui's mentality.

Because he knows very well that this man is not a fragile glass heart, he was expelled from the professional team back then, and he was stigmatized as "running fake races", he has never collapsed and degenerated, and now this situation, what is it to him?

Sure enough, after hearing Zhang Yifei's words, Zhou Yunhui punched Zhang Yifei with a backhand and pretended to hammer on Zhang Yifei's shoulder and replied: "Hold your mother, who is the resentful woman!" ”

"Hit the street, and say that you don't complain about the woman?"

Zhang Yifei also choked unceremoniously, in front of these "old friends", it can be said that he is the most relaxed moment, even if he has now entered the rhythm of the Monaco race.

"One thing to say, Zhou Yunhui, your kid really doesn't have the ruthless style he used to be."

Xie Tiancheng next to him also joined in this scolding battle and ridiculed Zhou Yunhui.

"It's as if you have it, what about the image of Ryosuke Takahashi in the hearts of thousands of fans on Hong Kong Island?"

Not to be outdone, Zhou Yunhui retorted.

"I'm holding it, who is like Ryosuke Takahashi who hit the street, I'm obviously Wu Yanzu on Hong Kong Island."

Hearing Xie Tiancheng's words, Zhang Yifei was dissatisfied at this time.

"If you say this, you will fascinate thousands of girls, then I will not accept Guangshen Jincheng Wu!"

"Fuck off, you can count it as a Guangshen eight taels of gold."

"Damn, it's too much!"

……

After a burst of laughter and play, those troubles about career were also thrown out of the minds of several people, just like those simple times when they were racing underground on Hong Kong Island.

As night falls, the Port of Monaco is lit up with a different kind of beautiful scenery. At this time, Xie Tiancheng suddenly remembered something, so he said, "Do you have any ideas?" ”

"What thoughts?"

Zhang Yifei asked casually.

"The three of us have a run."

"What?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yifei and Zhou Yunhui both replied in unison.

The two of them already have a deep-rooted professional mindset in their minds, and basically don't think about street racing anymore.

In comparison, Xie Tiancheng, who started his career in Japan, is more like a "semi-professional" driver. Thanks to Japan's long-standing street racing culture, basically Japanese professional drivers will run street races to a greater or lesser extent.

Not to mention lovers like Xie Tiancheng, who are more interested in street events than professional events.

Whether it is the famous bay coastline in China or the less famous iceberg road, Xie Tiancheng doesn't know how many times he has run in Japan.

In particular, the iceberg road is the favorite of active mountain road riders like Xie Tiancheng. This mountain trail actually appeared in the famous "Initial D" manga, but it is far less well-known than Mt. Akina.

In reality, on the contrary, Usui Iceberg Road is the mountain road that Tsuchiya Keichi, the "god of drift", really runs on, and Akina Mountain is famous by manga, and in reality it is not called Akina Mountain, but Haruna Mountain in Gunma Prefecture.

So thank Tiancheng, looking at the night of Monaco, the first thought in my mind is to run a race.

"Maybe we won't have the opportunity to compete together in this life, and I've always had a regret that I didn't run with the two of you at the same time."

"Back then, on the Quanjin Highway, I lost to the two of you, and now it's my turn to take revenge!"

When Xie Tiancheng said this, he had a playful smile on his face, in fact, he didn't care about winning or losing for a long time, what he really wanted to do was to run a race, but the three of them didn't have the opportunity to compete in the same field back then.

"But we're professional drivers, so it's not good."

Zhou Yunhui is a driver who has really been punished by the FIA, even if it is not because of underground racing, but this punishment has left a deep imprint in his heart.

So his first reaction was that he was a professional driver, and he was no longer the street kid he used to be.

"Do we have the words pro rider written on our faces? Monaco is the place where the hell is the middle of the night, who knows us? ”

"Know me, I'm a celebrity now!"

Zhang Yifei added at a very appropriate time.

Hearing this, Xie Tiancheng acted as if he hadn't heard it, and directly chose to ignore him.

"What about racing? We can't drive a professional race car, can we? ”

Zhou Yunhui continued to ask.

"Just rent three grocery carts, do you really want us to win or lose?"

Xie Tiancheng replied a little helplessly, Zhou Yunhui was still as serious as ever.

He just wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to run another game for the three of them, and there was no victory or defeat at all.

After all, in this life, there may only be this time.

"Okay, let's run."

Zhang Yifei agreed with a smile at this time.

The three who stirred up the underground racing storm on Hong Kong Island back then seemed to have run between two and two, but they didn't run together.

In fact, Zhang Yifei understands Xie Tiancheng's meaning better in his heart, this is not an underground race, but a memory of the past.

Just like what Xie Tiancheng said before, maybe in this life, there will never be a chance to compete on the same stage again.

It could even be more decisive and remove the two words that may be.