April 8th was the first practice time for the Malaysian Grand Prix, and after more than a week of training in the racing simulator and "talking on paper" with Yakyo Yamamoto, it was time to really run on the track and test your strength.

Zhang Yifei still followed his previous habits and came to the maintenance station early to prepare. But as soon as he arrived at the pit gate, the boss Prost stopped him and said, "Fly, get ready, attend the pre-race press conference." ”

"Pre-match press conference?"

Zhang Yifei was stunned for a moment, why did he suddenly have to attend the pre-game press conference by himself.

According to the convention of the F1 race, there is actually a pre-race press conference, but unlike the imaginary kind of drivers who all go up to speak, the F1 league will only select about four or five drivers to be interviewed and asked questions by reporters.

Theoretically, these four or five drivers are the stars of the season. For example, in the previous Australian race, the driver press conference was attended by Ferrari's Schumacher and Barrichello, McLaren's Coulthard, Jordan's Frenzen, and the new star on the track, Williams' Montoya.

According to the current historical results and popularity rankings of F1 drivers, even if Zhang Yifei has many reports and halos, he may not have as much influence as the French veteran Alessi, who has participated in the competition for more than ten years, in the hearts of most people.

Even if it is to arrange for newcomers to be interviewed, the priority of the F1 alliance is Montoya in the first place, followed by Kimi Raikkonen, and in the third is Zhang Yifei's turn.

But it's already good to be ranked third, think about the two world champions in the future, Alonso and Barton, in the current F1 paddock, or a cat and a dog.

"That's right, it's the pre-game press conference, let's go to the media center."

Prost patted Zhang Yifei on the shoulder, signaling him to act.

Although his heart was full of doubts, he had already chosen himself, and Zhang Yifei did not dare to face the camera.

F1 drivers are just that, they can put their baseball caps on their heads and don't have to think about clothing, makeup, or anything else, and they can directly face the camera for an interview.

The media center of the track, which was already crowded with reporters reporting before the race, found that Ferrari's Schumacher, McLaren's Coulthard, and Anglo-American team's Villeneuve had all arrived.

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

If Zhang Yifei's qualifications to be a pre-race interview driver are a little worse, then Yang Long is not even qualified to be an interview driver. At present, Minaldi's color pen driver Marquis has not been cut, he is the official driver, and theoretically the third driver and test driver are not qualified for pre-race interviews.

But considering that this is the Malaysian Grand Prix, and that Yoong is Malaysia's first F1 driver, it makes relatively sense to have Yoong give a pre-race interview, whether it is to take care of the emotions of the audience in the host country or to promote the F1 race outside of Europe.

This is similar to the Chinese Grand Prix, when the Tokai race started, the Caterham team also specially asked Chinese driver Kama Qinghua to give a pre-race interview and let him participate in the official first practice session.

Seeing Zhang Yifei coming in, Xiong Long's face was not very good-looking, and the "Chinese showdown" on the winter test track still attracted a lot of attention.

This is not to pay attention to the team and think that the "Chinese duel" is an earth-shattering PK, but in the F1 paddock, it is not easy to see two Chinese drivers, and it is a once-in-a-few decades to see the duel between two Chinese drivers.

As a result, in this duel, Yang Long lost very badly, coupled with the high attention and some remarks in the team, Zhang Yifei simply became a shadow in his heart.

Later, because of the difference between the official driver and the third driver, Zhang Yifei never had the opportunity to fight with Yang Long again, and it was difficult for the two sides to even meet. Today's backstage meeting is the first time the two have met after the winter test.

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

Maybe this change has something to do with the venue, but it is more because Zhang Yifei's results on the Albert Park circuit have won the respect of other drivers, and they are willing to communicate with this Chinese newcomer.

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

In fact, Zhang Yifei didn't think much of his hostility towards Xiong Long in his heart, on the one hand, because of the identity of the other party's Chinese. In terms of intimacy, it is always better than the white European drivers.

And in the face of discrimination from some European fans with a strong sense of superiority, they don't care whether you are Chinese or Malaysian-Chinese, all of them are Chinese.

There was once a great man who famously said: unite all who can be united! Even if the two sides can't be united, there is no need to fight.

It's just a pity that Xiong Long doesn't think so. In fact, losing the winter test is only a very small thing, but he is in the Minardi team, and he is often smeared by Madu, so naturally he can't let go of the knot with Zhang Yifei, so there is this kind of undealing scene.

F1 is a place of efficiency, and as soon as the drivers arrived, they were brought to the front desk by the staff.

At this moment, five chairs have been placed on the press table, and there are dense reporters below. As a grand event for sports in Southeast Asia, not only local journalists from Malaysia, but also Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and other countries have sent reporters to cover the event.

Even China's Xinhua News Agency sent specially invited reporters from Southeast Asia to deliver the latest news about Zhang Yifei to China as soon as possible.

When the five drivers came out of the backstage, the flashing lights below were almost daylight, and many even burst into applause.

"Xiong Long!"

Alex (Alex Yoong)"

"The Pride of Malaysia!"

"Come on, Yang Long, become an official driver as soon as possible!"

"I hope to see you behind the wheel of the car in practice!"

All kinds of cheers rang out, even beyond the attention to Schumacher, worthy of homegrown combat, and with the title of Malaysia's first F1 driver, Yoong's attention in Southeast Asia at the moment is really very high.

In the face of these voices of support, Xiong Long also kept waving his hand and bowing, which could be seen from the expression on his face, and the excitement in his heart at this moment.

After all, as a third driver, you can only watch the official drivers fight on the track at every race, watching them enjoy applause and cheers, and you are 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 in turn, followed by press interviews, and unlike some regular press conferences, the pre-race press conference of F1 drivers was like an interview, and the drivers could easily respond and chat, without so many rules and regulations.

A slightly dark-skinned reporter in the audience asked the first question, he stood up and asked Xiong Long: "Alex, I'm a reporter from Malaysia 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, and I am very grateful for their help."

Xiong Long replied very officially.

"What are your plans and ideas for the future, such as becoming a full-fledged driver?"

When this question came out, the Malaysian reporters on the scene all pointed their cameras at Yoong Long, after all, there is an unbridgeable gap between F1 drivers and F1 official drivers.

is like Ma Qinghua, China's first F1 driver in later generations, although the title says so, but in fact he can only be regarded as a test driver. A driver who hasn't raced a Grand Prix is never a true F1 driver!

"I'm trying to improve myself and hopefully become a full-time driver as soon as possible."

Xiong Long and Xi Ni replied, after all, if you want to "get on top", you have to pull down an official driver, not every Chinese is like Zhang Yifei, many times outspoken about his ambitions.

Obviously, such an answer is not good for the news hotspot, so another reporter turned the subject to Schumacher.

"Hello Shumi, I'm a reporter from Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, congratulations on becoming the champion of the Australian chapter, what is your goal for the Malaysian Grand Prix?"

"Champions, of course."

Schumacher replied easily, even with a playful smile on his face, this reporter still does not have enough knowledge to ask himself this kind of question?

And Schumacher's "arrogant" answer, no one thinks it is inappropriate, and even everyone takes it for granted.

After all, the current Schumacher is too strong on the track, and he has overwhelmed the opponent, which is the difference brought by strength!

"Mr. Coulthard, you won the runner-up in the last leg by a very narrow margin, do you plan to challenge Shumi again this time?"

"Challenge? I'm sorry, challenge is a word used for the weak, and I'm the strong on the track, so I want you to change the word. ”

Coulthard replied domineeringly, his style on the track is also relatively tough, and even two years ago, he braked and almost let the rear-end Schumacher go to the sky, which directly triggered the famous pit clash incident.

In the new season, Coulthard's form began to pick up, which gave him a very strong confidence and confidence, the weak to the strong called a challenge, and the same strong should use competition!

Schumacher was not so angry or surprised when he heard Coulthard's answer, which is the confidence and confidence that a top F1 driver should have.

Back then, he faced Senna, who was in full swing, as tough as Cothard today!

The reporter who asked the question did not have the slightest sense of being frightened, he changed his words, looked directly at Zhang Yifei and asked: "Mr. Zhang Yifei, your results in the last stop were very good, and you can be regarded as the most eye-catching newcomer in the new season." ”

"But is it true that there are reports that you are very arrogant, and even despised Malaysian driver Wang Long, who is also a newcomer, on the winter test track?"

When this question was said, all the cameras and microphones were aimed at Zhang Yifei, which is the hot event that the Malay media present today is most concerned about!