Chapter 244: Tears Shed on Imola (I)

While the withdrawal was hyped up and everyone was watching their reactions, the Williams team was silent, the always fiery Sir Frank was silent, and the team's two main drivers were also silent. As if it were none of their business, all the Williams team members chose to face the noise with silence at this moment, and expressed their protest against BMW with silence.

No one knows what the environment is like inside the Williams team, or what kind of struggle the old team, which seems to be on the verge of falling apart, is currently struggling. No one can see what the future holds for the team after the departure of BMW and many of its major sponsors.

However, they were silent in this way, neither complaining like an abandoned woman, nor wagging their tails and pleading like a lost dog, nor begging for mercy from place to place. Like the most tranquil sky at the center of the storm, the convoy still maintained its former calm and faint mystery......

......

Now, Williams Sr. still sits in her office, looking down at the busy workshop outside the floor-to-ceiling glass window. And after suffering from many unfavorable factors during this period, in the days leading up to the San Marino Grand Prix, Sir Frank can finally breathe a sigh of relief. In addition to the wind tunnel that has been repaired overtime, the new FW-27 has also been tested in the wind tunnel for a short time. Although it was not enough time to find the best condition of the car, the team decided to prepare for the San Marino Grand Prix with this new car with a difficult fate. In fact, this is exactly what Ye Fengdi requested. The Chinese kid said that anyway, now that the team has lost to the bottom, what are the barefoot afraid of wearing shoes? Use actual combat to test new cars early. One day earlier, you can get the car in the best condition. So after four months of development, the FW-27 is finally coming: + in front of everyone......

In addition, the old man's mind was naturally reassured by the engine sponsorship negotiations and the selection of the team's main sponsor, which are closely related to the team. Because Ye Feng's previous package of future construction plans for the team has impressed Cosworth and Ford, which has withdrawn from the F1 car scene, Williams has actually occupied a certain dominant position in the negotiations with the two companies.

Serena Williams had read the team development plan written by Ye Feng afterwards, and even he had to be surprised that such a complete plan would come from a 20-year-old young man. In fact, this plan is of course the handiwork of Senna, and after combining his experience gained in 10 years of experience in F1 and what Ye Feng has seen and heard after returning to F1, he has put forward his own detailed solutions to some of the main obstacles and bottlenecks on the road to the development of the Williams team. This plan is very detailed. It covers the construction of the young driver echelon, the coordination between the technical departments and some improvement suggestions on the R&D process, as well as the external commercial operation and marketing of the team. It can be said that this plan is the work of Senna's life's work, and if it does not impress Cosworth and Ford, it will be too much to say.

And now, in front of the old Williams and the team is actually no longer the problem of next season's engine, but the question of which engine manufacturer to choose as a long-term partner, it is rumored that next season F1 will abandon the V10 engine and then use the V8 engine to limit the team's engine development cost and speed, then as one of the most successful manufacturers in the history of V8 engine research and development, Cosworth will undoubtedly make the Williams team in next season's competitiveness has been greatly improved. But Ford also has advantages that Cosworth doesn't. As the world's third largest car manufacturer, once Williams Racing and Ford cooperate, then they will get a stronger backer than BMW! Obviously, not many people can resist such a temptation! But once this happened, the elder Williams had to get into the problem of power distribution and competition with Ford's top management similarly before. But all in all. Serena Williams and the team are now in pain and happy......

On the issue of the main sponsor, Ye Feng also plays a vital role. In addition to being moved by Ye Feng's detailed plan. Lenovo and Sinopec value Ye Feng's identity as a Chinese even more. As a big player in F1 and want to be with Sinopec, then this is undoubtedly much more convincing than them finding a few sports stars of other nationalities in the world! So. Now, the negotiations between Williams Racing and the two companies have actually moved beyond whether or not to cooperate and directly into the question of the specific annual sponsorship amount.

That's actually why Williams Sr. and the team's hierarchy dared to be so straightforward in putting up large sums of money as collateral to fund the wind tunnel. After the BMW withdrawal incident, although the outside world was hyped, all the team insiders found that the environment they are in now is even better than when BMW was there! This is undoubtedly the most exhilarating and incredible thing! Therefore, the outside world said that they would be mourning soldiers in San Marino this time, which is undoubtedly a very ridiculous thing for all Williams......

......

As usual, Massa, dressed in casual clothes, had just walked out of the pits wearing big sunglasses. Push the motorcycle next to you. The Brazilian was ready to be led by the team staff to familiarise himself with the Imola circuit, which he was already familiar with.

Massa is all too familiar with the place of the name Imola in the hearts of Brazilians. At the time of the sudden accident in 94, Massa, who was only 11 years old, witnessed the death of his childhood idol Senna in front of the television. It was a very sad time for many Brazilians like him. It was then that Massa officially became a professional driver, and he hoped that he could become an immortal legend like Ayrton.

However, everything will always be forgotten with the passage of time. As the playing field becomes more and more heavy. As the gap between reality and ideals seemed so unattainable, Massa gradually forgot his childhood dreams. Right now

Let's talk. The San Marino Grand Prix, which has been under pressure from all over the team, is what he really cares about, and for Massa himself, the conflict between himself and the team in the previous stage and his own poor results have overwhelmed him. So rather than adapting to the track, the Brazilian is more concerned about how much the new FW-27 used in this Grand Prix will reverse the huge disadvantage between the current Williams car and his rivals......

The wheels were rolling, and with the scorching sun, Massa and his companions' motorcycles drove to the Tamblelo bend that had saddened all Brazilians, while Massa was still thinking about tomorrow's practice and even the day after. But. Just as the Brazilian lad inadvertently glanced at the corner that was now not much special in his mind, he saw a figure. That is Ye Feng, who he has not been able to see today......

Ye Feng, who was dressed in white, stood quietly in the center of Tambrellelo's bend, ignoring the dazzling sunlight above his head. Not far from Ye Feng, a bouquet of white flowers was also quietly placed. A gust of wind blew, and the white petals and the equally white clothes were silently floating in the wind, accompanied by the golden halo reflected by the sun on the flowers and people, and the whole was already unrecognizable compared with the past......

It's been 11 years! Finally back to this place that makes everyone sigh again. Ye Feng just stood quietly like this, letting his thoughts drift around with the breeze. Feeling the same agitation of the boss in his body at this time. At this time, the old and the young silently offered endless memories of the past years in the blazing sun of Imola.

How many grandiose, how many ups and downs, how much glory, how much honor......

When all dust returns to dust, when all the glitz and glamour of the past is gone. What is not old is the soul that is dedicated to motorsports and the heart that always pursues speed and victory. After leaving behind the shackles of the world in the most radical way, Senna and his resolute racing ideals completed another cycle of his life in 11 years. And when people have gradually forgotten about the king who once haunted the dreams of thousands of people, in fact, only he knows that he is now reintegrating into the big stage of F1 in a more vibrant way.

Senna now knew that Ye Feng was another Senna. It is another Senna who has gone through the baptism of life and death, loneliness and glitz more than the former car god! When the eternal pride of Rio de Janeiro thought that his greatest wish was to find someone to take him back to the track, Senna realized that what he was after was actually only a position closest to speed, death and victory! Everything that used to be has been sublimated into a spirit: the spirit of Senna!

As long as Ye Feng's athletic career continues, then Senna and his spirit will never grow old. In fact, when the car god realized this, he realized that he really no longer had any regrets. He's still the most beloved son of speed, the racing elf!

......

Unconsciously, Massa had silently walked to Ye Feng's side, standing there quietly looking at the white flowers. He naturally knew what it meant for Ye Feng to choose such a bouquet of flowers at such a bend. The memories of his childhood that he had forgotten suddenly resurfaced in front of him, and thinking of the hero who had inspired ordinary people throughout Brazil to forge ahead, the heart of the Brazilian boy was surging again.

Thinking of this, Massa began to feel a little ashamed of his pre-race trepidation, as a compatriot who had hoped to carry on Senna's dream of speed. Massa felt that he should no longer be afraid of anything. He turned his head to look at Ye Feng next to him, and Ye Feng was also looking at him at this time. The eyes of the two young guys converged at this time, and the meaning in their eyes was that they could understand each other.

So in front of Senna's bloodied Tamblelor bend, Williams's two main forces clenched their fists together, but the silent air seemed to be filled with shouts:

"Fight for Senna!"

......

That's it, no press conference, no prior statements. The Williams team has been so low-key with the FW-27 since the '05 season in full view of everyone's eyes. The new car was launched so quietly that everyone didn't realize it at the start of the practice session for this Grand Prix. If it weren't for the sharp-eyed mechanics of Renault and McLaren, anyone who quickly recognized the major differences in aerodynamic components between the FW-27 and FW-26 would have been kept in the dark by the Williams team.

So, at a time when most would have thought that the Williams team would suffer a heavy blow because of this huge change and never recover, the veteran team quietly fought back in this way. However, the CEOs and veterans who are familiar with the rules of operation of the F1 teams quickly got a taste of something different from the Williams team's unexpected move. They soon believed that the more Williams was so eager to launch their new car, the more it proved that BMW's withdrawal had put a lot of pressure on the team, and that Serena Williams seemed to have to prove to potential future investors that the team was still competitive and promising. But, at the same time, everyone knows or knows that every convoy on the verge of extinction has actually struggled like this. But the result is often to accelerate the demise of the convoy even more. Therefore, everyone is looking at the seemingly "last" struggle of the Williams team with a very complicated mentality at this time, and at the same time, not many people are optimistic about the outcome of this adventure, and even the extraordinary state of Ye Feng and Massa and their cars in the just-concluded practice race is regarded as a flash in the pan......