[Racing] King of Speed

As a test driver, participating in some other levels of competition during the period of no work is not only conducive to maintaining your best condition, but also can increase your popularity, and if you are lucky, you can sometimes win the appreciation of sponsors.

Perhaps there is no other sport that can integrate the word "commercial" into any detail in the paddock like Formula One. Everything here is related to money, and the cost of food and clothing is all in the world. The top good thing, building a team requires money, upgrading the car requires money, hiring professional technicians requires money, and hiring good drivers requires money. Every bit of this is a waste of money piled up to be extravagant and expensive. The team that wins the championship may not be the richest one, but the team without money will definitely not be the one that wins the championship.

Therefore, the importance of the investment of team owners and the generosity of sponsors in F1 can be seen. Today's three strongest teams are all supported by huge profit chains, except for Quinby and Satika. Apart from certain historical and inheritance reasons, Oga is a new team that has only been established for five years, and the reason why they are so good is that the biggest basic condition is that they are not short of money.

Take Quimby, which has the longest history in the paddock, as an example. As a German team, its general sponsor is a leading company in the entire German auto industry, and the annual research and development expenses for them alone will not be less than [-] million USD, and his drivers have their own sponsors. There are so many brands that they can’t even put their logos on the racing suits. There is no worries about funds. With a professional and top-notch technical team, good results are naturally not a problem.

However, ordinary small teams are not so lucky. Some of them came to this business because of the interest of their bosses, and some of them came to promote their own car brands. But no matter what kind of car they are, they want to run a full race on a budget. This year's competition must not be so easy.If the team itself has no way to attract powerful sponsors to join, then it is time to rely on the driver to help. This is also the first consideration for many small teams when choosing a driver. It is good to have both skills and money. driver.

Many well-known big companies will choose their own drivers to sponsor. On the one hand, they can advertise, and on the other hand, they can help promote athletes from their own country. This is a process of mutual benefit. Of course, the premise is that the driver has enough training prospects. .This has resulted in a cruel current situation in Formula One in recent years. Many rich second generations have flooded into the paddock, and they quickly replaced those drivers who were of ordinary background and whose technical level was not very high.

They either belong to a company of a large consortium at home, or they have contacts who can connect to a company of a large consortium to invest. Some of them don't even need a fleet to pay their annual salary. They are willing to pay for it themselves, just to sit in the cabin and drive this The top racing car in the world, of course, if you have no skills, you will still be mercilessly replaced, because there are really too many rich and skilled people.

And these drivers also have a specific title called "self-funded drivers".There are a lot of self-funded riders, and now there are five or six in the paddock. There are still some who are paid, but the sponsorship fees they bring are sky-high, but this does not include Nair.

Nair was born in Italy. His parents passed away when he was very young. He was raised by his grandfather, but his grandfather also left him two years ago. Nair's family is not bitter, enough for him to He lived to adulthood, but compared to those children in the paddock who are often princes and nobles, his current conditions are indeed not superior, but this does not mean that Nair has no background, his father - Aitavi. De Rosa was a famous veteran world champion in the last century, and he got into the racing business early because of his father's influence.

Nair learned to drive karting at the age of four, participated in the Italian "Car King Cup" karting competition at the age of nine, and won the youngest champion in the history of the junior group in one fell swoop. From the age of 13 to 3, he won the European Cup for three consecutive years. , and broke many records for the fastest lap and track, and then he was favored by Sislera's manager and entered the "Sislera Youth Training Camp". He won the F[-] runner-up last year. Although he lost to a stronger opponent in the end, Nair felt that this runner-up was the most important victory in his life so far.

It can be seen from this that it is not easy for Nair to become Sislera's test driver. It is also because of the old Deloza that Knox will always be by his side to help Nair and train him to become a talent. .It's just that these are far from enough. As Knox said, they are not considered successful until they become a real official F1 driver. Any opportunity must be grasped and cannot be given up.

The position of the second driver of the team is fluctuating. Although Nair has the opportunity to replace him, others also have the opportunity to replace Nair. One or two newcomers with skills and background will emerge at some point. ", come to become the new No. [-] driver, or squeeze out Nair to become the new test driver. This is the reality here. Unless you win the world championship and prove your ability in front of everyone, then the team will not pick you. It's you who pick the team.

However, how many people fought for it, and even the drivers who gave their lives on the track, after a long distance, still can't touch the high throne.

There is always only one king of the track.

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Tonight, Neil is going to such a dinner. The other party is the boss of a top Italian food industry. Some time ago, he accidentally saw the "Sislera Cup" formula championship that Neir won. His father is Aitavi, so the company that was planning to open up the market set its target on this young man.

Although it is not a big company with a very generous investment, and it is impossible to invest in the whole year's competition, as long as he is willing to push Nair's back, it will be a dream for them now. It would be nice to talk to someone, but the other party said that he wanted to meet the driver himself, so Nair had to make this trip.Knox also reminded repeatedly along the way that if Nair can successfully gain the trust and favor of the boss, even if he is allowed to sponsor a race, they will be one step closer to the official driver position next year, and the conversation with the team boss afterward will be very important. It will appear more confident.

So Knox asked Neil not to be too nervous, and to ask questions that cannot be answered or answered by himself. Don't show a timid attitude, remember to smile, and don't let others see that he is at a loss Come.

Of course Nair knew the importance of this meal. Even if he didn't want to deal with strangers anymore, he could only nod obediently at this moment, but his fists were involuntarily clenched in his sleeves.

The location was booked near Piazza di Spagna in Rome. Although the restaurant on the second floor is not big, the environment is very good and very quiet. When Neil and the others arrived, the boss was already sitting inside and waiting. He didn't choose a box, but went directly to the Just sit in the hall. There are not many people in the hall, only one-third of the seats are full. In addition, the distance between the seats is very large, which does not affect the conversation. According to his words, it is just a casual meal, and there is no need to be too strict.

Italians are so casual and natural, and Nair and Knox sat down without paying attention.The boss looked to be in his fifties, with gray hair, a beer belly, and a gentle smile similar to Knox's, which made Nell's secretly tense nerves relax a little.

Knox kicked him quietly under the table, and Nell realized the boss was talking to him, and he said, "Hi, your name is Deloza, I have seen you race, I am a racing fan , you are very promising."

Nair was silent for a long time, and then gave a soft "um", and felt that he was too cold after a while, so he reluctantly added a "thank you".

Seeing that Neil's face was flushed, the boss couldn't help but look at Knox. Knox quickly explained, "Nell is a very shy kid."

The boss nodded, "Shy, shy racer, it's really interesting, but you are very aggressive on the field, and you can't see such a character at all. But if you endorse our dessert, you will be shooting an advertisement, you So shy, what do you do when you are on camera?"

Nair was taken aback, thinking that the boss disliked him, and said anxiously, "I, I, I, I..." He originally wanted to explain that he must be able to do it, but when he became anxious, he couldn't speak anymore, so he could only repeat it to me. Whispering words, like a stutter.

The boss laughed and comforted, "It's okay, it's okay, I'm just joking, take it easy, okay?"

Seeing this, Knox was busy trying to smooth things over, and the atmosphere calmed down for a while. He did his homework and knew that this restaurant was owned by this food brand, so he praised the environment here, and the boss was really happy. Beckon to the waiter to bring up a lot of meals.

He said, "Try it and see how it tastes."

So Neil blushed and carefully picked up a slice of cake and took a bite.