"From the contempt of the new F1 champion, the Indy champion is not worth fighting? 》

"The duel between Formula 1 and Indian local programs, who is the king on the track!" 》

"The provocation of the Chinese newcomer, the Indy champion should prove himself!" 》

"Zhang Yifei, a racist, is not worthy of the United States Grand Prix. 》

"The Chinese kid who has committed the anger of the public, the American driver will teach him a lesson. 》

Exaggerated newspaper headlines are stirring up the anger of American car fans, and a steady stream of Americans are beginning to flock to Indiana.

Because the Indianapolis Circuit is an oval layout, the grandstand is built in the middle at its most exaggerated, which can accommodate a staggering 400,000 spectators.

However, this is only a theoretical number, in fact, for the sake of the viewing effect and experience, as well as the safety of the event, the organizers will not let so many spectators enter, otherwise it will be crowded.

Therefore, the number of spectators in a single day in the history of Indianapolis Circuit is only 300,000. And this is still the number of people that can only be reached in the finals of IndyCar, which is about 200,000 under normal circumstances, or even lower.

The influence of F1 in the United States is actually not as good as that of IndyCar. The subjective reason for this is that many American fans feel that F1 is too civilized, too restrained, and even too sissy, and does not have the wild speed and passion of IndyCar.

The objective reason is that the United States deliberately suppressed the popularity of F1 events by canceling and banning the competition in order to have the right to speak in the field of racing. So in most cases, the number of F1 spectators at the Indianapolis circuit is not much different from other tracks, that is, about 100,000 people.

But this time, because of Zhang Yifei's remarks in Time Magazine and the suspicion of racial discrimination in beating a group of black people on the street, the American media hyped it up as a negative example, which indirectly led to a sharp increase in the number of fans who paid attention to the US Grand Prix.

The 100,000 tickets that were pre-sold were sold out, and even the 200,000 spectators that opened later were a bit insufficient. More and more Americans want to see who is this arrogant Chinese driver, who is sacred, who dares to provoke the Indian program so much, do you really think that there is no American driver?

"Fei, it's a bit of a big deal now."

Henry put down the newspaper in his hand, and the emotions in his heart were a little complicated.

Before he said that Zhang Yifei was going to become popular all over the world, it was more of a ridiculous attitude, and the appropriate hype was not harmful, which would greatly help the driver and the team's fame.

But this time it felt like a bit overdone, as tickets had already broken the sales record for the US Grand Prix, and 200,000 American fans would be in attendance.

This is still the result of restricting ticket sales, otherwise the number of people will only increase!

And now the American media are about to make Zhang Yifei the image of a "public enemy of the United States", the arrogant world's first citizen, completely unable to accept the contempt of a Chinese driver, thinking that this is the biggest insult to the United States!

"Really? It seems that they do get angry easily. ”

Zhang Yifei still replied very calmly, his current psychological quality has been "inviolable from five poisons", and the attitude of foreigners and safety will not affect his emotions.

He has been the "public enemy of the driver", he has also been the Malaysian "provocateur", and the "Brazilian villain" has received death threats.

In fact, since Zhang Yifei chose to take the most difficult driver's road in formula racing, he has been mentally prepared, that is, to be the enemy of the world!

Seeing Zhang Yifei's attitude, Henry didn't know what to say, as the team leader, of course, he hoped that his drivers had good psychological quality and a stable mentality. But Zhang Yifei is too inappropriate, in Chinese proverbism, it's a bit of an emperor who is not in a hurry and a eunuch is in a hurry.

"You don't care about the outside world's public opinion, but you still have to pay attention to things on the track."

"Needless to say, Schumacher wants to win the title, McLaren was very unconvinced by the last loss, and Kimi will definitely do his best to win the US Grand Prix. In addition, Villeneuve and Montoya are really not to be underestimated, they are definitely not rookies at the Indianapolis Speedway. ”

"And Yoong, you have a grudge against him and Montoya, and now that the drivers' rankings are basically fixed, they don't have a chance to challenge for the final title. To prevent them from making some extreme offensive moves on the track, the Indianapolis circuit is harder and more dangerous than you might think. ”

Henry looked at Zhang Yifei as if he didn't care much, and emphasized again that this is not only a matter of ranking, but also a question of track safety.

In the last Austrian Grand Prix, Prost Racing Team was in the limelight for a while, beating the Big Three teams and standing on the top podium as the penultimate team last season.

This kind of counterattack in the field of F1 may be rare once or twice in the history of decades. Now the team is united, waiting for Zhang Yifei and Alesi to go one step further next season and become the fourth big man in the F1 paddock!

The season has come to an end, the result is almost a foregone conclusion, and there is no need for the Prost team to be obsessed with results. That's why the team management cares more about the drivers and leaves their hopes for next season.

In addition, Henry still has something to say, that is, now Zhang Yifei is not only facing the competition of F1 drivers, but even many Indy drivers have publicly spoken out to challenge and teach Zhang Yifei a lesson, so that he can understand what is the real strong!

However, this kind of is in the mouth cannon stage, two different types of cars, it is difficult to find a fair rule to face off. Now Zhang Yifei is already under a lot of pressure from the American audience, and Henry doesn't want these unimportant things to affect Zhang Yifei's mentality.

"I know the dangers of Indianapolis and I know that points don't mean much to me and the team right now."

"I'll be safe, but I'll never compromise!"

Zhang Yifei replied very firmly, the reason why Americans are so angry is that they feel that their remarks have offended them.

Did Zhang Yifei offend the United States by what he said? Actually, no, this kind of interview may be more excessive and arrogant for American athletes, what is wrong with a driver thinking that he is strong and wants to win?

This is very similar to the demand for an apology from the NBA's brain-dead manager in later generations, which was originally a very reasonable and normal request, but the Americans felt offended by them, and all of them attacked and protested unscrupulously.

This is the arrogance in the bones of Americans, they don't really care what you say, or even whether it's right or wrong. As long as you don't admit it, don't conform to their wishes, are not humble or even kneeling, they will definitely attack and oppress you.

Zhang Yifei has 20 years of historical development experience, and he already knows Lao Mei very well.

So if he wants to compromise and bow his head, he can't do it, Zhang Yifei won't get used to these Yankees, the points and defeating the opponent are actually secondary, what Zhang Yifei has to do is to reach the top of the American Grand Prix as much as possible, and then use the identity of the Chinese champion to fight back!

Isn't it arrogant and proud? The home of the Indo-local program, the F1 Grand Prix of the United States, was ruled by a Chinese driver, were you angry at that time?

For Zhang Yifei's tough attitude, Henry also knows that it is the character of this kid, if he does not have this strong character who dares to fight hard, he will not be able to become the strongest newcomer on the current track.

Just as many people regretted Senna at the beginning, thinking that he was too aggressive and competitive, so he died young.

But if he hadn't given up everything for the sake of racing, would Senna still be the god of cars that the world admires?

The answer is probably no, he will be an ordinary husband in São Paulo, Brazil, and not the future car god who will go to England!

In the afternoon, Zhang Yifei went to the Indianapolis Speedway, which was the second time that Zhang Yifei went to the competition venue after visiting once that night.

Because of the shortage of racing parts before, the Prost car used in the competition has not been assembled, and it doesn't make much sense for Zhang Yifei to go to the track every day, so it is better to drive a few more simulators during this time.

After all, the concrete wall of the Indianapolis Speedway, if it were to be bumped into, was really no joke.

When Zhang Yifei arrived at Indianapolis Speedway this time, it felt completely different from that night. Many parts of the road are not regular asphalt, but blocks of floor tiles similar to those of Chinese sidewalks.

The tiles are monumental because the Indianapolis Raceway was originally made up of more than 3 million bricks. Even on the starting line of the track, a three-foot-long brick line was left to commemorate the history of the track.

At the same time, the way in which the local program championship is celebrated is also very different from F1.

The F1 winner's podium is sprinkled with champagne to celebrate the victory, while the IndyCar champion returns to the starting point and kisses the red bricks on the starting line as a sign of his legacy in IndyCar. At the same time, instead of champagne, the podium was sprayed with buttermilk and milk.

These actions have become the iconic actions of Indysport, and they are also a business card that distinguishes Formula 1.

However, Zhang Yifei quickly looked into the distance, and under the slightly vast American wilderness, there was a long circle of cement walls, like a fortress, surrounding the Indianapolis Raceway.

Spectators can even climb directly onto these concrete walls and feel the speed of hundreds of kilometers per hour roaring by the closest distance.

And compared with the maximum speed of 350km/h in F1 cars, IndyCar on the oval track, because of the difference in aerodynamic layout and lighter body, their maximum speed can exceed 400km/h, which is really like flying.

If you hit a concrete wall at this speed, you can imagine the consequences, and since 1979, 70 IndyCar drivers have been buried here in 20 years.

You must know that most of the fatalities in F1 cars were in the early fifties and sixties, and after entering the eighties and nineties, various safety regulations came up, and basically few drivers died.

After Senna's death in 94, to the point in time where Zhang Yifei was, there was not a single fatal accident.

Comparing with IndyCar's ultra-high mortality rate of 70 drivers in the past two decades, it is not difficult to understand why IndyCar has a wilder style, because they are all used to this way of playing with their lives, and they are naturally fearless.