On the plane to London, Zhang Guan held in his hand information about the Honda team. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

The Honda team was founded as early as 1964 and is a team with a long history, but the current Honda team is not the original old Honda team, but the British and American team that was purchased. The Anglo-American team was owned by British American Tobacco, and later tobacco advertising restrictions gave Honda the opportunity to buy a part of the British American team, and in 2005 Honda bought all the shares of the British American team, and the British American team was renamed Honda team. At present, the two drivers of the team are Barton, who "does not win the championship and does not get married", and Barrichello, the old partner of Schumacher. However, with Honda announcing its retirement from Formula 1, Barton and Barrichello are also in danger of losing their jobs.

The headquarters of the Honda team is located in the United Kingdom, and Zhang Guan flew to the United Kingdom, of course, hoping to buy the Honda team, but Zhang Guan did not immediately rush to the headquarters of the Honda team, but went to meet one person first, that is, Ross Brown.

Ross Brown is the current CEO of Team Honda and he can be called a legend in the world of motorsport. Ross Brown once single-handedly excavated the car king Schumacher, when Ferrari dominated the car world, it was known as the "troika", namely the car king Schumacher, CEO Jean Todd (future F1 boss, Michelle Yeoh's boyfriend), technical director Ross Brown and racing designer Rory Byrne.

The reason why Zhang Guan went to Ross Brown was not only because he was the CEO of the Honda team, but also because without Ross Brown, Zhang Guan might not have a car that could win the championship.

The Honda team was affected by the economic crisis and decided to withdraw from F1, a money-burning campaign that was also a heavy burden for such a large multinational company. In the course of history, the Honda team was sold for half a year and did not sell, and in the end it was Ross Brown who took over for $80 million, and then renamed the Honda team Brown GP team.

At that time, the entire Brown GP team only had $5 million left in working capital, and basically couldn't even afford to do wind tunnel testing, they even took the car engine from Mercedes on credit, and the two drivers, Barton and Barrichello, even said that they could stay in the team without a salary.

But Ross Brown built the fastest car at the time, BGP001, and he led such a team that almost went bankrupt to win the 2009 Constructors' Championship and Drivers' Championship, creating a BPG miracle in the racing industry!

The reason why Zhang Guan is so sure that he can win the Formula 1 World Championship next season is precisely because he knows this, he knows that the Honda team will retire from F1, he knows that Ross Brown can come up with the fastest car!

……

In a villa on the outskirts, Ross Brown walked over with black tea and snacks. Black tea and dim sum are considered traditional foods for the British to entertain guests in the afternoon.

"China is the birthplace of tea culture, and you don't have milk or sugar in this cup of tea, I hope you can get used to it." Ross Brown said as she poured the milk into her teacup

"Thank you, Mr. Brown. You're so gracious. Zhang Guan opened his mouth to express his gratitude.

"I didn't expect you to come to me, I was so surprised." Ross Brown took a sip of tea and savored it.

"Mr. Brown, I took the liberty of visiting, but it was actually for the Honda team." Zhang Guan said straight to the point.

"Team Honda!" Ross Brown shook his head with a wry smile: "Team Honda doesn't exist anymore!" The impact of this financial crisis is too great, first Toyota No. 2 team withdrew from the game halfway, and now even Honda, the manufacturer team, can't play! Even I'm unemployed now! ”

Ross Brown said that Toyota Team 2 is Japan's Super Ajuri team, they use Toyota's engine, and many of the technologies in the car are also supported by the Toyota team, and the team owner Suzuki Ajuri has an inextricable relationship with Toyota, so it is often called Toyota Team 2.

In Formula 1, there are manufacturers and non-manufacturers, and the manufacturer teams are backed by the car manufacturing company's team, and their R&D technology and engine use are the company's products, such as the Ferrari team, they will definitely only use the car engine developed and produced by their own company. And last season, the manufacturer teams included Ferrari, Renault, McLaren, BMW Sauber, Toyota and Honda. These teams, just by their names, you can know the car manufacturers behind them. It is worth mentioning that Mercedes-Benz owns the shares of McLaren Racing, so McLaren is considered a Mercedes-Benz manufacturer team.

Other fleets are non-manufacturer fleets, which can also be called independent fleets, and their car development and design may be carried out by themselves, but the most critical car engines are provided by the manufacturer fleet. The car engine is the heart of a car, and all the research and development of independent teams is also aimed at maximizing the efficiency of the car engine. For example, Toro Rosso uses Renault engines, Toro Rosso uses Ferrari engines, Williams uses Toyota engines, and so on.

For the manufacturer's team, it is not going to withdraw from Formula 1 unless it is absolutely necessary. After all, Formula 1 is the world's most famous motorsport, but also the top competition in the racing industry, participating in Formula 1 itself is a reflection of strength, if a car manufacturer can enter Formula 1, or even get the award, at least it can show that they can build the world's top cars, which is immeasurable for the promotion of the entire brand.

Formula 1 is very expensive, but for the world's top car manufacturers, spending $100 million a year to play Formula 1 may be more cost-effective than hiring celebrities to do endorsements and advertisements. For example, Ferrari, an F1 "nail household", played Formula 1 for decades, and finally played itself into the world's top sports car brand.

Formula 1 is a thing that can be played with a year's investment of one or two hundred million dollars, and a year's investment of fifty or sixty million dollars. For a multinational car company with tens of billions of dollars in sales a year and billions of dollars in profits a year, the money from playing F1 is nothing at all. Therefore, a multinational company of Honda's level chose to give up F1, which also shows from the side that the company is about to reach the point of exhaustion, and they have to save tens of millions of dollars in publicity expenses.

In fact, affected by the economic crisis, Honda really can't play anymore, just past October was supposed to be the peak season for car sales, but Honda's profits fell by 90% compared with the same period last year, and Honda has even decided to reduce production by 20% to 30% next year in order to cope with weak sales, and layoffs may be carried out in the future, so withdrawing from Formula 1 is just the first step for Honda to save itself.

At this time, when Ross Brown was ridiculing himself for being "unemployed", Zhang Guan next to him couldn't help laughing. Zhang Guan knew that even if Schumacher was unemployed, the old man with glasses in front of him would not be unemployed, and Ross Brown's fame would be used as a grandfather for any automobile company in the world.

"The economic crisis has certainly affected a lot of businesses, but I think it's also an opportunity, like Honda's preparation to sell their F1 business." Zhang Guan said intentionally or unintentionally.

Rose-Brown is not a fool, although Zhang Guan is a world champion, whether it is track and field, tennis or basketball, it has nothing to do with racing, so when Zhang Guan arrived, Rose-Brown realized that Zhang Guan must have come for the Honda team.

At this point, Ross Brown sat up straight and asked, "Mr. Zhang Guan, with all due respect, is it you who intend to buy the Honda team?" Or are you here on behalf of someone else? ”

"It's me." Zhang Guan said without hesitation, he looked at Ross Brown, and then said: "Or I put it another way, I want to work with you, Mr. Brown, and we will win the Honda team together!" ”

"Cooperation? Together? Ross Brown's face finally showed a straight face, and he had vaguely guessed Zhang Guan's intentions.

"I hope we can co-finance and then buy the Honda team, and we will be the owners of the Honda team together." Zhang Guan said very seriously.

Ross Brown frowned, he was already almost sixty years old, of course he would not be moved by Zhang Guan's words, he thought about it seriously, and asked: "Mr. Zhang Guan, according to my understanding, the Honda team can be said to be a loss-making fire sale this time, although I am the manager of the Honda team, but in terms of selling the team, I actually have no right to speak." With all due respect, I can't help you save much. And even without me, with your financial resources, you can eat the Honda team alone, right? ”

"Yes." Zhang Guan nodded, and did not hide it, he continued: "I want to participate in Formula 1 next season, not as a team owner, but as a racing driver!" So I had to buy a fleet. ”

"What? Racer? Ross-Brown's eyes widened in surprise.

Ross Brown has dealings with many rich people, and he also knows many rich sons and brothers, and has seen the methods of rich people to show off their wealth. Ross Brown has seen a lot of private jets, private yachts, and private islands. But buying a team in order to be a race car driver, Ross Brown is the first time he has met.

Motorsport is a very dangerous sport, in the past Formula 1 races, every year there are drivers who die because of accidents, including many of them are at the level of car kings, such as the car king Senna, who died because of an accident on the track, even Schumacher, who was hit with multiple leg fractures. So rich people looking for excitement may go back to play some extreme sports, and some people may go drag racing, but no one will drive F1, a car with a speed of more than 300 kilometers per hour, not only burning money, but also playing with life!

"Mr. Zhang Guan, I know that you are the best athlete in the world, you have the ability to cross multiple sports, and you can stand on the top of the world, but I must remind you that motorsport is different from other sports, this event is dangerous! To be a Formula 1 world champion, you need not only good racing skills, but also a car that is fast enough. Ross Brown began.

"I know, that's why I'm coming to you, and I'm sure Mr. Brown will be able to provide me with one of the fastest race cars in the world!" Zhang Guan said with a smile.

"Thank you for the compliment." Ross Brown owes slightly, and he clearly doesn't deny that he has the ability to design the fastest race car in the world.

"Mr. Brown, I know you're going to question my driving skills, but what I can assure you is that I have what it takes to drive a Formula 1 car. Let me drive a Formula 1 car to the track for a few laps to prove it. Of course, I know that experience is also important for a driver, but I think any individual driver has come from the rookie era, and now McLaren's Lewis Hamilton finished on the podium in his first F1 race. ”

'Hamilton is a really good driver. Brown smiled, but there was a slight hint of disdain in it.

Who is Lewis Hamilton? That was last season's Formula 1 World Championship. As a child, he took the karting world by storm, was dubbed the 'Talented Driver' and entered McLaren's Young Driver Development Programme, and went on to win the Formula Renault Championship, the F3 Championship, the GP2 Championship and the Formula 1 World Championship, Hamilton is arguably the winner of almost any formula car he has ever encountered.

With such a genius-level driver, I am afraid that only one generation can produce one, and Ross Brown obviously feels that Zhang Guan is a little arrogant compared to Hamilton! His disdain was not for Hamilton, but for Zhang Guan.

Zhang Guan noticed Ross Brown's expression, and he was not surprised, let alone angry. Even if Zhang Guan is the greatest athlete in the world, in the field of racing, Zhang Guan's past record is "zero", and it is obviously impossible to make Ross Brown believe in himself with empty words. Assuming that Schumacher came to talk to Ross Brown, it is estimated that the specific shareholding ratio has already been talked about. So for the current situation, Zhang Guan has been prepared for a long time.

The current situation is that Zhang Guan needs Ross Brown, not Ross Brown needs Zhang Guan. Zhang Guan is not a car designer, and his system does not teach the skills of designing a race car, so Zhang Guan needs Ross Brown to build the fastest car in the world. Ross Brown is different, and with his ability, he will receive the warmest welcome in any team he goes.

Talent is always the most important thing in any field!

Zhang Guan knew that it would be difficult for someone like Ross Brown to become his employee on his own, so he planned to talk to Ross Brown in the form of cooperation at the beginning, but now it seems that even if it is a cooperation, Ross Brown does not take all this seriously!

Zhang Guan knew that if he wanted Ross Brown to pay attention, he had to come up with some "dry goods"!

I saw Zhang Guan open the briefcase he was carrying, took out a document from it, and handed it to Ross Brown.

"Mr. Brown, I've got something interesting here, I guess you'll be interested!" Zhang Guan paused, and then added: "This is related to racing!" ”

"...... related to racing" Ross Brown did not refuse, but there was a playful smile on his face, he felt that Zhang Guan, a layman, should not be able to come up with any "dry goods"! However, Zhang Guan's way made him a little curious.

However, when Ross Brown looked down at the document, the title of the cover alone made his face change dramatically!

ps: Send a big chapter of 4,000 words first, and there will be an update later! (To be continued.) )