Almighty Athlete Chapter 219: Dry goods!
On the plane flying to London, Zhang Guan holds information about the Honda team.
The Honda team was established as early as 1964. It is a team with a long history, but the current Honda team is not the original old Honda team, but the purchased Anglo-American team. The British American team is owned by British American Tobacco. Later, the restrictions on tobacco advertising gave Honda the opportunity to buy a part of the British American team. In 2005, Honda team bought all the shares of British American team. British American team was also renamed Honda team. At present, the two drivers of the team are Xuancheng's "don't take the championship and not get married" Barton and car king Schumacher's old partner Barrichello. But with Honda's announcement to withdraw from the Formula One sport, Button and Barrichello are also facing the risk of unemployment.
The Honda team is headquartered 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 Honda team’s headquarters, but went to see someone first, that is Ross Brown.
Ross Brown is currently the CEO of the Honda team, he can be called a legend in the racing world. Ross Brown once excavated the car king Schumacher. When Ferrari dominated the car world, it was known as the "troika". They were the car king Schumacher, the CEO Jean-Tod (the future F1 boss, Yang Ziqiong's boyfriend), and the technical director. Four people, Ross Brown and racing designer Rory Byrne.
The reason why Zhang Guan went to Ross Brown is not only because he is the CEO of Honda team, but also because if there is no Ross Brown, Zhang Guan may be difficult to own a car that can win the championship.
The Honda team was affected by the economic crisis and decided to withdraw from F1. This money-burning campaign is also a heavy burden for such a large multinational company. In the course of history, the Honda team sold it for half a year and did not sell it. In the end, it was Ross Brown who took the order with 80 million dollars, and then renamed the Honda team to the Brown GP team.
At that time, the entire Brown GP team had only 5 million dollars in operating funds. Basically, even the wind tunnel test was almost impossible to do. They even got their car engines from Mercedes, and the two drivers Barton and Barrichello even said that they can stay in the car without paying.
But Ross Brown built the fastest racing car at that time, BGP001. He led such a nearly bankrupt team, won the 2009 championship and driver championship, and created a racing championship. BPG miracle!
The reason why Zhang Guan is so sure that he can win the Formula One World Championship next season is precisely because he knows this, he knows that the Honda team will withdraw from F1, he knows that Ross Brown can take a run The fastest racing car!
......
In a suburban villa, Ross Brown walked over with black tea and small snacks. Black tea and snacks are traditional food that the British entertain guests in the afternoon.
"China is the birthplace of tea culture. Your cup of tea does not contain milk and sugar. I hope you can get used to it." Ross Brown said as he poured milk into his cup
"Thank you, Mr. Brown. You are so kind." Zhang Guan said thanks.
"I didn't expect that you would come to me, which really surprised me." Ross Brown took a sip of tea and tasted it carefully.
"Mr. Brown, I took the liberty to visit, in fact, for the Honda team." Zhang Guan said straight away.
"Honda team!" Ross Brown shook his head with a wry smile: "Honda team no longer exists! The impact of this financial crisis is really too great. First, the Toyota 2 team withdrew from the race midway, and now even Honda This manufacturer's team can't play it anymore! Even me, I'm an unemployed person now!"
The second Toyota team that Ross Brown said is Japan’s super Akuri team. They use Toyota’s engines. Many of the technologies in the car are also supported by the Toyota team. The team owner Suzuki-Aguri and Toyota have The inextricable relationship is often called the Toyota Second Team.
In the Formula One competition, there are manufacturer teams and non-manufacturer teams. The manufacturer team is a team backed by an automobile manufacturing company. Their R&D technology and engine use are our products, such as the Ferrari team. They will definitely only use the car engines developed and produced by their own companies. Last season, the manufacturer team included Ferrari, Renault, McLaren, BMW Sauber, Toyota and Honda. These teams can know the car manufacturer behind them by listening to their names. It is worth mentioning that Mercedes-Benz owns the shares of McLaren team, so McLaren is regarded as the manufacturer team of Mercedes-Benz.
The other teams are non-manufactured teams, which can also be called independent teams. Their car R&D and design may be carried out by themselves, but the most critical car engines must be provided by the manufacturer team. The car engine is the heart of a car. All the research and development of the independent fleet is also aimed at maximizing the operating efficiency of the car engine. For example, Red Bull I team uses Renault engine, Red Bull II team uses Ferrari engine, Williams team uses Toyota engine and so on.
For the manufacturer's team, it will not withdraw from Formula One unless it is a last resort. After all, Formula One races are the most famous motorsports in the world and the most top-level races in racing. Participation in Formula One races is a manifestation of strength. If a car manufacturer can enter Formula One, it can even get it. The award can at least show that you can build the world's top car, which is inestimable for the improvement of the entire brand.
Formula 1 is a lot of money, but for the world’s top car manufacturers, spending one hundred million dollars a year to play Formula One may be more cost-effective than asking stars to do endorsements and advertising. For example, Ferrari's "nail house" of F1, after playing Formula One for decades, eventually turned itself into the world's top sports car brand.
For Formula One, you can play it if you invest US$100 million or US$100 million a year, and you can also play US$50 million or US$60 million a year. The last one is the last one in the world's top racing competition. Fengwei is more valuable than chicken heads. For a multinational car company with tens of billions of dollars in sales and billions of dollars in profits a year, the money to play F1 is nothing. Therefore, multinational companies like Honda chose to abandon F1, which also shows from the side that the company is about to reach the point of being exhausted. They even save tens of millions of dollars in promotional expenses.
In fact, affected by the economic crisis, Honda really can’t play it anymore. The October past was originally a peak season for car sales, but Honda’s profit fell by 90% compared with the same period last year. Honda has even decided to next year To reduce production by 20% to 30% in response to weak sales, it is also possible to lay off employees in the future, so withdrawing from the Formula One race is only the first step of Honda's self-help.
At this time, when Rose Brown was mocking himself as "unemployed," the Zhang Guan next to him couldn't help laughing. Zhang Guan knows that even if Schumacher is unemployed, the old man with glasses in front of him will not be unemployed. The reputation of Ross Brown has gone to any car company in the world, and everyone has to give him his grandfather.
"This economic crisis has indeed affected many companies, but I think it is also an opportunity, such as Honda preparing to sell their F1 business." Zhang Guan said intentionally or unintentionally.
Ross Brown is not a fool. Although Zhang Guan is a world champion, neither track and field, tennis nor basketball is connected to the car. So when Zhang Guan arrived, Ross Brown realized that Zhang Guan must be for Honda The team's business came.
At this time, Ross Brown straightened up and asked, "Mr. Zhang Guan, forgive me if you are interested in buying the Honda team? Or do you come on behalf of others?"
"It's me." Zhang Guan said without hesitation. He looked at Ross-Brown, and then said: "Or I'll put it another way. I want to work with Mr. Brown. We will win the Honda team! "
"Cooperation? Together?" Ross Brown finally showed a positive look on his face. He vaguely guessed the intention of Zhang Guan.
"I hope we can jointly fund and then buy the Honda team, and we will be the boss of the Honda team." Zhang Guan said very seriously.
Ross-Brown wrinkled. He is almost 60 years old. Of course, he will not be tempted by the words of Zhang Guan. He thought about it seriously and asked, "Mr. Zhang Guan, according to my Understand, this time the Honda team can be said to be a big sale. Although I am the manager of the Honda team, I actually have no say in the sale of the team. IMHO, I can’t save you any expenses. And even if it is Without me, with your financial resources, you can also eat the Honda team alone?"
"Yes." Zhang Guan nodded without concealing it. He went on to say: "I want to participate in the Formula One race next season, not as the team boss, but as the racer! So I have to buy a team."
"What? Racing driver?" Ross Brown's eyes widened unexpectedly.
Ross Brown and many wealthy people have contacts, he also knows a lot of wealthy sons and brothers, and has seen the means of wealthy people showing off their wealth. Rose Brown has seen a lot about private jets, private yachts, and private islands. But for the first time to buy a team in order to be a racing driver, Ross Brown saw him for the first time.
Motorsports is a very dangerous sport. In the past Formula One races, drivers died every year due to accidents. Among them, there are many car king-level characters, such as the car king Senna, because In the accident on the court, even Schumacher suffered multiple fractures in his leg. So rich people look for excitement, maybe go back to play some extreme sports, or some people will go drag racing, but no one will drive F1, more than 300 kilometers per hour racing, not just burning money, or playing 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 also stand on the peak of the world, but I must remind you that motor sports and other sports The project is different, this project is very dangerous! A Formula One world champion needs not only excellent racing skills, but also a fast enough car." Ross Brown said.
"I know, this is why I came to you. I believe that Mr. Brown can provide me with the fastest car in the world!" Zhang Guan said with a smile.
"Thank you for your compliment." Ross Brown owed a little, obviously he did not deny his ability to design the fastest car in the world.
"Mr. Brown, I know you will question my driving skills, but I can assure you that I have the ability to drive a Formula One car. Let me drive a Formula One car to the race A few laps on the road can prove this. Of course I also know that experience is also very important for a driver, but I think any driver is from the rookie era, and now Lewis of McLaren Racing -Hamilton, did he also get on the podium in his first F1 game?"
"Hamilton is indeed a very good driver." Brown smiled slightly, but with a slight disdain in his smile.
Who is Lewis Hamilton? That was the Formula One World Championship last season. When he was a child, he swept the go-kart world, was named "genius driver", and entered the McLaren youth driver training program, and then he won the Formula Renault championship, F3 year Champion, GP2 annual champion, plus he just won the Formula One World Championship, Hamilton can be said to have won the championship of almost encountered formula cars.
For such a talented driver, I am afraid that a generation of talents will be able to produce one. Ross Brown clearly feels that Zhang Guan is a bit arrogant compared with Hamilton! His disdain was not against Hamilton, but against Zhang Guan.
Zhang Guan sensed Rose Brown's expression, and he was not surprised, nor did he feel angry. Any sports competition values performance, even though Zhang Guan is the world’s greatest athlete, but in the field of racing, Zhang Guan’s past results are "zero", and he wants Ross Brown to believe in himself with his empty mouth. Obviously impossible. Assuming that Schumacher came to talk with Ross Brown, it is estimated that they have already talked about the specific proportion of shares. So for this situation, Zhang Guan is already prepared.
The current situation is that Zhang Guan needs Ross Brown, not Ross Brown needs Zhang Guan. Zhang Guan is not a car designer, nor does he teach the skills of designing racing cars in his system, so Zhang Guan needs Ross Brown to build the fastest car in the world. Ross Brown is different. With his ability, any team will be warmly welcomed.
In any field, talent is always the most important!
Zhang Guan knows that with his own ~IndoMTL.com~ it is difficult to make people like Ross Brown become his employees, so he planned to talk to Ross Brown in the form of cooperation from the beginning, but now it seems Even with the cooperation, Ross Brown did not take all of this seriously!
Zhang Guan knows that if you want Ross Brown to take it seriously, you have to come up with some "dry goods"!
I saw that Zhang Guan opened the briefcase he carried with him, took out a document from it, and handed it to Ross Brown.
"Mr. Brown, I have something interesting here, I guess you might be interested!" Zhang Guan remarked, then added: "This is related to racing!"
"Related to racing..." Ross Brown did not refuse, but instead had a playful smile on his face, he felt that Zhang Guan, a layman, should not be able to come up with "dry goods"! But this way of Zhang Guan made him a little curious.
However, when Ross Brown looked down at this document, it was just the title of the cover, which made his face change!
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