F1: In Ferrari, Schumacher at the start.

Inside the closed parking area of ​​the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, the Red Bull, McLaren, and Williams cars were parked behind markers one, two, and three in sequence.

Lin Feng pressed the clutches on both sides of the steering wheel, bringing the battered race car to a steady stop in the parking space. Then he pulled off the steering wheel, unbuckled his five-point seatbelt, braced his hands on the edge of the cockpit, and jumped out of the cockpit with a clean, effortless motion.

I didn't feel the fatigue I usually experience after running a long distance, nor did I show any signs of wanting to collapse.

The immense joy of surviving the ordeal instantly washed away all his fatigue. Lin Feng took off his helmet, without even removing his fireproof balaclava, and strode towards the group of Williams convoy members who had already gone completely mad outside the guardrail.

"Aaaaaaah! Lin!"

The engineers leaned half their bodies out of the railing, waving their arms.

Lin Feng lunged forward, leaping into the crowd. Paul hugged him tightly, babbling incoherently with excitement. James Walls, squeezed in the middle of the crowd, beamed with ecstatic joy, patting Lin Feng's back vigorously.

"You did it! You actually made it to the podium!" James shouted, his voice completely drowned out by the cheers around him.

"You owe me a bottle of premium shampoo! And compensation for emotional distress!" Lin Feng shouted back from the crowd, laughing heartlessly.

The anger that had been building up on the track due to the pit stop mistake vanished with this third-place finish.

His hair was saved, and that's the most important thing.

After celebrating with the team, Lin Feng turned and headed towards the weighing room and rest room.

In the lounge, Max Verstappen, who had just won the championship, was sitting on the sofa with a bottle of Red Bull in his hand, looking up at the TV screen on the wall.

Lando Norris, who won the runner-up title, is wiping his face with a towel.

The TV screen was showing a replay of the last lap, showing Lin Feng overtaking George Russell by hugging the wall at the Champions Wall deceleration corner.

Upon seeing Lin Feng walk in, Norris immediately threw the towel on the table and pointed at the screen, shouting.

"Lin! Look! You're a complete lunatic! Your right rear wheel scraped off a piece of the writing on the wall! Do you know you almost died?!"

Lin Feng walked over, picked up a bottle of ice water, twisted it open, and took a big gulp, while glancing at the slow-motion replay on the screen.

"That's called precise calculation, Lando. Brushing against the wall provides extra friction to help me out of the corner. It's advanced physics; you wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you," Lin Feng continued to spout nonsense shamelessly.

Verstappen sat on the sofa and laughed heartily: "You're just talking nonsense, Lin. I think you just couldn't brake in time. But it was definitely a good move; George is probably still cursing right now."

"He deserved it, who told him to play such a conservative defense?" Lin Feng pulled up a chair and sat down. "But you, Max, you were running around too comfortably up front. We were fighting tooth and nail behind you, and you didn't even get a single shot."

"I didn't want to be this bored, but my car was behaving very well today," Verstappen shrugged.

Norris sat beside him, his face full of resentment: "McLaren will have a new upgrade kit when we go back to Europe next week. Max, don't get too excited. Lin, you better watch out too, next time I definitely won't let you catch up again."

"Alright, let's see who's the best on the track then. But Lando, I overtook you at the start today, when are you going to settle that score?" Lin Feng bluntly pointed out his weakness.

The lounge was filled with the laughter and chatter of three young men.

At this moment, a staff member came in and reminded the three to prepare to go to the podium.

The three straightened their racing suits, pushed open the door to the lounge, and walked towards the steps that symbolized honor.

With the announcer's enthusiastic introduction, Lin Feng was the third to step onto the podium.

The rain in Montreal had completely stopped, and the sun shone through the clouds onto the podium, where a sea of ​​people stretched as far as the eye could see, their cheers echoing through the sky.

The national anthems of the Netherlands and Canada were played in turn. The award presenters then handed the weighty trophies to the three recipients.

The moment the group photo session ended, the champagne battle that the drivers had been eagerly anticipating officially began.

Verstappen deftly removed the cork from the champagne bottle and pointed it directly at Norris, who was standing beside him. Norris reacted quickly, dodging the attack and grabbing his own champagne, turning it on Lin Feng instead.

"Lin! Take this!"

Norris unceremoniously sprayed the cold champagne all over Lin Feng's face.

"Lando! You're asking for it!"

Lin Feng wiped the wine off his face, picked up the huge champagne bottle, and launched a counterattack without hesitation.

After spraying Norris, Lin Feng immediately turned the sprayer on James Walls and Williams' staff, who were taking pictures with their phones in the audience.

White champagne foam rained down from the sky, soaking James completely.

The mechanics in the audience didn't dodge; instead, they happily welcomed the champagne rain.

When Norris saw Lin Feng criticizing others, he immediately formed an alliance with Verstappen. The two of them flanked Lin Feng from the left and right, and gave him a thorough champagne bath.

The three of them burst into laughter on the podium, creating a joyful scene.

At this time, I was far away in California, USA.

On the lawn of Stanford University's campus, Eileen Gu and her roommate Chloe sat side by side on wooden chairs. Their macroeconomics class had just ended, and Gu, without even having lunch, sat outside with her laptop and watched the entire awards ceremony.

On the screen, Lin Feng was being relentlessly attacked by Verstappen and Norris, his hair sticking wetly to his forehead, and he was smiling broadly.

Gu Ailing looked at the screen with a proud smile on her face.

"Eileen, your boyfriend is so handsome," Chloe said enviously. "Are you going to call him later?"

"I'll call later. He still has to do media interviews. Those reporters definitely won't let him off the hook today." Gu Ailing closed her laptop, stood up, and stretched. "Let's go, I'm in a good mood today, I'll treat you to a big meal."

Media mixed zone at the Montreal Circuit in Canada.

The area is now packed with sports reporters. Everyone with a media pass is craning their necks, holding a recorder and microphone, waiting for the absolute headline of today's match.

Lin Feng, wearing a soaked racing suit, a towel around his neck, and holding the heavy third-place trophy in his hand, strode into the mixed zone.

As soon as he stood still, a barrage of flashes went off.

Official reporter Lawrence Barreto was the first to hand over the microphone.

"Lin, congratulations on getting back on the podium. It was a crazy race. You suffered a twelve-second pit stop error during the safety car and dropped to the back of the pack. Everyone could hear your anger on the radio, but then you staged a remarkable comeback on the track, even whizzing past Russell on the final lap by the wall of victory. What force sustained you at that reckless speed in the last twenty laps?"

Lin Feng adjusted his breathing, and facing dozens of cameras, his expression became very serious.

"A twelve-second pit stop was a disaster. I was really angry in the car, but I couldn't stop complaining because I had a reason to stand on the podium today."

All the reporters fell silent and pricked up their ears.

Lin Feng touched his wet hair and continued speaking.

"Before the competition, I made a bet with a friend. If I didn't get into the top three in Canada today, I would have to go to the barbershop and shave all my hair off, including my eyebrows."

The reporters at the scene were stunned.

Lawrence Barreto gaped, wondering if there was something wrong with his ears.

Lin Feng looked at the camera very seriously: "You can imagine how terrible it would be if I went to the next race with a bald head and no eyebrows. I really love my hair. So in order to keep my hair and eyebrows, I have to overtake George today, even if I drive like a maniac. That's all my motivation today."

After a brief silence.

A burst of laughter erupted from the mixed mining area.

"Good heavens, Lin, your friend is really too cruel to you." Lawrence laughed so hard that tears almost came out.

"That's right, so I have to win." Lin Feng shrugged, looking very serious.

After the laughter subsided, the reporters prepared to continue asking questions about Williams' next upgrade plan.

Just then, a commotion suddenly arose from the back of the crowd.

Several FIA staff members responsible for maintaining order voluntarily made way for them.

A tall figure emerged from the tunnel, wearing a white short-sleeved Mercedes team uniform, his hands in his pockets, a broad smile on his face.

It was Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.

As is customary, team principals from other teams rarely make a special trip to the interview area for other teams' drivers after the race, especially since Lin Feng had just kicked Mercedes' own driver Russell off the podium on the last lap.

All the reporters' attention was immediately drawn to Toto, and they even forgot to ask questions.

Toto walked straight up to Lin Feng and reached out his right hand to firmly grasp Lin Feng's hand.

"Lin. A fantastic race. You're a true top driver." Toto's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but loud enough for all the reporters in the front row to hear clearly.

Lin Feng was also somewhat surprised that Toto would come over at this time, but he reacted quickly and immediately put on a smile of mutual flattery.

"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Wolf. We were just lucky today, and George's defense was also excellent."

"Luck only favors those who are capable." Toto patted Lin Feng on the shoulder.

Just as Toto was about to turn and leave, he did something that left all the reporters present speechless.

He turned to look at Lin Feng, and under the high-definition capture of dozens of cameras, the head of Mercedes winked at Lin Feng with his right eye.

Then, Toto laughed and turned around, walking out of the mixed mining area under the escort of security personnel.

"boom!"

The entire mixed mining area erupted in chaos.

The rumors about Lin Feng taking Toto's private jet had been circulating for the past two days. Everyone thought it was just a smokescreen by both sides.

But now, at this sensitive time, with Lin Feng having just defeated the Mercedes driver, Toto openly came over to congratulate him, and even winked at the camera!

This isn't just a hint; it's an open attempt to poach someone!

All the reporters were like they were on steroids, shoving microphones at Lin Feng's mouth and bombarding him with questions like a machine gun.

"Lin! What did Toto mean by that look just now? Has Mercedes already offered you a formal contract?"

"Has your destination been decided for next year? Have negotiations to replace Lewis entered the final stage?"

What was Williams' reaction to this? Does James know about it?

Looking at the group of reporters who were on the verge of exploding, Lin Feng cursed Toto, that old fox, a thousand times in his heart.

That old guy definitely did it on purpose!

Faced with the chaotic interview area, Lin Feng knew very well that anything he said at this time would be over-interpreted, so he raised the trophy in his hand to shield himself and gave the reporters an innocent smile.

"Gentlemen, Mr. Wolf just got a grain of sand in his eye. As for the contract issue, you should ask my agent. Excuse me, I need to go change."

After saying that, Lin Feng didn't give the reporters a chance to ask further questions. Under the cover of Williams' public relations staff, he quickly squeezed out of the mixed zone.

The reporters behind him persisted, their flashes going off wildly.