F1: I was born to be useful, and you are all destined for greatness.

The advantage of playing at home is that you don't have to travel long distances after the game; it's only a half-hour drive back to headquarters.

His residence is located in Kakuta, near the Alfa Romeo team's headquarters in Faenza, so he can even go straight home.

The day after the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Tontard returned to the team headquarters in Faenza with his team. After completing a day's work at the Faenza headquarters, Tontard and Gasly accepted Kakuta's invitation to visit Kakuta's home.

Kakuta cooked the meal himself.

You know what, you really have to admit, Kakuta's cooking skills are really good. No wonder he's an F1 driver who dreams of opening a restaurant.

In case you didn't know: During a group interview in the 2021 season, the drivers were asked about their dreams. While the other drivers said their dream was to become an F1 world champion, Kakuta stood out by saying that his dream was to open a restaurant.

Kakuta is not only good at Japanese cuisine, but he also has some knowledge of Chinese and French cuisine.

Kakuta's Chinese food earned the approval of Tang Che, a Chinese man, and his French food earned the approval of Gasly, a Frenchman: "This food is delicious! It makes me feel so comfortable."

Kakuta's face revealed a smug look: "I plan to open a restaurant in Japan that combines various cuisines in the future. I will be responsible for the menu design and invite professional chefs to cook."

Townchet and Gasly were very supportive: "You absolutely have to invite us on opening day!"

Kakuta nodded repeatedly: "Definitely! Definitely!"

During the meal, Gasly asked, "Have you been following the domestic news in Italy?"

Tang Che shook his head.

"There is some attention, but there is relatively little coverage of our team," Kakuta said. "In Italy, the buzz surrounding our team's home race appearances is far less than the buzz surrounding Ferrari's home losses."

Gasly said, "That's exactly what I wanted to say. The gap between the top teams and the mid-table teams is really huge."

"What kind of heritage does Ferrari have? What kind of heritage do we have? This kind of comparison is meaningless." Tanger made that player's signature gesture. "Perhaps... even Italians don't consider our team to be an Italian team."

What is VfL? The only founding team that has never withdrawn from F1! 16 Constructors' Championships and 15 Drivers' Championships. Even after more than a decade without a title, their accolades remain unparalleled in the paddock!

The speed of the F-4 has long been a symbol of speed in the hearts of countless people!

"Everybody's a Ferrari fan. Even if they say they're not, they are a Ferrari fan. Even if you go to the Mercedes guys, even if they say 'Oh yeah, Mercedes is the greatest brand in the world,' they are Ferrari fans." - Sebastian Vettel

In contrast, the Alfa Romeo Toli team, formerly known as the Italian private team Minardi founded in 1985, has a far shorter history than Volkswagen Toli.

After the Minardi team was acquired by the Austrian Red Bull Group in 2005, although it was still registered in Italy, its core had long been refined by the Austrian Red Bull Group and completely transformed into the shape of Red Bull.

Alfa Romeo is no longer the purebred Italian team that Italians perceive it to be.

Italian car enthusiast: These stinky out-of-towners are coming to Italy to beg for food. (crossed out)

And it's not just in Italy; in many countries and regions outside of Italy, the hype surrounding Alfa Romeo's home race appearances can't compare to the hype surrounding Ferrari's home losses.

It's probably only in the Chinese-speaking world that it can rival in popularity, because the driver on stage is Chinese.

"Italians don't necessarily revere Ferrari as much as we think," Gasly joked. "Otherwise, why would Charles's watch have been stolen?"

Before the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Leclerc was walking on Viareggio in the Tuscany region of Italy when he was surrounded by fans and his watch was stolen in the chaos.

Police are still investigating, and the watch has not yet been recovered.

Kakuta laughed and said, "I don't love Ferraris, because I can't drive one; I love Richard Miller, because I can steal one."

The watch stolen from Leclerc was a Richard Mille RM 67-02 Leclerc Special Edition, valued at $32.

"It must have been a gang crime." Tang Che rubbed his chin, and the impatient frog kept rubbing your belly. "These custom-made watches basically have no way to be sold, so ordinary thieves wouldn't target them... Wasn't Charles's watch supposed to be very valuable to collectors? It's highly likely that some guy with a collecting addiction hired a criminal gang to steal Charles's watch."

Gasly and Kakuta nodded in unison; such things are common in Europe and America.

"Fortunately, Charles wasn't hurt," Toncher said. "The watch is gone, but Richard Miller will give Charles a new one the next day anyway."

Similar theft cases are not uncommon in Europe and America. There are also many cases that seriously threaten the personal safety of well-known athletes. Many well-known athletes' residences have been violently vandalized, and the vandals often leave graffiti with discriminatory, insulting, hate speech or even death threats at the scene.

"So what if the watch's gone..." Gasly made an exaggeratedly envious expression. "Is this the rich guy's attitude towards life? It's truly enviable!"

Kakuta: "Rich guy, give me 50 yen to see my strength." (Learned from Yutetsu)

Not all F1 drivers are rich; some come from relatively ordinary backgrounds, such as Gasly and Kakuta.

Their families cannot afford the huge expenses of training F1 drivers on their own, and they have come this far entirely thanks to sponsorships.

Sponsorship during the growth stage is not easy to obtain. Gasley even encountered a scam while trying to secure sponsorships, and his journey has been extremely difficult.

Kakuta's racing career was slightly smoother than Gasly's because he was spotted by Honda during his development stage and received continuous support from Honda.

Compared to Tang Che, Gasley and Kakuta faced much more pressure during their formative years.

Both Gasly and Kakuta need to consistently deliver results in order to maintain sponsors' expectations and ensure sponsorship stability.

Tang Che's family can afford it and has no pressure in this regard.

After entering F1, Gasly and Kakuta's salaries were not high in the paddock, and $32 was not a small amount of money for either of them.

Tang Che: "You guys have the wrong mindset! You have to believe in yourselves that you can definitely achieve results, and then Richard Miller will be lining up to give you watches."

Kakuta: "Then I'll have to ask you for some pointers."

Gasly: ​​"You can't keep anything from me!"

Tang Che: "Emulator! Start!"

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Bonus Chapter: F1 Anecdotes (7)

At 16:33, Italian police reported that the criminal gang that stole the Leclerc watch was employed by Verstappen.

This incident instantly became a trending topic on F1 social media, leaving fans incredulous, skeptical, and utterly bewildered. Many commented, "Panzi and Lock & Lock have a good relationship, why would he hire someone to steal Lock & Lock's watch?"

It turns out that Verstappen had a crush on Leclerc and had always wanted to collect Leclerc's personal belongings, so he hired a criminal gang to steal Leclerc's watch.