How did I become an F1 driver?

Chapter 228 Chapter 226: New mission (6K, 1019 additional updates)

The trio then drove to a camping site in southern Oxfordshire.

Naturally, you need to take out a big toy and play with it on the first day you get it.

After arriving, Qin Miao and Zhou Guanyu took their fishing rods and went to find a place to cast two more rods. Qiu Meng was lying on the U-shaped sofa of the RV and watching TV with the door open.

Because it is Tuesday and not a holiday break, there are not many people at the camping site. The fresh air and breeze blowing into the car have a unique charm.

The whistling sounds of Qin Miao and Zhou Guanyu could be heard in the distance. Although it somewhat ruined the atmosphere, Qiu Meng still felt that her heart was full.

……

On Wednesday, Qin Miao resumed daily training and car feel practice, and began to work hard to improve his proficiency on the track in the afternoon.

The team is working hard to use new parts to blow the wind tunnel. At the same time, the new rear diffuser, new rear wing and front nose are also focused on accelerating the development and manufacturing.

Everyone at Mercedes wants to get the job done before the British Grand Prix.

Because he knew the importance of the British Grand Prix, Hamilton did not continue to run his own announcements, go to catwalks and run his own fashion brand. Instead, like Qin Miao, he went to the team every day starting from Wednesday to help the team develop new components. .

On Thursday, the rear wing specially designed for the Silverstone track by the Mercedes-Benz team's design department was converted from drawing status to production status, and then came off the production line, and has been installed on Qin Miao's car.

While continuing to blow the wind tunnel, Qin Miao used this set of simulation data of the tail wing to run adjustments on the simulator.

During this period, Hamilton was watching the data Qin Miao ran on the simulator. During Qin Miao's rest time, Hamilton would also ask Qin Miao about car tuning and settings.

It is worth mentioning that Bottas, who was idle at home, was also called over to run the simulator.

Qin Miao had also met Bottas in the team before. Although Bottas didn't show any obvious disgust or other emotions towards Qin Miao at that time, he just nodded after seeing Qin Miao. Basically. Can't say anything.

But as time went by, Bottas no longer had the same pretentiousness as before when he met Qin Miao in the team again. Instead, he could chat with Qin Miao when he had nothing to do, and exchange information about the two of them on the simulator. feelings.

Although the relationship between the two cannot be said to be reconciled, it is at least somewhat relaxed compared to when Qin Miao first joined Mercedes-Benz.

Therefore, there is basically no obstacle to the cooperation between the three professional F1 drivers on the simulator.

After two days, the rear spoiler was officially finalized. The first set of spoilers was installed on Qin Miao's car. At the same time, the team will produce two more sets of spoilers, one for Hamilton's car and the other for the two cars. Each driver serves as a backup so that if any driver's rear wing breaks during the race, it can be replaced.

The reason why we only make one set of spare parts is because there is a budget cap limit now. The Mercedes team can no longer spend money as lavishly as before. Now everyone has to be frugal and save what they can, and the rear spoiler is not a big deal. Like the front nose wing, it is not so easy to be damaged.

If an unexpected situation does occur and both drivers have problems with their rear wings, then there will be an alternative option, which is to replace it with the old rear wing. After all, the old rear wing may just be a little slower. But it's not unusable.

Another day later, the car's front nose and rear diffuser also left the designer's desk and began to enter the production stage.

This is the good thing about a large fleet. The fleet is large enough to produce two different parts at the same time, and the production speed of these parts will not be greatly affected.

But these parts cannot come off the production line so quickly. Even for Mercedes-Benz, it takes at least two days.

After these parts entered the production stage, Qin Miao, Hamilton and Bottas had a short rest of the day.

This is also the first time the three of them have had a break since starting work last Wednesday.

It happened that the three of them were all in the motorcade, and Qin Miao's home was right next to the motorcade, so after the work came to an end, Qin Miao invited two colleagues to his home for the first time.

However, Bottas rejected Qin Miao's invitation.

Qin Miao also understood this. After all, she had taken his position. Although the relationship between the two had eased a little, it was not so good now.

Hamilton was enthusiastic about it.

Qiu Meng didn't prepare hot pot at home. During the week when Zhou Guanyu stayed at home, the three of them ate hot pot three times in seven days. Qin Miao didn't feel anything wrong, but she was a little worried that the hot pot base was not enough.

Qiu Meng and Zhou Guanyu both looked embarrassed when they went to the toilet after eating.

In addition, Qin Miao also called Hamilton on a whim, so Qiu Meng didn't prepare anything delicious in advance. Moreover, when Qin Miao called Hamilton, it was already almost dinner time, and it was too late to buy groceries. , so when Hamilton arrived at Qin Miao's house, all he ate was a very ordinary bowl of braised noodles with eggs, a plate of fried beef balls and a fried eggplant.

Although they are just ordinary home-cooked dishes, this is what Qin Miao likes to eat.

And Hamilton didn't mind it either. Although he couldn't use chopsticks, it was difficult for him to eat domestic food, but he didn't have two spoons.

And it is worth mentioning that although Hamilton is the seven-time F1 champion and has eaten countless delicacies, he has never had the opportunity to eat the home-cooked food that Chinese people eat almost every day.

So when he put a piece of delicious eggplant into his mouth, his eyes really lit up visibly.

After chewing the eggplant carefully and swallowing it into his mouth, Hamilton said sincerely: "I have always had a doubt in the past about what the idiom "melts in your mouth" means."

At this point, Hamilton looked at the plate of fried eggplant in front of him and said: "Now I know, this is really the first time I have experienced this taste and texture. It is really delicious."

Qiu Meng smiled and said, "If it tastes good, just eat more. There is still rice in the kitchen."

Hamilton nodded repeatedly.

Qiu Meng didn't talk much after that. Instead, Qin Miao and Hamilton were chatting about the team's affairs, such as how many spectators would be present at the British Grand Prix, what commercial activities the team had arranged for them, and when. Where to go to shoot commercials.

After dinner, Qin Miao went to wash the dishes, while Qiu Meng took Hamilton to visit their small home.

When Hamilton looked at the row of F2 championship trophies in the Qin Miao Trophy Showroom, he was shocked.

Because to a certain extent, the gold content of Qin Miao's F2 race championship trophy and overall championship trophy can even be equated with his seven F7 driver championship trophies.

Even to a certain extent, Qin Miao's F2 championship is more valuable than Hamilton's.

After all, Qin Miao is the only person in the world who can win both the sprint championship and the race championship in F2, and win consecutively to score 2 points more than the second-placed Mick Schumacher. Won the F330 Drivers Championship.

But in the F1 paddock, the seven-time champion is not alone.

So when he saw Qin Miao's row of F2 championship trophies, Hamilton was really shocked.

Even Hamilton felt that the two F1 race championship trophies in Qin Miao's showroom looked a bit pitiful and helpless in front of these F2 race championship trophies.

After walking around Qin Miao's house, Hamilton naturally noticed the Ferrari 488 in front of Qin Miao's house.

"How did you get the license plate on this car?"

At this time, Qin Miao had finished washing the dishes and was standing next to Hamilton admiring this Ferrari, which looked so handsome.

One thing to say, although Ferrari has been a bit stretched during this period, it has gone straight to the track this year and put all its resources into the research and development of next year's car.

And the road to recovery is far away, and internal political struggles are fierce.

But he is truly unique in the aesthetic design of his racing car, with a special sense of beauty and design that only belongs to Ferrari.

Hearing Hamilton's question, Qin Miao explained: "Actually, this is just an ordinary 488. When I was still in Maranello, I had a good relationship with the people in Ferrari's racing department, and then I asked them to help me transform it. Get out of this car."

Hamilton's eyes lit up after hearing Qin Miao's explanation, wonderful!

Ferrari is famous for not allowing customers to modify their own cars without permission, but Qin Miao went directly to Ferrari to help modify the car.

The key is that since it is a Ferrari-modified car, to a certain extent, this car is indeed legal on the road.

"Can I try?"

Qin Miao turned around and went back to his room, took out the car key and handed it to Hamilton.

Qin Miao didn't tell him to drive carefully or anything like that. We are all F1 drivers and teammates, so both parties knew each other well. If Hamilton could really overturn his car, it would not be Qin Miao who should be worried, but Hamilton. .

His whole life's fame was ruined by Qin Miao's car.

The gold content of the seven-time champion is estimated to be directly destroyed by this.

Hamilton happily took Qin Miao's car keys, got into the driving seat of the car, and started the car skillfully.

Ferrari's supercars all start in the same way. As the owner of two Lafas, Hamilton is familiar with how to start a Ferrari.

Qin Miao and Qiu Meng said hello and then got into the co-pilot of the racing car.

Hamilton expertly adjusted the car into track mode and drove the car onto the street.

But really, the place where these aero components of this car really come into their own is on the track, not the road.

When driving this car on the road, you can only feel that this car has stronger control and better grip than the ordinary 488. Other than that, you can’t feel anything else, because there is no such condition for you on the road. Test the limits of this car.

But after all, he is an F1 driver, so he still has face, and the Silverstone Circuit is less than two kilometers north of Qin Miao's home. After strolling around, Hamilton drove the car to the entrance of the Silverstone Circuit.

They are both regular visitors. Hamilton and Qin Miao did not even go through the normal entrance channel, but entered the track through the staff channel.

Although the current track is still being prepared and maintained for the upcoming British Grand Prix, it is only a phone call away for the two Mercedes drivers, Hamilton and Qin Miao, to drive their Ferraris on the track for two laps. That’s all.

It doesn't even require a local man from Hamilton to take action. Qin Miao can also handle the matter with just one phone call.After that, it was very simple. With excitement on his face, Hamilton drove the Ferrari 488, the only official modified and tuned version of the car in the world, and ran wildly for several laps on the Silverstone track that he was extremely familiar with.

But even if Hamilton ran like this, he didn't have an exact result.

Of course, what Hamilton wants is not a series of specific data. At his level, most of the time he acts according to his own preferences.

He just saw Qin Miao owning a 488, so he did it on a whim.

After running two laps, Hamilton was satisfied. He smiled and praised Qin Miao's car while driving him and the car back to Qin Miao's home.

After arriving home, Hamilton declined the invitation to stay at Qin Miao's house for dinner and returned to the team using Qin Miao's scooter.

On Wednesday, when Qin Miao got up from bed in the morning, the system task notification came down.

【Task 1: Pole to win】

[Note: When you win the pole position in qualifying, you also win the championship in the race]

[Reward: Golden Draw*1, Random Attribute Points*2,]

[Task 2: Silverstone’s brightest cub]

[Description: Become the best driver voted by the British Grand Prix audience]

[Purple Lottery*1]

[Task 3: Perfect Body]

[Note: You are not allowed to be overtaken during the race]

[Reward: Purple Lucky Draw*1]

[Task 4: Model Worker]

[Note: During the Grand Prix, participate in at least five activities in one day]

[Reward: Team random attribute +1]

……

Looking at these tasks, Qin Miao fell into deep thought.

Winning the qualifying and race championships at the Silverstone Grand Prix is ​​also known as Pole to win.

The reward for this task is still very generous, a golden lottery draw.

Of course, while the rewards are generous, the tasks are also extremely difficult.

After all, this is Hamilton's home court, and it is not unusually difficult to win the Pole to win at the home of the seven-time champion.

Even though Qin Miao is as confident as he is, he doesn't have the confidence to say that he can complete this task [-]%.

The difficulty of the second task is not much easier than the first task. After all, this is the British home court. As long as Hamilton's performance is not too bad, even if he does not win the driver's championship, he will finally be voted the best driver by the audience. The possibility is still very high.

So for this task, Qin Miao still ran at his own pace as before. As for this award, I won it but lost my life.

As for the third task, it is also very difficult not to be overtaken in the race, because Qin Miao knows that Hamilton will definitely try his best to win the championship at home.

So as long as Qin Miao appears in front of him, he will never just click and stop like the last Grand Prix.

It is really possible for him to directly confront Qin Miao.

Just like himself, if there is a race in China, as long as he has the ability, Qin Miao will not care how close the driver in front is to him. Even if he risks his life, Qin Miao will still be in the race. Do your best to win the championship.

As for the fourth task, it is completely a part-time task. It is not too difficult for Qin Miao to complete, and it may only be a little tiring.

After all, there are sprint qualifying and sprint races in this British race. It is a bit troublesome for Qin Miao to squeeze out a period of time, and the schedule may be a bit busy, but compared to the first three tasks, this task is really not that difficult.

But one thing to say is that the rewards given by this mission are really limited. They only improve the team's ability, and the improved ability is still random.

If this random attribute is directly added to the team's R&D capabilities, it may surprise Qin Miao for a while, but if it is added to other attributes, the benefits will be relatively low.

On Thursday, Qin Miao got up and completed his daily training as usual in the morning. In the afternoon, he and Qiu Meng packed up their things, and Qin Miao drove directly to the track in his RV.

In fact, considering the distance between Qin Miao's home and the Silverstone Circuit, it would be no problem for him to walk to the track, and it wouldn't take long.

Of course, the premise is that Qin Miao will not be recognized and surrounded by car fans when walking on the road.

But now that there is an RV at home, Qin Miao's novelty of this big toy has not faded. Moreover, this thing is not cheap. After using it once, it is somewhat inappropriate to leave it at home to collect dust.

There happens to be a race today, so we can drive the RV to the parking space dedicated to the drivers and camp there.

After all, it was a place reserved for drivers. Qin Miao parked his car there all night without worrying about anyone coming to disturb him.

This place is different from the gate gate. After all, there are too many people there. Almost all the team members go there to go to work, so it is a mixed bag.

After all, this is where drivers park their cars. Drivers’ cars cost tens of millions, and many drivers live in the UK. When they come to the British Grand Prix, they rarely help team sponsors advertise. Most drivers They all drive their own cars.

Therefore, the protection level of the British Grand Prix driver's parking lot is very high, and there are always people watching at the entrance.

After arriving, Qin Miao got off the car and walked around the track first.

Silverstone is a track that Qin Miao is actually quite familiar with. After all, the Mercedes team's car was tested at Silverstone this year.

Qin Miao also walked the track here when he was in F2 and won the championship. Qin Miao even participated in the British Grand Prix here as a spectator.

But now walking on the track has become a habit of Qin Miao, just like the ancestors said: [before the soldiers and horses are moved, food and grass go first], [review the past to learn the new].

In Qin Miao's view, there is always nothing wrong with planning ahead, and with Qin Miao's character, if he doesn't go to the track during this period, he will usually practice driving to improve his proficiency on the track.

However, Qin Miao has already finished improving his proficiency on the Silverstone track, so now Qin Miao is improving his proficiency on the Hungaroring track.

But doing so will basically not improve Qin Miao's game.

So instead of brushing up on track proficiency in the next race, Qin Miao might as well walk around the track.

To be honest, as long as Qin Miao wanted to race on the Hungaroring, he could push the car like crazy and then finish the race with a red and yellow stop.

Of course, these are things that happened half a month later and have nothing to do with Qin Miao now.

Qin Miao still didn't meet other drivers when walking on the track. Like Qin Miao, most drivers are also very familiar with the Silverstone track. Although there will still be people like Qin Miao who come and walk around the track twice, but Most people will still choose to stay in a comfortable place and do what they love.

After spending two hours, Qin Miao also completed his task of walking the track today. The harvest was pretty good. He found that a road shoulder was not locked. It is estimated that the staff responsible for track maintenance will be deducted.

There is a corner where the driving line is smoothed out a lot. When exiting the corner, you can give a little more fuel than on the simulator. If you exit the corner like this, you can probably increase your lap time by about 0.05 in qualifying.

Then I went to the pre-match press conference. The people who attended the press conference with Qin Miao today were Tsunoda and Perez.

Qin Miaodao didn't feel any surprise after seeing this personnel allocation, but it was obvious that Tsunoda and Perez were very dissatisfied with the official people during the pre-game press conference, so they didn't give them a good look.

After attending the pre-race press conference in a daze, Qin Miao stayed at the team home for a while and asked Allison about the development and manufacturing of the other two parts of the car.

The other party smiled and said that it had already rolled off the production line and had been installed on the racing car today. He was just waiting to see the effect in the first practice tomorrow.

Mercedes still has a certain amount of pressure to develop three parts at once. Otherwise, the new parts would not have just been used in the wind tunnel for a while, and the simulator data had been run for a period of time before being tested on the track with the new parts.

However, Qin Miao still believes in the R&D capabilities of Allison's team. After all, Mercedes has not won so many championships in vain. Without sufficient R&D capabilities, Mercedes would have been disabled by the FIA.

After all, during the period of Mercedes' dominance, the FIA ​​frequently used technical instructions to stumbling upon Mercedes.

And Mercedes can always get around these obstacles by relying on its own strength, which I have to admire.

Therefore, both Qin Miao and Hamilton agreed with the somewhat radical proposal of using untested components during practice sessions.

Even though the practice session is followed by qualifying, they still have enough confidence.

However, Qin Miao did not leave directly after confirming the status of his car. Instead, he found Alyssa and asked her what activities he and Hamilton needed to participate in on Friday and Saturday, or what activities they could participate in. .

To be honest, before Alyssa explained, Qin Miao never expected that there could be so many activities in one Grand Prix weekend.

There are more than a dozen activities, large and small, in one day, including fan meetings, interviews, self-media meetings, autograph signings, and you can even go to the stage to sing at the Grand Prix.

Qin Miao looked through these activities and found five activities that he was more interested in.

(End of this chapter)