How did I become an F1 driver?

But after all, he was not the only one in this family, so Qin Miao gave Qiu Meng a call after thinking about it.

"Crooked?" Qiu Meng's somewhat lazy voice reached Qin Miao's ears.

"Did I wake you?"

"It's okay, just tell me."

"Toto gave me half a month's leave during the Spring Festival, but didn't we go back? So I'm a little confused now. Should we take advantage of the holiday to go home for the New Year, or should we still spend it abroad? If In this case, should we invite Toto to our home for a meal?"

"It's up to you to decide." Qiu Meng said still in a daze: "I don't care. Anyway, it's just a matter of adding a few pairs of chopsticks."

But after finishing speaking, Qiu Meng paused again: "If you want to invite Toto to your home to celebrate the New Year, it is not appropriate to invite only him. Elliott, Allison, Meadows and other team directors and supervisors Have you ever considered someone like that? If Zhou Guanyu wants to stay in Switzerland for the New Year, he probably has to invite him over, right? By then, there will be many Sauber drivers among the Mercedes executives, and it won’t be nice to tell anyone. Right? So Hamilton, and the drivers from other teams, do you want to consider it?"

"Stop, I'm starting to have a headache now." Qin Miao quickly interrupted his wife's thoughts and rubbed his eyebrows with a headache: "Let me think about it."

Qiu Meng added at this time: "Of course, if your confidentiality work is good enough or you are calm enough, it should be no problem to just invite the Toto family over for a meal."

"Okay, I'll think about it."

"Okay, I'll take a shower and get up. There's a lot of work in the company recently."

"OK Bye Bye."

"Love you, bye."

After hanging up the phone, Qin Miao continued to rub his eyebrows, not knowing what to do for a while.

Moreover, it seems that my wife really didn’t wake up. Didn’t she tell me that there is an option to go home directly? Why is this the only option to not go home for the New Year?

In fact, Qin Miao misunderstood Qiu Meng, because Qin Miao had never considered this in the first place, so Qiu Meng's parents had already told their neighbors that they would not celebrate the Chinese New Year this year and would go abroad.

If you say it out loud, everyone's faces may not look too good if you suddenly stay in China for the New Year.

The most important and main reason is that you have to be quarantined when you go back.

Qin Miao had a headache for a while, and after he couldn't think of a specific solution, he just threw it away.

At worst, this is the same as the original plan, the family spends their own New Year alone.

After putting the matter aside for the time being, Qin Miao checked his cell phone in his office for a while, then went to the gym at the team headquarters to practice alone for a while before going to the team's factory.

Next it is Qin Miao's working time.

1 April

In the afternoon, the lunch break is over and everyone in the team starts working again.

However, Qin Miao's office was still a little dark because all the sunshades in the office had been closed.

If you look carefully, you can see that Qin Miao is lying on the ergonomic chair and asleep.

But soon, there was a knock on Qin Miao's office door.

As someone knocked on the office door, Qin Miao woke up and said to the door: "Come in." After that, Qin Miao sat up again from the chair that he had put down.

Looking at the tall figure at the door, Qin Miao put away the legrest of his chair and said hello: "Boss."

At this moment, Qin Miao didn't feel at all nervous about being caught sleeping in the office by her boss during working hours. She even stretched after getting up.

Toto didn't care, and even asked with concern: "I didn't disturb your rest, did I?"

Qin Miao waved his hand indifferently: "It's okay, what's the matter?"

As he spoke, Qin Miao reached out and opened the electric curtains in his office. With the almost inaudible sound of the motor turning, sunlight gradually shone into Qin Miao's office.

Toto walked into Qin Miao's office and sat down on the guest sofa before saying, "I remember that last season you had different opinions on the design ideas for this year's version of our car?"

It seemed that he was worried that Qin Miao would think that he was here to ask questions, so after saying this, Toto explained the purpose of his visit and said: "I came here this time to ask you some opinions about racing this season. It's just an opinion." Collection.”

Qin Miao nodded. He did have concerns about the design of the car, but Qin Miao didn't remember that he had said it.

Of course, it may have been brought up from other sources, or it may have been said by oneself but forgotten.

But now that Toto has come to see him specifically, Qin Miao also just expressed all his worries.

Qin Miao picked up his sports bottle and took a sip of water. Then Qin Miao came to Toto and sat down on the sofa.

After thinking for a while, he said: "I do have concerns about this."

Toto made a gesture of invitation: "I'm all ears."

“My main concern is the W13’s sidepods and floor.”

“It is undeniable that in the team’s wind tunnel and CFD simulation tests, the zero-sidepod concept has greatly improved the resistance and weight of the car. It can even increase the overall strength of the car without affecting the heat dissipation capacity of the car. Balance and tire life.

But Toto, we all know that the chassis of a ground effect car relies on the suction generated by the different air flow rates at the upper and lower ends to increase the downforce of the car. In this state, the distance between the edge of our car's floor and the middle of the entire car is a bit too big. Far.

I feel that when driving at high speed, the floor will bend and deform like the front spoiler when driving at high speed, thus affecting the overall aerodynamic layout of the car.

I think the biggest problem for our car next season is not the durability of the engine, but the end speed on the straights. "

Although Toto has a background in finance, as a leader, Toto has an ability that many people do not have, that is, he knows what kind of people to look for for any matter.

Toto knew that at this time he could actually ask Eric Blanding, director of the aerodynamics department, whether Qin Miao was right.

But Toto is also a businessman and a politician in the paddock. He knows that the design of the W13 is basically completed and finalized. At this time, even if Qin Miao is right, Mercedes will not make decisions just because of Qin Miao's words. Change.

So Toto listened carefully to Qin Miao's views and recorded the more important points Qin Miao said in his notebook.

"Qin Miao, I understand your concerns, but the W13 concept has been decided from the beginning. Everything about the car is designed according to the concept of zero sidepods. According to you, if we want to change the sidepods of the car, If so, we would almost have to redesign a W13B from scratch.

You know it's almost impossible, neither me nor the other team directors or the team's budget cap would allow us to do it. "

Qin Miao felt helpless when he heard this, but there was nothing he could do. Just like Toto said, the car had already been built.

But Qin Miao soon came to a turning point: "Of course, what you said makes sense. There are new rules in the new season, and there are always things that cannot be noticed before the car actually drives on the track.

Although I don't want this to be true, I think I'll have to ask Elliott to prepare a design for the car with sidepods.

Of course, this design draft will only stay on the drawing board. If the zero-side box concept really doesn’t work, we will consider Plan B.

I also hope you can understand how difficult it is to manage and operate a fleet. "

After hearing this, Qin Miao at least felt some comfort in his heart. Although Qin Miao didn't know why he vaguely felt that Mercedes' current car design was not good, at least the team had an alternative plan.

"Okay, like you, I don't want this guess of mine to come true, but as there is a saying in my hometown: Be prepared."

Seeing Qin Miao nod and obviously let out a sigh of relief, the expression on Toto's face softened a lot. He covered his pen and leaned back on the sofa behind him again and asked: "What's the matter?" Like? Is this a fake surprise that I approved for you for 15 days?"

"Actually, it's not bad, because this year we are not planning to go back to China to celebrate the New Year, but we are planning to bring both my parents and Qiu Meng's parents over."

"Good idea." Toto said, "But since we are talking about the New Year, I am a little curious, how do Chinese people usually celebrate the New Year?"

Qin Miao raised his eyebrows: "Actually, it's not that clear when expressed in words, and there may even be omissions. If you are really interested, why don't you come to my house to experience it?"

"Won't you bother me?"

"how could be?"

"Okay." Toto agreed readily.

"Then do I need to make any preparations? I remember that Chinese New Year requires red envelopes, right?" Toto even took out his mobile phone at this moment, preparing to start recording the etiquette for Chinese New Year and the like.

Qin Miao thought about it and realized that during the Chinese New Year, the elders do need to give red envelopes to the younger ones. They stay at home on New Year's Eve and go out to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

But overseas, the domestic process will definitely not be completely completed.

After all, Qin Miao basically didn't know who to visit relatives abroad.

Therefore, the process of celebrating the New Year will be simplified, but it is up to the elders of the family to decide how to reduce it.

So Qin Miao just nodded and said: "Elders do need to give red envelopes to juniors, but the amount is generally not too large. If converted, a red envelope is about twenty or thirty US dollars."

Toto lowered his head to write this down, and then asked: "So where can I buy red envelopes?"

"Go shopping in Chinatown. It should be easy to buy red envelopes there."

Toto nodded to show his understanding.

Then the two chatted about other things, but the topic between the two men quickly changed from the New Year to family and the prospects for the next generation. After all, apart from this, Qin Miao and Toto had a common topic There is only one racing car left.

After chatting for more than ten minutes, Toto left.

After sending Toto to the door of his office, Qin Miao sent a message to Qiu Meng.

[The Toto family should be coming over for the Chinese New Year. When he came to the office to see me just now, we talked about the Chinese New Year. I invited him and he actually agreed.]

[Look, there’s no need to worry about this, right? But what about the rest of the team? 】

[It’s unrealistic to invite people. Our family is really not that big. Even if we are invited, we won’t be able to sit down. How about giving each person a red envelope? 】

[Okay, I will arrange this. 】

[Hey, she still has to be my wife. Without you, this family would really fall apart]

[It sounds good, I like it, come more (*^▽^*)]

Looking at Qiu Meng asking for praise on the other end of the phone, Qin Miao couldn't help but smile.

[Should we go to Chinatown in France to buy the things we prepared for the New Year? 】

[Just rest at home. With your face like this, what's the point of showing up? During the Chinese New Year, I will go shopping with my parents, my mother, and my mother-in-law. You can just go about your business honestly.]

[Okay, it’s all up to you! 】

【Nothing to do, I will continue to be busy, bye(`)】

【Bye-Bye】

After chatting briefly with Qiu Meng, Qin Miao moved his body and then went back to work.

Although there is a premonition that the current W13 has gone astray, there is no way. The team will not and cannot turn back until it hits the south wall.

Although Qin Miao is a very important figure in the team, and even people inside and outside the paddock think that he is Hamilton's future successor, in the end, Qin Miao is just a cog in the team, which is just a little more important than other cogs.

My own words may have a certain effect on the details of some car design, but in terms of the overall direction, I can only provide one idea.

After sighing and tidying up his office, Qin Miao went to the team factory in the next building. There was always endless work to do in the team.

On the other side, after Toto chatted with Qin Miao, he returned to his office, created a file of the chat between himself and Qin Miao, then recorded Qin Miao's main demands during the chat, and printed it out. Document archiving.

In fact, Qin Miao's words were somewhat inspiring to Toto, so after returning to the office and filing the files, Toto directly opened the W13 project file on his computer, then looked at the design structure of the racing floor and thought about Qin Miao's words. Will the problems Miao mentioned occur in racing cars?

Before Qin Miao said this, Toto felt that the overall appearance of W13 was perfect, and there was nothing out of place in appearance.

And according to the calculations of the team's engineers, there is no chance that there will be any problems with the floor of the car.

Even from Toto's own subjective perspective, Toto does not want any problems with the floor of the car.

But after hearing what Qin Miao said, Toto now thinks about the W13 chassis in front of him. He feels that this chassis is a bit thin, and the distance between the connection and the side box is a bit far.

But after comparing the data, Toto found no abnormalities or problems in the data.

Just when Toto packed up his things and was about to forget about this matter, just as he just said to Qin Miao, he only regarded this matter as an alternative.

Toto suddenly recalled the serious look in Qin Miao's eyes that revealed a hint of worry when he was talking to him about this matter.

Sighing, Toto took out the file he had just put in the filing cabinet. After thinking about it, Toto called Blanding, the director of the aerodynamics department.

After confirming that the other party was in the office, Toto went over with the documents. After sitting down in Blanding's office, Toto did not treat Qin Miao with the same opening greetings. He directly handed the document in his hand to Blanding and said: "Do you think the W13 might be affected by the rigidity of the chassis?" The problem is that it is deformed by the high-speed airflow when driving at high speed, thus affecting the stability of the car when driving at high speed?”

Blanding didn't think there was anything surprising about Toto's attitude towards him. He took the document handed over by Toto and opened it while saying: "Did you find any problem? I remember that we used CFD for the aerodynamic shape of the W13. Neither the wind tunnel nor the wind tunnel found any problems."

"Is there any possibility of error?"

Blanding shook his head firmly and said: "Basically there is no such possibility. We have conducted cross-validation."

Toto recalled his conversation with Qin Miao again, and then asked tentatively: "What if the ground effect floor is deformed due to excessive suction when driving at high speed?"

"No..." Blanding was about to deny it, but suddenly something seemed to come to his mind: "Wait a minute."

After saying this, Blanding quickly came to his computer, and then retrieved the wind tunnel and CFD simulation data from his computer in front of Toto.

After a while, Blanding took a deep breath and looked at Toto: "Our wind tunnel has wind speed restrictions, so it is really unpredictable how the car will behave when driving at the limit speed. After all, we are also the first We first designed the ground effect floor, but we left a certain margin for the floor at the beginning of the design. If the margin is not enough, we can also connect the floor with reinforcement ribs."

"In other words, if the base plate does deform, we have ways to strengthen the base plate."

Blanding nodded: "Of course, but since you have doubts in this regard, when our new rear wing design is completed and CFD simulation is carried out, we will slightly increase the airflow suction under the floor by an order of magnitude, and then we will show it according to the performance of the car. Adjustments will be made to the nature.”

"But after analysis, I do feel that there may be problems with the floor that we have not discovered." Blanding took off the glasses on his nose and rubbed his temples and said: "Because our simulator does not have simulation data of the ground effect floor. , even we have no experience in setting up ground effect floors, so this data may indeed be wrong.

We have no way of determining the true state of the car before actually conducting winter testing. "

Toto did not answer, but sat in his seat, folding his arms and thinking silently for a while.

Then he said: "I understand, then I still have work to do, so I'll leave first."

Blanding nodded and stood up and said, "Okay, if you have any questions, you can always come to me."

Toto nodded and took away the W13 file.

But after returning to his office again, Toto picked up the phone and called Mike Elliott, who was working in the team factory.

"Boss?"

"Mike, come to my office."

"Now? Okay, I'll be there in five minutes."

Four minutes later, Elliot walked into Toto's office: "Boss, are you looking for me?"

"Sit." Toto pointed to the chair in front of him.

After Elliot sat down, Toto handed a new document to Elliot and said, "Put your work on the R&D and improvement of W13 aside for now."

Elliot was still a little confused when he took the document from Toto. If he didn't want to focus on the perfection and development of the car for the new season at the factory, why would he just call him over and give him this?

At the first moment, he began to reflect on himself, wondering if there was any work he had not done well during this period, so that Toto was ready to quit before the start of the 22 season.

I haven't done anything recently, why did you get rid of me?

Then he saw that Toto gave him a budget approval document, giving him a budget of US$500 million.

When he received the money, Elliott was still a little confused about the situation, because the budget cap of all F1 teams is now strictly limited to $1.45 million.

Therefore, this amount of money is definitely not a small sum for all teams.

This money can even directly upgrade a key part of the car.

Just when Elliot was a little curious about why Toto had granted him the money and what exactly he was going to use the money for, what Toto said next made Elliot's brain smoke.

"I'm a little worried that there are problems with the design of the car this season, so I want you to put down most of the improvement work on the W13 at hand now, and rebuild it based on the current car during the period before the start of the winter test. Design a set of sidepods and floor panels.”

After hearing these words, Elliot's mind, which was still a little confused, suddenly froze, and then the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Elliot, who just thought that 500 million was a bit too much, suddenly started to have a headache. Let’s not talk about why Toto suddenly had such an idea, but if he really followed Toto’s request, this point Money was obviously not enough when facing Toto's request.

Moreover, it is only one month before the 22 Eastern Test, and I am not Doraemon. I can make an awesome prop just by taking it out of my pocket.

This is a redesign of the floor and side cases. Not to mention a month, half a year is considered short, and the budget given is also seriously insufficient!

Of course, in addition to complaining crazily in his heart, Elliot was also a little surprised that Toto also saw the design flaws of the W13.

Of course, Elliott did not question Toto's decision. If Toto could see that there was a problem with the design of the car and talk to him about it, and then stand up to express his doubts, it would not be clear that he was Isn't it better than Toto to understand racing design?

It might be okay for engineers in other positions in the team to say that, but as the team's technical director, Elliott can't say that.

Moreover, Elliott does not dare to mention the matter of time and budget now, because he also knows that due to the limitations of the budget cap, it is impossible for the team to spend as much money on racing research and development as before, and I guess Totobi I still feel uncomfortable.

So after receiving Toto's mission, Elliot just said with some doubts: "Do you really want me to withdraw now?"

Toto nodded and said firmly: "Yes, it's you.

And you are solely responsible for the design of these two key components, and there is no need to report to Allison. "

"What about Alisson?"

"He will be responsible for continuing to improve W13."

"I know, I'm alone..."

"You can take away a quarter of the people in the design department."

"Okay, when will I start research and development of new parts?"

"Now."

……

After Elliot left, Toto called Allison again and told him about it.

Allison agreed to Toto's arrangement without much hesitation.

The two of them did not have any emotional fluctuations because the mine was removed from their hands or they took over a new mine.

In fact, this is because the atmosphere inside Mercedes-Benz is so good.

Because it has been winning all the way in the past few years, it can be said that because it has been winning races, all the conflicts within the Mercedes team have been suppressed by victory.

Therefore, a no-blame culture was born within the Mercedes-Benz team. This means that after a staff member makes a mistake, his leader and the team's senior management will not hold the staff member responsible for making the mistake, and will even take the initiative to help him. Pick up the pieces.

Just don't make a different mistake next time.

Therefore, the two technical leaders of Mercedes-Benz accepted this matter calmly and did not feel any happiness or dissatisfaction.

And Elliot has nothing to worry about because of insufficient time and budget. He just needs to do his best within the specified time. However, without full support, he will neither be scolded nor be punished. Wages will be deducted.

After this matter was handled, Toto handled some other business in his office. After all the work for today was handled, Toto let out a sigh of relief.

Feeling a little stuffy, he took off his coat and hung it on the chair behind him. Then Toto leaned on his chair, enjoying this rare leisure.

But after sitting for a while, Toto felt uneasy, so he walked to the window of his office and prepared to take a look at the scenery.

However, as time went by, instead of feeling better, Toto's brows even wrinkled deeper and deeper.

Toto has a hunch that this year the team will not be as competitive as last year.

But soon, Toto saw Qin Miao walking out of the team factory through the glass of his office. Qin Miao came out with many team engineers.

Judging from the way Qin Miao chatted happily with the engineers, Qin Miao had a very good relationship with them.

Toto couldn't help but smile. He went to the team's R&D department every day. Although he said he would never work overtime again, he would still come to the team factory whenever he had time. How could Qin Miao, who was a team member, have a relationship with the team's staff? What about a bad relationship?

After seeing them leave, Toto raised his hand and looked at his watch. Unknowingly, it was already time to get off work.

After putting down his hands, Toto watched Qin Miao get on the somewhat treacherous modified version of Ferrari 488GT3.

Then watched him leave the motorcade.

After watching this for a while, Toto suddenly felt that his tense nerves relaxed a lot.

At least Qin Miao can see both his talent and hard work. Even if the team encounters difficulties in a short period of time, Toto feels that Qin Miao can take the team to a new height in the future.

Of course, both Toto and the team actually want Hamilton to win his eighth driver's world championship as soon as possible.

After all, Qin Miao has a bright future, but if Hamilton really wins eight championships, then the Mercedes team will be as famous in history as Hamilton.

Of course, these are all things for later.

……

The next day the FIA ​​gave out the registration fees for the super license next season.

The first thing that domestic car fans are most concerned about is Qin Miao’s super driver’s license registration fee for the 2022 season.

It is reported that because Qin Miao scored 394 points last season, when applying for a super driver's license this season, Qin Miao needs to pay a registration fee of 837800 pounds to the FIA.

In addition to the basic fee of 10400 pounds that everyone must pay, the other 827400 points are calculated from the points obtained by Qin Miao, and one point is 2100 pounds.

In total, Qin Miao needs to pay approximately RMB 7632000 to the FIA.

Qin Miao was shocked when she found out that her registration fee was so expensive.

There were too many. For a moment, Qin Miao wondered whether the FIA's annual operations depended on the registration fees paid by the drivers.

And the purpose of setting up the sprint competition is to increase the points in the sprint competition in the future, and rely on these extra points to generate income.

Of course, Qin Miao was just surprised for a while and didn't feel any physical pain.

Because Qin Miao did not have to pay for this money at all, Ineos, one of the directors of the team, helped Qin Miao pay the full amount of the money.

Mainly to thank Qin Miao for choosing the same color as Ineos.

To put it simply, Ineos thinks Qin Miao's painting is very pleasing to the eye, so they paid you the money.

There is also the fact that Latifi really lost his seat in F1 and became Williams' substitute driver, just like the rumors in the paddock.

The driver who took his place was Red Bull's abandoned son, Thai driver Alexander Albon.

As for why Albon took over, there are different opinions.

But the theory that got the most votes was that Mercedes used its strength and allowed Williams to kill Latifi.

Of course, some people say that Russell thought that being with Latifi would make it difficult for the team, so he persuaded Albon, who was looking for a job, to apply for Williams. Then Albon, who had not touched a car for a year, found himself in the team simulator. The speed was nearly a second faster than Latifi's.

But no matter how the ball is passed in the paddock, Williams this season is Russell's partner Albon.

Apart from that, there are no more personnel changes in the paddock this year.

……

1 month 29 day.

Because today is Saturday, the factory is on holiday, and Qin Miao is going back to Monaco today, so Qin Miao did not go to the factory after getting up in the morning.

Instead, he went directly to the airport after completing his daily exercise at home.

Qin Miao also called Leclerc on the way to the airport.

After getting on the plane, Qin Miao did not go directly to France, but went to Switzerland first.

Because of Qin Miao, Zhou Guanyu did not stay in China during the vacation. Like Qin Miao, he came to the team factory early to help the team develop the car for next season.

Because Zhou Guanyu and Qin Miao did not plan to go back to celebrate the New Year, Qin Miao took Zhou Guanyu with him and went home to celebrate the New Year together. There were many people and it was lively. (End of chapter)