How did I become an F1 driver?

I came to Qin Miao's place for a meal, and they got together to chat for a while in the evening.

After that, Leclerc said goodbye. He would stay in the United States for two days, while Qin Miao took Zhou Guanyu and Qiu Meng back to the UK on his own plane.

Because they embarked on the journey back to the UK at night, Qin Miao and Zhou Guanyu slept directly on the plane, so when they arrived at the place, it was already dawn and they did not have to suffer from jet lag.

However, after arriving in the UK, Qin Miao was surprisingly free.

Because when he arrived at the team factory, there were basically no people working in the factory, and there were more staff responsible for equipment maintenance.

After careful inquiry, I found out that because Mercedes-Benz is still conducting simulator inspections and is also evaluating racing car design concepts, the production of team parts has been stopped directly.

After all, the team is also worried that the W13 is going the wrong way, and the parts produced will be ineffective, wasting the team's budget limit.

Therefore, there is no work for Qin Miao to do in the team.

Therefore, Qin Miao, who has been busy since entering F1 and has not stopped much, has taken some time off this week.

After meeting with Toto, having a meal, and chatting about racing issues, Qin Miao went to Hamilton's house for a meal.

Then Qin Miao invited the technicians of his team to have a meal together. This week, Qin Miao also completed all the maintenance work on the team's interpersonal relationships.

There was no need to deal with the human world, and the team had no work, so Qin Miao and Qiu Meng returned home to Monaco.

In the next few days, in addition to daily training, Qin Miao spent more time with his wife and unlocked many new postures learned from the Internet.

In addition, Qin Miao also took Qiu Meng out to sea for two days to fish.

It can be regarded as a comfortable and undisturbed short vacation.

After a comfortable week, it’s Wednesday again.

Obviously, when the team is evaluating the car, there is no way to continue to upgrade the W13.

Of course, this is not absolute, because the team brought a high-downforce rear wing to this game.

It can be regarded as a rear wing specially prepared by the team for a relatively balanced track like Catalonia before the start of this season.

There is also an aerodynamic package specially prepared for tracks where ultra-high downforce dominates, such as Monaco and the Hungaroring.

But the good news is that after two weeks, the Mercedes-Benz team also discovered the root cause of the simulator problem.

This proves that there is indeed a problem with the racing simulator, and the team has already begun to make modifications to this problem.

But no one knows exactly when it will be completed.

At the same time, the team's evaluation of the current W13 is in a dilemma, because if it wants to fully understand the W13 car, it needs to take up CFD time to analyze the overall aerodynamics of the car.

And it takes a lot of time.

The team has calculated that if it is used normally, the total CFD time left by the team after the W13 evaluation report is released may only be a dozen hours.

What will happen to the subsequent upgrades of the car this season?
But if it is not used, there is no way to guarantee the efficiency or accuracy of the evaluation of the car.

As for the treatment of W13, in addition to these two evaluation plans, a third voice emerged within the team.

That means we simply don’t evaluate it, just give up this season, and just use the existing W13 to carry out development in a specific direction.

For example, by enhancing the car's grip in mid- and low-speed corners and striving to gain sufficient advantages on tracks with many mid- and low-speed corners, at least this season the team can compete for one or two race championships.

Or it can directly increase the tail speed of this car on the straight, further reduce the drag of the car, reduce the downforce caused by the floor, and curb the occurrence of dolphin jumps.

Tuning the W13 in the direction of a muscle car can also achieve good results on specific tracks.

Wait until the team ranking is basically stable at the end of the season and there will be basically no fluctuations, and then all resources will be invested in the B version of the car after the simulator has been completely modified.

There is a huge quarrel within the team over these three plans now, and everyone has their own reasons to make impassioned arguments.

Fortunately, Qin Miao has a system. No matter what kind of car the team gives him, he can bring out the best performance of the car.

What stands out is that there is no choice.

Hamilton, on the other hand, prefers the third option.

Therefore, he often participates in the team's meetings. Hamilton's idea is also very simple. He wants the team to use his own driving habits as a model and develop the car in a direction that feels comfortable to him.

After all, although the current car no longer drove as slowly as in the previous games, he was still a little uncomfortable with the new driving method, and he was unable to squeeze the limits of this car.

However, regardless of the final outcome of the team's internal discussions, there will be no performance improvement in the W13 used by the team in the Spanish Grand Prix after the Miami Grand Prix.

There may even be a drop in performance, because after running a Grand Prix in Miami, the car's engine will wear out, and a single lap may drop by about 0.05 seconds.

Of course, this engine loss will basically not affect the race results of the two drivers.

And the team cannot just embarrass itself here, because a conflict has caused the team's internal research and development of new racing cars to stall.

A solution must be found within a short period of time.

So on Wednesday night, Qin Miao had already checked into a hotel near the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain and started exercising every day. After nearly half a month of quarreling, Brackley finally came to an agreement. Everyone is satisfied with the result.

That means we still have to try to compete for a better ranking this season.

The current season still follows the design ideas of W13. On the basis of W13, it is supplemented by an improved simulator to upgrade the car.

But at the same time, the resources invested in upgrading this car were directly halved, and the remaining half of the resources were all invested in the research and development of new cars for next season.

On the other side, the new chassis and side box design developed by Alisson before the start of this season that only existed on drawings were also brought out again.

As for the issue of some exceeding the budget limit after evaluating the design investment of the new racing car...

Qin Miao has heard that the frequency of communication between the team's engineers and the team's sailing department has increased significantly recently.

Although the FIA ​​has set a budget cap limit for teams, wealthy teams will always find ways to bypass the FIA's review, and this is basically the case for big, wealthy teams.

Things like Ferrari and Alpine’s Le Mans race cars, and the supercars being designed by Red Bull and Aston Martin.

These are all products under the FIA ​​budget cap.

Mercedes' sailing department is also a product of this kind.

Many aerodynamic components of the team are simulated and tested here.

Moreover, Qin Miao also heard someone in the team's work group say that this department has been working overtime every day recently.

But in any case, these things have little to do with Qin Miao now.

All he needs to do now is get ready for the Spanish Grand Prix.

It is worth mentioning that both Ferrari and Red Bull have brought new upgrades this week.

Red Bull is mainly reducing the weight of the car, while Ferrari is updating the aerodynamic efficiency of the car.

In fact, normally, Mercedes' upgrades from the last race would only be applied in this race, but the development speed of those two new parts exceeded the team's expectations, so they were implemented ahead of schedule.

But that's not a bad thing.

Friday.

Because Qin Miao is so familiar with this track, and Qin Miao also fully understood his car in the last game, Qin Miao did not play in the first practice session on Friday.

The driver who drove Qin Miao's car for the first practice test was De Vries, the reserve driver of the Mercedes team.

This is actually a rule of the FIA. Each team must give rookie drivers at least two opportunities to participate in practice sessions a season.

In this game, the team just took this opportunity to eliminate it once.

However, because of this, after Qin Miao entered the racing car during the second training period, he had a lot more work.

But Qin Miao has always been known for his efficient work, so these tasks are not too stressful for Qin Miao and he can complete them easily.

And although De Vries' main goal in this test is to become familiar with the F1 car and accumulate his own F1 mileage, he is also a professional driver and has also done a lot of work for the team.

Soon, Friday was over and it was Saturday.

Qualifying.

The Circuit de Catalunya is a track that all teams have mixed reviews about, because this track is very average, and those teams that are more biased, or those that go to extremes, simply cannot perform here.

But most of the drivers gave this track good reviews, because after finding the right adjustment, this track is quite comfortable to run on.

The tire formulas given by Pirelli this week are the three hardest tires, ranging from C3 to C1.

But the Circuit de Catalunya is a high-speed track with many turns.

Therefore, even though the hardest tires are used, it is estimated that some drivers will choose to stop once during the race, and there is a high probability that there will be two stops. It is not impossible to stop three times.

Therefore, Qin Miao left two new sets of soft tires for the race during the practice session.

In the Q1 stage, Qin Miao showed good speed right from the start. After finishing the race, his lap speed was 1:19.999. This is only Qin Miao's first flying circle.

Because of this result, Qin Miao easily entered Q2.

The Arrow Racing Team also learned from the lessons of the previous race. On the last flying lap of Q1, the team released Zhou Guanyu two minutes ahead of schedule, so the traffic conditions on his flying lap were extremely good, so naturally he There was no obstacle, and Zhou Guanyu also had the opportunity to fully utilize his strength and enter Q2.

It's pretty easy.

The drivers eliminated in Q1 were: Vettel, Alonso, Russell, Stroll and Albon.

Williams is already developing towards muscle cars this season, so the car's straight-line acceleration and tail speed are considered first-tier.

But on a circuit like the Circuit de Catalunya, which tests the overall performance of a car, there is simply no way for the performance of the Williams car to be brought out.

Therefore, neither Williams driver could achieve a satisfactory result.

Time comes to Q2.

Qin Miao’s fastest lap in Q2 was 1:19.400.

This result was directly ranked second when the clock was stopped in Q2, behind Verstappen.

Hamilton also easily ran a result in Q2 that could easily enter Q3.

The results of Qin Miao and Hamilton only made domestic fans happy for a while. Although the Mercedes-Benz team is no longer good, the foundation is still there, and it is no problem to easily enter Q3.

But what really surprised and excited the domestic audience was that in the Q2 stage, Zhou Guanyu defeated Mick Schumacher with a time of 1:20.336, just 0.1 seconds faster than Mick, and entered Q3.

In the end, the drivers eliminated in Q2 of this game were: Mick Schumacher, Norris, Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda, and Gasly.

Q3 stage.

Qin Miao's two Q3 practice sessions had brand new soft tires available.

So Qin Miao ran without any scruples.

In addition to bringing his consistent stability, Qin Miao also showed his limits in this qualifying match.

Qin Miao achieved a score of 3:1 in the first flight lap of Q18.995.

Immediately after the first flight lap of Q3 ended, I came to the first position.

It was a full 0.4 seconds faster than Verstappen, who was second at the time.

This result not only stunned the competitors of the Mercedes-Benz Racing Team in the paddock, but even Toto himself rubbed his eyes in disbelief after seeing Qin Miao's result. Is our racing performance so strong this season? ?
Five Star Sports is also very puzzled.

Fei Ge even said directly: "How can Qin Miao be so fast? You must know that Hamilton's speed is only 1:19.512. Qin Miao is 0.6 seconds faster than his teammate."

Brother Bing gave the answer after thinking for a while: "Is it possible that the track in Catalonia is suitable for Mercedes-Benz cars? And Qin Miao can run better in this flying lap."

Zhou Haoran nodded in agreement: "This possibility cannot be ruled out, because the Mercedes team did not have any upgrades in today's game. On the contrary, Ferrari and Red Bull have upgraded. To be able to appear in this position, I can only say that Qin Miao's lap Runs better.”

And this is indeed the case. Qin Miao's speed in the last lap was so fast purely because Qin Miao ran the last lap well.

Qin Miao was stuck in many corners where the racing tires were at their limit.

Basically, at the exit of every corner, Qin Miao would rush out of the track boundary within a centimeter or two.

Even after finishing this lap and returning to the field, Qin Miao felt that he might never be able to run such a perfect flying lap on the Circuit de Catalunya in his life.

Therefore, Qin Miao, who originally planned to use two new sets of soft tires on the last flying lap of Q3, saved another set of tires.

Because Qin Miao knew that his performance in the last flying lap of Q3 could no longer be improved, so the last flying lap of Q3 was run directly on the old soft tires.

But despite this, Qin Miao finally finished the qualifying match in second place.

Leclerc is first, Hamilton is sixth and Zhou Guanyu is ninth.

After Leclerc took first place in qualifying, he even shouted excitedly in the team TR: "Let's go!!!!"

After the final qualifying round, the rankings are as follows:

1: Leclerc

2: Qin Miao

3: Verstappen

4: Sainz
5: Perez
6: Hamilton

7: Bottas
8: Magnussen

9: Zhou Guanyu
10: Ricardo
After the qualifying match, Qin Miao came to the post-match interview booth for the first time this season.

After getting off the car and looking at a Ferrari and a Red Bull next to him, Qin Miao suddenly felt that things were different.

But he soon regained his composure, shook hands with the two competitors and said hello, and then briefly celebrated with the team staff before weighing in for an interview.

This game didn't have as many bells and whistles as the US station. After going through the normal process, Qin Miao stood in front of the interview table.

The host first congratulated Qin Miao on his ranking in this game, and then asked about Qin Miao's results in this game, as well as his abnormally fast first flying lap.

Qin Miao naturally told the truth and made it clear that he might never be able to make such a good flying circle in his life.

Naturally, it made the audience inside and outside the paddock burst into laughter.

In addition, Qin Miao's pre-game interviews were just formulaic work.

After the interview, Qin Miao returned to the team and was busy for a while, but he did not eat in the team canteen in the evening and went out for a meal with Zhou Guanyu.

In fact, the main reason was that when Zhou Guanyu and Alonso were chatting, he learned about a restaurant with very good local food from Alonso. He told Zhou Guanyu the name and address, and Zhou Guanyu definitely wanted to try the taste after knowing it. After all, strictly speaking, this is Zhou Guanyu's first time in Spain.

The most important thing is that this is a restaurant recommended by my idol, so I have to go there for a meal.

But going to eat alone seemed a bit dry, so Zhou Guanyu simply pulled Qin Miao.

Qin Miao came to Spain alone this week. The main reason is that Qiu Meng needs to go back to her agency to handle some contract-related matters. Many of Qin Miao's endorsement contracts are about to expire. Qiu Meng needs to go over and communicate in advance. The other party is Are you ready to renew the contract or what are you going to do?

If the contract is not renewed, Qiu Meng will also need to help Qin Miao find an endorsement again.

Moreover, Qin Miao also felt that he did not have much opportunity to perform in this grand prix, and the possibility of winning the podium was not too high, so Qiu Meng simply stopped coming this week.

So there were only Qin Miao and Zhou Guanyu during the meal.

The two of them were eating together, and there were no outsiders or girls around, so the topics they talked about were very casual.

And I don’t know why, when I’m with people like Zhou Guanyu, Leclerc and others, I can pick up and chat about anything, and soon I can start to follow a topic and branch downwards without limit.

Maybe in the first 10 minutes, the two of them were eating and chatting about gossip in the paddock, such as who has a new girlfriend, etc., and 10 minutes later, the topic between the two of them may come to whether black or white silk stockings are better. , and after a while it came to mind whether the American moon landing was really true.

While chatting, the topic between the two turned to their own team.

"Speaking of Arrow, I am really convinced by these people. Basically every Grand Prix in my car will have some problems." After chatting in a hurry, Zhou Guanyu naturally started to face Qin Miao Da pours bitter water.

Qin Miao took a sip of Coke, and then said calmly: "It's normal. Ferrari and other teams all have this problem. Although their ancestors may have been richer, they are now in decline. I don't know where this problem developed. At the time, I When I was in Prema, there were often all kinds of little problems with the car, and I'm used to them."

"Ah?" Zhou Guanyu looked at Qin Miao in surprise: "Can there be problems with Prema's car? And if their car has problems, how can you still run so fast?"

Qin Miao shrugged and said: "There is no big problem. After all, F2 is a standard car. Problems with F2 cars can only be caused by the team's inadequate maintenance of the car. What I encountered at that time were some screws that were not tightened. , the radiator coolant was not changed, the foot pedal was not adjusted in place and other minor problems.

Although it is not fatal, it can be said to be a big mistake without making small mistakes. Fortunately, my buddy is strong enough and has a deep enough understanding of racing that he can overcome these difficulties one by one. "

Zhou Guanyu wanted to scold Qin Miao for boasting, but based on Qin Miao's performance in F2, his words could not be regarded as boasting, and could even be said to be stating the facts.

After all, his record at that time was indeed a bit too unbelievable.

"I know you are obviously showing off, but in the face of your words, I am speechless." Zhou Guanyu said helplessly.

Qin Miao grinned: "What are you talking about? Brother, this is seeking truth from facts, and you are just pretending to be cool. This is called candidness."

"Hey, let's not talk about this anymore. Now I just hope that the team will not give me any trouble in this race. My starting position in today's race is good. I don't even expect to advance one or two positions ahead in the race. , I will be thankful to God if I can finish the race with my current ranking." Zhou Guanyu skipped this topic and talked about what he was most worried about in this game.

Qin Miao actually wants to say that the biggest feature of the Ferrari series of teams is that they never disappoint people.

Ferrari is like this, Arrow is like this, and even Haas has more or less the charm of Ferrari.

However, facing the worry in Zhou Guanyu's eyes, Qin Miao could only comfort him: "A Luo is not that stupid. You can't make the same type of mistake twice. Relax and run well."

"I hope so." Zhou Guanyu shook his head.

Then the two quickly changed to other topics.

Eating with friends doesn't involve so many twists and turns and chatting. You pay the bill when you're done eating, and you have time to play games or do other things.

Both of them have a game tomorrow, so after eating, Zhou Guanyu went to pay the bill, and then they went back to rest. (End of chapter)