How did I become an F1 driver?

Chapter 553: Ferrari: I can't win the championship, but I can be the champion driver

Qin Miao frowned: "Even if it was revealed, there is no reason for almost everyone I know to call me without us confirming it, right?"

"Boss, someone released Ferrari's internal promotional copy. Originally, this was nothing. Then a hacker hacked into Vassell's email and found the copy that Vassell asked Ferrari's publicity department to send during the Imola Grand Prix. The two documents confirmed the fact that you will leave Mercedes and join Ferrari next season."

"But we didn't admit it, did we?"

"We and Ferrari did not admit this, but the other party proved that it was indeed Vassell's work email address, and the email did exist..."

……

Sighing, Qin Miao said helplessly: "Okay, I understand. You guys draft a statement to inform the fans about this. Now that it's already known, don't try to hide it. It will make us look more straightforward if we speak out directly."

"Ok."

After hanging up the phone, Qin Miao called back the friends and colleagues who had called him first.

The first one is Zhou Guanyu.

"What? Qin Miao, you bitch, I finally got through to you on the phone. Have you read the news online? Is it true? Damn, are you really going to Ferrari?"

As soon as the call was connected, Zhou Guanyu bombarded him with questions. Qin Miao reluctantly moved the phone a little further away before saying, "It's true."

"Fuck! You're really going to Ferrari? Damn, you don't treat me as a brother, right? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Qin Miao scratched his ears and turned the phone to speaker mode: "This is not a big deal. My contract with Mercedes-Benz has expired. Ferrari is talking to me and Mercedes-Benz is also talking to me, but Ferrari offered a price that Mercedes-Benz can't give, and I am very tempted. Of course, I will not refuse Ferrari's kindness.

It's just a normal business practice. I don't understand why you are making such a fuss."

“No, this is a Ferrari.”

Qin Miao curled his lips: "Even if he is Ferrari, hasn't he won the world championship in 16 years? Now they are trying to save the country in a roundabout way, and they want to rely on me to help Ferrari win the world championship again.

So in my eyes, Ferrari today is not that cool.”

"Hiss~" Zhou Guanyu on the other end of the phone took a breath of cold air: "Don't say it, don't say it, it seems that Ferrari really might have this idea when he asked you to come over."

"Okay, I won't talk nonsense with you anymore. I just want to tell you that I really want to join Ferrari. I still have to call other people. I feel like I can't rest well today because I'm busy on this phone."

"Okay." Zhou Guanyu also knew the priorities of the matter, but he soon found something wrong: "Oh, that's not right. Although today is Sunday, do you, an F1 driver, have time to rest?"

"This is the difference between the F1 world champion and ordinary drivers. Step down." After saying that, Qin Miao hung up the phone.

"You ma..."

Qin Miao scratched his head. Did Zhou Guanyu say anything before hanging up the phone?
But it doesn’t matter. After all, he has a lot of things to do today, so he quickly called Leclerc again.

After the call was connected, Leclerc was obviously more excited than Zhou Guanyu. After all, in Zhou Guanyu's eyes, Qin Miao just went to the team that he had always longed to join but could not go to.

Even for Zhou Guanyu, Qin Miao going to Ferrari was not incomprehensible and predictable.

Given Qin Miao's ability and his background, he must have feelings for Ferrari.

But for Leclerc, the news that Qin Miao suddenly became his teammate was really too sudden.

And this matter is basically confirmed, although when Leclerc asked Vasseur, Vasseur remained silent and did not give Leclerc a clear answer.

However, when Leclerc asked this question, Vasseur did not explicitly deny it, which basically sent a clear signal to Leclerc that Qin Miao would indeed join Ferrari next season.

Although he already had a guess in his heart and it had been confirmed by many parties, Leclerc still didn't dare to believe his guess before getting a clear answer from Qin Miao.

After all, this kind of thing has a huge impact on Leclerc.

Now that Qin Miao's call finally came, Leclerc picked up the call immediately.

"Qin Miao?"

"Yes, it's me." Qin Miao didn't wait for Leclerc to ask. After all, he knew what the person who called him at this time wanted to ask: "It's true. We are going to be teammates next season. How about it? Are you scared?" Qin Miao confirmed what Leclerc wanted to know most right from the start.

Leclerc spent a long time thinking about how he should face Qin Miao after Qin Miao joined Ferrari and how the two should get along with each other.

When two people's cars have the same performance, it is inevitable that they will get entangled on the track. However, if during the entanglement, both sides get really angry, or even collide and retire directly, will it affect the friendship between the two?

To be honest, Leclerc was indeed a little worried about losing his friend Qin Miao due to competition within the team. Not only because Qin Miao's cooking was delicious and Leclerc could have no psychological burden when he went to his house for a meal, but also because Leclerc felt that Qin Miao had a good personality and was comfortable to get along with. He also believed that Qin Miao was a true friend worth making friends with.

But now that the call was connected, Qin Miao's words dispelled Leclerc's worries. At least judging from the current performance of this bastard, even if he knocked him out of the race, he would not bear a grudge against him.

But Leclerc would not admit defeat verbally: "Fuck you, your two world championships in Mercedes-Benz are just luck. Mercedes-Benz's car performance just suits your driving style. You waited for Ferrari to come, and I will block you on the track!"

Qin Miao smiled slightly: "Sure, I will start all the races with hard tires, and block your pit window on the track. When you come out of the pit area and fall behind me, I will use up the durability of your new tires before you pit to change tires! I will disgust you to death!"

"Fuck you, when we entered the pits to change tires, I bribed my crew to deliberately make mistakes when changing your tires!"

"Then I will bribe the engineers in the team's manufacturing department to cut corners when making the upgrade key for you. Halfway through the race, your front nose will break directly when it passes through those harder and higher paths."

……

On the other side, at Leclerc’s home in Monaco, his girlfriend saw that Leclerc was absent-minded and was waiting for Qin Miao’s call anxiously.

But when Qin Miao really called, the two of them did not have any friendly communication. After chatting for a few words, they started to swear at each other, and the topic of their insults was quite... childish.

It was like two elementary school students quarreling.

But the key point is that one of them is the youngest double champion in F1 history, and the other is the pride of Ferrari and the hero of the people of Monaco.

He shook his head helplessly.

A man who never grows up~
……

After Qin Miao finished chatting with Leclerc, Qin Miao still had a lot of people to notify, so he didn't chat with Leclerc any more.

After hanging up the phone with Leclerc, Qin Miao started calling other familiar people one by one.

Qin Miao called back basically everyone who called him and had a brief chat with them for a while.

Qin Miao was busy until the afternoon, finally satisfying the curiosity of his acquaintances one by one.

But this was just dealing with his own social circle. After this incident was exposed and Qin Miao acknowledged it on social media a few hours later, the entire paddock exploded.

Countless spectators enthusiastically joined the army of spectators, saying that this is what they love to watch.

Qin Miao's fans are more likely to have a rational discussion about Qin Miao's decision, analyzing which direction of the two teams' cars will go to will bring more advantages and benefits to Qin Miao.

After all, they only like Qin Miao, the person, not the team he is in.

But for fans of Mercedes and Ferrari, their feelings after hearing the news were completely different.

Mercedes fans really felt like the sky was falling.

Last season, Mercedes fans could see that Mercedes' car performance was not as good as Red Bull's. Qin Miao won the driver's world championship entirely because of the stable performance of Qin Miao's personal ability, plus a little bit of luck.

Ever since Hamilton failed to snatch the world championship from his rookie teammate in the first season when Qin Miao joined Mercedes, he has been a little discouraged in the last two seasons. Although his strength has not declined significantly, everyone can see that the old man does not have the prestige he once had.

So far, in the eyes of many Mercedes fans, the Mercedes-Benz family is now completely supported by Qin Miao alone.

We were still waiting for the Mercedes-Benz team to announce the contract renewal with Qin Miao in the middle of the season. After all, every car fan knows that there is no reason for the Mercedes-Benz team to give up on such a strong driver.

But the sudden bad news told them that the backbone of Mercedes-Benz had run away. This news was like the sky falling for all Mercedes-Benz fans.

But the situation is completely different for Ferrari fans.

Ferrari fans have a natural liking and filter for Qin Miao. After all, Qin Miao is a driver who came out of Ferrari's youth training academy. When he was in F2, Qin Miao served in the F2 team Prema, which has a close relationship with Ferrari. He also created an unprecedented and unparalleled result in F2, forcing the FIA ​​to modify the F2 competition rules.

At that time, many Ferrari fans began to look forward to the powerful combination of this talented driver from China and Leclerc to make Ferrari great again.

It is not difficult to see from many of Qin Miao's interviews that Qin Miao really wanted to join Ferrari back then.

But as expected, an accident happened.

Ferrari's damn internal political struggle gave Mercedes an opportunity. After Ferrari introduced Sainz and Qin Miao's seat at Ferrari was completely lost, Toto took advantage of the situation and directly paid Qin Miao the penalty for breach of the rookie contract, and brought Qin Miao from Maranello to Brackley.

Toto didn't even go through the normal contract signing process, but hastily forced Qin Miao to join Mercedes-Benz. It seemed as if Toto was afraid that Ferrari would not let him go.

In fact, at the beginning, many senior executives within Mercedes-Benz were quite dissatisfied with Toto's approach.

There were even many discordant voices from outside, who believed that Toto had broken the established rules of the paddock.

However, as time went by, these voices of doubt gradually disappeared, because Qin Miao brought two world championships to Mercedes-Benz.

Qin Miao's performance also proved the stupidity of Ferrari's top management and Toto's keen eye for talent.

But now everything is different, because the great Qin Miao is finally returning to his loyal Maranello!
[Open the champagne! I must open the champagne now! ]

[It’s Chinese New Year, all Iron Buddha temples are celebrating Chinese New Year! 】

[I didn’t expect that I would see Qin Miao return to Maranello this day]

[Qin Miao! You are my father!] [Finally, will I see Ferrari win the drivers' championship again in my lifetime?]

[Don’t be too happy too soon. After Qin Miao arrives in Maranello, whether he can adapt to the Ferrari car is still a question.]

[And don’t forget, Ferrari has a tradition of making things happen. What if Qin Miao is given a more abstract pit stop strategy during the race?]

[With the Leclerc incident as a precedent, everyone should not have too high expectations for this transaction. It is best to look at it calmly.]

[I hope Qin Miao is happy in Ferrari]

……

After Qin Miao confirmed the news, almost all Ferrari fans in the streets and alleys of Italy cheered.

People took to the streets with wine glasses in their hands, clinking glasses with their familiar friends and celebrating Qin Miao's return.

Tiefu Monasteries all over the world sent congratulatory messages.

It seems that as long as Qin Miao returns to Maranello next season, he will be able to bring Ferrari the world championship that they have not won for many years.

Even the insults from some extreme Mercedes fans were drowned out by the cheers from the Iron Buddha Temple, just like a drop of sewage entering the sea, disappearing without a trace.

There is no way. Although Mercedes has won countless team championships and driver championships in recent seasons, Ferrari has a very long history. Because of this long history, Ferrari has accumulated a huge fan base.

This is called background.

As for Qin Miao, after confirming that the news could no longer be concealed, he felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders, and he felt a lot more relaxed.

After all, with Qin Miao's personality, he would just say whatever is on his mind. Keeping things in his heart would make him feel uncomfortable.

Qin Miao, who had already dealt with his affairs on Monday and Sunday, thought he would have a lot more free time today.

But the calls still kept coming, but this time most of them were from domestic sponsors.

After all, Qin Miao's change of fleet was a big deal for them, so Qin Miao was busy for the whole afternoon.

However, in the evening, Qin Miao received a call from Leclerc, who invited Qin Miao to his house for dinner.

It’s not far anyway, and Qin Miao is really not used to the food in the Monaco Palace. For someone who is used to heavy oil and salt, the food in the Monaco Palace is indeed a bit too bland.

So Qin Miao did not refuse and went to Leclerc's house.

"Damn it, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Although the two had already communicated on the phone, Leclerc still punched Qin Miao in the chest in annoyance after meeting.

Qin Miao smiled and patted the spot where Leclerc punched him, then helplessly spread his hands and said: "You can't blame me, Ferrari has a need for publicity, and Mercedes doesn't want this news to be spread and affect the morale of the team.

Neither side was prepared to release this news in the short term.

The original time point for releasing this news was before last week's Imola Grand Prix.

After all, you know, Ferrari's performance this season has not been good. I heard that the tickets for the Imola Grand Prix were not sold out.

So Vasseur's original plan was to announce this news before the start of the Imola Grand Prix to boost the morale of Ferrari fans and promote ticket sales.

But as you know, the original Imola Grand Prix was forced to be cancelled, so we did not intend to announce this news as originally planned.

But in the end, I don’t know who made the news public, so… it was a mess.”

"The results are the same."

"Yeah, the result is the same."

Leclerc shrugged: "But at least for Ferrari fans, the cancellation of the Imola Grand Prix in exchange for a top F1 world champion joining Ferrari is not a loss."

Qin Miao shook his head: "The matter has already been exposed. There is no need to dwell on it any longer."

Leclerc turned his head and thought about it, that's right.

"Anyway, I'm already looking forward to the scene where you join Ferrari next season and our cars have the same performance and I beat you on the track."

Qin Miao sneered: "Just you? Practice more."

Seeing that the two men were about to quarrel over something very childish, Leclerc's girlfriend had no choice but to intervene between them: "Okay, gentlemen, stop chatting at the door. Dinner is ready. Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner."

Seeing the harmonious atmosphere between the two being interrupted, Qin Miao and Leclerc were both stunned. Then Leclerc gave Qin Miao a hug and said, "Long time no see. Welcome to join the Ferrari family."

Qin Miao also reached out and patted Leclerc on the back: "Not joining, but returning."

Leclerc's girlfriend is a local of Monaco. His father is also a well-known figure in the local area. He owns a casino, and it is a chain of casinos. From this, we can know that his family is quite rich.

And the two have been together for a long time. Judging from Qin Miao's experience, he estimates that the two will get married soon.

But strictly speaking, this was their private matter after all, and Qin Miao did not ask too much.

Therefore, in Qin Miao's opinion, it is normal for such a pampered young lady not to know how to cook.

But what surprised Qin Miao was that the meal tasted quite good.

Seeing Qin Miao's surprised expression, Leclerc's girlfriend snorted: "You, the F1 world champion, can cook well, why can't I? I even have more time to learn how to cook than you."

Qin Miao smiled and raised his water cup to toast Leclerc's girlfriend: "I was too arrogant to look down on you."

……

The meal tasted pretty good to Qin Miao, but Qin Miao also knew that Leclerc didn't call him over to have dinner with him.

So after dinner, the two went to Leclerc's study together.

Of course, for F1 drivers, the study room serves more of an entertainment purpose, and few people actually read in the study room.

There was nothing special inside Leclercq's study. Although there were books, Qin Miao had so many years of reading experience that he could tell at a glance that these books were not often read and each one was very new.

Of course, what attracted Qin Miao's attention most in Leclerc's study was the racing simulator with the Ferrari logo.

Qin Miao had experienced the Ferrari simulator before. To be honest, compared with Mercedes-Benz, the Ferrari simulator is even better.

This is not referring to external facilities. As top teams, the two teams' peripherals are specially customized by equipment manufacturers. There is no difference in quality, just the feel is different.

What Qin Miao said here is better, referring to the difference in the degree of realism during simulation.

Ferrari's simulator feels closer to reality and the data is more accurate. Mercedes' is slightly worse, but not by much.

As for other teams, Qin Miao naturally doesn't know since he has never tried it. However, Qin Miao feels that unless he retires, it will be difficult for him to have the opportunity to try other teams' simulators.

Qin Miao found a lazy sofa in Leclerc's study and lay down, then Leclerc poured him a glass of water.

F1 drivers not only have strong physical fitness, but also have excellent body absorption ability.

So the drivers basically don’t drink beverages. Maybe Qin Miao has some cola or other beverages at home, but most F1 drivers except him usually drink water in their daily lives, or drink some electrolyte supplement beverages, but the electrolyte beverages don’t taste very good.

So drivers drink water most of their daily lives.

After Qin Miao sat down, Leclerc also sat down on the lazy sofa next to Qin Miao.

After sitting down, Leclerc looked at Qin Miao and said seriously: "Some things need to be discussed in advance. Friends are friends, but when it comes to the race, work is work. Seek truth from facts. No one can let down their guard during the race."

Qin Miao said: "Of course, whoever lets the opponent win during the game is a grandson!"

After waiting for a while, Qin Miao asked: "And then?"

"What then?"

"You asked me to come to your house for dinner, isn't that just for this?"

"Forehead……"

Qin Miao: ?
"Hahaha, just kidding, just kidding." Leclerc looked at Qin Miao's speechless expression and waved his hand with a smile: "I asked you to come here this time, in addition to talking about this matter, I am also a little curious, what conditions did Ferrari offer you?"

Qin Miao frowned slightly: "It's okay to tell others about this kind of thing, but you are also a Ferrari driver, so it's a bit inappropriate to tell you, right?"

"Oh, that's nothing. I'm just a little curious about how big the gap is between you and me in the eyes of Ferrari's top management."

Qin Miao thought about it for a moment and realized that money and other things were secondary. After all, Qin Miao himself was the driver who participated in the least social activities in the paddock. So in terms of income, even if Ferrari gave Qin Miao more annual salary than Leclerc, Leclerc's actual annual income was still higher than Qin Miao's.

So Qin Miao gave up hiding it after a little hesitation, but Qin Miao did not tell me his annual salary or anything, he just said: "One of the conditions Ferrari gave me is that I can decide the direction of the research and development of the car. In addition, I can also decide the appointment of my crew members."

"Ah?" Leclerc was shocked after hearing about the treatment Ferrari gave Qin Miao: "Are you here to race or to be a senior executive?"

Qin Miao smiled and shrugged, saying, "Why do you think I abandoned Mercedes, which has the potential to compete for the championship, and chose Ferrari instead? Because they offered too much."

(6K, still owe 1/2 due for leave)

(End of this chapter)