How did I become an F1 driver?

Chapter 579 563: Binotto's Gift

In the end, just a few shots were needed.

Therefore, Qin Miao and Toto were asked by the director to re-record a lot of things.

To be honest, Qin Miao participated in the filming of "The Wandering Earth 2", and it received a lot of praise from car fans after its release. At least after seeing Qin Miao's performance in the movie, everyone was happy.

But when Qin Miao was recording here this time, he felt it was more troublesome than when he was filming the movie.

But fortunately, the recording was finally completed before lunch.

The Netflix people hurriedly packed up their things and left the Mercedes headquarters building.

Even walking in a hurry.

It was not until Qin Miao was having lunch with Toto at noon that he found out that although Mercedes-Benz allowed the Netflix crew to come in and shoot the video, they were only given one morning.

After all, no matter what, the place where they filmed the video is the real office area of ​​the Mercedes-Benz team. Although it is not in Toto's office, it will still affect the work efficiency of everyone in the Mercedes-Benz team.

This is not the offseason, there is not much time to waste.

After the Netflix people left, they started editing the video immediately.

Although every year's survival documentary is released after the end of the current season and before the new season begins to warm up.

But Netflix also knows that car fans have nothing to do on this weekend when there is no race to watch, so they just released it.

After all, Netflix believes that all car fans will love this thing.

Just think of it as the trailer for Season 23 of Need for Survival.

This video quickly received a huge response among car fans.

There is a lot of chatter among Ferrari and Mercedes fans again.

【Shall we pose for a photo? 】

[Toto's complexion is visibly getting worse]

[It’s so funny, Qin Miao is just using the opponent’s three-on-one situation to attack, and he just directly uses the king bomb]

【Toto is so stupid】

[I still don’t understand why Qin Miao wants to go to Ferrari. Doesn’t he know about Ferrari’s abstract strategy group? ]

Maybe Ferrari gave too much.

[At this point, I have to quote a passage from Vettel, a famous veteran of Ferrari Red Bull, Ferrari, and Aston Martin]

[Another victim of Erfameng]

[Toto is just a shareholder, not the boss]

[In fact, Qin Miao's departure is definitely a good thing for the FIA. They really hope that the Mercedes dynasty will fall.]

……

As for the comments on the Internet, Qin Miao was just having fun.

It is impossible for him to directly disclose the treatment he received.

This will not do Qin Miao any good, but may cause trouble for his whole life.

This is the only thing worth mentioning this Grand Prix weekend.

During the rest of the time, Qin Miao focused his energy on physical training and familiarizing himself with the next Grand Prix, the Red Bull Ring, the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull Ring has not changed much this season and is still not suitable for the W14's racing characteristics. This track is even the home track of the Red Bull team.

To be honest, after the competition venue came here, Qin Miao didn’t know how to win.

Now the only thing Qin Miao can look forward to is the upgrade of the Mercedes team in the Austrian Grand Prix.

After all, it is a European race, and the Mercedes team has not brought any major upgrades in the past two Grand Prix. According to the information Qin Miao received, Mercedes will at least bring a big upgrade to this race.

However, Qin Miao didn’t know what specific effects these upgrades had, whether they were positive or negative upgrades.

A week passed quickly and it was the Grand Prix weekend. Qin Miao had already arrived in Austria on Wednesday.

At this time, the upgrade package of the Mercedes team has also been confirmed. What surprised Qin Miao was that the team brought two major upgrades this Grand Prix weekend.

A front nose and a bottom plate.

The reason why these are two major upgrades is that these two things are the two most important parts of a racing car in the ground effect era.

Because under the current competition rules, 1% of the downforce of an F80 car is provided by these two components.

However, the Mercedes team faces huge risks in upgrading two aerodynamic components at one time.

Because if something goes wrong with this upgrade, it will be difficult to find the cause.

However, with the insistence of the team design department and Elliott, Mercedes brought both upgrades at once.

First of all, the front wing. The newly upgraded front wing end plate is softer, but it is still not lower than the FIA's testing standards.

If you put a 120-pound person on the front wing end plate, there will be no bending of the front wing end plate.

However, when the W14's tail speed exceeds 270 kilometers per hour, the front wing will deform, which will greatly reduce the downforce of the car's front wing when driving at high speeds.

At the same time, the angle of the front nose wing has also changed, and with the upgrade of the base plate, it can better guide the airflow, reduce turbulence, and stabilize the airflow separation effect.

In short, both Qin Miao and Hamilton are looking forward to the major upgrade brought by the team.

The two also tried out the most intuitive effects of this upgrade on the car in the team's simulator.

To be honest, although we don't know the specific effects of these two upgrades in reality, in the simulator, both of them feel that the condition of the car is much better than before, the balance has been greatly improved, and the W14 is finally no longer so extremely biased.

Of course, the two drivers themselves prefer cars with understeer, and it is impossible for Mercedes to develop the car in the direction of understeer at this time.

Qin Miao feels that while this upgrade has optimized the car's mechanical grip, the loss of the car's tail speed is still within an acceptable range. After all, the number of tracks that can allow the W14 to fully utilize its tail speed advantage is ultimately limited.

This upgrade also gave Qin Miao a little more confidence in the performance of the W14 at the Red Bull Ring.

At least he won't be beaten by Verstappen on the track.

And even without the safety car, I think I would be able to fight with Verstappen.

It would be even better if a safety car appeared. As long as the safety car appeared in the middle of the race, Qin Miao would have a high probability of keeping up with Verstappen's pace on the track.

It would not be difficult to overtake Verstappen directly.

Of course, this is just simulator data, not real data.

For well-known reasons, it is basically impossible for all team simulators to make the performance of the cars in the simulators exactly the same as that of the real cars.

The real effect of this upgrade will only be seen on the track on Friday. In addition, it is worth mentioning that the Austrian Grand Prix is ​​a grand prix with a sprint race.

This is also the most uncomfortable point for Qin Miao.

In a normal race, if I don't beat Verstappen, the opponent will at most open up a 7-point gap on the track, but if there is a sprint race, the gap can be opened up to 8 points.

Although one point may not seem like a lot, in the fight for the world championship, not a single point can be taken lightly.

The key point is that this is Verstappen's home court, which makes Qin Miao feel even more uncomfortable.

This Grand Prix weekend, Qin Miao and Hamilton can only hope that the upgrades brought by the team are effective enough.

In the following time, Qin Miao continued to familiarize himself with the car on the team's simulator until Thursday.

When Qin Miao went to the paddock on Thursday to prepare for the start of the Grand Prix, he met an acquaintance.

It can’t be said that they met, it was the other party who took the initiative to find Qin Miao.

This man is Binotto.

Although Mr. Bee had already resigned from Ferrari at this time, because of the garden holiday, Mr. Bee still could not go to work for another team in the paddock. His garden holiday would last until January 24, .

Therefore, Qin Miao couldn't figure out the purpose of Teacher Bi coming to the enclosure for a while.

However, Qin Miao did not refuse the other party's invitation to meet.

Qin Miao met Binotto in the lounge of the team home behind the Mercedes team's P room.

Qin Miao was a little surprised to see the tall Binotto again.

Because at this time Qin Miao no longer saw the fatigue and frustration that Binotto had when he just left Ferrari.

Binotto now looks a bit like the Binotto when Qin Miao first saw him in the Ferrari P room wearing the Ferrari uniform. The word that stands out is: confidence.

After hugging each other and sitting down, Binotto said to Qin Miao directly before Qin Miao could say anything: "I have already negotiated with Lynk & Co., and I will join Lynk & Co. next season."

Qin Miao was slightly stunned, and then a happy smile appeared on his face.

"That's a good thing! What position did Lynk & Co offer you? Are they going to make you the team leader?"

There is nothing inappropriate or secretive about asking about Binotto's future position now. After all, after Binotto officially joins Lynk & Co, his position will definitely be made public.

“No.” Binotto shook his head and explained: “In terms of team management, I am indeed a little lacking compared to the general management-type team leaders. I don’t have this ability, and I don’t want to continue to take such a big responsibility. So after joining Lynk & Co, Lynk & Co only gave me the positions of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technical Officer.”

Qin Miao touched his chin and thought for a while.

There is no need to elaborate on the Chief Technical Officer. Binotto is a technical person by background and no one can deny Binotto's ability in engine research and development.

As for the Chief Operating Officer…

Perhaps it was also because of Binotto's experience as a team leader at Ferrari. In addition, Lynk & Co is still experiencing constant turmoil, with frequent personnel changes, and it has been recruiting while also laying off employees.

Therefore, we still need someone with a certain influence to act as a stabilizer to stabilize the morale of the troops and recruit more talents in the paddock. After all, Binotto's resume is here, and there must be many technical masters who are familiar with him. With him acting as a middleman, it will definitely be easier to poach people.

Qin Miao nodded, then looked at Binotto's expression and said, "I won't ask anything else. At least it seems that you are quite satisfied with your current situation."

"Of course, it's a very happy thing to be able to return to my old job in another team."

Qin Miao thought of something and asked, "I remember Lynk & Co seemed to be planning to develop its own engine together with Red Bull. If you join now, will it be..."

"Yes." Binotto smiled and nodded at Qin Miao, but didn't say more.

After all, Binotto is still on garden holiday. If he secretly contacts Lynk & Co and gives some guidance on engine development, Ferrari will not say anything. But if he speaks bluntly and it is recorded, it will be a big trouble.

After all, what the paddock lacks the least is reporters who want to make big news.

Qin Miao recalled Binotto's smile. Since Binotto didn't say much here, Qin Miao thought that there were many things inside that could not be said.

But Qin Miao has a hunch that once Red Bull and Lynk & Co’s engines are truly developed, they will become strong opponents on the track.

At least there won't be any weakness in engine performance.

As for stability… who knows?
Maybe the poor engine stability during Binotto's time at Ferrari was not due to Binotto, but rather to the reset within the Ferrari team.

After skipping this topic, Qin Miao chatted with Binotto for more than ten minutes, and then Binotto left.

After all, Binotto is the team leader, and he knows that although there is no race today, Thursday, the drivers are still very busy today, so he doesn't want to disturb Qin Miao for too long. However, before leaving, Binotto took out a small gift box from his pocket and handed it to Qin Miao.

"What? A gift for me?" Qin Miao joked after seeing the small gift box.

Binotto rolled his eyes in annoyance: "How is that possible? A gift for your daughter."

Qin Miao didn't open it either. He took the gift from Binotto with both hands, put it away and said, "I thank you on her behalf."

"Don't you want to open it and see what's inside?" Binotto asked unexpectedly.

Qin Miao shrugged: "Didn't you tell me this is a gift for my daughter? Since it's for her, it's not right for me as a father to open it. Let her open it herself when she grows up."

Binotto didn't care. After making sure Qin Miao accepted the gift, he left on his own.

It was said to be a gift for Qin Miao's daughter, but in fact it was a thank-you gift to Qin Miao.

As for why he should thank Qin Miao, that is Binotto’s own business.

However, what is certain is that this is most likely not something valuable. It should just be a thank you to Qin Miao for helping Binotto find a job that he is satisfied with at Lynk & Co.

As for Red Bull...after Binotto joined Lynk & Co, he must have had some interactions with Red Bull.

After all, it’s no secret that Lynk & Co and Red Bull jointly invest in engine development.

Binotto is a big shot in engine research. No matter who comes, Binotto will think of the connection after joining Lynk & Co.

But Qin Miao was not prepared to understand and study this matter in depth.

After meeting with Binotto, Qin Miao returned to the normal work routine of a Grand Prix weekend.

Meetings, press conferences, practice, track walking, video recording, events, meet-and-greets, after completing the whole process it is almost evening.

Friday, the day for first practice and qualifying.

The rules of the game have become very abstract recently.

There is only one practice session at the Red Bull Ring during this Grand Prix weekend, and qualifying will follow directly after the practice session. This qualifying session will determine the starting order for the race on Sunday.

And then it’s Saturday.

Saturday morning is sprint qualifying, and the afternoon is the sprint race.

Sunday race.

(End of this chapter)