How did I become an F1 driver?

Of course, there were situations on the field that surprised Qin Miao and the old man, and naturally there were also situations that surprised others.

The performance of the two Mercedes drivers on the track exceeded everyone's expectations.

The old man's last flying lap was a time of 1:26.555 directly on the track.

The three sections of results were green, purple and purple, which directly took the first place by 0.2 seconds faster than Verstappen's last flying lap.

It is undeniable that Silverstone is a high-speed circuit, but at the same time, it is also a circuit that has certain rigid requirements for the downforce of the car.

But then again, the second and third time sectors of the Silverstone Circuit do benefit from the W2's characteristics.

These two timing segments completely concealed the disadvantage of the W14's insufficient grip in corners.

And the old man is the home driver after all.

Therefore, when the old man refreshed his green and purple record to first place and crossed the finish line, warm cheers immediately broke out from the crowd of British fans on both sides of the track. Even through his helmet, the old man could hear the sound clearly.

But the race was not over after all. Qin Miao was the last one to cross the finish line and start his last flying lap.

In the first timing period, Qin Miao got a yellow card.

In fact, Qin Miao did not make any mistakes in this timing period. Qin Miao himself didn't know why he got yellow. It was probably because the track conditions in the previous flying lap were better or for some other reason.

But it was not a big problem. Qin Miao was only about 0.02 slower than the previous lap.

However, Qin Miao performed as well as Hamilton in the second and third periods.

It can be said that the track Qin Miao is most familiar with, besides the Imola circuit in Italy and the Shanghai circuit in China, is Silverstone.

I won't go into details about the reasons for participating in the last race. As for the other two tracks... After all, the two teams that Qin Miao had served for were based near these two tracks, so he naturally had more time to practice on these tracks.

Coupled with Qin Miao's system skills, Qin Miao's understanding of the track has now reached an extremely terrifying level.

I remember that FOM once held a small interview-type event.

It is to let the drivers draw the general layout of the track in the air with their fingers according to their memory.

The drawings of other drivers were either crooked or completely weird, deviating from the original shape of the track.

Qin Miao actually drew the complete map of the Silverstone circuit given by the interviewing reporter in the air. It was the standard answer. Qin Miao even marked the location of the DRS detection point and the details of DRS.

He even drew the starting line, and he drew it in the air.

The track was not as crooked as that of other drivers, and the final starting point and end point were connected together by Qin Miao.

Qin Miao's bold move stunned the FOM staff.

No, buddy, are you really good at it?
We are here to have fun, to see how abstract the drivers can draw, not to see you show off!

……

So much so that after this episode was released, car fans unanimously thought that FOM was posing for the photo.

【really】

[Fuck, are you serious? ]

[Konghua drew this thing directly? ]

【Awesome! 】

[It’s a staged photo, definitely a staged photo! ]

……

But no matter what, this small event at least proved one thing, that is, Qin Miao's familiarity with Silverstone is at a historical level.

Therefore, knowing that he had made a small mistake in the first section, Qin Miao started to push the car to the limit if he did not push it to the limit in the next two sections. He would basically not be able to get a good result in this lap and would have to waste a set of soft tires.

In the end, Qin Miao got yellow, green and purple in the three timing segments, got a classic color combination and crossed the finish line.

Final result: 1:26.505.

Just 0.05 seconds faster than the old man.

And before that...

"Okay, we saw that Qin Miao had yellow and green marks in the first two scoring periods respectively. This lap for Qin Miao may be a bit difficult." Before Qin Miao crossed the finish line, the three commentators of Five Star Sports no longer had much hope for Qin Miao's last lap.

Fei Ge, who no longer expected Qin Miao to catch up with Hamilton, asked: "Can Qin Miao be ahead of Verstappen after this lap?"

Zhou Haoran shook his head and said, "It's unlikely. Qin Miao was 0.1 seconds slower than Hamilton in the first two time periods. For top drivers like them, a 0.1 second time difference is actually very large."

However, not long after Zhou Haoran finished speaking, Qin Miao rushed across the finish line and took first place.

The three commentators who had not been optimistic about Qin Miao's flying circle performance just now suddenly stood up from their seats and cheered loudly: "Beautiful!"

"Qin Miao! He did it!"

"Pole position! After 5 races, Qin Miao finally got the pole position again!"

"It's not easy."

"It's unbelievable. Qin Miao really gave us a big surprise in today's qualifying match."

……

[Nana… Naina is alive?! ]

[It can be seen that these three people from Five Star Sports still love Qin Miao]

[Although sometimes seeing these three people from Five Star Sports praising Qin Miao really makes my blood pressure soar, but this kind of reverse power milk can still be a little more]

[Thank you for not killing me]

[Qin Miao, awesome]

【It's really worthy of being the home court】

[In the last game, Red Bull was at home and the two Mercedes drivers were unlucky. In this game, Mercedes was at home and Perez was unlucky. Qin Miao and the old man took home 12]

……

After crossing the finish line, Qin Miao breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had won the pole position. He then stretched out his hand and shouted loudly: "Let's fucking go!"

Qin Miao has actually been under a lot of pressure recently, after all, he hasn't been in pole position for a long time.

Moreover, he was always suppressed by Verstappen during the race and had no room to perform, and the points gap was widened further and further by Verstappen.

Although Qin Miao acted as if he didn't care, he was actually holding his breath in his heart.

The pole position in this race has now released half of this breath of air, and the other half will probably have to wait until we win the race.

As long as there are no accidents during the race, even if the durability of his tires has dropped so much for some unknown reason, Qin Miao is still confident of winning the championship in this race.

As for the old man...

Wish him good luck (laughs)!
Finally, the rankings of the qualifying stage are as follows:

1: Qin Miao 1:26.505
2: Hamilton

3: Verstappen

4: Norris
5: Piastri
6: Leclerc

7: Sainz
8: Albon
9: Alonso
10: Gasly
There is nothing much to say about Qin Miao and the old man's results. They are playing at home and on a track suitable for the W14, so it is normal for them to surpass Verstappen.

As for McLaren's Norris and Piastri... In fact, the British Grand Prix is ​​also the home race of the McLaren team.

The McLaren team has also undergone adjustments and reorganizations in its R&D department during this period, and McLaren just happened to bring new upgrades to today's race.

It can be seen that the adjustment and reorganization of McLaren's R&D department has indeed achieved the desired effect.

After resolving the internal financial crisis, McLaren resumed its journey to success.

It can even be said that it was precisely because of the internal financial crisis and even the sale of the team's headquarters building that McLaren had the opportunity to rise from the ashes.

The effect of this week's upgrade was immediate, and because of this week's upgrade, the two McLaren drivers came in fourth and fifth.

As for Ferrari…

Qin Miao just hopes that they are really planning a big move now.

Don't wait until next season when you go to Ferrari to find out that the crappy car is difficult to drive and has poor performance.

Qin Miao could still tolerate a racing car that was difficult to drive. Even with Qin Miao's own adaptability, he could get used to a car that was difficult to drive. But if the performance was poor, Qin Miao really couldn't tolerate it.

After completing the qualifying round, Qin Miao parked his car in the post-race interview area amid the cheers of British fans on the scene.

By this time, Toto and most of the Mercedes team's senior executives were already waiting at the guardrail.

Today's qualifying session was the best one for both drivers this season. This is even Mercedes' home track, so as team leaders they naturally need to set an example.

When Qin Miao stopped the car and got out, the old man was still on the track.

After all, this is his home field. Although he did not get the pole position, he still started in the front row. The old man definitely needs to interact more with the British audience on the scene.

The old man arrived late only after Qin Miao got off the car, rushed into the crowd to celebrate with Toto and the others, and was let down by them.

Qin Miao walked over with a smile and hugged Hamilton who got off the car.

"Well done, boy." After the hug, the old man punched Qin Miao in the chest.

It's just that the punch was very light, and it felt a bit like a fight.

Qin Miao smiled and waved his hand modestly, "It's just luck."

The old man smiled and shook his head: "The phrase 'good luck' may still have some credibility in the race, but I don't believe in the phrase 'good luck' in the qualifying round."

Qin Miao smiled and said, "If you say so, then I did perform better today."

After hearing Qin Miao's words, the old man was stunned, then he laughed, patted Qin Miao on the shoulder, and went to find Toto and the others to celebrate.

……

This scene was faithfully broadcasted on camera, and the audience sighed after seeing the interaction between Qin Miao and Hamilton:
[The relationship between these two is the best among the drivers I know who can compete with each other on the track.]

[Indeed, look at Hamilton and Rosberg, Ricciardo and Verstappen, Vettel and Leclerc, teammates of similar strength, which one of them doesn't want to beat his teammate's brains out on the track, but the relationship between Qin Miao and Hamilton is very subtle...]

[Indeed, Qin Miao and the old man are a special pair. They both have the potential to win the championship, but they have never had any irreconcilable conflicts.]

[It's probably because of the huge age gap. The age difference between the two is 16 years. According to the American way of life, the old man can be Qin Miao's father.] [When I think about it, it's true.]

[Sometimes when I see them, I suddenly feel a strong sense of father and son. What’s going on?]

[Alas, such a good combination will not be seen next season]

[Tmd, can you even support the couple above? ]

[It’s okay, Qin Miao and Leclerc will be more likely to have a better time next season]

[Fuck, after Qin Miao became famous, all kinds of monsters came to him. Can the fans just die?]

【Shrimp head, steamed goose heart】

[We like Qin Miao and Leclerc. What does it have to do with you guys?]

……

I won’t go into detail about the content of the post-match interview here.

The only thing worth mentioning is that when Hamilton was interviewed, the cheers at the scene were several times louder than the cheers at the scene for Qin Miao, the pole position winner.

This may be the influence of the seven-time champion in the hearts of British fans.

After the qualifying round, Qin Miao was originally planning to leave the paddock and go home to rest.

But when Qin Miao packed up his things and prepared to leave the team's home, as soon as he went out, he saw a lot of people rushing towards the exit of the paddock.

Most of them are reporters or photographers holding cameras.

Looking at how hurried they are, if you don’t know better you might think that a zombie outbreak has occurred and they are trying to escape.

Qin Miao asked the old man who was also standing at the entrance of the team house, looking around with curiosity, "What's going on?"

Hamilton looked back and saw that it was Qin Miao. He then explained, "They said that Binotto seemed to have come to the paddock and announced something very important. They rushed over to take pictures and join in the fun."

Qin Miao thought about it for a while, and then realized that Binotto and Lynk & Co had officially announced that Binotto will join Lynk & Co next season.

I guess only something like this would cause such a big scene in the paddock.

"Look at you, do you know what happened?" The old man saw Qin Miao's thoughtful expression and said, "I remember that you and Binotto seemed to have a good relationship. You should know something. Tell me."

Qin Miao did not hide it. After all, if the old man wanted to know, it would only take a few phone calls: "If nothing unexpected happens, Binotto will join Lynk & Co next season."

The old man nodded thoughtfully after hearing this, and then asked, "Be the team leader?"

Qin Miao shook his head and said, "No, I just became a supervisor, and the supervisor of two departments, but I don't remember which two departments they were."

"Strictly speaking, he is the second-in-command of the Lynk & Co team."

The old man nodded: "It is undeniable that Binotto's R&D capabilities are second to none, but Binotto's management ability is indeed not suitable to be the team leader."

"By the way, Binotto going to Lynk & Co should be good news for you. After all, your country's team plus a team executive who is very familiar with you, if you can't make it in Ferrari in the future, you will have a way out."

Qin Miao withdrew his gaze from the departing crowd, shrugged and said, "Who knows? Maybe one day in the future I really can't make it anymore, and I may just retire from Ferrari."

"You? Retiring in your 20s? Don't be ridiculous. With your ability and talent, even if you retire in 10 years, it will be too early. I feel you can at least run on the track until you are 40."

"Honestly, with your talent, even if you are 50 years old, as long as you want to continue to race on the track, I think there will be a team willing to hire you."

Qin Miao smiled bitterly and said, "Lewis, if you say too much, it's not praise, it's flattery."

"This is not flattery, I really think so."

Qin Miao imagined the scene of himself still insisting on running in the race at the age of 50.

He sighed and said, "There may be people like that who have a high passion and a persistent love for racing, but I don't think I am that kind of person. If one day I can no longer compete for the world championship on the track, or if I am disappointed with some of the actions of the FIA, I may leave this arena. Who knows."

After that, Qin Miao waved to Hamilton and said, "I have an appointment to have a video call with my daughter today, so I will leave soon."

"Give Xiao Muqiu my regards and tell her I miss her very much."

"Okay, but I guess she wouldn't understand even if I said it."

"It's okay, just say it."

……

On Sunday, Qin Miao came to the paddock dressed neatly.

When entering the Silverstone Circuit along the familiar road, Qin Miao also saw the fans waiting at the entrance of the track to see the drivers enter.

Qin Miao's appearance naturally caused a lot of cheers.

After I opened the window and waved at them, the crowd cheered even louder.

Just like when foreigners say "are you ok" to Chinese people, the Chinese will subconsciously reply "I'm fine, thank you".

The fans in the paddock are like NPCs to the drivers, who will respond with specific actions after they perform specific actions.

As long as you wave to them, they will cheer at you and shout your name, which is really fun.

After returning to the team's home, Qin Miao subconsciously took a look at the news about the Grand Prix weekend.

Yesterday, Binotto and Lynk & Co announced together that next season Binotto will join the Lynk & Co team and become the team's chief operating officer and chief technical officer.

As the second-in-command of the team, he is in charge of all technical operations. The only thing he cannot control is probably the personnel of the team.

It can be seen that Lynk & Co has great trust in Binotto and has high expectations for it.

As for why the team's personnel was not entrusted to Bino...

See through things but don’t speak them out; don’t expose people’s difficulties.

After knowing this, Qin Miao put down his phone and stopped paying attention to it.

After all, Qin Miao had known about this for a long time, and the official announcement from Lynk & Co and Binotto had no impact on Qin Miao.

Compared with Binotto's return, Qin Miao is more looking forward to Lynk & Co's driver changes.

Lynk & Co really started making big moves right from the start.

Now that the season is halfway over, Geely has basically understood the operating procedures of an F1 team and should have a preliminary grasp of the entire team, otherwise there would not be such frequent and intensive personnel changes.

A technical director was parachuted in right away and the team's driver was also replaced.

It seems that Lynk & Co really wants to make a name for itself in the F1 arena.

I just don't know how Ricardo will perform in this game.

At least for now, Ricciardo's qualifying results are much better than Tsunoda's, at least Ricciardo entered Q2.

Qin Miao didn't actually have much expectations for him, just that he didn't get killed by Lynk again.

……

Come to the paddock.

There wasn't much work to do on Sunday.

I meditated in the lounge for half an hour, and then did some reaction training and muscle stretching before the game started.

When the time came, Qin Miao changed his clothes and went to participate in the pre-race drivers' parade.

After completing all the pre-race preparations, Qin Miao chatted with Franky in the team's P room about his tire choices for the main race of this Grand Prix weekend.

In the end, the two of them unanimously decided to stop the race and keep a new set of soft tires as a backup. If there was an accident on the track, they could also change to soft tires and rush on the track.

In fact, Qin Miao's pit stop strategy in this race was much more difficult than before. After all, Qin Miao started from pole position. If Qin Miao started with hard tires, he would most likely suffer at the start.

The durability of starting with soft tires is not good enough, and Qin Miao also wants to wait for the appearance of a safety car or a virtual safety car on the track.

Only neutral tires are slightly suitable for starting.

After discussing the choice of starting tires, Qin Miao prepared to go to the track to check his car.

He came to his racing car and touched it with his hand.

As usual, Qin Miao didn't feel anything unusual about the car. He patted the car's roll cage to give it a buff, then stood up and stretched.

Qin Miao is quite confident in today's race. At least Qin Miao is sure that as long as he is not torpedoed by others in this race, he can at least bring back a podium for the team.

The highest...that is naturally the champion of the race.

Of course, Qin Miao didn't dare to guarantee it. After all, Qin Miao's one or two goals in today's game were somewhat due to luck.

Because Qin Miao and Hamilton were the last two people when they crossed the finish line, they actually finished the race after Verstappen crossed the finish line.

God knows whether Verstappen still has some racing performance left to be brought into play.

Following the notification from the FIA, reporters, tourists, and other irrelevant staff on the track evacuated the track one after another.

At this time, Qin Miao also took his equipment and sat in the small racing cockpit.

Looking at the track layout in front of him, Qin Miao was suddenly a little moved.

Qin Miao couldn't remember how long it had been since he saw such a clean track at the start.

Damn, before when I started, there was either a car blocking the way in front of me, or there was always a car next to me in the view ahead that was an eyesore.

Today it's finally clean.

At the start, Qin Miao said to Franky in the team TR: "After the race starts, I will try to give Lewis more DRS."

French replied: "Do we need to help Lewis pull the slipstream? I think we don't need to worry so much. Our long-distance rhythm is actually better than Red Bull."

Qin Miao denied it and said, "No, I always feel that Verstappen must have hidden something. He didn't run in qualifying probably because he was careless."

“This…Okay, I’ll tell Lewis, but I still hope that your judgment is wrong.”

"I hope so too."

After saying this, Qin Miao turned his attention back to the game.

Soon the warm-up lap began.

ps. Last month's monthly votes were 1500, which is rounded up to 1600. According to the rule of 200 monthly votes plus one update, I owe 8 chapters this month. (End of this chapter)