How did I become an F1 driver?

After the race the team standings are as follows:
1. Mercedes: 562
2: Red Bull: 488
3: Ferrari: 221
4: Aston Martin: 166
5: McLaren: 101
6: Alpine: 60
7: Williams: 16
8: Alfa Romeo: 10
9: Haas: 7
10: Lynk & Co: 6
This is different from the driver's standings where Qin Miao and Verstappen are tied.

Mercedes' lead over Red Bull in the team standings continues to expand.

Although theoretically Red Bull still has the possibility of overtaking Mercedes in the standings, judging by Perez's performance this season, the possibility of Red Bull winning the manufacturer's championship and the team's championship is very low.

As for Lynk & Co, as a new racing team, domestic car fans have certain expectations for Lynk & Co.

But the expectation is that they can sort out their internal organizational structure in a short period of time, then accumulate strength in the 23rd season and strive for better performance on the track in the 24th season.

Therefore, no one expected that after a major upgrade, Lynk & Co's speed would be so fast.

Rookie Ye Yifei even made it directly into the top 10.

Although Lynk & Co is still ranked last in the driver's standings, they are only one point behind Haas, which is ranked 9th.

If Lynk & Co can get two more points in the remaining races, this new team will be able to end the season in ninth place in its first season in F1.

Although it still doesn't sound very good, after all, it's just the difference between the last and the second to last.

But under the F1 system, the difference between the last and second to last drivers in terms of prize money and dividends they can receive in the middle of the year is as much as $300 million.

Although Lynk & Co may not care much about the $300 million year-end dividend.

But it’s better than nothing, right?

And most importantly, it sounds good when you say it out loud.

Even if 300 million US dollars doesn't sound good, just convert it into 1900 million RMB.

After the race, Lynk & Co announced immediately after Ye Yifei completed the post-race interview that Lynk & Co and Ye Yifei had reached an agreement and signed a test driver contract.

From this match until December 2023, 12.

Ye Yifei will become the Lynk & Co team's test driver and reserve driver, the official one.

Ye Yifei will run in the endurance race as usual, but he will definitely have to devote some time and energy to Lynk & Co.

Although Ye Yifei may be particularly tired during the rest of the year, for any endurance racing driver, as long as he can sign a contract with an F1 team, even as a test driver, it is an opportunity for you to get in touch with the F1 paddock.

If you are lucky, there may be an F1 driver with a broken arm or foot, and you can seize this opportunity to show yourself.

You know, there are so many endurance racing drivers, but only a few have the opportunity to become test drivers for F1 teams.

It is worth mentioning that the most eye-catching point of Ye Yifei in today's race was not that he got two points, but that he blocked Verstappen for four laps on the track.

Although Ye Yifei's behavior did not bring much benefit to himself, after all, no matter how many laps Ye Yifei blocked Verstappen, there was a significant gap between the two of you in racing technology and strength. It was only a matter of time before Ye Yifei was overtaken by Verstappen.

But Ye Yifei's defense did earn him enough fame and attention.

During the post-match interview, the reporter also asked Ye Yifei why his defensive skills were so proficient.

After all, not everyone in front of Verstappen can stop him for 4 laps, and Ye Yifei's car still has an absolute performance gap.

Ye Yifei smiled and said, "I often watch those analysis videos about Qin Miao's defensive skills on the Internet. I just happened to have the opportunity to try it out in today's game."

"In fact, I didn't expect to be able to stop Verstappen. I just wanted to give it a try, but I didn't expect the effect to be quite good."

For a moment, both the reporters and the fans watching the interview were speechless.

【Every action has its effect】

[Qin Miao from the past traveled through time and space to the present and slapped Verstappen in the face with Ye Yifei’s hand]

[I have also watched those videos. To be honest, Qin Miao’s defensive IQ is really abnormal]

[Xiaoye is definitely a fanboy of Sanshui]

[That can’t be said. Sanshui’s defensive ability is recognized to be strong. Now many young drivers in Europe use Qin Miao’s videos to teach their defensive enlightenment.]

[Sanshui is great, no need to say more]

……

On the other hand, after the race, Qin Miao celebrated in the team. Normally, Qin Miao would need to attend the post-race press conference.

But Qin Miao didn't go today. Not only Qin Miao didn't go, but Lao Si didn't go either.

After the race, the two of them celebrated with the team staff in the team's P room, and then left the paddock directly.

And they didn't carry anyone around, they just walked away in such a swagger.

During the post-match press conference, the old man looked at the two empty seats next to him, his mind full of question marks.

No buddy, where are you two?

The post-race press conference had already begun, but the two drivers were not found, so someone must have called to inquire about them immediately.

After being asked, Qin Miao and Leclerc’s answers were surprisingly consistent: “I went to participate in community service.”*2.

Qin Miao and Leclerc's answers naturally set off the F1 paddock at the first moment.

Although the post-race press conference has nothing to do with the FIA, the press conference is the responsibility of FOM, while the FIA ​​is mainly responsible for the formulation of event rules, as well as driver meetings and penalties during the race.

But by doing this, the two of them were clearly sending a signal.

I'm unhappy. We can't just overturn the table, but there are always ways to express our protest.

If you think about it carefully, there is actually nothing wrong with what Qin Miao and Leclerc did.

Qin Miao was originally sentenced to seven days of community service by the FIA, and he added another 30 days.

Such a heavy community service task will never be completed if you don’t start early.

But then again.

It was evening when the Singapore Grand Prix ended…

Where do you go to do community service late at night?

……

Regardless of the public opinion in the paddock after Qin Miao did this, Qin Miao and Leclerc flew directly to China.

After all, the next game is in Japan, and Japan is right next to our country.

After the Singapore race is over, Qin Miao definitely won’t have time to go to Europe again. Not only Qin Miao, all F1-related staff will go directly to Japan after the Singapore Grand Prix.

After all, Qin Miao is a Chinese, so he must go back to China.

As for the fact that some fans used their mobile phones to take photos of Qin Miao and Leclerc eating supper at a famous local restaurant late at night, instead of participating in the so-called community activities...

Don't worry about it.

After returning home, Qiu Meng took the child for a physical examination as usual, while Qin Miao stayed at home with Leclerc for two days.

In fact, Qin Miao's original idea was to take Leclerc to travel in the country for two days.

But sometimes plans can never keep up with changes.

Qin Miao and Leclerc are both addicted people, so even during their rest time, they always can't help but practice to maintain their racing feel.

Then something went wrong during the exercise.

Even though they both wanted to rest as soon as the training was over, they finally got a day off and decided to have some fun.

But after the training was over, seeing the other party's embarrassed look, the competitive spirit in their hearts immediately came up.

You're not good enough? Then I have to beat you.

Then the two of them chose to continue practicing.

Because of the inexplicable rivalry between the two, neither of them rested or went out to play during the Grand Prix weekend. Instead, they continued three days of high-intensity training at home until Thursday.

The reason they stopped on Thursday was because they needed to go to the track. If the holiday was longer, Qiu Meng had reason to believe that they would be able to train each other until they vomited.

It is worth mentioning that Qin Miao and Leclerc did not forget to participate in community service during this period of crazy internal competition.

During the time in China, Qin Miao took Leclerc to visit many welfare homes in the country. Although the people in the welfare homes did not necessarily know Qin Miao and Leclerc, Qin Miao and Leclerc would donate generously every time they went to the welfare home, with the smallest donation being $10.

Maybe for the welfare home, $10 is a lot.

But for top drivers like Qin Miao and Leclerc, they don’t even need to do anything else to earn the $10. They just need to do a live broadcast or say a word for a product and they can easily earn it.

After arriving in Japan on Thursday, Qin Miao, as usual, used the excuse of community service to turn down all pre-match interviews and press conferences.

As for Qin Miao and Leclerc...

They actually participated in community service.

But this time he didn't go to a welfare home or something like that, he went to a stray animal rescue center.

Even though the target audience has changed, it is still a community activity.

If someone accuses Qin Miao of discriminating against domestic and foreign welfare organizations, then Qin Miao doesn't even need to explain anything, because those animal protection organizations will be furious at those who accuse Qin Miao.

Qin Miao didn’t think there was anything wrong with his behavior. After all, in his eyes, some people were even worse than animals.

Of course, Qin Miao and Leclerc's eccentric behavior naturally attracted a lot of attention in the paddock, so much so that other things happening in the paddock seemed somewhat insignificant in comparison to this matter.

When Qin Miao and Leclerc arrived in the paddock on Thursday, they were immediately surrounded by reporters who had been waiting for a long time.

Seven or eight microphones were immediately placed in front of the two of them, and all kinds of questions came one after another.

Such scenes are rarely seen in the F1 paddock. After all, the organizers have arranged corresponding procedures for each Grand Prix weekend, when to interview, when to hold press conferences, when to interact with fans, all of which have been arranged before the Grand Prix weekend begins in order to prevent trouble during the Grand Prix.

And the situation in the paddock today was truly an exception among exceptions.

But it was Qin Miao and Leclerc who caused such a big mess recently, and while they were making trouble they did not give reporters a chance to ask questions.

Therefore, the media chasing hot topics will naturally try every possible means to interview these two drivers.

Qin Miao was not panicked when he saw this. He and Leclerc had already anticipated what was happening in front of them.

So the two of them calmed down the reporters who were coming in droves: "Don't worry, friends, we'll be in the interview area outside the P room of the motorcade later, and you can ask anything you want. Can we go report in now?" The reporters also knew that Qin Miao was a man of his word.

After all, when he said 30 days, he really intended to do 30 days of community service.

So everyone made room for Qin Miao and Lao Si.

After a look at each other, the two separated in the paddock and went to the team homes of their respective teams.

After Qin Miao arrived at Mercedes-Benz, everyone greeted him as usual and no one treated him differently just because he confronted the FIA.

However, what surprised Qin Miao was that he saw Toto, who was supposed to have surgery, in the conference room on the second floor of the team's home.

"Toto? Didn't you go to see your arm?" Qin Miao said in surprise after seeing Toto.

The plaster on Toto's arm had been removed at this time, but judging from the arm brace hanging around his neck, Toto's hand was not yet fully healed.

Toto smiled and stretched out his left hand to Qin Miao. Qin Miao subconsciously stretched out his right hand, but only after he found that Toto was stretching out his left hand did he switch hands and shake hands with him.

"You've caused such a big mess in the paddock, so as the team leader I must come over to stand up for you." Toto said with a smile.

"It's just a small conflict. I can handle it myself. There's no need to bother you." Qin Miao touched his nose a little embarrassedly, and then calmly changed the subject: "By the way, how is your hand?"

Toto took his hand out of the binder in front of Qin Miao, moved it around and said, "It's no big deal. It won't affect my normal life and lifting things, but I can't touch heavy objects. I was planning to have a cruciate ligament surgery this week, so I'm taking a break. But who told me to have a troublesome driver?"

Qin Miao gave a dry laugh.

"Don't worry." Toto reached out and patted Qin Miao on the shoulder: "FIA was at fault in this matter. I will help you out. No matter what, I can guarantee that you will not suffer any loss in this matter."

Qin Miao scratched his head: "Hey, thank you, boss."

"Get busy, there's a lot to prepare for this Grand Prix weekend."

……

With Toto's guarantee, Qin Miao naturally became more arrogant.

He held a personal press conference directly outside the Mercedes team.

As for the press conference held by FOM officials?

I want to join, but I'm too busy and don't have the time.

Then why did you hold the press conference behind the team’s P room?

Isn't there time...

FOM:6.

FOM could only feel hatred towards Qin Miao, but they had no way to do anything to Qin Miao.

The reason... is naturally that the competition rules do not require drivers to attend press conferences.

After all, this press conference is an official way to increase the exposure of drivers and teams, and no normal person would miss it.

The more exposure you get, the more money you earn. Who is stupid enough to go against money?
Oh, you know what, it really exists.

Now it is not Qin Miao who needs FOM, but FOM that needs Qin Miao.

The market behind Qin Miao is so attractive that when Qin Miao did not attend the post-race press conference, the traffic on the F1 homepage decreased a lot.

With less traffic on FOM's side, advertising fees will naturally decrease, and other income will also decrease. So in order to avoid losses, FOM directly put pressure on Ben Sulayem.

When it was Thursday night, after making some choices, Ben Sulayem did not choose to give in, but began to put pressure on Qin Miao.

During the interview, Ben Sulayem accused Qin Miao of having no sportsmanship and disrespecting the fruits of other people's labor.

Qin Miao's reaction was also very quick. Not long after Ben Sulayem's interview was released, Qin Miao posted the terms of his contract with Mercedes-Benz.

It is clearly written in black and white that Qin Miao has the right to refuse all commercial activities and interviews during his work at Mercedes-Benz.

Although fans were surprised that the terms of Qin Miao's contract were so abstract, at this critical moment of fun, Qin Miao's terms undoubtedly made the fun even more fun.

【Ha ha ha ha】

[The skill that Ben Sulayem had been holding back for a long time was dodged by Qin Miao]

[The contract terms between Qin Miao and Mercedes-Benz are also abstract]

[Has this been there before, or is it a recent addition?]

[I don’t know, but I only know that this clause is really against the will of heaven]

[No wonder many people said in the past that Qin Miao rarely appeared in interviews]

[I feel that Qin Miao wanted to spend more time on training, so there is such a clause. He needs to improve himself more.]

……

This is the classic embodiment of the great scholar debating the scriptures for me.

In fact, this clause was included purely because Qin Miao was playful at the time and wanted to leave himself more time to play games.

However, this clause played a key role in a place that Qin Miao himself could not have expected.

The FIA ​​suffered a setback because they did not know that the contract between Qin Miao and Mercedes was so abstract.

But I can't do anything to Qin Miao, so can we not do anything to you, Leclerc?
There can’t be a clause to this effect in Leclerc’s driver contract, right?

In fact, there is no such abstract clause in Leclerc’s contract, but the question is what is the relationship between Qin Miao and Ferrari now?
Qin Miao is Ferrari's sweetheart. Although Ferrari can get a lot of money from the FIA ​​every season, Ferrari stands on Qin Miao's side at this time.

Without even waiting for the FIA ​​to make a move or for Qin Miao to say anything, Ferrari found Leclerc and added additional terms, which allowed Leclerc to not participate in all the team's commercial activities.

And this clause will last until the end of Leclerc's contract with Ferrari.

So when Bensulayem was interviewed on Friday, Ferrari announced the news before Bensulayem even started talking about Leclerc.

Then a funny scene happened.

Fans looked at the contract terms between Ferrari and Leclerc, and then turned to watch Ben Sulayem's interview, all expecting Ben Sulayem to say that.

"Leclerc has no sportsmanship and no respect for the work of others."

"This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated and must be severely punished..."

【Ha ha ha ha】

[Waiting in advance, this belongs to]

[Sanshui is using a fake body to dodge skills, Laosi is using Teemo to bury mushrooms, waiting for Ben Sulayem to step on them]

[Fuck, the FIA ​​is so abstract now]

[Surayem is not as good as Todd]

……

After Sulayem's interview was over and he stepped down, he learned that Ferrari had directly changed Leclerc's contract and his face turned red with anger.

After returning to the office, he started smashing things in a rage.

But Ben Sulayem is also a qualified businessman.

He knew that his plan to establish himself by winning two world championships had failed.

Coupled with the public opinion that had begun to surge in the huge market behind Qin Miao, he knew that he had to give in.

If he continued to confront Qin Miao, he might not be able to keep his position as FIA president.

In fact, Ben Sulayem also thought about pretending to be dead as he did before, so that the heat of this matter would slowly cool down.

But this method no longer works at the moment, because Qin Miao did not attend the press conference, the pressure from FOM is endless.

Although FIA and FOM are partners, there is no hierarchy between the two parties.

But now it is the end of the year. If FOM uses Qin Miao's reason to distribute dividends at the end of the year, the funds will be stuck for a year or two, and FIA will be in trouble.

It's not just the FIA ​​that will be unable to pay salaries, the small teams that don't receive dividends are also at risk of closing down and going bankrupt.

But it is impossible for the FIA ​​to apologize to a driver.

So the final solution of the FIA ​​was to introduce new penalty rules.

That is, starting from September 2023, 9, the maximum penalty for all vulgar speech and actions will be a fine of $22 and one day of community service.

This penalty is not cumulative.

Although the FIA ​​has given an explanation in disguise, Qin Miao is still not very satisfied with it.

There's nothing wrong with changing the rules. After all, it's not right to just fine me seven days. It's too long.

But you have to apologize anyway, right?

So Qin Miao and Lao Si still didn't attend the press conference. Do you want to interview them?

After the race, just go to the interview area at the back door of their team's P room.

Red Bull and Ferrari also took good care of these two drivers. After the race, they placed a lot of chairs for reporters behind the team's P room.

Of course, in addition to these off-field factors, there were also many things worth mentioning on the field.

All drivers tested the 2024 tires in two practice sessions on Friday.

After the test, Qin Miao clearly felt that the 24-year-old tires were a bit uncomfortable to use.

It's not about the grip or other aspects, but after changing the tire compound, I couldn't adapt to it in a short period of time, and it felt weird to drive.

It feels a bit like wearing a pair of shoes that don't fit.

But Qin Miao's lap time still satisfied the team. (End of this chapter)