How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 1092 - 416: Everyone Has Their Good Days

After finishing the track, Qin Miao returned to the hotel to rest.Friday, the day for Practice 1 and Practice 2.

As soon as Qin Miao entered the paddock, numerous journalists who had been waiting for him for quite some time swarmed toward him like sharks smelling blood.

Even the battle-hardened Qin Miao was so overwhelmed by the reporters’ momentum that he took two steps back.

Seeing their eager eyes, Qin Miao already knew what they were going to ask.

Having spent a long time in the paddock, Qin Miao was well aware of the journalists’ persistence. Without a satisfactory reply, they would buzz around like flies, seizing any chance to ask the questions everyone is curious about.

Thinking about this, Qin Miao decided not to leave. He found a relatively quiet spot within the paddock and addressed their concerns: "My collaboration with Mercedes has always been smooth.

Throughout the process, both myself and the team staff are highly satisfied with each other and have become familiar with the work environment here. I have no plans to leave Mercedes anytime soon."

After handling several more questions from the journalists, Qin Miao managed to extricate himself from the crowd.

Barber said on the side, "Strictly speaking, saying such things in this environment is somewhat disadvantageous for you. They might overinterpret your answers."

"I know," Qin Miao nodded and shrugged, "but if I don’t give these journalists a satisfactory answer here, whether it’s pre-race interviews, post-race interviews, or driver parades, other journalists will ask these questions.

So rather than answer them then, it’s better to give a satisfactory response now. This way, the journalists who are purely looking for eye-catching stories have something to report immediately, and I’ll have a more relaxed Sunday at the Grand Prix."

Although Barber agreed with Qin Miao’s thinking, he felt it was somewhat risky not to let Mercedes’s own media channel speak. However, having worked with Qin Miao for nearly a year, he knew Qin Miao sometimes really dislikes trouble.

Since Qin Miao had already done the interview, it was pointless to discuss this further. Shaking his head, Barber decided not to delve into the matter.

In Practice 1, Qin Miao, who hadn’t been racing for some time, showed impressive speed.

He started off strong, and during the qualifying simulation, Qin Miao’s lap speed was 0.4 seconds faster than his teammate Hamilton.

Some might ask, why not compare Qin Miao’s performance to other drivers like Verstappen or Leclerc?

Because...

Damn, both Ferrari and Red Bull had various upgrades, while the internal consensus within Mercedes wasn’t even unified, causing Qin Miao’s single-lap time to be 0.2 seconds slower than Sainz’s.

Sainz: Are you being respectful? Since when did I become a unit of measurement?

Despite everything, I’m still Ferrari’s number 2 driver, right?

Show some respect! Kid.

Although for this race, Qin Miao had no chance of winning the championship, and even getting on the podium was quite difficult.

Nevertheless, the upgrades from the competitors didn’t affect Qin Miao’s ability to familiarize himself with the track during the practice sessions and help his strategy group gather the necessary track data.

Practice 2 was much the same; Qin Miao didn’t pay attention to Ferrari’s and Red Bull’s results because there was no need. Watching their results wouldn’t change his ability to compete with them on the track.

Friday’s work concluded here.

Afterward, Qin Miao helplessly realized that during the post-session interviews, there were quite a few journalists asking the same question again.

At this point, Qin Miao actually wanted to quit, maybe even like KIMI, simply stay silent or just turn around and leave.

But if Qin Miao did this, the topic would likely heat up again, so Qin Miao bore with it and answered the questions honestly.

Saturday, the day for Practice 3 and the qualifying session.

Practice 3 didn’t warrant much discussion; the only surprising thing was Zhou Guanyu’s fastest lap, which placed him eighth, barely 0.03 seconds behind Alonso.

But as mentioned earlier, practice session results hold no significant reference.

The real point in time where drivers and teams show their full potential is during the qualifying session.

Q1 and Q2 didn’t have much to elaborate for Qin Miao; even though the performance of the Mercedes car had declined, the reputation of the team still carried weight.

The car’s performance was still there.

However, this race was challenging for Alfa Romeo.

Both Zhou Guanyu and Bottas were eliminated in Q2.

The main issue was Alfa Romeo’s problematic gearbox. Paul Ricard Circuit is essentially a high-speed track with two lengthy straight sections.

This season, Alfa Romeo’s car was fitted with Ferrari’s engine, ideally allowing them to perform well on these straights, but due to their self-developed gearbox issues, their main advantage is on tracks with many turns; their terminal speed on straights is concerning.

As such, on this type of track, Alfa Romeo couldn’t utilize the full power of their engine.

Zhou Guanyu had experience racing on this track with F3 and F2, so he was familiar with it.

Yet, with the limitations of the car, Zhou Guanyu ended up just short of advancing, ultimately placing 11th with a time difference of 0.14 seconds.