How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 985 385: Going Home

The post-race interviews and award ceremony won't be elaborated here. Qin Miao stood alone on the podium, and the two Red Bull drivers didn't interact much with Qin Miao.After all, they were just frustrated by Qin Miao on the track. Last season, Qin Miao's rivalry with the Red Bull drivers was understandable, as they were contending for the world championship.

But this season, Qin Miao's actions on the track have really puzzled the Red Bull team.

The most baffled of them all is Verstappen.

After all, Qin Miao's pace this season is only about 0.5 seconds slower than Perez's average per lap. Given this time gap, it's understandable for Qin Miao to defend against Perez, as Qin Miao can hold Perez on the track to a certain extent, and defending Perez isn't too stressful for him.

Though he might not want to admit it, Verstappen is convinced that Qin Miao can indeed hold Perez back.

Besides, putting Perez aside, compared to himself, Qin Miao's single-lap speed is almost a second slower. You say your car is so poor this season, yet you're still going out of your way to compete with me on the track?

To put it bluntly, we're not even competitors anymore.

I don't deny your defense skills, but surely, I have ways to overtake you, right? Once I've overtaken you, there'll be nothing to restrict me anymore.

Why are you doing something so thankless for yourself?

Why are you so committed to something that's damaging to others but not beneficial to yourself?

But little did Verstappen know that Qin Miao defended against him in this race mainly because Qin Miao felt kind of bored on the track.

As everyone knows, when people are bored, they can do outrageous things.

Didn't most of the outrageous things happen in Florida because those guys were bored?

After the photo session, Qin Miao exited the stage with his belongings.

Back at the team home, Qin Miao was surrounded by everyone and praised, given that Qin Miao's performance in today's race was indeed impressive.

It's fair to say that Qin Miao single-handedly brought the W13 to a height it didn't belong, so everyone was naturally very happy.

Toto gave Qin Miao a very hearty pat on the shoulder in front of everyone and said, "Qin Miao, I've lost count of how many times I've been grateful for signing you. Every time I think you've reached your limit, you break my imagination and prove that I made the right decision back then."

While saying this, the smile never left Toto's face.

Qin Miao, of course, humbly replied, "Toto, saying these things is too formal. I was quite lost back then, not knowing where the future lay. You're the one who gave me this opportunity, so I should be the one feeling grateful. Without the platform Mercedes provided, how could I possibly showcase my full talent?"

The Mercedes team was already accustomed to Qin Miao's longstanding humility, having been together for a while.

However, Qin Miao's way of conducting himself and dealing with others, which differs from most Westerners, earned him full favorability within the team.

At least when staff members talked about Qin Miao privately, they would all give a thumbs up and say, "Qin Miao is a talented driver and also very easy-going, not arrogant or impatient."

In short, although Mercedes didn't win the Grand Prix in today's race,

the team still held a celebration as grand as if they had won the Grand Prix.

And that's where the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix ended.

The rankings and scores for this race in the main competition phase are as follows:

P1: Verstappen +25

P2: Qin Miao +18

P3: Perez +15 (Fastest Lap)

P4: Sainz +12

P5: Hamilton +10

P6: Bottas +8

P7: O'Kang +6

P8: Norris +4

P9: Alonso +2

P10: Yuki Tsunoda +1

It's clear from this race that Perez gave it his all behind Qin Miao, even setting the fastest lap while chasing Qin Miao. Despite this, Qin Miao still finished ahead of Perez in today's race.

It's worth mentioning that when Perez returned to the team garage, he expected Marco to make some critical remarks about his performance today. To his surprise, Red Bull's post-race meeting didn't even mention it.

Red Bull knew Perez only secured third in today's race not due to a lack of personal ability, but simply because the opponent was too strong.

Thus, they found no good reason to blame Perez since it's unreasonable to demand more from him against an opponent who can block Verstappen despite a car performance gap exceeding a second per lap.

The drivers' overall standings are as follows:

1: Leclerc.103

2: Verstappen.102

3: Qin Miao.88

4: Perez.69

5: Sainz.56

6: Hamilton.43

7: O'Kang.38

8: Bottas.36

9: Norris.34

10: Magelsen.16

11: Ricardo.8

12: Tsunoda.9

13: Zhou Guanyu.6

14: Gasly.5

15: Alonso.5

16: Vettel.4

17: Stroll.1

18: Albon.1

The teams' standings are as follows:

1: Red Bull: 171

2: Ferrari: 159

3: Mercedes: 131

4: Alpine: 43

5: McLaren: 42

6: Alfa Romeo: 42

7: Haas: 16