How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 970 379: Miami Finale

While the race champion was still stuck in the tunnel, Qin Miao and Leclerc were already sitting in the waiting room, chatting over water.At this moment, the race had just ended, and the two were talking mostly about cars.

Things like tires, fuel, and mistakes on the track.

Actually, it was mostly Leclerc asking questions and Qin Miao answering, after all, Le the Fourth is very curious about Qin Miao's tire management skills.

He knew that if Mercedes' car had been 0.2 seconds faster per lap, he might not have even gotten second place.

Meanwhile, fans back home also began discussing the race.

[Someone blatantly cheated]

[Mysterious eastern powers fiercely disrupted this race!]

[Someone was jinxing during the race, but I'm not saying who it was]

[The five-star jinx really lived up to its name, not only jinxed Zhou Guanyu but also jinxed Qin Miao onto the podium]

[Isn't this a double standard?]

[They really love Qin Miao too much]

[After the Alfa Romeo team's race, they will definitely find traces of some white dairy product where Zhou Guanyu had issues]

[Perez and Sainz probably felt like their steering wheel and throttle were spewing milk while racing]

[Honestly, I'm also very curious as to why Qin Miao's set of medium compound tires could last so long? Did Pirelli sneak something into Qin Miao's tire formula?]

...

After chatting for a while, a red-faced and disheveled Verstappen walked into the rest area behind the podium.

The race champion briefly tidied himself up, completed the weighing, and then came over to Qin Miao and Leclerc.

Shaking hands with Qin Miao and Leclerc, Verstappen sat down and curiously asked Qin Miao: "How did you get third?"

"I didn't pit before the safety car, and after it came out, I switched to a brand new set of soft tires."

Verstappen nodded: "If it's you, running a new set of soft tires for so long without degradation is indeed normal."

It's clear that Verstappen acknowledges Qin Miao's driving ability.

He then chatted briefly with Leclerc, and the time came for the post-race award ceremony.

Since this was in the United States, the post-race interviews had to be a bit quirky, and sticking to the rules was not possible.

So for the post-race award ceremony, when drivers appeared on stage, they needed to wear American-style football helmets, although they could take the helmets off and place them on the ground when receiving awards and listening to the national anthem.

George Silberann, the bald president of the American Automobile Association, was the one presenting Qin Miao with the third-place trophy.

While giving the award to Qin Miao, the old man enthusiastically asked if Qin Miao had considered switching to IndianapolisCar after retiring from F1.

Qin Miao was full of polite responses but didn't give a definite answer.

The details of the post-race celebration need not be elaborated here.

This was Qin Miao's third third-place finish this season, and you should know, the season has only had five races.

For some reason, after the celebration, as Qin Miao carried his trophy, champagne, and football helmet back, he couldn't shake the feeling that his fans might nickname him Qin the Third sooner or later.

After this race, the drivers' points and rankings are as follows:

P1: Verstappen +26 (fastest lap)

P2: Leclerc +18

P3: Qin Miao +14

P4: Sainz +12

P5: Perez +10

P6: Hamilton +8

P7: Bottas +6

P8: O'Kang +4

P9: Alonso +2

P10: Albon +1

Total driver rankings:

1: Leclerc 103

2: Verstappen 77

3: Qin Miao 70

4: Perez 54

5: Sainz 44

6: Hamilton 33

7: O'Kang 32

8: Norris 30

9: Bottas 28

10: Magelsen 16

11: Ricardo 8

12: Tsunoda 8

13: Zhou Guanyu 6

14: Gasly 5

15: Vettel 4

16: Alonso 3

17: Stroll 1

18: Albon 1

Team standings:

1: Ferrari: 147

2: Red Bull: 131

3: Mercedes: 103

4: McLaren: 38

5: Alpine: 35

6: Alfa Romeo: 34

7: Haas: 16

8: Toro Rosso: 13

9: Aston Martin: 5

10: Williams: 1