How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 960 377: The Unlucky Zhou Guanyu

In the T4, T5, T6 turns which are somewhat similar to Silverstone, Qin Miao slightly overcut the corner, causing a very brief suspension of the left rear wheel due to the elevation difference. Although his car quickly returned to the ground, when it did, the left rear wheel lost grip due to the speed.Thankfully, Qin Miao reacted swiftly, counter-steered immediately to save the car, preventing any further major damage.

However, this flying lap of Qin Miao was considered null.

Despite this, Qin Miao's mindset remained unaffected.

The error mainly occurred because Qin Miao noticed the fastest lap in Q2, Hamilton was slightly quicker than him in the first timing sector, so Qin Miao wanted to see if he could squeeze a bit more speed out of the first sector.

The result was clear; Qin Miao's attempt to squeeze more speed had failed.

But in the final flying lap of Q3, Qin Miao regained his speed, but he dared not attempt a more aggressive route in the last flying lap, for reasons mentioned earlier.

Ultimately, Qin Miao's result was 1:29.655.

Advancing to Q3 with a time 0.05 seconds slower than his teammate Hamilton.

At the end of Q1, the driver standings were as follows:

1: Leclerc

2: Sainz

3: Verstappen

4: Perez

5: Bottas

6: Hamilton

7: Qin Miao

8: Tsunoda

9: Norris

10: Stroll

It is noteworthy that during the qualifying stage, neither Qin Miao nor Hamilton surpassed Bottas. Even the fastest, Hamilton, was 0.2 seconds slower than Bottas.

The Mercedes team has also been studying the Alfa Romeo team recently, as their performance has always been good since the ground-effect era began.

But after investigating, Mercedes found that Alfa Romeo's aerodynamic layout wasn't particularly commendable.

The main reason they became stronger this season is that their car is below the minimum weight limit.

Therefore, Alfa Romeo can install ballast on the car to adjust the center of gravity on different tracks.

And today, as Bottas stood above Mercedes at the Miami Circuit, it could only be said that the lighter Alfa Romeo car had indeed more advantage.

After all, besides a gearbox that feels unlucky, Alfa Romeo's car weight and engine are among the best in the paddock.

However, Mercedes still trusts their car's long-distance speed in the race stage, so they are relatively satisfied with the performance of their two drivers.

After qualifying, Qin Miao is somewhat accustomed to the feeling of not appearing in the podium area for interviews after a race conclusion.

Sometimes Qin Miao can't help but marvel at the terrible adaptability of humans.

Now seeing Bottas' achievement, many domestic fans felt it was a pity that if Zhou Guanyu hadn't encountered traffic in his last flying lap, he might have also reached Q3.

After all, Bottas' qualifying speed was 0.2 seconds faster than both Mercedes drivers.

The first few races this season already proved that Zhou Guanyu's speed isn't much behind his teammate Bottas.

Then domestic fans would witness the spectacular scene of two Chinese drivers starting from the same row.

Back at the team headquarters, Qin Miao took a bath for a while, and even when he returned after running qualifying, the ice in the ice bucket he used hadn't completely melted.

But unexpectedly for Qin Miao, just after spending about 5 minutes in the ice bucket, Barber hadn't even had time to grab a new bucket of ice, when Hamilton showed up.

Of course, Old Man wasn't here for the bath, though he would soak for a while after a race; he is quite mindful of his image and usually doesn't do these things in public.

He came over this time because he was filming a vlog inside the paddock for the American fans this season.

The main purpose was to visit the Mercedes team headquarters and the situation inside the team P house this season.

Of course, it's only in America where Qin Miao has influence but not as much as Hamilton.

If a Grand Prix were held domestically, the one doing this would probably be Qin Miao.

It's even possible that Qin Miao would be busier than Hamilton, and being "run off his feet" would be putting it mildly.

At that time, whether it's the FIA, the domestic organizer, or the teams and fans, they would definitely hope Qin Miao appears more often.

Although the popularity of the F1 sport is high, the domestic fan base is not that large.

But due to Qin Miao's presence, the domestic F1 fan base has grown explosively, and Qin Miao's commercial value has risen with the expansion of the fan base.

Therefore, marketing activities will also increase.

Nowadays, the domestic situation remains difficult, and Qin Miao is uncertain whether the 2023 Chinese Grand Prix can be held smoothly.

But all these are side stories.

At this moment, Qin Miao was a bit baffled as he saw a cameraman walking in behind Hamilton.

By then, Qin Miao was only wearing a swim trunk.

"Hi, Qin Miao." Hamilton smiled and greeted Qin Miao, who was dumbfounded seeing the cameraman.

After greeting, Hamilton turned and seriously explained to the cameraman: "The Miami Circuit is a high-temperature track, and during the race stage, the temperature inside the car's monocoque can reach over 50 degrees. Therefore, before and after the race, we usually use this method to lower our core body temperature, relax our muscles and recover physical strength."