How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

But considering the team radio with Frankie would definitely be broadcast, Qin Miao suppressed his temper and said, "The car has some issues, remember to check it after the race."

Frankie was taken aback after hearing Qin Miao’s response, then immediately looked up at the monitor displaying the telemetry data of Qin Miao’s car.

However, the data on the monitor showed no abnormalities compared to the race data, maybe a slight fluctuation, but these were within acceptable range. Simply put, Frankie didn’t find any issues with Qin Miao’s car, at least not from the telemetry data.

"Do you need to pit?"

"No need, I can drive the car back directly, but remember to check it after the race." Qin Miao’s tone was somewhat frustrated.

"Got it, just come back for now."

Although unsure what had happened, Frankie’s words revealed Qin Miao’s disappointment, so Frankie also started wondering if something was wrong somewhere.

Soon, Qin Miao drove his car back to the pit lane.

Hamilton’s car was parked at the front, while Qin Miao and Verstappen became mere backdrops to Hamilton.

After getting out, Qin Miao wasn’t in a hurry to weigh in; instead, he removed the steering wheel from his car.

After all, while testing on the car, the car was always in motion, and the steering wheel had been fluctuating, so Qin Miao felt his perception of the ERS control wheel might not have been accurate.

Upon further testing, Qin Miao could feel the wheel’s rotation through his gloves, proving it wasn’t the steering wheel’s mechanical structure, but likely a program or another issue.

Though still somewhat confused, it was time for the post-race interviews; Qin Miao knew he couldn’t continue dithering.

After reinstalling the steering wheel, Qin Miao stood up and shook hands and embraced Verstappen, who had also gotten out of his car.

"You ran a nice race today, but I’m a bit puzzled why you didn’t overtake Hamilton completely at T12 in the last lap? At that time, your speed and closing rate should have allowed you to overtake him before the braking point."

After the embrace, Verstappen casually asked.

In the following race, due to Qin Miao’s duel with Hamilton, and Verstappen’s speed being slightly faster today than Qin Miao and Hamilton, he had closed the gap to 3 seconds behind Qin Miao in the last lap, catching up just before the final DRS zone, clearly witnessing the duel on the track.

Qin Miao gave Verstappen an annoyed glance, wondering why this guy would mention the one thing troubling him...

But Qin Miao still explained, "At that time, my car’s ERS malfunctioned, but I’m not sure what exactly the issue was; we’ll have to check after the race."

"In short, because of this car malfunction, the car lacked enough power to overtake Hamilton before the braking point."

After finishing, Qin Miao let out a helpless sigh.

Beside him, Verstappen heard Qin Miao’s sigh and sighed himself with some frustration.

Because today, Verstappen also faced a similar situation to Qin Miao, and hearing Qin Miao’s explanation made him empathize even more.

After all, one of them was let down by the pit crew, while the other was let down by the car.

"Seems you’ll definitely go find the team for some answers after the race." Verstappen said, putting himself in Qin Miao’s shoes.

Qin Miao shook his head and said, "Not necessary; what’s done is done, asking for answers wouldn’t help. Moreover, even if I get an explanation, the team can’t just award me the race win."

So I choose to accept this result, but if Mercedes gives me the same problem again, I definitely won’t take it so lightly."

"If it were me, I wouldn’t think that way. You know I was leading; during the pit stop, the team made a mistake, and an 11.1-second pit stop completely cost me the chance to compete with you and Hamilton for the race win. After the race, I’ll definitely ask the team staff for an explanation." Verstappen said.

Qin Miao shrugged, "Good luck with that."

After a simple chat with Verstappen, Qin Miao went over to the team staff who were celebrating. He did not mention the ERS issue right away.

Now is the time to celebrate, and the race has ended. The ERS fault isn’t an urgent issue that must be dealt with immediately.

After embracing Frankie and the others, Qin Miao approached Hamilton.

After shaking hands, Hamilton smiled and patted Qin Miao on the shoulder, "Today’s race you put a lot of pressure on me; I know you experienced a 5-second pit in the pit lane. I can only say I was very lucky today. Both you and Verstappen retired due to various issues; if you hadn’t, I’d likely have finished third."