Chapter 1474 - 558: The Final Mercy
"Tsk tsk tsk... let’s be honest, if Mercedes tried to lure me with these terms, I’d probably be tempted too." Leclerc clicked his tongue, then displayed the same puzzled expression he had when he first heard Qin Miao would be joining Ferrari next season: "But there’s still something I can’t quite understand; what exactly are the Ferrari folks thinking? Why would they offer you such conditions?"
Qin Miao shrugged: "Maybe they’re desperate. But to be honest, that’s next season’s concern, there’s no need for you to fret over it now."
"I don’t want to, but this news is still quite a shock to me."
Qin Miao chuckled: "What? Afraid that next season I’ll be beating you on the track one-sidedly, exposing your inferiority?"
"Get lost! And don’t forget who got completely beaten by me on the simulator at Silverstone."
𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
Upon hearing Leclerc rake up old history, Qin Miao was unhappy, pointed at Leclerc, and said: "You really dare to bring that up? Besides, as an F1 driver, aren’t you ashamed to boast about beating a random person on a simulator?"
Leclerc didn’t care: "I don’t care, back then you were just a random guy, but now you’re a two-time world champion. At least I once one-sidedly beat a two-time world champion."
"**** shameless!" Qin Miao was speechless.
Qin Miao tried to regain some ground: "Alright, alright, you were great back then, but do you have the guts to compete with me now?"
With that, Qin Miao glanced at the simulator in Leclerc’s home.
"Bring it!" Leclerc didn’t hesitate.
However, to be fair, Leclerc was somewhat worried that his speed wouldn’t be as fast as Qin Miao’s, but then again, his simulator at home is a Ferrari simulator, the driving characteristics and data analysis features are certainly different from Mercedes’.
The driving feedback will certainly differ a bit too.
This slight difference might not be noticeable to ordinary people, but for F1 drivers who are constantly seeking to push the limits, the differences are quite evident.
Moreover, during Qin Miao’s two years at Mercedes, the Ferrari simulator has undergone dozens of upgrades and improvements. The driving characteristics must now be different from when Qin Miao last used it in F2; Leclerc bets that Qin Miao won’t be able to adapt to the current Ferrari simulator’s driving feel quickly.
"Let’s go with Monte Carlo, we’re racing there this week. Let’s see how your practice is going." Leclerc is cunning, not giving Qin Miao time to adapt before starting the simulator and letting Qin Miao take the driver’s seat, meaning Qin Miao runs first.
Qin Miao didn’t think much about it, got in and began adjusting the car.
Although the Ferrari simulator has been upgraded, in essence, a simulator is a commercial software, not entertainment software, so Ferrari’s simulator team did not upgrade the UI.
At this moment, the UI interface of the Ferrari simulator is exactly the same as it was three years ago when Qin Miao first used it.
Quickly, Qin Miao recalled and brought up a basic car setup for the Monte Carlo circuit based on his memory.
This setup wasn’t what Qin Miao used at Mercedes, but from his time in F2.
As for why not use the Mercedes setup...
Let’s not discuss confidentiality issues; primarily, the aerodynamic design and chassis design of Mercedes cars are vastly different from Ferrari, and Leclerc’s simulator uses a Ferrari car, so if Qin Miao really applied the Mercedes car setup to a Ferrari car...
Trust me, you’d experience genuine corner entry oversteer, corner exit understeer, front wheels overheating, rear wheels cooling, and the same corner on the same track would have completely different entry and exit characteristics with each lap, with each car component having its own idea, making driving feel like ice skating.
Your car would seem like it has a mind of its own, bringing constant surprises on the track... or perhaps, shocks.
As for why Qin Miao running F2 had F1 setups, and specifically Ferrari setups...
Back then, everyone was young, and given the freedom to play on the simulator, you’d naturally be tempted to jump ahead and try driving F1 cars in the simulator.
Young hopefuls dreaming of entering F1 would always find suitable F1 setups for themselves in the simulator because at that time, everyone had both time and interest.
Qin Miao wasn’t the only one; it’s believed that all F2 drivers who had access to team simulators did the same.
After seeing Qin Miao’s setup, Leclerc was thoughtful but didn’t intervene, standing behind Qin Miao’s seat watching Qin Miao’s next moves.
In the following time, Qin Miao familiarized himself with the simulator for two laps, then ran a 1:13.124 using this setup.
Qin Miao’s time can’t be considered outstanding, but to achieve this without a professional team to help and without fully familiarizing with a car, it’s quite impressive to Leclerc.
In reverse, if Leclerc suddenly had to run on a Mercedes simulator, Leclerc wasn’t confident he’d do better than Qin Miao.