How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Qin Miao didn’t go out to play or anything, just stayed in the hotel for a day. Because Qin Miao was there, both Qin Miao and Qimeng stayed in the hotel room during the day, and the three elders wouldn’t disturb the young couple’s world.

And without elders watching, Qimeng directly lay on Qin Miao and started using her phone and watching videos with vengeance.

After all, during this time, not only was Qimeng’s daily routine strictly enforced, but her time using electronic products was also strictly limited.

This girl even complained: "This isn’t being pregnant, it’s a crime, I’m practically under house arrest."

Qin Miao felt helpless himself, after all, they were elders. Although he still carried some weight when talking at home, it was mostly only major issues that he could speak on. If he brought this up, his mom would just give him a cold look.

So, Qin Miao could only listen to Qimeng’s grievances in the hotel and act as a human pillow on the bed.

Nevertheless, they still had a competition coming up, so Qin Miao went to the airport to fly directly to Abu Dhabi the next day.

This time Qimeng didn’t go along, as the journey was too far, and since they had already secured the driver’s world championship, Qimeng wasn’t particularly focused on the team championship.

So, this trip to Abu Dhabi was just Qin Miao and Barber. Originally, Zhou Guanyu planned to join them, but because Qin Miao needed to stay in Brazil for an extra day, Zhou left first.

After all, not everyone is a world champion yet, so people were hoping to secure more points in the final race to rank higher on the driver’s leaderboard.

This flight lasted close to 6 hours, and the process was quite comfortable, since it was their private jet. The whole flying experience was enjoyable, though the long journey brought about mental fatigue, which couldn’t be easily diminished.

Landing in Abu Dhabi, Qin Miao felt a wave of heat hit him, though at least this time it was softer compared to the start of the season in the Middle East.

It was already the end of 2022, and even though the Middle East is typically hot year-round, the average temperature in Abu Dhabi had become more moderate during this period.

However, the day-night temperature difference remained significant, with daytime average temperatures often reaching 30 degrees, and nighttime lows at 18 degrees.

Coincidentally, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was another night race, so the reference significance of the daytime practice sessions didn’t hold much weight.

Mercedes hadn’t fulfilled the FIA’s mandatory requirement to provide opportunities for young driver tests this season.

Thus, during the grand prix weekend’s first practice session, Qin Miao could take the day off.

Qin Miao’s car would be driven by the team’s young training driver, Antonelli.

As for De Vries...

Originally considered a Mercedes training driver, under normal circumstances, the team’s test tasks would indeed be left to him, but this year, Dove, after impressively subbing for Williams in a race, caught the attention of many teams with his talent.

He was directly signed by Red Bull junior team.

The contract was probably already completed.

Thus, next season, Red Bull junior team’s lineup is De Vries and Tsunoda.

Interestingly, Yuki Tsunoda was born in 2000; he’s 22 now, but he’s already been competing in F1 for two years, having entered F1 the same year as Qin Miao.

His teammate Dove, born in ’95, is 27 this year.

A 27-year-old rookie paired with a 22-year-old veteran; mentioning it brings a sense of drama.

We’ll have to see if De Vries can replicate the speed and talent he demonstrated driving for Williams on the track this season.

After all, Red Bull is notorious for being impatient; if you don’t perform well, there’s a real possibility you’ll be removed by mid-season.