How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

After the pre-race team meeting, Qin Miao and Hamilton both went to the pre-race news conference.

During the meeting, even though people would occasionally congratulate Qin Miao on becoming a dad, his daily work schedule seemed to have returned to normal.

After the news conference, they walked the track.

But this time, Qin Miao was riding a scooter around the track.

After all, the long straight on the Baku circuit is extremely lengthy, and there aren’t many places to observe there, with just a single driving line. There aren’t really any overtaking spots before the DRS zone, so walking that long straight wastes a lot of time.

So riding a scooter is much easier.

While walking the track, Qin Miao, riding a scooter, caught up with a walking Leclerc right at the second sector of the track.

Actually, it’s not all that unusual to encounter other drivers while walking the track in normal settings, as Qin Miao often bumps into other drivers at this stage.

Leclerc had also caught up to Qin Miao from behind before.

But for the Baku circuit, combined with Leclerc, and the second sector of this track.

This could be said to have gathered all the elements together.

After catching up with Leclerc, Qin Miao stopped riding his scooter and walked the track with Leclerc, pushing his scooter.

If it were any other circuit, or even the Baku circuit beyond the second sector, and Qin Miao encountered Leclerc in the third sector, Leclerc wouldn’t have any resistance.

He’d even be happy to have Qin Miao come over and share his insights about the circuit.

But when he crowded over during the damn second sector, Leclerc already guessed what this bastard was planning to do.

Damn it, becoming a dad hasn’t made him any more mature.

As he walked beside the grinning Qin Miao, Leclerc was silently complaining internally.

"We’re going to have some internal discussions related to Ferrari secrets, it’s inappropriate for you to tag along, you should go ahead." Leclerc also tried to shoo Qin Miao away.

But Qin Miao wasn’t buying any of it.

What secrets could you be discussing while walking a track?

Even if you were discussing secrets, I’ll be your teammate next season, Leclerc. What can’t I hear?

So Qin Miao directly put his arm around Leclerc’s shoulder: "Don’t be so distant, man. You know me, I’m tight-lipped. I won’t blab."

Just as Leclerc was about to roll his eyes, Qin Miao’s deliberately lowered voice reached Leclerc’s ears again.

"And who knows, maybe next season we’ll be teammates?"

Qin Miao said this very quietly, only Leclerc could hear it, and when he said it, Qin Miao was looking at the track ahead, not drawing any attention.

But after hearing Qin Miao’s words, Leclerc was stunned.

Because damn, this news was rather shocking.

Leclerc knew that Qin Miao was negotiating a contract with Ferrari now. After all, Qin Miao’s contract with Mercedes is up next year, and many teams needing top drivers are eagerly eyeing Qin Miao as a big catch on the transfer market.

Leclerc’s brain inevitably froze for a moment because he couldn’t imagine how he and Qin Miao would get along if they became teammates.

But Leclerc quickly came back to his senses, realizing there was a precondition before Qin Miao said this, he prefaced it with: "And who knows..."

Taking a deep breath, Leclerc pushed Qin Miao away: "Shut the ***!"

Qin Miao shrugged and didn’t bother Leclerc anymore but continued sticking beside him.

If he didn’t play this joke, Qin Miao wouldn’t sleep well today.

Leclerc, on his end, couldn’t shake off Qin Miao and could only let him follow beside him.

Then the group reached a well-known check-in point in the second sector of the Baku circuit, the famous spot where Leclerc’s notable moment happened, T9, AKA: i am stupid corner.

Standing in front of the red cushioning wall, Qin Miao imitated the somewhat frustrated tone Leclerc used in his team radio back then: "I am stupid."

This was the last straw, and Leclerc had sensed nothing good as soon as Qin Miao followed him here.

Now, with Qin Miao almost in his face, Leclerc couldn’t hold it anymore.

He picked up the scooter Qin Miao left and chased after him, cursing: "You ***! I’ll kill you!"

At this moment, Qin Miao’s reflexes as an F1 driver played a crucial role, as he already reacted when Leclerc reached for the scooter.

Qin Miao turned and ran, but while fleeing, he still had something to say: "Oh ****, you serious?!"

...

This Grand Prix weekend is a sprint race weekend.

And it features new sprint race regulations.

Starting from this race, every sprint race event afterward will be:

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Friday qualifying will determine the starting grid for Sunday’s main race, and FP3 is changed to sprint race qualifying, which only sets the order for the Saturday sprint race.

The time for sprint race qualifying is shortened compared to normal qualifying.

Meanwhile, the total tire allocation for a sprint race weekend is 12 sets, consisting of 2 sets of hard tires, 4 sets of medium tires, and 6 sets of soft tires.