How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

The Old Man nodded his head, watching Qin Miao leave.

After Qin Miao departed, Hamilton let out a long sigh, crossed his arms, and leaned back on the sofa in his lounge.

For Hamilton, Qin Miao’s departure was undoubtedly a great piece of good news.

Not only because Hamilton now had one less teammate who could overshadow him in every aspect and had won two world championships, but also because it gave Hamilton more leverage.

For Mercedes, they had lost the future of their team.

It must be noted that Qin Miao was still a young man with lots of potential for growth.

If Qin Miao had stayed with Megan, Mercedes wouldn’t have had to worry about driver strength for at least the next five years.

But now that’s not the case; Mercedes has lost its future.

The original driver lineup of Mercedes was a two-world-champion lineup. Now that they’ve lost one champion driver, they cannot afford to lose another.

Therefore, in negotiating contracts with Hamilton, Mercedes would certainly be more inclined to find ways to retain Hamilton.

Thus, in an indirect way, Qin Miao had also helped his teammate.

Due to this, the Old Man’s feelings about Qin Miao were particularly complicated; he was both a friend and an adversary, both angered by Qin Miao’s performance over the past two years in F1 and admired him greatly.

After all, it’s quite uncommon for a young driver to achieve such results on the race track.

Most crucially, the Old Man now had another emotion towards Qin Miao, an inexplicable sense of gratitude.

In conclusion, the Old Man realized that since Qin Miao joined Mercedes, his attitude and emotions toward Qin Miao had constantly been changing.

As time passed, they got increasingly complex and tangled.

Now, even the Old Man himself didn’t know what impression or feeling he had about Qin Miao.

But one thing was certain: Qin Miao’s departure was bad news for Mercedes alone. For the two drivers, even for all drivers and teams within the paddock, it was good news.

The reason why all drivers and teams in the paddock were poised to benefit was that Mercedes now had a vacant driver seat, and Ferrari had also let go of Sainz, who, though not as strong as Leclerc, was still quite capable.

So although the media and public attention were focused on Mercedes, Ferrari, and Qin Miao, other drivers and teams in the paddock were also eager for opportunities.

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Leaving the team home, Qin Miao began riding a scooter around the track.

The weather during the Grand Prix weekend from Monday to Wednesday was rather nice, with sunshine on Tuesday, but from Thursday to Sunday, Monaco had intermittent showers.

While this was typical coastal weather, it wasn’t ideal for the drivers about to race.

Luckily, it wasn’t raining while Qin Miao was making his way around the track.

After finishing the track walk and returning to the team’s P room, Qin Miao hardly remembered anything.

After all, compared to last season, this track only had the asphalt changed, nothing else.

With that done, Qin Miao’s work for Thursday was completely finished.

After completing these tasks, Qin Miao attended the team’s post-meeting before heading back to the Monaco Palace.

Soon, it was the next day, Friday, the day for the first and second practice sessions.

Today, there were light showers again, but during the first and second practice sessions, there was no rain.

The track was free of residual water, making for two rather smooth practice sessions.

During the first practice session, both Mercedes drivers experienced no accidents, as Qin Miao ran a practice lap on medium tires, confirming that all aerodynamic components of the car remained the same as last season, with adjustments focused on maximizing downforce.

During the second practice session, Qin Miao and the Old Man kept a low profile, ending with equally unremarkable results.

Nevertheless, the two completed all tasks assigned by the team during the practice sessions.

In addition to tuning most of the car’s settings.

The Mercedes side may have been uneventful, but there was plenty of action on the track.

Perhaps aware his seat for next season wasn’t secure, or for some other reasons, Sainz crashed during a qualifying simulation in the final 17 minutes of the second practice, lightly scratching his right-side tires against the barrier at the swimming pool corner.

It’s clear Ferrari hadn’t developed suspension as robust as Mercedes, as Sainz’s Ferrari’s right front wheel graze against the barrier led to the tie rod snapping immediately.

The right front wheel lost control, and with half the traction gone, Ferrari’s car pushed its nose into the back wall of the track, prompting a red flag.

To be fair, this corner is quite notorious for mistakes. After all, nearly all drivers try to get their right front wheel as close to the corner as possible.

But apparently, Sainz got too close to the corner.

What’s noteworthy is that Sainz’s crash location and retirement cause were identical to Leclerc’s crash and retirement during the Q3 final lap of qualifying in 2021.

Could it be that Ferrari cars are weak at the swimming pool corner?

Overall, everything was orderly on Mercedes’ side on Friday, and everyone smoothly completed their tasks before comfortably returning to the designated team hotel after two practice sessions.