Chapter 1461 - 552: Landmine About to Explode_2
After the race, Qin Miao was somewhat frustrated.
"Damn, what exactly did Red Bull upgrade in this race?" Sitting in the race car, Qin Miao couldn’t help but swear.
It’s not that Qin Miao was impotently furious; he truly couldn’t figure out what Red Bull upgraded to make their car so fast in this race.
In the first few races of the season, he could still rely on tire preservation advantages to barely wrestle with Verstappen, even managing to win more often than lose.
But in today’s race, Qin Miao only felt that Verstappen’s car performance was so strong it made him feel a bit desperate.
Especially after Verstappen was behind him for two laps and then launched a full attack.
Honestly, at that moment, Qin Miao’s strongest feeling was powerlessness.
It was somewhat like a Martial Arts Master, having trained in Horizontal Training, the Golden Bell Shield and Iron Cloth Shirt, impervious to swords and spears, and then facing an opponent who pulls out a gun...
"P2, well done Qin Miao, your performance today greatly exceeded our expectations. Toto said there will be a two-day holiday after the race!" Just after Qin Miao cursed, Frankie’s TR came over.
But at that moment, Qin Miao didn’t really feel like responding to Frankie; after all, a perfectly good championship just vanished, and whoever it was, they wouldn’t be happy about it.
Then Qin Miao drove back to the pit area, swearing all the way without turning on the mic.
Compared to Qin Miao’s overwhelming negative emotions, Hamilton, who also performed well but only placed third, seemed rather pleased.
Sometimes competitive sports are like this; the person who wins the championship is the happiest because they got the championship and have achieved it to the fullest extent.
Compared to the one who got the third place, the one who got second place is actually the most unhappy, because they’re just one step away from the championship, yet just missed it because of that one step.
After getting out of the car, even though Qin Miao didn’t feel like talking, he still smiled and greeted the Old Man and Verstappen.
After hastily completing the weighing and tidying himself up, Qin Miao completed the post-race interview.
However, from Qin Miao’s post-race interview, it’s not difficult to see that Qin Miao’s mood wasn’t too good.
So the host didn’t ask too many sharp questions.
Eventually, Qin Miao quickly completed all the procedures on the track.
After the awards ceremony, the final ranking and scoring situation for this race were announced:
P1: Verstappen +25
P2: Qin Miao +18
P3: Hamilton +15
P4: Perez +13 (fastest lap)
P5: Alonso +10
P6: Sainz +8
P7: Leclerc +6
P8: Gasly +4
P9: O’Kang +2
P10: Magelsen +1
The top four drivers are straightforward, as all four performed normally without any mistakes, ending up in positions they were expected to achieve.
The finishing positions of the drivers behind also matched pre-race predictions, conveniently belonging to the five teams that have sufficient competitiveness.
The only gap in points is due to Stroll not getting into the points zone.
It’s somewhat amusing that one Aston Martin driver finished twelfth, while the other finished fifth; it’s hard to believe they were driving the same car.
Meanwhile, after the race ended, the driver’s total points standings are as follows:
1: Verstappen: 113
2: Qin Miao: 91
3: Hamilton: 81
4: Perez: 71
5: Alonso: 56
6: Leclerc: 35
7: Sainz: 33
8: Stroll: 23
9: Norris: 10
10: Gasly: 8
11: O’Kang: 6
12: Zhou Guanyu: 4
13: Bottas: 4
14: Hockenheim: 4
15: Piastri: 3
16: Tsunoda: 2
17: Magelsen: 1
There weren’t many changes to the driver’s standings, except for Gasly moving up to tenth after getting 4 points.
Overall, today’s race results were mostly as anticipated, without any unexpected events on the track.
After this race ended, the team points standings are as follows:
1. Red Bull: 184
2. Mercedes: 172
3. Aston Martin: 79
4. Ferrari: 68
5. Alpine: 14
6. McLaren: 13
7. Alfa Romeo: 8
8. Haas: 5
𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
9. Lynk & Co: 2
10. Williams: 0
Just like the driver’s standings, there weren’t any changes to the team standings after this race.
...
Bringing back his trophy to the team’s P-room, after some celebration, Qin Miao was busy for over three hours.
After completing the post-race press conference and meetings, Toto indeed gave all the technicians and drivers of the Mercedes team a two-day holiday.
They could enjoy two days in the US or directly return to the UK early, with the team covering the airfare.
Qin Miao, on the other hand, left the sad land of America directly with his wife.
After the US Grand Prix, there would be a one-week break, after which the F1 calendar would return to Europe, starting another European stint.
Returning to Europe means the teams, with headquarters in Europe, can upgrade their cars with minimal costs during this time.
After the upgrades, they can get feedback from the team as quickly as possible for modifications.
So, unexpectedly, this European stint will not only relieve the logistical pressure on teams but also significantly improve their car upgrade progress.
Because in Europe, upgrading the cars is the most economical method.
After the race, Qin Miao first sent his wife back home.
This girl has been out on leave long enough. Qin Miao originally thought that after coming out, she would watch the practice and qualifying; if not, then at least watch his Sunday race, right?
But in reality, she stayed in the hotel playing on the computer during the Sunday race.
However, Qin Miao wouldn’t say anything to her; putting himself in her shoes, if he were restrained for so long, he might play even more recklessly than she did.
After sending Qimeng home, the next day Qin Miao returned to the UK.
Admittedly, since his child was born, Qin Miao was really swamped by all sorts of things, hard to find time for himself.
It’s been almost a month since Qin Miao last managed to focus on refining his driving skills and mindset.
Sending Qimeng back happened to present a good opportunity, so Qin Miao returned to Brackley in the UK, monitoring the team’s upgrades to his car while running data in the team’s simulator, trying to get familiar with the upcoming Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which is essentially the Italian Grand Prix, just under the name of the neighboring small nation of Italy.
Italy is the only European country with two Grand Prix races; the first is at the Imola Circuit, and the other is held at Monza.
Qin Miao was actually not unfamiliar with Imola Circuit, as since joining F1, he’s already raced twice there.
Therefore, at this point, Qin Miao was mostly focused on consolidating and adapting to the current car’s performance on the Imola Circuit, while trying to find a baseline setup for the race phase on the simulator.
After entering work mode, Qin Miao actually found that he felt quite comfortable during this time at the team.
After all, Qin Miao was already familiar with this work rhythm.
During this process, however, there was a minor incident; it was May 14th, Mother’s Day, and when Qin Miao was calling his mom and wife to wish them a happy holiday, another call came in.
After quickly saying a few words to his mom, he hung up and found it was Vassel calling.
Though puzzled as to why Vassel would call at that moment, since Vassel was to be his team leader next year, despite his doubts, Qin Miao picked up the call.
"Good afternoon, Vassel."
"Good afternoon, Qin Miao." On the other end, Vassel’s voice carried some fatigue, but upon the call connecting, he immediately explained the primary reason for calling Qin Miao: "This call is to inform you that Ferrari plans to announce on Thursday morning at the Imola Grand Prix that you will be joining Ferrari next season."