How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

The reason for such a discussion is that in the driver standings, the points gap between Perez and Hamilton is only 23 points.

If Hamilton finishes second in today’s race, the gap between Hamilton and Perez will shrink to 18 points. Next race weekend, Hamilton has a high probability of making a comeback to elevate his ranking to 4th in the standings.

Swapping positions would not have any actual impact for Qin Miao and the Mercedes team.

After all, Qin Miao only needs to finish in the top 5 to secure the 2022 world champion title, and for the team standings, Mercedes’s score in this weekend’s event won’t change regardless of the two Mercedes drivers swapping places.

But this would be a win-win for Hamilton and the Mercedes team, and it wouldn’t compromise Qin Miao, posing essentially no impact; however, Hamilton refused.

Because Hamilton knew that if the team made such a request, Qin Miao, who knew it would be impossible to catch Verstappen in the front after understanding his own point standings, would definitely agree.

If that happened, he would owe Qin Miao a favor.

The hardest thing to repay in the world is a favor.

Besides, he is planning to challenge Qin Miao next season to seize his own eighth world championship, letting Qin Miao give him a spot for fourth is like surrendering before the battle even began.

Hamilton’s heart would not allow him to make such a decision.

"Lewis, are you sure?"

"I’m sure, I don’t need it." Hamilton’s response was decisive.

"Alright, we understand," Bono also felt a bit helpless. In his view, such a decision was fine, but unfortunately, Hamilton did not agree.

As for why they would still ask Hamilton for his opinion on such matters?

One must know, Hamilton is a seven-time world champion. Over the years, Hamilton has essentially become a symbol of the Mercedes team.

Thinking of Hamilton equates to thinking of the Mercedes team, and thinking of the Mercedes F1 team naturally equates to thinking of Hamilton. Over the years, the two are tightly linked, inseparable.

Therefore, Hamilton’s status within the Mercedes team is second only to Toto, and even Qin Miao does not surpass Old Man Hamilton’s status within the team, despite Hamilton not achieving good results for two consecutive seasons.

In such a situation, the team has no right to make decisions for Hamilton.

Because of Hamilton’s refusal, this message did not reach Qin Miao’s ears.

Instead, many spectators watching Hamilton’s first-person view were genuinely impressed by Hamilton’s character.

[Seven-time champion’s magnanimity]

[Is this the value of a seven-time champion?]

[Wow, Old Man is so honorable!]

...

Of course, what the audience did not foresee was that Hamilton’s reluctance to swap places with Qin Miao was more to save face.

After all, a dignified seven-time world champion, who for the sake of driver standings ranking, still needs the team to order a teammate to yield a position.

Where would Hamilton’s seven-title reputation stand if this spread around?

However, due to Hamilton’s stubbornness, he tried for two laps behind Qin Miao, exhausting all his car’s ERS power without managing to pose any significant threat to Qin Miao.

Qin Miao’s defense was rock-solid, although sometimes it appeared full of openings, once you tried to seize one, you would realize you unknowingly fell into Qin Miao’s trap, forcing you to abandon the attack.

Just when everyone thought Qin Miao would open up the time gap with Hamilton and today’s main event was over, Perez encountered tire degradation issues in the late race.

His speed started dropping.

Soon, both Ferrari drivers caught up and overtook him.

He even got overtaken by Alonso behind for a while.

Frankly speaking, Leclerc had the capability to compete for a podium position in today’s race, but an earlier accident cost Leclerc too much time.

Nevertheless, near the end, with the help of a safety car, Leclerc caught up with the lead group ahead.

But that was it because the earlier accident still caused his car damage. Once he caught up with his teammate Sainz, he lost the chance to advance further since Leclerc’s car wasn’t as fast as his teammate’s, making overtaking difficult.

Just like Hamilton, at this moment, Leclerc was only defending his current position on track.

It’s worth mentioning that at this moment, Leclerc and the trailing Perez had only a 9-point gap. Although he overtook Perez, the points earned in this race wouldn’t allow Leclerc to surpass Perez in the driver standings, sitting comfortably like Qin Miao.

Therefore, Leclerc expressed through team radio, hoping for the team to give an order for his teammate Sainz to yield a position.

After all, at this moment, Sainz was sixth in the driver standings, 38 points behind Hamilton ahead, and 86 points clear of Norris behind.

He was essentially in a position disconnected from the frontrunners and not pressured by competitors.

Hence, the position Sainz was in determined that regardless of this weekend’s Grand Prix or the last upcoming Grand Prix, his ranking wouldn’t influence his standing in the driver standings.

Thus, Leclerc felt there was no issue with his proposal.

Unlike Hamilton, Leclerc actively made the request.

But similar to Hamilton, neither of them successfully swapped positions with their teammates.

Because Ferrari’s strategy group directly ignored Leclerc’s request, as if Leclerc never uttered those words.

Naturally, Sainz did not yield his position.

This was also considered the final amusement at the Brazil Grand Prix.

Up to this point, the race saw no more dramatic changes in the latter stages.

Verstappen, with a 4-second lead, crossed the finish line under the waving checkered flag by Emerson Fittipaldi, winning the 2022 Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix main race.

Despite Verstappen winning the championship, celebrating enthusiastically with team staff through the team radio right after crossing the finish line, it was noticeably with a hint of bitterness in his words.

He won a race, but yet lost another world championship.

Verstappen somewhat could not even remember how many times he had narrowly missed the world championship.

And right behind Verstappen, Qin Miao also crossed the finish line amidst the frenzied celebrations from Mercedes team staff hanging on the pit wall.

The moment Qin Miao crossed the finish line, the Brazilian fans gave the most enthusiastic cheers and applause, and splendid fireworks were set off above the Interlagos circuit.

The fireworks were to celebrate the race winner today: Verstappen.

Moreover, they were to celebrate the 2022 world champion, Qin Miao.

"Let’s congratulate Verstappen for winning the 2022 season’s Brazilian Grand Prix race." Even though Fei and the commentators often sounded more like casual chatter among friends during broadcasts, they adhered to the routine as professional commentators once the race concluded.

But as soon as the formalities were completed, the three commentators couldn’t hold back anymore, and Fei directly said, "Of course, today, we must congratulate today’s real star—Qin Miao!"

"Let’s congratulate Qin Miao for winning the 2022 Formula One Grand Prix World Championship!"