Chapter 1240 - 466: An Unhappy Victory
To Qin Miao’s surprise, Hamilton accepted plainly that in today’s race, his lap speed wasn’t as good as Qin Miao and Verstappen’s, attributing his victory entirely to his luck.
Hamilton’s candor somewhat extinguished the anger in Qin Miao’s heart; at least Hamilton was still considered sensible.
Qin Miao nodded helplessly: "Luck is part of strength, losing is losing, there’s nothing more to say."
"Anyway, congratulations Lewis, if I remember correctly, this is your first race victory this season, right? Enjoy it."
As for Hamilton claiming that this race brought him a lot of pressure?
Qin Miao rolled his eyes silently where Hamilton couldn’t see.
In fact, after coming out of the pit stop, Qin Miao directly put pressure on Hamilton.
Qin Miao clearly remembers, when he caught up with Hamilton at the end of the race, Hamilton’s pressure value was only [32%].
Such a small number, not to mention Hamilton, even Mick, Stroll, none of these drivers would distort their performance on track because of such a little pressure.
What Hamilton said was completely nonsense.
But from another perspective, Hamilton was also considerate of Qin Miao’s emotions and didn’t speak too harshly.
At least if Qin Miao didn’t know Hamilton’s real state on track, hearing Hamilton’s words would make Qin Miao feel much better.
Naturally, the next steps were the weighing and a brief rest leading to the post-race interviews.
During this time, a large number of American spectators flooded the track after the race, fully interpreting the term: a sea of people.
The first to be interviewed post-race was Verstappen. Pan himself has a fiery temper, and in addition, today’s third place was entirely tailor-made by the team for him, or rather the team held him back, so during the post-race interview, Verstappen criticized the Red Bull team quite a bit.
But everyone also understood Verstappen’s behavior; after being hindered in a race, one must find a way to vent their dissatisfaction.
Especially towards the end of the season, when competing with Qin Miao for the world champion title.
Such mistakes indeed shouldn’t happen.
You can’t blame Verstappen for being somewhat agitated during the post-race interview.
The second to be interviewed was Qin Miao.
The fans at the scene also applauded Qin Miao; after all, a world champion brought Qin Miao significant fame worldwide, gaining fans in many countries.
"Qin Miao, congratulations on securing your position on the driver leaderboard again, but today’s race must have been quite challenging for you, right?"
Qin Miao nodded: "Indeed, although the safety car at the beginning gave me a little advantage, my teammate Hamilton presented many challenges on track today, causing my tires to wear out unexpectedly, coupled with some unforeseen errors. All in all, it wasn’t a very smooth race."
At this point, Qin Miao timely stopped talking, as the team needs to save face.
"We also heard from the team radio that your car had some issues during the last lap attacking your teammate, can you talk about what exactly went wrong?"
Qin Miao shook his head: "To be honest, I’m not too sure. These issues might not be resolved until the car returns to Brackley post-race. I’m confident the team will handle it."
The questions between the two concluded, ending Qin Miao’s post-race interview.
The next driver to be interviewed was the race winner, Hamilton.
Even though Hamilton isn’t American, his British nationality and identity as a Black individual ensure he has a fair number of supporters in America, making it sort of a semi-home race.
Thus, when Hamilton stepped onto the interview podium, the cheers from the American audience were louder than those for both Qin Miao and Verstappen combined.
However, Qin Miao didn’t stay to watch Hamilton’s subsequent interview; he headed upstairs to the podium to prepare for the award ceremony after the interview ended.
Nonetheless, Hamilton’s excitement and heartfelt appreciation when thanking the audience for the enthusiastic cheers were definitely felt by Qin Miao.
It seems that today’s championship was truly emotionally overwhelming for Hamilton.
Once Hamilton’s interview concluded, when the camera returned to the podium preparation area featuring the two drivers, the screen was broadcasting the final stages of today’s race, showcasing the competition between the two Mercedes drivers on track.
Qin Miao and Verstappen watched together, with Qin Miao occasionally explaining his attack routes and thoughts during the time.
Oddly, the atmosphere between the two seemed harmonious.
This was probably the first time in this season.
Hamilton arrived shortly afterwards.
At this moment, the broadcast screen displayed Alonso and Stroll’s collision.
Seeing Alonso’s car almost flying, Verstappen was surprised with an "oh."
After all, an F1 car lifting its front isn’t a stunt; it’s a real risk for the whole car to lift off and flip onto the ground.
Upon witnessing this scene, Verstappen was taken aback.