How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Seeing this picture, Qin Miao felt a real sense that he’s really going to be a dad.

He scratched his head, doubting if he could truly be a responsible father.

Even though he wanted to say something to Qimeng, being this late at night in China made it impossible for Qin Miao to send a message and disturb Qimeng, so he held back the urge to reply.

However, it wasn’t long before Qin Miao’s phone rang.

When he checked, Qin Miao found a message from Leclerc.

Upon opening it, Qin Miao was faced with a series of question marks sent by Leclerc.

Shire: [????]

[Qin Miao, that’s not very friendly of you!]

[Why didn’t you tell me Qimeng is pregnant?]

[Damn, I need to think about what gift to send for my godchild.]

[You just wait!]

Seeing the barrage of messages from Leclerc, Qin Miao felt slightly overwhelmed.

Within the racing circle, probably only Toto and Hamilton knew about his wife’s pregnancy, and both of them have barely exchanged nods with Leclerc; they have no reason to tell him this news.

With their suspicions ruled out, Qin Miao wondered how Leclerc got this information.

Qin Miao was deeply puzzled.

At the same time, he realized that more and more people would learn of this news over time and come to him.

Thinking of this, knowing he would have to reply one by one, Qin Miao decided to take a closer look at the picture Qimeng sent him. After confirming there’s nothing inappropriate, he saved the image, then sent it to his agent’s company representative.

After having the image checked and ensured there were no issues, he posted the picture on his social media account as an official announcement of becoming a dad.

After completing this task, Qin Miao reopened his chat with Leclerc.

[Who do you think you are? A world champion? Want to be my child’s godfather.]

Leclerc replied instantly: [I’m telling you, chat properly. Don’t use foul language!]

[I don’t care, I’m going to be the godfather anyway!]

Qin Miao clicked his tongue; this Le the Fourth really has no self-awareness.

However, Qin Miao didn’t care much, as Leclerc’s shamelessness in private was nothing new. Qin Miao was used to it.

But Qin Miao couldn’t help but ask curiously: [How did you know Qimeng was pregnant? I didn’t tell anyone about this.]

Leclerc: [I’m friends with Qimeng on WeChat; she posted a picture.]

(WeChat is the overseas version of WeChat, but if you have friends in China, you can see their Moments.)

Qin Miao: [...]

Ah, so that’s the problem...

Qin Miao shook his head helplessly, not dwelling on the matter.

After chatting a bit more with Leclerc, Qin Miao’s phone started ringing again.

And this time it wasn’t just a ring or two; it kept ringing.

Seeing this pattern with his phone, Qin Miao roughly guessed the reason. His agent’s company likely posted the picture, and many people knew he was having a child, sending messages of inquiry or congratulations.

But there’s a race tomorrow, and Qin Miao couldn’t possibly reply to everyone now, so he put his phone on silent mode and left it alone. After waking up tomorrow, he’d give his phone to Barber to help reply at spare moments.

One night, speaking of the next day, the day of the Mexican Grand Prix begins.

Qin Miao arrived at the circuit as usual.

The pre-race prep won’t be overly detailed here. After all, it’s Perez’s home ground, so apart from Perez, all other teams and drivers received varying degrees of neglect. Qin Miao and Hamilton didn’t even get any screen time before the race.

The view shifted directly onto the track.

Skipping over driver parade and pre-race interviews, the national anthem segment.

Directly to the time before the race when all drivers gathered on the track waiting for the start.

Qin Miao was already seated in the race car, with Reyes holding a small fan blowing toward him.

Today’s race is still quite hot, coupled with operational engine temperatures inside the car, a small fan is indeed needed to keep the driver comfortable.

On the other hand, due to Qin Miao’s not-so-good starting position, he opted for medium tires in the starting phase.

As for why not choose hard tires...

The main consideration was difficulty in overtaking.

Qin Miao’s speed isn’t slow, providing him with a clear speed advantage over the drivers behind.

However, if using hard tires for long distances, even if Qin Miao is faster than the car ahead on hard tires, the acceleration ability of hard tires falls short, losing significant time in acceleration compared to the car ahead.

Moreover, the Rodriguez Brothers Circuit isn’t typically prone to safety cars, so after thorough consideration, the team arranged a relatively conventional pit-stop strategy for Qin Miao.

As the time approached, Reyes put away the fan blowing on Qin Miao, moved to the front of Qin Miao’s race car, and upon receiving the signal, unfolded his hands from his chest, allowing the entire team to remove tire warmers from Qin Miao’s car.

The warm-up lap for the race was about to begin.

For the local Mexican fans, the happiest part of the race today was naturally their home-grown Perez.