How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Then Antonelli recalled how his F2 teammate Ilott had evaluated Qin Miao: "This guy is not normal. I mean, what kind of decent person can use a spec car to outpace other F2 drivers by 0.3 seconds per lap? If you make even a tiny mistake while following him, he can be so far ahead in five laps that you won’t even see his taillights."

Thinking about Qin Miao nearly achieving an F2 grand slam...

Hmm, it all makes sense now!

After the second practice, Qin Miao cheerfully greeted the team staff and went off work.

But there was still an unresolved question lingering in Qin Miao’s mind: which team did Geely actually buy?

However, at that moment, it wasn’t convenient for Qin Miao to just call and ask directly like last year. After all, Geely had officially entered the arena. Although they hadn’t yet started getting results on the track, Geely’s affairs had already fallen under commercial secrets.

Asking about it could prompt President Li to tell the truth, but doing so would make Qin Miao feel a bit shameless.

On second thought, Qin Miao realized this matter would become public sooner or later. After all, Geely was a team, and once they officially appeared, everything would be clear.

With that in mind, Qin Miao stopped worrying about it.

The next day, Saturday, there was a qualifying session today.

In the afternoon, there was a third practice session to conduct, and Qin Miao got back into his usual state.

However, since most of the testing goals were completed last night, Qin Miao had a relatively light workload this afternoon.

But it wasn’t like there was nothing to do. Qin Miao still had a few sets of old tires left, which he could use to test the car’s aerodynamic efficiency and strive to optimize the tuning settings.

After all, while the track temperature drops at night, it doesn’t change the altitude or air density around the track.

The only thing to watch out for on this desert track is that it’s a desert, with no trees around the track to block or reduce the wind on the track.

So, drivers have to contend with the wind on the track.

Qin Miao is no exception.

But when the time comes, it will be more about the driver’s reaction and luck rather than the team’s tuning of the car.

Soon the third practice session ended, marking the end of the last practice session of the 2022 season.

Back at the team P room, they started reviewing Qin Miao’s flying laps on the track today, further optimizing his race lines with Barber. The sky at Yas Bay Marina quickly darkened.

Barber, glancing at the time, reminded Qin Miao, who was still immersed in the data: "Qin Miao, the qualifying session is about to start; you need to head to the track for preparations."

Reluctantly, Qin Miao lifted his head from the data, savoring the satisfaction of gradually optimizing his lap times and squeezing out a 0.01-second advantage from the details.

Subsequently, Qin Miao turned off his computer, reviewed the results of the afternoon’s third practice in his mind, confirmed there were no oversights, and then stood up to put on his racing suit.

Once dressed, Qin Miao left the team house’s lounge and headed to the team P room.

What surprised Qin Miao was encountering quite a few familiar faces in the team P room.

Jay Chou, Kunling, and Liu Yifei.

Of course, Qin Miao only knew them, having met, greeted, but there was not much private interaction.

On one hand, Qin Miao was busy; on the other hand, although all were public figures, Qin Miao had no common topics with them, so naturally, there was no chance for casual chat.

But obviously, since they were in the team P room, they were VIP clients of the team.

So, Qin Miao went over to greet them.

"Zhou, Kunling, Yifei." After all, having met them, and Qin Miao wasn’t someone with low emotional intelligence. Although he was a two-time F1 world champion, making him arguably more prestigious than entertainment stars, given their age, Qin Miao was quite polite in his greetings.

"Yo, Qin Miao, I watched your race at the Brazil Grand Prix last week. It was great! Keep it up for today’s race!" Zhou said with a smile, shaking hands with Qin Miao.

Qin Miao also smiled, shaking hands and replied, "I’ll try, but I think if you released a new album today and I listened to your songs during qualifying, my performance might improve even more."

Jay Chou: ...

This kid really can’t chat, huh? Went in for a big move right away?

The thing is, my new album just released this July...

But at least there’s something good: Qin Miao is definitely a fan of his music.

Feeling a bit speechless, Zhou still replied, "After releasing the album, I don’t really have much in stock now."

Qin Miao clicked his tongue in mild disappointment.

But then Zhou switched the topic: "However, I can give you two tickets to my concert."

Qin Miao immediately held Jay Chou’s hand tightly: "Please, make sure to give them to me!"

After chatting happily with Jay Chou for a while, Qin Miao went to greet Kunling and Liu Yifei.

Next came some casual chit-chat.

After chatting for about ten minutes, Qin Miao noticed Frankie giving him a look, signaling that it was about time.

"Well, thank you three, I’ll take my leave now; it’s about time for me to head to the race."

"Good luck!"