Chapter 1285 - 483: The Final Battle (6K)
Although the Mercedes team did not win the constructors’ championship for the 2022 season, everyone will receive a substantial bonus after winning the drivers’ championship.
Furthermore, everyone is full of confidence for next week’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. After all, everyone knows that with Qin Miao and Hamilton’s current resurgent form, even if they can’t defeat Verstappen in tomorrow’s race, they will certainly beat Perez, making winning the championship a natural outcome.
Of course, speaking of bonuses, the one who will get the most after this race is actually Qin Miao.
Although Qin Miao has never mentioned it publicly, he knows that after winning the drivers’ championship, he can get a 15 million US Dollar bonus from the team.
And since he is settled in Monaco, this 15 million US Dollars is tax-free and can all go into Qin Miao’s pocket, which is indeed quite comfortable.
Honestly, Qin Miao really feels that settling in Monaco was an extremely correct decision, because if he hadn’t, he would have needed to pay more than 30 million US Dollars in tax to Britain over these two years.
If it were paid domestically, it wouldn’t be a big deal, as Qin Miao considers himself a law-abiding citizen. But just thinking about giving this money to Britain makes Qin Miao feel quite uneasy.
In any case, after the race, everyone in the Mercedes team entered a state of extreme joy and began a wild celebration.
When Qin Miao returned to the team’s P room door after completing his duties, Reyes and the others rushed out from the room, shouting in surprise at Qin Miao’s stunned expression.
Before Qin Miao could react, Reyes and his team lifted him up. Even Hamilton’s pit crew, strategy group, and team logistics personnel appeared out of nowhere.
They gathered around Qin Miao and repeatedly tossed him into the air.
"What the hell! Ambush!" Qin Miao could only exclaim before being tossed into the air by them.
Amidst cheers, Qin Miao was really thrown up and caught again repeatedly.
Despite experiencing this maneuver by the team last year, Qin Miao, without being in a car seat, still found this strong gravitational change a bit unsettling.
But fortunately, Qin Miao noticed with his peripheral vision that there were many people below. Even if someone didn’t catch him, there would likely be someone to cushion his fall.
After being flung around like a toy for a while, Qin Miao was finally put down.
Seeing the joyful smiles on everyone’s faces, Qin Miao couldn’t bring himself to scold them and had to shake his head helplessly as he prepared to walk into the team’s P room.
Just then, Qin Miao noticed Toto standing nearby, clapping with a face full of satisfaction and pride.
However, seeing Toto’s smile, Qin Miao felt a surge of mischief.
Qin Miao no longer thought about catching up with his mentor and signaled to Reyes and Frankie.
After all, these two were the colleagues Qin Miao worked most closely with; Frankie had been Qin Miao’s race engineer since F2. Frankie’s quick understanding of Qin Miao’s intention was immediate.
The three of them then rushed towards Toto under his bewildered gaze.
And then...
Toto was also lifted up.
To be honest, watching Qin Miao and Frankie daringly lift the team shareholder, other team members were somewhat puzzled.
Toto’s face, originally gentle and comforting, instantly froze.
The smiles on other team members’ faces froze in the same way.
You really dare, don’t you?
Dare to toss the boss?
But seeing no signs of anger on Toto’s face, only surprise, others quickly became interested.
It’s well known that while the Mercedes team promotes a no-blame culture internally, allowing mistakes if you recognize and promise to correct them, there’s no actual punishment.
No fines, no chance of being fired.
But Toto, the team boss, is usually serious and unsmiling, at least towards mid to low-level team staff.
Only when dealing with upper management or drivers like Qin Miao and Hamilton is his expression more amiable.
Therefore, when they saw Toto wasn’t angry, everyone realized: This is a perfect opportunity to joke with the team boss, Toto Wolff.
Having been with Mercedes for so long, this might be the only time such an opportunity arises; miss this and it’s gone forever!
Realizing this, the other team members surged forward, letting Toto experience what Qin Miao just felt.
Moreover, this escapade by the Mercedes team began right in the passageway outside the team’s P room, without any regard for others, not even waiting for the race to end and leave the paddock.
Many VIPs and staff from other teams stood by watching, snapping photos with their phones.
Notably, celebrating after winning the drivers’ championship definitely allowed Mercedes team members to enjoy themselves thoroughly. After Toto was put down, he wasn’t angry, merely swearing and giving Qin Miao, the mastermind, a good-natured kick in the backside.