How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

As soon as he entered, Leclerc placed the ingredients he just bought from the supermarket in front of Qin Miao, flashed his car keys, and said to Qin Miao, "Lend it to me for a month, I’ll return it with a full tank."

Qin Miao nodded: "Alright."

As for the bet on the ship, Qin Miao didn’t care.

Norris, on the other hand, returned the keys to Qin Miao.

He’s not like Leclerc. Although he has a good relationship with Qin Miao, they’re not close enough for him to just take off with Qin Miao’s car without notice.

Moreover, he’s not as audacious as Leclerc.

Leclerc is practically Ferrari’s Crown Prince now; during the off-season, he can drive other teams’ cars without Ferrari saying anything.

Right now, Qin Miao is even more of a big shot at Mercedes, with the team practically begging to renew the contract. Even if Qin Miao drives a McLaren or a Ferrari to the paddock during the race day, Mercedes wouldn’t dare utter a peep, and might even have to compliment the taste in cars.

But that’s not the case for himself; although he has status at McLaren and can even be considered their number one driver, he hasn’t proven his indispensability on the field yet.

After all, Norris hasn’t won a single Grand Prix yet.

So, Norris didn’t dare to mess around; just experiencing it is enough. If he were to drive Qin Miao’s AMG for a month, his status within the team would definitely be affected.

It wouldn’t be fun if Piastri started plotting against him.

After taking back the car keys from Norris, it was actually Qin Miao’s first time touching the keys to his new car, which felt somewhat melancholic.

Afterwards, Qin Miao cooked a meal, and after four people finished, they each returned home.

After all, the FIA awards ceremony is coming up in a few days, and nearly all drivers have engagements to handle around that time.

Even Piastri, who just joined McLaren, has a lot of social commitments.

The only exception is Qin Miao, who has no events to attend and can continue to rest for a while.

Yet ironically, because of his double championship status, Qin Miao received numerous invitations, with many considering it an honor to have him attend.

Perhaps this is what they mean by rarity being precious.

In the following days, Qin Miao didn’t stay in Monaco any longer but returned to the UK to await the start of the FIA awards ceremony.

During this time, Qin Miao received bad news: the FIA officially announced the cancellation of the 2023 F1 Chinese Grand Prix.

The gap month will be filled by moving the Azerbaijan Grand Prix a week earlier.

This results in a three-week break in April.

The break is equivalent to a summer break, except that during the summer, the FIA mandates all team personnel to rest for three weeks, while in April, everyone can continue working on the front lines in development roles.

It’s expected that by the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, almost all teams will roll out significant upgrades.

Besides this, during the waiting period, Qin Miao received a text from Toto.

According to reliable information, soon-to-be-retired Ferrari team principal Binotto will represent Ferrari at his last public gathering during his tenure, which is the FIA awards ceremony. After attending, his contract will end.

Because Qin Miao had a good relationship with Binotto during his Ferrari training days.

So, Toto wants Qin Miao to use this opportunity to connect with Binotto.

Of course, Mercedes wouldn’t let Qin Miao handle specific negotiations because he’s too direct. He might bluntly lay Mercedes’ cards on the table and ask Binotto, "This is all I can offer; are you interested?"

There wouldn’t be any probing.

So, Mercedes merely wants Qin Miao to chat with Binotto and casually inquire if he’s interested in joining Mercedes.

Of course, Mercedes isn’t preparing a team principal position for Binotto but intends to offer a head of the engine department role.

However, Mercedes has outlined a clear promotion mechanism: if Binotto’s work in the engine department significantly improves the team, he’ll be the first choice for the next team principal after Toto retires.

But this doesn’t concern Qin Miao; these are things that will be on the table if Binotto genuinely wants to join Mercedes and during negotiations.

Honestly, after receiving this news, Qin Miao suddenly recalled a question Leclerc asked him at a party before the end of the season.

At that time, Leclerc asked why Mercedes wouldn’t hire Binotto, and now the boomerang has returned.

However, Qin Miao is quite looking forward to possibly collaborating with Binotto one day, as Binotto was very eager for him to join Ferrari during his F2 days.

Therefore, Qin Miao did not refuse the task the team assigned him.

Time flew by, and soon it was December 10th when the annual FIA awards ceremony took place.

This year’s ceremony was held in a different location than last year; last year it was in France, this time it’s in the UK.

The procedure was similar to last year’s awards ceremony.