How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

During the driver parade, the entire crowd of Mexican fans shouted Checo’s name; Qin Miao can recall this even while sitting in the car.

For domestic fans, Qin Miao has always been the person they are most concerned about during Grand Prix weekends, aside from Qin Miao, it’s Zhou Guanyu.

However, today, Qin Miao is the most important person in the eyes of domestic fans because he officially announced on his social media platform that his wife is pregnant.

This news is undoubtedly delightful for domestic fans.

For some domestic fans, racing is very cool and promising, but during races, it’s unavoidable to face danger.

Now that Qin Miao has a child, some older domestic fans feel relieved and comforted upon hearing the news.

After all, these fans consider Qin Miao as their own child when they are involved.

Five-Star Sports also announced this good news to fans who were still unaware:

"Before today’s race, we received great news that our Chinese driver, reigning world champion Qin Miao, and his partner Qimeng finally have the fruit of their love. Qin Miao himself shared the news about his child on his official account."

"Of course, while congratulating Qin Miao and welcoming the arrival of little Qin Miao, we hope this good news can inspire Qin Miao on the track and lead to an even better performance in today’s race."

...

While the commentators of Five-Star Sports were chatting, the warm-up lap on the track began.

After completing the warm-up lap, all drivers parked their cars in their respective positions.

Today, Qin Miao starts from twelfth place, with Ricardo on his left front and Zhou Guanyu right ahead.

Though Qin Miao has started from the back of the grid before, starting behind Zhou Guanyu is certainly the first time in Qin Miao’s career.

Before the race began, Zhou Guanyu just came over to greet Qin Miao, congratulated him on having a child but didn’t chat for too long.

Today’s race also puts some pressure on Zhou Guanyu.

Yet, the pressure doesn’t come from external sources; Zhou Guanyu’s performance this rookie season has been exceptionally good.

In fact, all of Zhou Guanyu’s pressure comes from within himself.

If Zhou Guanyu were the only Chinese F1 driver, he might feel urgency and pressure, but he wouldn’t have a clear goal, even if there was one he wouldn’t have much motivation to pursue it.

Because he has already made history; he is history.

Nevertheless, with Qin Miao’s presence, even though Qin Miao’s position seems far and almost unreachable, Zhou Guanyu still wants to try catching up.

After all, there is an old Chinese saying: "If others can, so can I."

Even if he can’t catch Qin Miao, at least Zhou Guanyu believes he won’t regret it when looking back at his old age.

However, Qin Miao doesn’t know Zhou Guanyu has given himself so much pressure; upon reaching his position, he starts the final pre-race checks.

After finding no issues, Qin Miao adjusts all of the car’s systems to start mode.

This time, Qin Miao has no big ambitions at the start; he’ll be content to overtake Zhou Guanyu ahead. As for Ricardo next door in eleventh?

What is he? Just another small fry.

Once the race starts, I’ll overtake him in no time, believe it.

Joking aside, the race continues.

The last F1 car on the track is in place, medical car is in place, rear green flag waving, the race is about to start.

"Alright, we see the five red lights lit up... the race begins!"

After the race starts, Qin Miao releases the clutch first, and the car’s power starts to unleash rapidly.

The starting straight of Rodriguez Brothers Circuit is a super long straight of 1.2KM; combined with the lower air density of the circuit, Qin Miao can also benefit from Zhou Guanyu’s slipstream. This season, the Mercedes car focused on reducing drag as the primary upgrade goal.

So, Qin Miao knows, starting at this position is like a shark entering a fish pond, he can enjoy and dominate.

Rising several places at the start means it will be easier to chase drivers ahead during the race.

Hence, after the start, Qin Miao catches Zhou Guanyu’s slipstream ahead.

Qin Miao’s reaction speed at the start is clearly faster than Zhou Guanyu’s.

Thus, after running half the straight, Qin Miao is ready to attack Zhou Guanyu from the inside.

Naturally, Zhou Guanyu notices Qin Miao behind him immediately, but Zhou Guanyu doesn’t resist.

He even squeezes Ricardo towards the outside line, leaving space for Qin Miao on the outside.

Honestly, seeing Zhou Guanyu’s maneuver trajectory rendered Qin Miao somewhat stupefied.

Brother, are you really not defending against me?

Zhou Guanyu’s thoughts were actually quite simple; the performance of the Alfa Romeo is indisputably less potent than the Mercedes. Being overtaken by Qin Miao is just a matter of time for Zhou Guanyu.

So no matter how much he resists at this point, it would be futile.

Yet his internal stubbornness wouldn’t let Zhou Guanyu surrender early in the race; after starting, he keeps his attention on Qin Miao behind him.