How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Geely found me because they plan to sign me after my contract with Alfa Romeo expires at the end of 2024, but they only offered me a one-year contract."

Qin Miao digested the information Zhou Guanyu provided.

Currently, it is known and clear that Geely probably didn’t reach an agreement with Martin.

This makes sense; Old Stroll is quite wealthy, and although the young Stroll is not very skilled, Qin Miao often attends press conferences with him, and they chat backstage. Qin Miao can see that the young Stroll genuinely loves F1 and has no plans to leave the F1 paddock anytime soon, so Old Stroll will likely continue investing.

Moreover, with my presence, F1 has always been profitable, and the valuation of the Aston Martin team has continued to rise. In the short term, Old Stroll definitely won’t liquidate and leave.

So, he has no reason to sell the Aston Martin team.

Geely probably bought another team, but Qin Miao has no idea which one.

After all, there hasn’t been any news from within the paddock.

Geely approached Zhou Guanyu but only offered him a one-year contract, and Qin Miao didn’t know how to evaluate that.

After all, Qin Miao is fundamentally just an F1 driver and can’t view driver contract issues from a team perspective.

The position dictates the mindset, and Qin Miao firmly sits on the driver’s side.

After roughly sorting everything out, Qin Miao curiously asked, "Don’t know how to choose?"

Zhou Guanyu shook his head, "That’s not it. My agency thinks joining Geely is a good choice, given how large the domestic market is. Even if Geely only gives me a one-year contract, as long as I join Geely, I can capitalize on the benefits. By then, regardless of the relationship with the team or my experience, I’ll have a voice within the team."

"Then why are you looking for me?"

"Aren’t you a double champion? I wanted to see how you would approach this choice from the perspective of a double champion."

Qin Miao scratched his head and then somewhat uncertainly asked, "Do you know which team Geely bought? Even a rough direction would help."

Zhou Guanyu confidently said, "It’s definitely not one of Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, or Aston Martin."

Qin Miao rolled his eyes, "Do I need you to remind me about those four teams?"

But Qin Miao couldn’t ignore Zhou Guanyu’s question, so after some thought, Qin Miao said, "If it were me, I’d probably make the same choice as you and go to Geely.

After all, you should know what Alfa Romeo really is like, and towards the end of this season, Alfa Romeo has returned to its true form. A backmarker team is still a backmarker team, and you have no future at Alfa Romeo.

And no matter what, Geely is a manufacturer team, and judging by their performance in TCR, they indeed have the capability in racing and the ambition. It’s something to look forward to, and it’s only a year. We’re all young, we can afford it, and unlike me, you’re not competing with Verstappen and Hamilton for the world championship."

Even though Zhou Guanyu felt that Qin Miao’s words made a lot of sense, for some reason, he couldn’t help but feel there was a hint of pretense in Qin Miao’s words that made one want to punch him.

But Zhou Guanyu held back. He needed a favor, and he couldn’t hit this rascal.

"Got it. By then, the Chinese team and Chinese driver at the Chinese Grand Prix, we’ll reap all the domestic attention."

Qin Miao nodded. To be honest, as a member of the racing industry, Qin Miao genuinely hopes to see the domestic racing industry thriving.

After discussing the main topic, Zhou Guanyu didn’t rush to leave, as most of the team’s staff had already finished work by this time. In fact, Zhou Guanyu came to find Qin Miao after work.

In the paddock, only the Mercedes team had a chef specifically preparing Chinese cuisine for Qin Miao, so Zhou Guanyu planned to have a meal there before leaving.

Though the workday had ended, it wasn’t mealtime yet, so the two of them naturally engaged in casual conversation in the lounge.

"Ferrari has been quite turbulent recently," Zhou Guanyu remarked.

Qin Miao nodded and said, "I didn’t expect Bi to be taken down so hastily."

The topic Zhou Guanyu and Qin Miao discussed was news from November 15, sourced from the Italian Daily.

Binotto was ousted, and his replacement had a relatively close relationship with Zhou Guanyu because it was Vassel, the team leader of Alfa Romeo.

Zhou Guanyu shrugged, "I don’t deny Binotto’s talents in engine design and development. I even acknowledge that Binotto is one of the top genius engineers in the F1 paddock, but he really isn’t suited to be a team leader. Of course, it could also be that Binotto has the ability to be a leader but was stifled by Ferrari, as we both know what it’s like inside Ferrari."

At this point, the two Chinese drivers who emerged from Ferrari’s youth academy exchanged wry smiles.

After all, Ferrari has stifled the racing dreams of countless young drivers. On one hand, Ferrari’s team is full of young talents, like leeks that are cut one after another.

And in that talent-studded youth academy, a middling driver like Zhou Guanyu would find it hard to get ahead in such an environment, while Ferrari’s internal power struggles are also excessive.