How did I become an F1 driver?

In the last lap of Q3, due to traffic congestion, almost all teams released their drivers only in the last three minutes, so Ferrari released Qin Miao relatively late.

Basically, there were 3 seconds left before the end of Q10 when Qin Miao crossed the finish line for the last time and started the flying lap.

When Qin Miao started his flying lap, Verstappen had just finished his second period.

When Qin Miao arrived at the first timing section, Verstappen had just crossed the finish line, and his finishing speed was 1:29.110.

It was nearly 3 seconds faster than Qin Miao Q0.3's first lap.

Everyone at Ferrari was stunned when they saw Verstappen set a new record. Hey, buddy, how come you are so fast?
Hiding from the beginning of season 24?
You are the real old six!
Ferrari actually wanted to inform Qin Miao of the news to see if he could continue to increase his speed on the track. However, the Ferrari people felt a little desperate when they saw the 0.3 second time difference. At the same time, they did not dare to disturb Qin Miao who was doing flying laps.

After all, the drivers are generally in a state of full concentration at this time. Any sudden interruption will not only easily cause the drivers to make mistakes, but may even further cause accidents.

Even if Franky wanted to speak, he was stopped by Vassar next to him.

Franky was also helpless. He knew that with Qin Miao's talent, telling Qin Miao at this time would not affect Qin Miao's driving, but Vassell and the others didn't know.

And even if Franky explained, it was too late because Qin Miao had already reached the third timing section. Unless he flew directly to the finish line, it would be impossible for him to gain a speed advantage of 3 seconds in the third timing section alone.

This is not a question of talent or not, it is an objective physical factor.

When Qin Miao crossed the finish line, his lap time was indeed not faster than Verstappen, but Qin Miao tried his best in the last lap and improved a lot, with a result of 1:29.200.

0.2 seconds faster than his first lap time.

But there's no way, Verstappen is faster.

Qin Miao was unaware of this. After crossing the finish line, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked in the team TR: "How was my speed this lap?"

Franky replied: "Very good, almost perfect."

"?" Qin Miao was a little confused: "Almost? What is my P?"

"P2."

"Who is it? So fast?" Qin Miao was not angry, but just asked with some confusion.

After all, in the three seasons that Qin Miao has been in the paddock, he has not often taken the pole position in qualifying. He always started from second or third place.

Qin Miao was not in a hurry about this. He knew himself well and he also knew that his main advantages were long-distance rhythm and tire protection.

He was just a little curious. He was running so fast, so who else could be faster than him?

"Verstappen, 1:29.110."

"It's this again." Qin Miao complained, but didn't say it to the team TR: "It's really 11 and 00."

"What about third?"

"Leclerc finished third with a lap time of 1:29.338."

Qin Miao nodded: "Old Four's lap time is not bad."

……

The Ferrari fans at the scene were very excited after the qualifying round.

Although Qin Miao did not get the pole position in this race, as mentioned above, they all knew that Qin Miao's real advantages were in long distance and tire protection.

If he can start from second place, Qin Miao may be able to win the championship in tomorrow's race.

Not to mention that Leclerc was also third in this race.

Perhaps Ferrari's first good start in the 24th season will be to win -. If we think a little more boldly, it is not impossible to win -.

Finally, after the qualifying round, the rankings are as follows:
1: Max Verstappen (1:29.110)

2: Qin Miao

3: Leclerc

4: Russell
5: Hamilton

6: Perez
7: Alonso
8: Norris
9: Piastri
10: Hulkenberg

After finishing the qualifying race, Qin Miao slowly drove his car back to the post-race inspection area.

By the time Qin Miao stopped his car, Verstappen had already gotten out of the car and was celebrating and shaking hands with the Red Bull team staff.

Next to the Red Bull team staff, the Ferrari team had been waiting for a long time.

In fact, if we come back with 23rd place in qualifying, there is no need for so many people, but this is the first qualifying race of the 2024 season after all, and it is a very good start for Ferrari, which had a terrible performance last season, so the standards on Ferrari's side are relatively high.

After stopping the car, Qin Miao turned off the engine, took out the steering wheel, hooked his hands on his flip-flops, and pulled himself out of the car.

Then he lowered his head to install the steering wheel, and then Qin Miao smiled and trotted towards the crowd of the Ferrari team.

Looking at the smiling faces of the Ferrari crowd, Qin Miao felt as if he were in another world.

But he still walked in front of the crowd with a smile.

Wasser laughed and gave Qin Miao a big hug, saying, "Good boy! Well done!"

"This is the result of the joint efforts of all the team members. I didn't play a big role in it."

Wasser smiled and pointed at Qin Miao and said to Frankie beside him: "Look, this kid just likes to be humble."

Frankie smiled and hugged Qin Miao and said, "All Chinese people are like this."

"In our country, this is a traditional virtue. We have to try it." Qin Miao smiled and patted Frankie on the shoulder: "And I'm telling the truth, isn't it?"

"As long as you have good grades, everything you say is right." Franky nodded and smiled.

After Jiandan and the team celebrated happily for a while, Leclerc also walked over from his car.

"It seems that I am more skilled." Qin Miao greeted him with a smile.

Leclerc shook his head helplessly: "Fuck!"

Of course, this is not an insult, it is just a helpless vent.

Then Leclerc hugged Qin Miao and said sincerely: "Good run."

The Iron Buddha Temples at the scene cheered after seeing this scene.

Verstappen, who had already finished celebrating with the team and was taking a break to drink water, heard the cheers from the fans. He looked back at the two Ferrari drivers and raised his eyebrows.

If you don’t know, you might think these two were brought back in the qualifying rounds one and two.

But there is no way, after so many years, Ferrari's fan base inside and outside the paddock is too large. Just like Vettel said, everyone is a Ferrari fan, even if he says he is not, he is still a Ferrari fan.

After a brief celebration, Qin Miao and Lao Si went to the podium to tidy up their appearance while chatting.

"Did you feel the wind measurement when you were in T4? I was affected at the time. I corrected the direction because of the wind measurement when I was exiting the corner. Without this, my lap time would have room for improvement." Leclerc said with some regret.

Qin Miao recalled: "I didn't feel it. There shouldn't have been any wind when I passed by there. You are just unlucky."

"You ran so smoothly?"

Qin Miao took a sip of water and shrugged, saying, "I ran this lap without being affected by any off-field factors. I finished it smoothly."

"Hey~" Leclerc sighed for some reason, and then asked: "How does the car feel in qualifying?"

Qin Miao thought for a moment and said, "Compared to the shooting day and the winter test, it has definitely improved. The new chassis is pretty good. Logically, I should have a good chance of taking pole today. I don't know what weird stuff those Red Bull guys put in their car to make it so fast."

Leclerc also glanced at the Red Bull car parked between the two Ferraris.

……

After a brief chat, the post-match interview began.

I won't go into details about the post-race interview here. Anyway, with the Ferrari team and Qin Miao's fans mostly present, the response Verstappen received when he was interviewed was far less enthusiastic than when Qin Miao was interviewed.

We can only say that with the support of Ferrari's warm-up, the great news of Qin Miao joining Ferrari, and Qin Miao's first qualifying race at Ferrari, there were a lot of Ferrari fans in today's race.

After qualifying, Qin Miao returned to the team home for a meeting and found out that the speed of Verstappen's RB20 in the second time period on the track was actually similar to his own.

The reason why he is so fast is that his advantages are in the first and second periods, and both are in the DRS zone.

I don't know how the RB20's aerodynamic kit was designed. The DRS is just a common way to reduce drag and increase the car's tail speed on the track.

Verstappen's RB20 is a bit like Asurada in high-speed mode.

Incredibly fast.

Last season's RB19 was fast after DRS was turned on. Now after a winter of upgrades, the DRS of the Red Bull car seems to be even more efficient.

However, Qin Miao is not in a hurry about this. Anyway, Verstappen is unlikely to activate his DRS during the race.

After the meeting, Qin Miao returned home and went to sleep comfortably, while Leclerc went to participate in the team's interview with a resentful look on his face.

Of course, Leclerc is not like those slaves working in the city, who resent their leaders for pushing work onto them and for having to work overtime but also not getting overtime pay.

For drivers, frequent exposure actually helps to increase their popularity and increase their influence in the hearts of fans.

It can be said that Qin Miao is willing to give this opportunity to be interviewed to other drivers, which is definitely a big deal for those drivers who get the interview opportunity.

This is also the reason why Hamilton said nothing when Qin Miao did not attend the event at Mercedes-Benz.

The reason why Leclerc has negative emotions is simply because there are too many things to do and he is too busy.

Soon it was the much-anticipated Sunday.

I won’t go into detail about the preparations for the day.

As time gradually approaches afternoon and the sky begins to darken, the Bahrain Grand Prix truly becomes the focus of everyone's attention.

It is worth mentioning that because this was Qin Miao’s first race for Ferrari, it attracted a lot of attention and the ratings of the Bahrain Grand Prix hit new highs.

When FOM and the local government of Bahrain saw these data, they were so happy that their faces were crooked with smiles.

Today's tickets were sold out early.

There were really huge crowds of people at the scene.

And most of the fans in the crowd were wearing red Ferrari jerseys, and even those who were not wearing clothes were wearing Ferrari hats.

It can be said that at least 50% of the audience at the scene are Ferrari fans.

This once again proves the truth of Vettel's famous words.

At the same time, Qin Miao also appeared on the track wearing a Ferrari team uniform, and was about to start the pre-race driver parade.

Before the drivers' parade, it's easy to guess who the fans at the race will cheer the most.

After the driver training was over, Qin Miao and Leclerc's smiles became a little stiff.

Except for those bends without spectator seats, Qin Miao could drink some water and take a break. No matter where he went, there were Ferrari fans shouting their names.

Sometimes you really can't help but accept it.

After the drivers' parade and the national anthem before the race, Qin Miao returned to his car.

Anyway, the national anthem segment was held in front of the car line, and Qin Miao was only two steps away from his car.

Before the car was pushed out of the team's P room, Qin Miao had already patted his car and completed a preliminary inspection.

All the systems of the car were operating normally. Perhaps it was because Qin Miao's crew knew that Qin Miao had the right to fire them, and the opening race was crucial to all Ferrari fans, so they did not perform any circus operations at this stage.

And to be honest, after Binotto left Ferrari, the number of times Ferrari, led by Vasseur... no, Vasseur, performed circuses for all Ferrari fans on the track has been greatly reduced.

There’s still a lot of abstraction, but it’s progress, isn’t it?

During the final preparation period, Qin Miao leaned against the guardrail beside the track with his water bottle, waiting for the start of the race. Soon Leclerc came to Qin Miao's side.

The two of them didn't say anything, just sat in a corner together, watching their crew members busying around on their racing cars and waiting silently.

Twenty minutes later, the two received a notice that the race would start in 15 minutes and they needed to get into the car to prepare for the start of the race.

Qin Miao and Leclerc stood up together.

The two reached out and shook hands.

"Come on."*2
Then the two of them came to their respective racing cars and started putting on their equipment.

After getting the earphones, headgear, and helmet ready, Qin Miao got into the racing car, connected the communication earphones, and put on gloves.

"Radio test."

"I can hear you." What surprised Qin Miao was that it was actually Vassell's voice on his radio: "It's the first game, don't be nervous, just run the same way you normally do today, we are all waiting for your good news."

Qin Miao smiled helplessly: "Don't put pressure on me. Although this is nothing to me, I am a little nervous after being reminded by you."

“Hahaha, sometimes it’s not a bad thing to be a little nervous on the track, right?”

ps. Happy New Year to all readers! (End of this chapter)