How did I become an F1 driver?

"What NTR?"

Leclerc's track engineer asked curiously.

"Well, nothing." Leclerc coughed dryly and brushed the matter off.

Leclerc's track engineer scratched his head in confusion, but he didn't delve into the issue too deeply. There were things that made him happier now.

Soon, Leclerc on the track also caught up with Qin Miao.

After taking the first one-two finish of the 2024 season, the two Ferrari SF1s slowly began their two-car parade on the track.

The two walked side by side towards the maintenance area while greeting the fans at the scene.

Later, Zhou Guanyu also joined this group.

This guy just came here to join in the fun, but no fan would think that Zhou Guanyu's behavior was inappropriate. Normally, after the race is over, the drivers will greet the spectators on their way back to the maintenance area.

The only problem with Zhou Guanyu is that he is in the wrong position.

But when fans think about his good relationship with the two people in front, they don’t find it strange.

However, the Albert Park circuit is limited in width, so at best two cars can run side by side.

Although the three cars can barely stay side by side on the track, if they do so, the cars behind will be faster and the drivers who want to return to the maintenance area early will be completely blocked.

Plus, the track is indeed narrow in some places.

So the three of them returned to the maintenance area.

Qin Miao stopped at the champion's position, with a Ferrari on the left and a McLaren on the right.

Norris' performance in today's race was only average compared to Qin Miao and Leclerc, but McLaren won the race because of its stability.

Throughout the entire process, the McLaren team demonstrated the steadiness that a veteran team should have and basically did not make any major mistakes.

In the end, they got their first podium of the 2024 season.

Of course, this is also thanks to Red Bull and Verstappen.

However, the happiest people after the game would probably be Ferrari and Qin Miao.

After all, Verstappen didn't score any points in this race, while Ferrari took home a first-two.

Whether in the driver's standings or the team's standings, Ferrari and Qin Miao have pulled far ahead of their main rival, Red Bull.

To be honest, neither Ferrari nor Qin Miao had expected that Red Bull, which has always been known for its stable cars and fast drivers, would fail in such an important race today.

After all, if you say that other teams' cars have mechanical problems, the fans will at most smile and then say confidently: "I knew it."

Or: “Here we go again.”

But to be honest, the impression that Red Bull has left on fans over the years is that it is rigorous and its cars are particularly stable, but who would have thought that Verstappen's car would pull in today's race?
After parking his car, Qin Miao could not hide his excitement. He did not even take off the steering wheel and directly grabbed the racing flip-flops and pulled himself out of the car like pulling a carrot.

In fact, for safety reasons, in F1 racing, the driver can climb out of the car even without pulling out the steering wheel.

After all, after you've crashed your car and it's on fire, you can't possibly take apart the steering wheel, right?
It just doesn't require as much force as pulling out the steering wheel.

Normally, after the race is over, the reason why drivers remove the steering wheel is mainly because everyone is very tired after a race. Although they are not exhausted, they are definitely sore all over.

If you can make yourself feel more comfortable, you will definitely make yourself feel more comfortable.

But you can't resist the terrifying physical fitness of this freak Qin Miao. After getting out of the car, his face was still normal, but he was sweating a lot, which completely messed up his carefully designed hairstyle.

Of course, Qin Miao's slightly long crew cut would only look like that no matter how carefully it was designed.

After getting out of the car, Qin Miao couldn't wait to rush to the waiting area where a large number of Ferrari team staff had already gathered.

It was another standard high jump celebration, and Qin Miao dived directly into the crowd.

If we talk about the last Bahrain Grand Prix, the Ferrari team staff were not familiar with Qin Miao's way of celebration, and they were a little flustered when they saw Qin Miao rushing towards them.

Once again facing Qin Miao's way of celebration, they were all mentally prepared and all opened their arms in advance, fearing that they would not be able to catch their beloved triple champion and he would fall to the ground during the celebration.

Even the photographer who was carrying a camera nearby took two steps back in advance to prevent Qin Miao from kicking the camera.

As Qin Miao threw himself into the crowd of smiling Ferrari team members, huge cheers came from the group.

Everyone patted Qin Miao excitedly.

In fact, the result of today's game is exactly the same as the previous game. The reason why I am so happy is because Red Bull has pulled its trouser pockets.

For a racing team, the only thing that makes them happier than winning is seeing their opponents in trouble.

After celebrating vigorously, Qin Miao was also let go by them.

Although Leclerc could not hide his excitement, he did not have as much energy as Qin Miao to do another pole vault after the competition.

So he just jogged in front of the crowd and dived into the crowd of Ferraris.

After the two Ferrari drivers finished celebrating, Qin Miao laughed and gave Leclerc a hug.

Leclerc also patted Qin Miao's back vigorously: "You are awesome, after you left me behind, I couldn't even see your taillights. Damn, how did you train your ability to protect your tire? I can't see anything abnormal from your telemetry data."

But listening to Leclerc's seemingly questioning but actually praising words, Qin Miao's face turned serious and said, "Don't interrupt me at this time. Have you forgotten the bet we made before the race? Just tell me whether today's race is mainly about cruising? Although there were some accidents on the track, we were cruising most of the time, right?"

Leclerc put his hands on his hips helplessly and said, "Okay, okay, you're still thinking about this little thing. I'm not someone who often breaks my promises. Are you still not trusting me?"

"For the next car, change your name on the car to mine, don't forget." He patted Leclerc on the shoulder, then went to weigh the car with a smile.

Only Leclerc was left standing there, smiling bitterly and shaking his head.

After completing the post-match preparations and weighing, Qin Miao tidied himself up and took off his helmet, and then Norris came over.

Qin Miao naturally smiled and shook hands with Norris: "You performed well in today's game."

Norris also smiled and replied to Qin Miao: "Not bad, let alone you, I haven't even seen the butt of Leclerc's car."

In today's race, the finishing time difference between Qin Miao and Leclerc was 9 seconds, and the finishing time difference between Leclerc and Norris was 4 seconds. Although not as big as the gap between Qin Miao and Leclerc, it was enough for one F1 car to not see the rear of another F1 car.

"After all, you're third. Many drivers can't even get on the podium." Qin Miao consoled with a smile.

Norris waved his hand and stopped talking about this.

After the three of them finished their preparations, they began today’s post-match interview.

But in fact, for Qin Miao, there were not many questions that could be asked of him in this game.

After all, on the field, Qin Miao basically did not encounter any challenges except at the beginning.

Therefore, the focus is more on Qin Miao's tire protection and how he views Verstappen's retirement.

Although Qin Miao didn't have a very good impression of Verstappen at this time, after all, he had crashed in at the start of the last race.

If Verstappen had dared to hit him again in this race, he would definitely be at a disadvantage in the public opinion of the paddock if he really had nowhere to go. The FIA ​​could not turn a blind eye like it did in the previous race and there would definitely be severe penalties.

But when the host asked about it, Qin Miao still expressed deep sympathy and regret for Verstappen's withdrawal, and even said: "With Verstappen not on the field, I even feel a little bored."

It was a disguised affirmation of Verstappen's ability, but it also improved himself in another way.

After all, at this time, you praise your opponent to the skies, and if you defeat your opponent, doesn't that mean you are stronger than him?

And no one would bring this contradiction to the surface, so Qin Miao also gave the unlucky guy the respect he deserved at this time.

He didn't get any points, and I got 26 points. It's okay for me to give in verbally, right?

Since they have already won, it won't hurt to say a few nice words, right? Many fans even think they are generous.

After the post-race interview, Qin Miao waited for Leclerc at the entrance to the stairs for a while, and then the two Ferrari drivers smiled and went upstairs together, arm in arm.

After Norris came up, the three of them had a pretty happy chat.

The atmosphere in the locker room after the game was not as silent as it was in the previous game in Bahrain.

However, no matter how they chatted, when the broadcast screen in the lounge played back the moment when Verstappen's car turned into a Broadsword mine, all three of them looked sad.

After all, they are also worried that this kind of thing will happen to themselves.

When the scene came to Russell's accident, Qin Miao analyzed: "Russell was in a hurry. He quickly approached Alonso's car and caused the W15 to enter the turbulent area. The overall downforce balance of the car was problematic, and Russell did not save the car. He could not have stepped on the brakes at this time."

Norris nodded and said, "If you are slow to react at the first moment, you have to accept the result of losing speed. Russell's approach of having both is really not advisable."

"In that situation, Russell probably didn't think as much as you think. He was probably just frightened by Alonso's brake test and couldn't react." Leclerc said on the side.

"Have you put yourself in that situation?" Qin Miao asked faintly, "Do you think you wouldn't be able to react even if you were in Russell's position?"

"Get out!" Leclerc punched Qin Miao.

……

Three minutes later, the post-match awards ceremony began.

Under the introduction of the host, Norris was the first to appear, followed by Leclerc, then Waldner, and finally Qin Miao.

In fact, it should be the turn of other members of the Ferrari team to receive the award on behalf of the Ferrari team. However, this is the first time that Ferrari has brought back two cars in the 2024 season, which is the biggest victory since Ferrari introduced Qin Miao.

Originally, Wasser did want to let someone else come up to receive the award this time, but he was the one who insisted on introducing Qin Miao, so everyone recommended him, and he couldn't refuse.

So Ferrari won two consecutive victories and Vasseur went on stage to receive the award for the second time in a row.

After everyone stood still, the award ceremony began.

I won’t go into too much detail about this aspect.

It's nothing more than interacting with the fans and team staff on the scene after receiving the trophy.

After the trophies were presented, Qin Miao took off his hat and his expression became serious.

The national anthem rang out around the Albert Park circuit, followed by the Mameli Song.

After the national anthem ended, the solemn expression on Qin Miao's face disappeared, and he immediately put on a smile. He picked up the champagne not far from his feet and began to shake it wildly.

Then he launched a fierce attack on the other three people on the stage.

The three people on the podium today all have a good relationship with Qin Miao, and Leclerc is like a close friend to him.

So this celebration will not be as boring as the last game, with only Vassell and Qin Miao spraying champagne at each other.

But there was one downside to having so many acquaintances, which was that most of the champagne from these three people went towards Qin Miao.

Old Den, Vasseur, directly pulled open the collar of Qin Miao's racing suit and poured all the champagne into Qin Miao's clothes.

Qin Miao did not hide either. He even stood on the stage, spraying champagne at other staff members below the stage while smiling. He even opened his arms at the end to feel the cheers of the fans.

Fortunately, the temperature in Australia is not too low now, and Qin Miao has a strong physique, otherwise he might really catch a cold if he did this.

However, Qin Miao did not let them go. More than half of the bottle of champagne was poured out to them, and some was given to Norris. Normally, Qin Miao would keep half for the team staff to enjoy after the celebration, but this time only 1/5 of the champagne was left when he brought it back to the team's P room.

After the celebration, the team started to pack up their luggage and celebrate with glasses of wine.

The Japanese Grand Prix will be held two weeks after the Australian Grand Prix, so no one on the team is in a hurry at this time.

They are all enjoying the afterglow of victory.

In Maranello, it was still morning, but the Italians who had been following the race the whole time celebrated after Qin Miao crossed the finish line, and then hurriedly gathered at the door of the Ferrari team headquarters.

An old man walked out of the Ferrari team headquarters at a leisurely pace, holding a red Ferrari flag in his hand.

Finally, with the help of the staff, a ladder was set up. After climbing up the ladder, the old man planted the flag in his hand next to another red flag.

Ferrari's second driver championship was born, and the second flag was flying in the wind. (End of this chapter)