How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 467 - 211: Classic Replay

However, regardless of what happens next, the final standings of this qualifying session are out.

Pole Position: Leclerc

2: Hamilton

3: Verstappen

4: Gasly

5: Sainz

6: Norris

7: Qin Miao

8: Perez

9: Tsunoda

10: Alonso

11: Vettel

12: O’Kang

13: Ricardo

14: Kimi

15: Russell

16: Latifi

17: Mick

18: Mazepin

19: Stroll

20: Giovinazzi

Qin Miao once again found himself in the driver’s public parking area after the race.

While conducting a car check, Qin Miao parked right next to Alonso.

As he got out to gather his belongings and head to weigh-in, Qin Miao regretfully glanced at the interview area for the top three qualifiers.

Actually, Qin Miao believed that today he was capable of standing over there.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as hoped, and he didn’t even make it past the first timed sector on his last flying lap, bringing this qualifying session to an abrupt, dramatic end.

Frustratingly, there were four red flags in this session, and Qin Miao wasted a full three sets of fresh soft tires because of them.

One set of fresh softs wasn’t even used by Qin Miao himself; it was used to give Hamilton a tow.

The crucial point is that Qin Miao didn’t even benefit from the tow himself.

Qin Miao is not a child; he knows that if the chance to benefit from Hamilton’s tow is missed, it’s missed. Hamilton won’t proactively help make up for that in the next race.

If he were to approach Hamilton himself, he would end up owing him a favor.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath, ready to turn and leave.

However, as he brooded, Qin Miao suddenly felt someone pat his shoulder. Turning to look, he found Alonso beside him.

"You look dissatisfied," Alonso said, as they both looked toward the direction of the podium.

Qin Miao didn’t say anything, only nodded.

Watching this, Alonso, sounding both consoling and introspective, said, "All the applause and flowers are fleeting; working quietly and diligently is the main theme of life.

Romantic Roland once said, ’There is only one kind of heroism in the world: to see the world as it is and still love it.’

So, Qin, don’t lose your love for racing because of a momentary setback. You have a long future ahead, keep going!"

Hearing Brother Tou’s advice, Qin Miao nodded, reaching out to pat Brother Tou’s back in response.

As for Brother Tou’s words, to be honest, Qin Miao didn’t think too deeply about them; he was upset not because he didn’t achieve a good result, but because he didn’t complete his last flying lap.

Poor results due to unutilized potential and poor results due to lack of capability are two different things.

Not staying there for long, ensuring he hadn’t left anything on the car, Qin Miao turned and took his helmet to the weigh-in.

After the weigh-in, Qin Miao handed his equipment to Barber and then turned toward the interview area.

During the interview, Qin Miao expressed his regret for not being able to run his last flying lap and missing out on the tow from his teammate Hamilton.

He also previewed tomorrow’s race, hoping for enough opportunities during the race to overtake like he did in Monaco.

After the interview, Qin Miao returned to the team for a meeting.

The meeting mainly involved explaining the race pit-stop strategy developed by the strategy group based on the starting positions and data from the three practice sessions, along with a brief explanation of why the team made these decisions.

After the meeting, Qin Miao was around the paddock working for another two hours before finally calling it a day.

At night, lying in bed, Qin Miao didn’t go to sleep immediately but reached for his phone to check the public’s opinion of him on social platforms.

Even though Qin Miao had valid reasons for his poor starting position, there were plenty of people online who were result-oriented, hence a lot of criticism aimed at him at the moment.

However, having been in this position for so long, Qin Miao started to gradually get used to the public’s verbal attacks.

Your first time seeing criticism might be tough to bear, but if you extend this over a week or even a month,

you’ll find that every time you open social media, there are always people criticizing you.

Having stayed in this environment for a long time, you become calm and accustomed to those criticisms.

Besides, Qin Miao wasn’t looking at those comments; he was reading the ones that praised him.

Similarly, Qin Miao had been using these positive comments as a form of encouragement for quite some time.

The next day, Sunday, the weather was bright and sunny, and according to the team’s meteorological report, there was no chance of rain today.

This was absolutely good news for Qin Miao.

He headed out, arrived at the track, participated in a pre-race interview, attended some small events, and then his morning activity was concluded.

For the remaining time until the race began, Qin Miao had no work obligations. At this time, he just needed to adjust his condition to face the upcoming race in the best possible state.

He went to the team hospitality area, greeted his colleagues, then went upstairs to the driver’s lounge to wait for the race to start.