How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 487 - 217: Flowers and Applause
After Hamilton’s error, the situation on the track gradually became clear.
Ultimately, Qin Miao held steady in his position, crossing the finish line first amidst the cheers of countless people.
Following closely were Red Bull’s Perez, followed by Vettel with an absolutely perfect performance today, Gasly, Leclerc, and Norris.
Even though Hamilton faltered at the end of the race, fortunately, Mercedes had Qin Miao as insurance.
So, when Qin Miao crossed the finish line, he could still see the Mercedes team staff on one side of the pit wall cheering wildly for him.
This finish marked Qin Miao’s second F1 Grand Prix win of the season, and also the second of his career.
Naturally, Qin Miao had no reason not to celebrate with his colleagues, so he smiled and slowed down, driving towards the direction of the pit left of the track.
During this, Qin Miao didn’t forget to extend his hand to greet them.
Qin Miao even saw Toto hanging on the guardrail among the crowd.
After passing through, Qin Miao immediately heard his system prompt.
[Task: Touch the Peak (Completed)]
[Task Requirement: Win at Baku Circuit]
[Reward: Free Attributes*1, Team Free Attributes*1, Golden Lottery*1, Lottery Points equal to the points earned (+25)]
[Task: King of Baku (Failed)]
[Task Requirement: Become the race’s best driver as voted by the audience]
[Reward: Rain Combat Ability +1]
[Task: Tire Temptation (Failed)]
[Task Requirement: Obtain pole position in the qualifying session]
[Reward: Random Attribute Points +2]
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Although it’s unfortunate that the last two tasks weren’t completed, the King of Baku task was one Qin Miao originally had a strong chance of completing, but Hamilton’s error ultimately led Vettel to the podium.
It’s always more attractive to the general public when a weaker competitor achieves something difficult than when a stronger competitor does the same.
When a weaker competitor achieves it, they are amazing, unbelievable, incredible.
When a stronger competitor achieves it, it’s expected, as it should be.
Seeing Vettel finally stand on the podium despite being blocked by two major teams, it felt a bit like reading those thrilling novels. So it’s also understandable why the audience voted for Vettel, and Qin Miao losing to Vettel in this regard wasn’t without reason.
However, Qin Miao wasn’t too concerned about it. As long as the main task was accomplished.
The system task rewards were given the moment it was completed.
Besides using the lottery points to get quite a few small gifts, Qin Miao set aside everything else, waiting for the big wave.
Currently, Qin Miao’s distributable free attribute points reached 5, the team’s free attribute points reached 2, with 6 Golden Lotteries and 6 Purple ones, bringing him closer to the target of 10-consecutive Golden draws.
After Qin Miao crossed the finish line, TR once again erupted with congratulations and applause.
But the director didn’t rush to broadcast these voicemails, instead showing Mercedes’ team pit on camera.
The atmosphere inside the Mercedes pit was somewhat strange.
Some engineers were laughing joyfully, embracing one another with excitement, while others remained silently serious.
Soon the camera switched to Toto who had returned to the team’s pit.
Toto was still wearing a mask, making it difficult to discern his facial expression, but there he was, arms crossed, leaning leisurely in his spot, appearing inscrutable.
"Toto Wolff." After seeing Toto on camera, Fei explained to some new viewers who were unfamiliar with F1 but had been drawn to the sport by Qin Miao’s impressive performance on the track: "He’s the main person who pulled Qin Miao from Ferrari to the Mercedes team, and also the team’s leader."
"Yes, although Hamilton retired, Qin Miao is still in the race, so just by looking at Toto sitting comfortably, you know he’s enjoying himself," Bing added with a smile.
"Of course, Qin Miao is holding the team points, Red Bull can’t catch up, Hamilton and Verstappen both didn’t score, so their rankings remain unchanged," Fei said. "If it were me, I’d be happy too."
"I never realized Qin Miao was so good on street circuits," Zhou Haoran said suddenly, after looking over data from recent races. "In the two street races Qin Miao participated in, he finished with more than five places gained each time.
On traditional circuits, Qin Miao’s performance can only be described as good, nothing like his spectacular show on street circuits."
Zhou Haoran’s words instantly enlightened the other two commentators, prompting the trio to dive into a deep discussion on the subject.
Meanwhile, Qin Miao had navigated his car back into the pits during this time.
During his return, the race committee also provided some information related to the race.
Firstly, the driver with the fastest lap in the race was Verstappen, but since he didn’t finish in the top 10, the points for his fastest lap won’t go to him, nor to anyone else—it’ll just be nullified.
