How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 587 - 251: Mercedes or Aston Martin? (2)

Before the summer break ended, Qin Miao, like the staff at the Mercedes team factory, returned to his usual work routine.

Notably, after returning to the team factory, Toto approached Qin Miao to discuss his driver contract.

Currently, Qin Miao's contract has two and a half years remaining, and for Toto, this is the most cost-effective contract he's signed for Mercedes in his career.

However, anyone inside Mercedes who knows about Qin Miao's contract is aware that it doesn't match his contributions to the team.

The salary is too low.

To put it bluntly, although Hamilton earns much more than Qin Miao, in terms of racing development, Qin Miao's contributions to the team surpass Hamilton by far.

Thus, the board of directors plans to compensate Qin Miao for this.

Moreover, Qin Miao's performance on the track in this half of the season has been impressive enough; in his first career season, he has managed to consistently outperform his teammate, seven-time champion Hamilton, on the points table. Although luck plays a part, it would be shortsighted to ignore Qin Miao's own strength factors.

After all, many people might see an opportunity in front of them but are unable to seize it.

Additionally, Qin Miao has another trait that Mercedes particularly appreciates, especially the strategy group and the logistics data analysis department—his terrifying stability.

On the track, Qin Miao basically secures the points and positions that he should achieve.

While racing, Qin Miao's state seldom fluctuates.

Yet he can occasionally shine and bring surprises to the team, with very few errors.

Mercedes has no reason to let such a driver go, so after the half-season evaluation period was over, Toto decided to let go of Bottas and prepare a new contract for Qin Miao, allowing him to earn double the salary and boosting his annual salary to 15 million US Dollars.

Of course, this is Mercedes' bottom line, meaning the most they can offer Qin Miao in total for the combined two contracts is 15 million US Dollars. The initial offer would not be that high; it's all part of the later negotiations.

Simultaneously, Toto plans to extend Qin Miao's contract again. Given Qin Miao's current performance and his support for the team's work, he is truly deserving of a long-term contract.

After a discussion among Mercedes' board of directors, they ultimately decided to extend Qin Miao's contract term from three years to five years—adding two more years—until the end of 2025, just before the new regulations in 2026 are implemented.

If Qin Miao signs this contract, he will spend the ground effect era with Mercedes.

Normally, a five-year long-term contract is what every F1 driver dreams of, as F1 is a buyer's market.

Driver spots exceed demand.

Countless people are clamoring to secure a position in F1; having a decent-salary long-term contract is basically unattainable for all F1 drivers.

However, coincidentally, Qin Miao has learned recently that Geely has thoughts of acquiring Aston Martin.

Although this news hasn't been directly confirmed by Li Shufu, Qin Miao feels that with his dominant presence in the paddock, Geely might really rush into F1.

So when Qin Miao received the offer from Mercedes, he was a bit troubled.

He genuinely doesn't know how to handle this contract.

Luckily, Mercedes has only made a proposal; they require a response from Qin Miao within a month.

Therefore, Qin Miao has time to think and discuss.

Back home, Qin Miao asked Qimeng for her opinion on this matter. Of course, Qimeng is aware of the situation with Li Shufu and Geely, as on the flight back, Qin Miao and Qimeng talked about it since they had nothing else to do.

After knowing Qin Miao met Li Shufu, Qimeng regretted not going with Qin Miao.

Regarding Qin Miao's new contract, Qimeng takes a more aggressive stance: accepting Mercedes' invitation.

After all, everything with Geely is unknown. Even if Geely plans to enter F1, acquire Aston Martin, and buy the team along with it, exactly what obstacles they might encounter cannot be guaranteed or confirmed, making everything currently unknown.

Rather than betting on an uncertain future, Qimeng prefers to let Qin Miao choose a relatively safe but absolutely secure future.

Nonetheless, these are merely Qimeng's suggestions; even if Qin Miao wants to fully accept them, Qimeng herself wouldn't agree. Her advice is just a reference for Qin Miao—ultimately, Qin Miao needs his own independent judgment.

After consulting Qimeng, Qin Miao knows he can't solely rely on one opinion, so he called Boss Zhou the next morning.

During the call, Qin Miao naturally shared his current situation with Boss Zhou.

After hearing about Qin Miao's current predicament, Boss Zhou thought for a bit and then said, "A golden nest or a silver nest, none compares to your own nest. No matter how good Mercedes is, it belongs to foreigners, and if there's really an opportunity, I hope you can join Geely Holdings' Martin.

Although joining Martin initially might present challenges, the car won't be as good as Mercedes, and winning will become challenging.

But I believe, even so, it won't stop you; you probably have untapped potential still."

Regardless of the rest, Qin Miao thinks the main point is that a golden nest or a silver nest doesn't compare to your own nest.

Qin Miao is tempted, but he didn't agree immediately.

He has one last thing to do.

Nervously, he found a phone number recently saved in his contacts and dialed it.

After ringing three times, Li Shufu's voice came from the other end: "Qin Miao, good morning, what brings you to me?"

With some anxiety, Qin Miao replied, "Chairman Li, sorry for disturbing you abruptly, but I do have a question I'd like to trouble you for an answer."

"Haha, you're not disturbing me. Ask away if you have any questions."

Qin Miao took a deep breath and then explained that Mercedes wanted to renew his contract early and extend its duration.

Although Qin Miao didn't explicitly say what he sought from Li Shufu, his words made it clear.

If Geely is indeed ready to enter F1, surely Qin Miao, as a Chinese driver, would want to join a Chinese team, but now Mercedes is offering him an olive branch, and Qin Miao needs to decide within a month.

If it weren't for meeting Li Shufu during the summer break, Qin Miao, in his honeymoon phase with Mercedes, would hardly need to think and would agree to Toto's contract on the spot.

But now, knowing Geely's intentions, Qin Miao came to Li Shufu for news on whether Geely will enter or not, and when they might do so—specifically before his current contract ends.

After hearing Qin Miao's words, Li Shufu chuckled: "I think you need to look at this matter more long-term.

After all, I feel your potential hasn't been fully unleashed yet; you could still perform better on the track, and with your growth speed, by the time you fully mature, it'll be in two to three years, which coincides with your contract at Mercedes ending.

By then, teams like Red Bull, Ferrari, will surely be interested in a top driver like you.

Even if you don't want to be the second driver at these teams.

You can secure the first driver position at Renault, McLaren, and Aston Martin, with salaries not less than what you have now at Mercedes or the contract you are about to sign."

Li Shufu might not have said anything explicit, yet explained everything.