How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 598 - 256: The World Pauses in Yellow and White, Rain Stops the Grand Prix (Part 2)

By that time, the cars behind won't have to think about looking at the road ahead; the rain and fog might be so dense that they can't even find reference points on either side.

Following the safety car for three laps, the track conditions did not improve at all.

Continuing on like this would be futile, so the FIA finally suspended the starting procedure after three laps, bringing all the drivers back to the pit lane.

The race also displayed a red flag.

Upon returning to the pits, Qin Miao was a bit shocked to find that water had seeped into his helmet.

Qin Miao noticeably felt the wetness around his eyes.

Fortunately, the red flag procedure allowed Qin Miao to exit the car after returning to the pit lane.

After getting out, Qin Miao quickly removed his helmet and sweat-absorbing headgear.

Since Qin Miao and Hamilton's positions were quite forward, the distance back to the P room was relatively far.

However, Qin Miao and Barber walked back to their team's P room.

Mainly because there wasn't much space on the track for Qin Miao to avoid the rain, and he couldn't just sit in the car to keep dry for a long time. Although the car's monocoque is built according to the driver's body data, it is ultimately a confined space where prolonged inactivity can make the body stiff.

Once back at the P room, Qin Miao immediately changed to a different helmet, and Barber prepared some food and water for him.

Barber prepared some high-calorie food like chocolate for Qin Miao, and just regular water to drink.

As Qin Miao was eating, a person holding a camera and a microphone came up to him and started filming.

Winking and smiling at the camera, Qin Miao ignored them and continued to eat in peace.

These were people from Netflix, the crew shooting "Speed of Life," and they happened to be filming the Mercedes team this week, so they were around.

At this point, Qin Miao was completely desensitized to cameras, whether it was a phone camera or any other kind, Qin Miao could easily ignore them and respond calmly.

Then came a long waiting period, during which the live broadcast director switched between shots of the audience, various teams' managers and drivers chatting, and even replayed several shots of Qin Miao's handsome drifts.

After showing the drifting shots, the camera would cut back to Qin Miao, who was stuffing his cheeks full.

Then it would cut to interviews with other teams' staff.

When the routine came back to Qin Miao, he was still eating, and there were even more food wrappers on the table in front of him.

Fei exclaimed: "Huh? Qin Miao is still eating?"

"Other drivers eat to replenish energy, but doesn't it seem like Qin Miao is eating just because he's craving?"

"He's eating so much; won't he lose lap speed due to the extra weight once the race resumes?"

...

Amid the commentators' idle chatter, time continued to slip away.

Everyone was waiting for the rain to lessen or even stop.

This waiting lasted two hours.

Yes, this downpour continued for two whole hours.

Fortunately, the race officials finally waited long enough for the rain to let up a bit. They sent a special water sweeper to clear the track.

After sending the safety car out for a lap and confirming that there were now some driving conditions, the race officials notified all teams that the race would restart in 10 minutes.

Once this announcement was made, the previously subdued atmosphere became lively, and team staff and drivers quickly returned to their posts.

Qin Miao quickly made his way to his car, donned his gear, and slipped inside the car.

During this time, other teams' drivers also got ready.

It's worth noting that Perez, who originally had crashed out during the testing phase before the race, had his car fully repaired.

It's hard to imagine what the Red Bull mechanics went through in those two hours.

Although Perez's car was repaired, after the race officially started, he could not start from his original grid position but had to start from the pit lane like Kimi, who had replaced his rear wing after qualifying.

When the time came, all team staff withdrew from the pit lane.

At that point, the pit lane only had the safety car and the cars following it.

10 minutes later, the pit lane's green light came on, the safety car drove out, and the F1 cars followed in Merande's wake out of the pit lane.

However, after just one lap out, the drivers returned to the pit lane at the officials' request as the red flag was brought out again; the rain on the track was still too heavy for racing.

This wait lasted until the race ended.

...

Finally, three hours after the race had started, the race officials announced that the race was over and there wouldn't be any further racing.

As F1 races have time limits, normally about four hours, if a race hasn't finished by then, the officials will call it off.

Even though the local track had a contract with the FIA to host the F1 race, the broadcasters also had time restrictions; if it went overtime, they'd have to air other programs.

So this rainy Belgium Grand Prix came to an end.

The teams and drivers packed up their things, preparing to head to the next stop, which was Verstappen's hometown, the Netherlands, for the next race.

However, because all drivers had completed several laps on the track, even if under the safety car, those laps still counted.

So the top 10 drivers in this race would still receive points.

But compared to a completed race, the top ten drivers in this race would only receive half the points compared to the normal end of a race.

Thus, after the race, the standings and points were as follows:

1: Verstappen +13

2: Russell +9

3: Hamilton +8

4: Qin Miao +6

5: Ricardo +5

6: Vettel +4

7: Gasly +3

8: O'Kang +2

9: Leclerc +1

10: Latifi +1

If we have to talk about the unluckiest person in this race, it would definitely be Perez.

According to the original qualifying ranking, he was in fifth place, meaning that if the race ended due to time constraints, he would have at least gotten 5 points. But he just so happened to crash into the track barrier during the pre-race preparation phase and withdrew.

Even though Red Bull hurried to repair Perez's car, his position couldn't be reclaimed.

So after this race, the driver standings were as follows:

1: Qin Miao 210

2: Hamilton 191

3: Verstappen 183

4: Norris 102

5: Perez 94

6: Leclerc 89

7: Sainz 69

8: Ricardo 54

9: Gasly 44

10: Vettel 44

11: Alonso 33

12: O'Kang 33

13: Stroll 16

14: Tsunoda 12

15: Russell 9

16: Latifi 3

17: Kimi 1

Although Qin Miao wasn't as fast as his two main competitors in this race, and his ranking wasn't high after the race.

Still, the points given to the drivers in this race were few, so after the Belgium Grand Prix, Qin Miao's position in the overall standings didn't change.

The only thing that changed was his point gap with Hamilton and Verstappen.

At this point, Qin Miao was 19 points behind Hamilton and 27 points behind Verstappen.

Besides that, the Williams drivers and teams had a triumphant day, scoring with both cars, and Russell even finished in second place, stepping onto the podium.

So after the race, Williams' two drivers both appeared on the driver's total points list, one in fifteenth place and one in seventeenth.

The only drivers not to have scored points this season were Giovinazzi and the two Haas drivers.