How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 879 - 348: W13B (8K, Still Yesterday’s Owed Update)_5

After handling this matter, Toto returned to his office to take care of some other business. Once he had finished all his work for the day, Toto let out a long sigh of relief.

Feeling a bit warm, he took off his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair, then leaned back to enjoy this rare moment of leisure.

But after sitting for a while, Toto found himself feeling uneasy, so he walked over to the window of his office, planning to take in the view.

However, as time passed, Toto didn't feel any better; in fact, his brow furrowed even deeper.

Toto had a premonition that this year, the team might not be as competitive as last year.

But soon, Toto saw through his office's glass window that Qin Miao was walking out of the team's factory, accompanied by quite a few team engineers.

From the way Qin Miao was having a cheerful conversation with the engineers, it was clear that he had a good relationship with them.

Toto couldn't help but smile. Running to the team's research department every day, although he kept saying he'd never work overtime again, Qin Miao would still visit the team's factory whenever he had time. How could he not get along well with the team staff?

After watching them leave, Toto raised his hand to look at his watch; it was already after hours.

After lowering his hand, Toto continued to watch as Qin Miao got into that somewhat rebellious Ferrari 488GT3 custom version.

Then he watched him leave the team.

Watching for a while, Toto suddenly felt his tense nerves relax a lot.

At least with Qin Miao, regardless of talent or effort, he could see it. Even if the team faced difficulties temporarily, Toto believed that Qin Miao could lead the team to new heights in the foreseeable future.

Of course, both Toto and the team hoped for Hamilton to win his 8th world championship quickly.

After all, Qin Miao is promising for the future, but if Hamilton truly achieves eight championships, then the Mercedes team, along with Hamilton, would go down in history.

Of course, that would all be a story for another time.

...

The next day, the FIA released the registration fee details for the Super License for the next season.

First, and most concerning for domestic fans, was Qin Miao's Super License fee for the 2022 season.

It is reported that because Qin Miao scored 394 points last season, he needed to pay the FIA a registration fee of 837,800 British Pounds for the Super License this season.

Besides the base fee of 10,400 British Pounds that everyone has to pay, the remaining 827,400 is calculated from the points Qin Miao earned, at 2,100 British Pounds per point.

Totaling approximately, Qin Miao would have to pay the FIA about 7,632,000 RMB.

When Qin Miao learned about the hefty registration fee, he was taken aback.

It was too much, and for a moment, Qin Miao wondered if the FIA's operations every year relied on the registration fees paid by the drivers.

He also suspected that setting up sprint races aimed to increase the points from sprint races, generating income from these additional points.

Of course, Qin Miao was only surprised for a moment and didn't feel the pinch.

Because he didn't have to pay this money; one of the team's board members, INEOS, covered the entire cost for Qin Miao.

Mainly to thank Qin Miao for choosing a color scheme similar to INEOS's colors.

Simply put, INEOS thought Qin Miao's livery looked appealing and paid the money for him.

Also, Latifi, as rumored in the paddock, completely lost his F1 seat and became a reserve driver for Williams.

Replacing him was Red Bull's cast-off, Thai driver Alexander Albon.

As for why Albon secured his position, there were various theories.

But the most popular belief was that Mercedes exerted its influence, pushing Williams to dismiss Latifi.

Some also said Russell felt the team wouldn't thrive with Latifi, so he persuaded Albon, who was job-hunting, to apply to Williams. Then, Albon, who hadn't touched a car for a year, was nearly a second faster on the team's simulator than Latifi.

Regardless of what the paddock gossip says, the season's Williams lineup is Russell partnered with Albon.

Aside from this, there were no more personnel changes within this year's paddock,

...

January 29th.

Today, being a Saturday, the factory was closed, and besides, Qin Miao was planning to return to Monaco today, so he didn't go to the factory after getting up in the morning.

Instead, after completing his daily workout at home, he went straight to the airport.

On the way to the airport, Qin Miao made a call to Leclerc.

After boarding the plane, Qin Miao didn't head directly to France but first made a trip to Switzerland.

Due to Qin Miao, Zhou Guanyu didn't continue to stay in the country during the holidays, either. Like Qin Miao, he arrived at the team's factory early to help with the next season's car development.

Also, since Zhou Guanyu, like Qin Miao, didn't plan to return for the New Year, Qin Miao conveniently brought Zhou Guanyu along, figuring they might as well celebrate together since the more, the merrier.