How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 884 - 351: Preseason Testing

Zhou Guanyu also acknowledged Toto's statement. Not to mention, just by being the team leader and shareholder of Mercedes, his words were inherently convincing.

No matter the occasion, Toto's words always made sense.

However, at this moment, there happened to be a counterexample sitting right beside them.

So, after Toto finished speaking, Zhou Guanyu instinctively glanced at Qin Miao.

This person was even more heavyweight.

His world championship basically wasn't due to hard practice and skills. Fifty percent of his championship was because Mercedes provided a highly competitive car in 2021, another forty percent because of Qin Miao's terrifying talent, and the remaining due to the arrogance of veteran drivers Hamilton and Verstappen.

Toto also noticed Zhou Guanyu's glance and discreetly looked at Qin Miao beside him; "Qin Miao is a total surprise. In the history of F1, drivers with talent like Qin Miao can be counted on one hand.

There's simply no comparison between you and him."

Zhou Guanyu glanced at Qin Miao, shaking his head helplessly and said, "I know, and I'm self-aware. Working hard isn't because I aim to reach that position. Right now, I just want to secure my footing in the paddock."

It's worth mentioning that despite Zhou Guanyu providing 20 million euros in sponsorship to Alfa Romeo, they clearly told Zhou Guanyu that even without the sponsorship, they would still want him.

With this investment, Alfa Romeo further hinted to Zhou Guanyu that their car upgrades for the 2022 season would lean towards his operating habits.

Of course, it's just a hint; whether Alfa Romeo would actually do this remains uncertain.

Toto chuckled: "I found you both possess a characteristic: you both know what you want, but you're a bit too modest.

This modesty is less prominent in Zhou Guanyu, but Qin Miao, in your case, it's overly strong."

Qin Miao was startled; how did the conversation shift onto him?

"It's become a habit, can't change it."

...

Toto's family left after having dinner at Qin Miao's house.

Zhou Guanyu stayed in Monaco for an extra day. Foreigners may think Chinese New Year is New Year's Eve, but Qin Miao and they still had to celebrate the Spring Festival.

After the New Year, on the third day of the lunar year, the three elders returned to China together.

Having checked on their children abroad, determined that they were safe and living well, they were satisfied and fled back to the environment they felt most comfortable in, as they didn't like living abroad. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Meanwhile, Qin Miao and Qimeng resumed their daily work, and as for the half-month leave Toto approved for Qin Miao, it was ultimately unused.

For the time ahead, besides daily physical training, Qin Miao focused on simulator practice and helping the team develop the car.

On the other side, Elliott was scratching his head, starting to study the B-version of the floor and side boxes.

The good news is that over the past half month, Elliott has come up with a rough design concept, and the new B-version side boxes and floorboards are expected to be lighter than the current car's overall design.

Of course, this is just Elliott's and the team's estimate; how it turns out will depend on the production of the parts.

The time swiftly moved to January 17th.

Though the team hadn't stopped the development and improvement of the W13, it was now the time agreed by the team and fans for announcing the new season's car.

Thus, Qin Miao needed to rehearse the speech for the new car launch on the 19th with Hamilton.

This was also the first meeting between Qin Miao and Hamilton after the end of last season.

After meeting, Hamilton seemed quite well; it looked like he had enjoyed the holiday.

Qin Miao even felt that Hamilton appeared a bit chubbier than during their last encounter.

On the 19th.

The Mercedes new car launch came as promised, and the two drivers of Mercedes went on stage under the host's guidance to explain the car's design ideas, development process, and the roles they played during this time.

But Mercedes fans were aware of Mercedes's nature; basically, until the start of the opening race, no one knew what the new Mercedes car of the season looked like.

Previously, Qin Miao also thought Mercedes liked to hide things like the fans.

But after joining Mercedes and working within the team for a year, Qin Miao knew.

It wasn't the team deliberately doing so; it was simply because the team was continually improving and upgrading the car.

And there is a gap between the car's new launch and its winter testing, so fans might feel the Mercedes car seems different.

Besides the paintwork, one thing that most fans of other teams focused on was Mercedes's W13's zero-side box concept.