How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 917 - 361: Mercedes Team Rocket Ride_2
Even though it's supposedly rest time, given the daily lifestyle habits of F1 drivers, it's estimated that drivers are still engaged in race training and physical exercise these days.
The unique thing about Qin Miao is that he has significantly reduced his physical training recently, but thanks to the system, Qin Miao only needs to maintain normal exercise to prevent a decline in his physical condition.
As a result, Qin Miao has at least 2 more hours available each day compared to an average F1 driver, and he usually spends this time on the simulator.
However, Qin Miao isn't entirely devoid of any rest time.
On the afternoon of the day after the Bahrain Grand Prix, which was a Tuesday, Qin Miao and Zhou Guanyu visited a local hot pot restaurant in Bahrain for a gathering meal.
It was purely a private dinner between friends, and they didn't discuss work during it.
"Hey, it's only when dining out with you that I can eat hot pot," Zhou Guanyu remarked as he picked up a piece of beef tripe for his bowl.
Qin Miao nodded, "It's normal; hot pot is high in oil and salt, which for us professional drivers is like an enemy. The team's nutritionist would freak out if they saw it."
After saying this, Qin Miao skillfully wolfed down a slice of beef coated in red oil.
"Speaking of which, I envy you a bit," Zhou Guanyu said, his tone laced with envy, "How come you can eat anything, and have no issues afterward?"
Qin Miao chuckled, "It's a physique thing, just like my racing talent — you can't learn it."
Zhou Guanyu shook his head, "Forget it; let's not talk about things that make us unhappy, let's continue eating."
Qin Miao wasn't pleased with this, "Why does it make you unhappy? I think this topic is great and has room for further discussion."
Zhou Guanyu rolled his eyes before finally speaking about his reason for inviting Qin Miao out: "There are many endorsements from China looking for me, and I'm a little conflicted. Do you have any suggestions?"
Without thinking, Qin Miao asked, "Are you short of money?"
"I... am not really short of money."
"Is there some difficulty at home, and they want you to help?"
"No, our family's business is going well, even better because of me, it seems."
Qin Miao asked curiously, "Then why are you considering taking on advertisements?"
"I just can't decide, that's why I'm asking you."
Now Qin Miao was even more puzzled, "I don't believe you, Zhou Guanyu, can't afford a professional management team. Why ask me instead of them?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
"Honestly, I trust your judgment more than theirs."
Qin Miao stopped eating, placed his chopsticks on the table, and looked at Zhou Guanyu with curiosity, trying to discern something from his face.
But seeing Zhou Guanyu's sincere expression, Qin Miao could only shrug helplessly, "Our families are completely different; my family is just middle-class, we can afford to eat, and I'm not worried about not having new clothes during the holidays. So, when advertisements come my way, I just screen them to ensure they don't affect my daily life and training — especially those that don't require me to attend or impact my image are the ones I'm most willing to accept.
All in all, I take ads for money.
But you're different, you have a family, you don't lack money, so what's your purpose for taking ads?
Unless you're looking to expand your influence in China by taking ads, otherwise, I can't think of a reason why you should."
"Actually... the reason I have this thought is that I feel my family has sacrificed so much for me. An Alfa Romeo team spot costs 30 million euros, and I also want to do something for my family — even if I don't earn much, at least I can prove to my family that I have some capability now." Zhou Guanyu finally shared his inner thoughts.
Qin Miao reached out and patted Zhou Guanyu's shoulder.
Just as Zhou Guanyu thought Qin Miao would comfort him, Qin Miao suddenly said, "Your performance on the track already makes us very happy, you don't need to do anything more for this family."
In an instant, the hint of seriousness between them vanished, and Zhou Guanyu laughed and cursed, "Get lost!"
What kind of lousy friends have I made?
He just wants to take advantage of me, and yet he's a world champion?
This guy is just an immature kid, really childish!
"I don't have a rebellious son like you!" Zhou Guanyu shouted at Qin Miao.
After fooling around for a while, the pair continued eating, but the initial heaviness between them had disappeared. Then Qin Miao thought aloud, "Actually, I feel there's no need to think about so many things now.
Considering your family situation, money isn't an issue; your immediate priority should still be improving yourself and getting good results on the track.
But if you really want to do something, well, follow my example and take on some advertisements that won't affect your regular training."
Zhou Guanyu nodded, "Eat, eat."
...
After that, they mostly chatted randomly.
After the meal, Zhou Guanyu had no work scheduled for the afternoon, so he suggested Qin Miao join him back at the hotel for some CSGO session.
But Qin Miao flatly refused.
If Qin Miao had nothing else on his schedule at that time, playing some CSGO wouldn't be off the table; after all, Qin Miao's improvement at this point didn't rely on endless hours of practice anymore, but rather on time accumulation and a breakthrough from a standout performance in a particular race.
But Zhou Guanyu was different; despite being older than Qin Miao, he's not as adept!
Due to the system's existence, Qin Miao already has limited room for improvement; it's all about accumulation and deepening from here on out. Meanwhile, Zhou Guanyu still has room to grow.
Qin Miao doesn't expect Zhou Guanyu to surpass Bottas this year, but during the year, Zhou Guanyu should at least aim to slightly minimize the lap time gap between himself and Bottas, right?
Bidding farewell to the somewhat disappointed Zhou Guanyu, who wanted his partner to play games together, Qin Miao returned to the hotel, packed up, and headed to Saudi Arabia.
Even though Bahrain borders Saudi Arabia, the circuits are quite far apart, requiring one to cross all the way through Saudi Arabia, so Qin Miao took his own plane over.
On Wednesday, at the routine team meeting, all high-level executives were present.
As the technical director, Elliott explained last week's problems identified by the team in Bahrain.
Normally, the chief technical officer, James Allison would handle this presentation, but since he's currently in Brackley researching new flooring and side pods, he's too busy, so Elliott had to step in.
Moreover, Ferrari and Red Bull's performance on the track last week left a strong impression on him, as he's currently calculating the significance behind these teams' aerodynamic design choices.
After the 30-minute meeting where Elliott went over all the issues, he outlined the team's proposed improvement plans, including the implementation specifics, timetable, and performance metrics for the upgraded car.
It's essentially reporting the progress of the car's upcoming upgrades to everyone in the team, followed by a Q&A session.
Both drivers, Qin Miao and Hamilton, typically remained silent in these meetings; after all, they excelled at knowing what is but not why in terms of key car design issues, and couldn't provide any constructive opinions at this time.
So they simply kept quiet.
Once the meeting was over, naturally everyone left with their belongings.
As they left the team headquarters, Qin Miao had just stepped outside the door and was preparing to ride his scooter to the parking lot to drive away when Toto sent Qin Miao a message on his phone: "Let's have dinner together tonight; if convenient, you can bring Qimeng."
Reading the message on the phone, Qin Miao scratched his head; although he didn't know why Toto suddenly invited him, Qin Miao still replied, "Okay, where should we eat?"
After all, when the team boss, director, and manager invites you for a meal after work, there's really no way to refuse, and Qin Miao's hotel time mostly involves simulator sessions and reviewing in-car footage.
"I'll send over the location details after I wrap up my work." After sending this message, Toto continued handling his ongoing paperwork.
PS: Sorry, only 4K today.
