How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 918 - 362: Salary Increase

After returning to the hotel, Qin Miao asked Qimeng if he wanted to have dinner together, but Qimeng declined.

Qin Miao might have thought about this carefully, but Qimeng knew that Toto, as the team owner, needed to maintain a relatively serious and mysterious image in the minds of his subordinates. To put it simply, it meant rarely showing his face in front of them.

Thus, unless it's a holiday, Toto seldom meets privately with the team's drivers or other staff for a meal.

And today, Toto suddenly wanted to have dinner with Qin Miao without any warning. Qimeng felt that Toto must have some business, and going there might affect their conversation.

So he simply didn't go.

Qin Miao didn't insist either, after all, when Toto said it, he mentioned that she could bring Qimeng along if possible, without any forceful demands.

However, when Qin Miao arrived at the hotel reserved by Toto and met him, he saw not only Toto but also his wife, Suzy Wolff.

Seeing Toto's wife, Qin Miao knew that Qimeng had guessed wrong, but also not completely wrong.

At least for now, it seemed Toto just wanted to invite the Qin Miao couple for a casual dinner.

During dinner, Qin Miao and the Wolff couple did not discuss any matters related to the paddock. Most of their topics revolved around family life, houses, and travel.

Over the years, Qin Miao had met quite a few people and visited many places. He had gained a certain understanding of various customs and cultures around the world. Therefore, he had no shortage of words when dining and chatting with the couple.

But after dinner, Suzy went to handle her work, and Qin Miao and Toto stayed at the same hotel, since it was booked by the Mercedes team.

On the way back, Qin Miao drove, and Toto sat in the passenger seat.

Just when Qin Miao thought this was merely a regular gathering, Toto shifted the topic to the paddock.

"Qin Miao, by the way, after becoming the F1 World Champion, have you considered your driver's contract?

Do you feel uneasy about getting such a low salary even after becoming a World Champion?"

Qin Miao shook his head, "To be honest, I haven't really thought about it, why?"

Toto raised his eyebrows, glanced at Qin Miao, and then said, "Although it's not appropriate for me to say this, I still think that given your current strength, the salary in your current contract is a bit too low.

Moreover, now I also understand why you didn't agree to our renewal contract at that time." Toto shook his head and sighed, "Given your current strength and worth, you indeed deserve a better driver contract."

Qin Miao was silent for a while. He couldn't exactly say that he didn't agree to Toto's renewal request because he was considering other teams at the time, could he?

Since Toto interpreted it this way, Qin Miao went along with it, joking slightly, "Now that you mention it, I also feel that the salary in my driver's contract is indeed a bit low, is the team planning to raise my status to the same level as Hamilton?

"Ahem," Toto lightly coughed and then said, "Of course, if you want it, the team doesn't mind offering you that level of salary."

At this point, Toto changed the subject, "But you know, the team is not a charity, if you want a contract of this level, your contract must be re-signed, and the duration will also increase."

Qin Miao shrugged, "You know, I'm not very interested in long-term contracts."

"Of course, I know.

And from your perspective, I also think you shouldn't sign a long-term contract since you're still growing, and you have unlimited future possibilities,

So this time the team purely intends to give you a raise in salary, the duration of your contract remains the same, the new contract runs until the end of 2023."

Now it was Qin Miao's turn to be surprised. According to the team's and Toto's performance last season, Mercedes was confident enough, basically not offering much unless it's absolutely necessary.

Since you, Qin Miao, didn't want to sign a long-term deal with us, even if you won the driver's championship, we would only give you a bonus, not a pay raise. That was the mindset.

But the first race of this season hadn't even been a week, and Toto was already looking to improve Qin Miao's pay package.

It seemed like they wanted to mend the relationship between the team and Qin Miao.

Having been influenced by Qimeng for so long, Qin Miao could see a bit of the underlying reasons in this situation.

It should be that the team realizes its cars this season aren't as competitive as expected and is getting a bit anxious.

Since the cars are clearly falling behind, naturally, they'll try to make up in other areas. There are only so many top drivers in the paddock, so the Mercedes team wants to quickly build a good relationship with Qin Miao, so when his contract expires, he'll be more inclined to choose Mercedes.

As for whether there is a deeper layer to it, Qin Miao wasn't sure, but he knew one thing, what Toto currently offered was all benefit and no harm for him.