How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 158 - 108: After the Race (Part 2)

Once the second and third place drivers had stepped onto the podium, Lawson paused intentionally, then with a proud smile, announced: "Let’s welcome! Today’s champion! The genius driver from that ancient land in the East: Qin Miao!"

Among the spectators’ cheers, Qin Miao walked out from the crowd, feeling a bit awkward.

After all, it’s the first time accepting an award in front of so many people, which made Qin Miao somewhat embarrassed; it was different from earlier. Qin Miao understood the people who came to congratulate him were each driven by their own motives.

However, those who applauded and cheered for him were more genuine, sincerely wishing him success in winning this championship. This made Qin Miao feel both nervous and awkward, a sort of psychological quirk, which would get better once he was accustomed to it.

Lawson then handed Qin Miao a matching cap, but compared to the caps of second and third place, Qin Miao’s had "1ST" printed in golden letters on the side.

As a frequent viewer of races, Qin Miao naturally knew it was a cap only for champions, so he didn’t hold back and casually put it on. It was his first time wearing such a cap.

Lawson then proceeded to award the racers one by one.

The second and third place were given the keys to two Ferrari cars, the meaning was clear, the cars were given directly.

But Qin Miao received a contract, a Ferrari official sponsorship contract. While on stage, Qin Miao didn’t examine the amount on it closely, but it shouldn’t be little.

After Qin Miao finished receiving his award, the venue gradually quieted down, making Qin Miao slightly puzzled until he realized what was about to happen next.

The melody almost engraved in Qin Miao’s bones started playing. Qin Miao and Qimeng stood solemnly, and even Li Qin, who sneaked out from not far away to join in the excitement, wore a serious expression.

After the song, which held extraordinary significance for all Chinese people, finished, jubilant award ceremony music played again, allowing Qin Miao to relax.

Picking up the champagne placed at his feet, Qin Miao tapped it against the podium, sending the cork flying, and the foamy drink splattering from the bottle...

At the celebration on the stage, Lawson was surrounded by several people below, including Roxin and Fini, two executives from Prema Racing.

Their purpose was obvious, wanting to finalize the lineup for their F2 team’s next season before it began.

Lawson was well-acquainted with the two, as most Ferrari Academy drivers drove for Prema Racing, such as Mick Schumacher and the Russian driver Roberto Schwartzman, who their F2 team was ready to sign a contract with.

"Aren’t your F2 team slots already filled? What are you here for?" Lawson could guess their intentions with just a toe. But people at their level naturally wouldn’t lay everything bare.

At this moment, Fini didn’t chime in, but Roxin spoke with a smile: "Everyone wants the best drivers in their team, right? Although we’re planning to sign Schwartzman, you watched today’s race. That Chinese driver finished 25 seconds ahead of Schwartzman. If I miss out on such talent, I don’t think I’d ever forgive myself.

And with him on our side, I think we’ll bag both the driver and team championship titles this year."

Lawson joked, "If Schwartzman knew what you were thinking, he’d surely be hurt."

Roxin wasn’t bothered: "I’m sure Schwartzman, who was defeated by Qin Miao, can understand my decision..."

Lawson then exchanged pleasantries with other team leaders or owners.

Since Qin Miao was in the Ferrari Academy, if anyone wanted to poach Qin Miao to their team, they’d naturally need to say so to Lawson first.

Whether there were any undisclosed deals involved, that was beyond outsiders to know.

After collecting his award, Qin Miao returned directly to the P room to pack up and prepare to go home and rest.

Due to recent race preparations, Qin Miao hadn’t been able to enjoy games properly, nor engage in activities he enjoyed with his girlfriend.

He’d been holding back for a long time.

But just as he finished packing and returned the car to the Ferrari warehouse, Qin Miao’s phone rang as he started heading home.

The caller was a leader from a GT3 team, expressing a desire to have dinner with Qin Miao that evening and checking if he was available.

Qin Miao naturally declined, saying he already had plans, but upon Qimeng’s reminder, Qin Miao rescheduled for another time.

The entire journey home was mostly spent taking phone calls.

Calls came in from Le Mans 24-hour race teams, or teams wanting Qin Miao to drive a Hyper car. Qimeng saved the numbers and rescheduled meetings. However, calls from agents and sponsors were generally declined by Qin Miao.

Qin Miao currently wasn’t short on cash, with over 10 million in his bank account unspent, and another billion in the system yet to be given to him. He hadn’t realized the costs involved in pursuing a career in racing.

As for not hiring an agent, it was fairly simple because Qimeng was at his side.

Before leaving, Qin Miao’s mother always said to him that in the agent profession, trust was more important than skill.

And now, apart from Qimeng, there was no one worthy of such trust.

All in all, no matter what else happened tonight, Qin Miao decided to play a few rounds of games and show Qimeng before sleeping just how formidable a 98 stamina attribute could be.

...

"Man, today there’s an internal Ferrari test. When you were with Ferrari, did they have this project?" In-game and grouped up with Zhou Guanyu, Qin Miao asked curiously in voice chat.

"Experienced it, they make it seem pretty legitimate, but Ferrari’s track has flaws, it’s too narrow for overtaking." Zhou Guanyu said, pausing briefly before asking, "I think every year they start racing around this time, you should have finished it already, right? How’d you do?"

Qin Miao pretended, "It’s over... ah, don’t mention it, my performance was average, there was pressure from behind, and quite a few mistakes..."

"What’s the ranking..." Zhou Guanyu knew Qin Miao’s nature too well, and when Qin Miao started evading, it meant he was gearing up to brag, so he promptly interrupted Qin Miao’s antics.

"Just average..."

"Quit messing around and just tell me."

Qin Miao feigned reluctance, "Just first place in the F3 group. I believe if you came, you’d do better."

But hearing this ranking, Zhou Guanyu didn’t believe him.

While playing games with Qin Miao in the evenings, apart from playing CSGO frequently, they also spent considerable time on Assetto Corsa.

In-game, Qin Miao was far from weak. If he seriously defended, Zhou Guanyu might not find an opportunity to overtake him even over seven or eight laps, not to mention on tracks Qin Miao knew well, where Zhou Guanyu struggled just to keep up, let alone overtake.

Given Qin Miao’s skill, winning first in a competition with mostly underage drivers shouldn’t be something he’d brag about, right?

Zhou Guanyu furrowed his brow, then had a realization, "Did you lap them? How many laps in the race? How many cars lapped?"

Seeing as he couldn’t keep the pretense, Qin Miao finally disclosed, "The race had 37 laps, with 10 cars competing. I lapped 4 cars."

Goodness, hearing Qin Miao’s stats, Zhou Guanyu exclaimed "Goodness."

Qin Miao’s result was akin to an F1 driver casually dominating F3 racers, or a skilled player beating low ranks sneakily—it made for quite a spectacle in terms of raw skill.

But one couldn’t deny, Qin Miao’s brag was well-executed, no tricks, just pure prowess.

"Hey, I recall most of the competitors were underage kids? Aren’t you worried about crushing their racing dreams?"

"I don’t think so." Qin Miao replied.

Zhou Guanyu was speechless.

Due to spending nights gaming with Qin Miao for five or six nights a week, Zhou Guanyu’s originally Westernized language habits were influenced back by Qin Miao.

And Qin Miao occasionally speaking in inverted sentences to tease Zhou Guanyu left Zhou Guanyu helpless.