How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 626 - 271: Monza Grand Prix Begins (6K, Bonus 13/16)
Race positions are as follows:
First row: Verstappen, Qin Miao.
Second row: Ricardo, Norris.
Third row: Hamilton, Leclerc.
Fourth row: Giovinazzi, Perez.
Fifth row: Sainz, Stroll.
Sixth row: Alonso, Vettel.
Seventh row: O’Kang, Latifi.
Eighth row: Russell, Tsunoda.
Ninth row: Mazepin, Kubica.
Tenth row: Mick Schumacher, Gasly.
This week’s Pirelli tire choices are quite standard, C2-C4.
Qin Miao still kept a full set of tires for the race, meaning he has all three types in reserve.
Keeping a few extra sets of tires is not a difficult task for Qin Miao.
There’s no award ceremony on Saturday, but after the race, Qin Miao still received a sort of tag, which is silver and engraved with the Monza Sprint Race second place description.
If you look closely, there are some fine textures on the back of this medal, and it shines in the sunlight.
Even though this race was rather uneventful, and many drivers complained about the rules change afterwards, the awards for the top three still have some collectible value.
Especially since the sprint qualifying format might be abolished in the future, increasing the trophy’s collectible value.
Of course, these are issues the FIA should consider, and Qin Miao is not the head of the drivers’ association, so it’s not his problem to worry about.
Interestingly, this week’s Saturday press conference finally had some new faces.
For the first half of the 2021 season, the post-race press conference participants were always the same three people, which the audience got used to.
Namely Qin Miao, Hamilton, Verstappen.
Today, Ricardo joined in.
Qin Miao and Ricardo’s relationship is just a nodding acquaintance within the paddock.
They’ve seen each other many times and can talk, but they don’t really have any friendship.
Even though everyone works in the paddock, Qin Miao and Ricardo hardly have any opportunities to compete against each other on the track.
Currently, McLaren is ranked 4th in the team standings, but compared to Mercedes and Red Bull, McLaren’s car is still considered among the "Earth Group."
Without much chance to compete on the track, after the race, there isn’t much to talk about, so they just nod, say hello, maybe shake hands, and then do their own thing.
But in this race, Ricardo’s car made it to the top three, so during the pre-race press conference phase, Qin Miao and Ricardo inevitably appeared backstage, and during the wait, naturally they chatted to pass the time.
Suddenly, it turns out Ricardo is quite interesting.
When Qin Miao really started talking to Ricardo, he realized Ricardo is just as he appears on camera - loves to smile, showing off his big white teeth.
He doesn’t give anyone a reason to dislike him. After a couple of chats, their relationship quickly warmed up.
...
"Honestly, Qin Miao, you have to visit my farm during next year’s Australian Grand Prix. My family has a few good horses, and we have new foals every year. You can pick a couple then.
If you don’t have a place to keep them, you can board them at my farm and visit them every year during the Australian round." As they talked about animals, the topic naturally shifted to Ricardo’s farm.
Which led to the above conversation.
Qin Miao shook his head, "Better not. Our work locations are not fixed, and we don’t have the same conditions as you. Even if we really adopted a foal from you, first, I wouldn’t have time for it, and second, I wouldn’t have a place to take it for a run.
Do you really want to find it such a neglectful owner?"
"Uh..." Ricardo hesitated, "What if I kept it for you?"
"Then I would just be putting my name on it, only seeing it once a year, might as well not."
At this point, Ricardo had to give up the idea.
However, their conversation quickly moved from adopting a foal to practicing horse riding. Qin Miao was clearly more interested in horse riding than adoption.
They talked about this until the post-race press conference started, and it wasn’t until then that Verstappen finally arrived.
Qin Miao wasn’t surprised, and after greeting Verstappen, the three walked out from the backstage under the host’s introduction to start today’s press conference.
...
After Saturday’s work was over, Qin Miao went to the airport.
According to Barber’s schedule for Qin Miao, after Saturday’s work, he should have gone back to his hotel for a little rest.
Typically, Qin Miao would play on the computer with Zhou Guanyu, play a couple of rounds of Street Fighter or a couple laps of "F1 2021."
Then, he would sleep and rest.
But to Qin Miao’s surprise, Qimeng bought a plane ticket in the afternoon and flew over directly.
Although it was unexpected, since Qimeng is his wife, and although he didn’t understand why she came over at that time, knowing she did, Qin Miao went to the airport to pick her up.
Plus, it’s been more than half a month since he last saw his wife, Qin Miao missed her a lot.
However, considering Qin Miao was in the middle of a race weekend, although no one restricted his freedom to go out at night, Qin Miao still wore a mask and was fully geared up when he went out.
