How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 628 - 271: The Monza Grand Prix Begins

He then waved at them with a smile and entered the paddock.

At this point, Qin Miao and Zhou Guanyu parted ways.

After all, both of them are drivers and have their own work to handle.

After sending Qimeng to the team’s lounge, Qin Miao also got busy.

Meetings, meeting sponsors, adjusting the car, studying the weather and track conditions, Qin Miao has become quite adept with everything about F1.

After the pre-race driver parade, Qin Miao returned to the team’s P room to finalize his car’s setup before the car was pushed to the track.

In the final stage before the race, after preparing for a while in the team’s P room, Qin Miao took Barber to the track.

At this time, Qin Miao’s black W12 car was already parked on the starting grid, and Reyes and Qin Miao’s crew technicians were doing the last checks on his car.

Upon walking to Reyes’s side, Qin Miao curiously asked, "How’s the car?"

"Very good, as we expected, but the car setup is a bit too aggressive. Even Hamilton’s rear wing angle is 13°, while yours is only 7°. With this angle, making turns relies mainly on tires and mechanical grip. Are you sure you want to use such an extreme rear wing angle?"

Qin Miao crossed his arms: "No choice, Verstappen is still about 0.1 seconds faster per lap than me. If I don’t want him to pull away, I have to use some risky methods. Plus, I think you should trust my driving ability."

"It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that we have too little data from this race."

Qin Miao checked his equipment, then patted Reyes on the shoulder and said, "Trust me."

Since Qin Miao put it that way, Reyes had nothing more to say on the matter.

However, after nodding, Reyes leaned closer to Qin Miao’s helmet and said, "Go for it. We all hope that before the major rule change next season, the driver to step onto the championship podium is you."

Qin Miao looked at Reyes with some surprise, then smiled and nodded, saying, "Let’s hope so."

Then Qin Miao turned and entered the monocoque of the car.

Taking the steering wheel handed over by Barber, he installed it while waiting for the system to start, connecting to the helmet’s TR system and the drinking system during the time.

He took a sip of water, still the familiar taste.

After testing the team’s TR with Frankie, ensuring there were no issues, Qin Miao began to clear his mind.

Soon, the Monza Grand Prix was about to begin.

...

"The Monza track still suits this season’s Mercedes car’s characteristics quite well. Fei wonders if Qin Miao might win today.

After all, excluding the Belgian race, this would be Qin Miao’s third consecutive win. If he wins again, it will be his fourth consecutive career victory." In the pre-race preparation phase, the three commentators from Five-Star Sports began their routine work.

Fei pondered for a moment before speaking his honest thoughts: "Actually, from my perspective, Qin Miao’s chances of winning this race are not very high."

Both Zhou Haoran and Bing were a bit surprised by Fei’s view, but neither spoke and waited for him to continue.

"Actually, after so many races, I believe everyone has noticed the many advantages Qin Miao possesses.

For instance, his defensive abilities that don’t match his age, or his offensive capabilities shown in Monaco.

But if you watch Qin Miao’s races consistently, you’ll notice that Qin Miao’s true strength lies in his stability.

After so many races, the thing that surprises me the most about Qin Miao is indeed his stability. Whether in the main race or practice, Qin Miao rarely makes mistakes and never runs off the track.

There’s practically no damage to the car caused by mistakes.

Qin Miao’s current lead in the standings is also due to his greater stability compared to his teammate Hamilton and Red Bull’s Verstappen.

So whether Qin Miao can win doesn’t depend on his own performance, but more on whether Verstappen and Hamilton make any unexpected occurrences on the track."

Listening to Fei’s analysis, Zhou Haoran and Bing also began to reflect on Qin Miao’s performance on the track lately.

Indeed, as Fei said, Qin Miao’s victories mainly rely on highlighting his peers.

...

After participating in the Italian national anthem segment before the race, the twenty drivers returned to their respective cars.

After the final preparations, all staff exited.

The warm-up lap commenced.

The warm-up lap quickly ended.

Five red lights lit up.

The race was about to begin.

It’s worth mentioning that among the top six drivers in this race, apart from Hamilton, all others started on soft tires.

While Hamilton started on hard tires, indicating that he planned to run a long stint to overcut the drivers ahead.

This strategy mainly targeted the two McLaren drivers ahead, as with Mercedes’ strength, it’s possible for Hamilton to overcut the two McLarens in a long stint.

Now it’s just a matter of how the two McLaren drivers and the McLaren Team will respond.

The five red lights lit up and then went off, marking the official start of the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.