How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 641 - 274: Abstract Art Showcase (6K, Bonus 2/20)_4

So compared to crashing during the main race, Mercedes is more worried about Qin Miao crashing while pushing limits in the practice sessions.

Although Qin Miao's stability reassures everyone in the Mercedes team, it's still that saying, "better to avoid trouble than face it."

So by the end of Friday's first practice session, Qin Miao's ranking wasn't very good, only placing seventh.

However, by the second practice session, when the team allowed Qin Miao to use a new set of soft tires in the last five minutes for a qualifying simulation, Qin Miao's performance turned out to be quite good.

In the final flying lap of the second practice session, Qin Miao clocked 1:33.789, placing behind his teammate Hamilton, which means second place.

Friday's work ended after the second practice session stopped, and after finishing a round of post-race tasks, Qin Miao left the paddock.

Qin Miao left the paddock in a good mood.

Although practice session results aren't significant, Qin Miao still had a bit more to give in the final flying lap of the second practice, and it's possible to be 0.15 seconds faster.

At that time, he might have been able to snatch a pole position from Hamilton again.

What? You ask how about Red Bull?

As mentioned earlier, this track is traditionally strong for Mercedes, and barring unexpected events, Red Bull poses little threat to Mercedes in Sochi.

Then, without any unexpected events, an unexpected event happened.

Qin Miao had just returned to the hotel when he received some not-so-good news.

According to the meteorological department's final determination, it's likely to rain in Sochi tomorrow and the day after.

And as time truly arrived on Saturday, the meteorological prediction came true as heavy rain poured from Saturday's sky.

Despite Sochi being Russia's warmest city, autumn had arrived, and after the rain, Sochi became very cold, especially since the Sochi Autodrom is by the sea.

Rain was accompanied by strong winds and rapid temperature drops on the track.

For Qin Miao, who's not good in wet conditions, rain seldom brings any good news.

But it's not all bad news; due to the rain, the sensation of cold is almost single-digit in degrees.

Qin Miao doesn't have to endure the sauna-like experiences needed during summer races anymore, where he'd steam in a sauna while practicing driving on a simulator.

That feeling truly was intense, being all soaked, hot, stifling, and still needing to focus on racing.

Each training session had to last at least two hours.

Coming out each time, Qin Miao often felt he was being cooked alive in that sauna.

And now, that's no longer necessary; with the cold weather, just wearing a regular racing suit is enough.

Even when he braved the cold wind arriving at the paddock on Saturday, Qin Miao saw O'Kang wearing Alpine's winter down jacket.

Silently musing to himself that O'Kang was a bit frail, Qin Miao shifted most of his attention to the team's weather radar map.

When the third practice session started, Qin Miao had already changed into his racing suit but hadn't entered the car.

Because the wind on the track was pretty strong, from the broadcast footage, you could even see McLaren's car being blown away by the wind.

Of course, that happened when the car was on the trailer used by the team for transporting cars.

But the wind was still strong, the kind that would blow away umbrellas.

After waiting for about half an hour, the organizers eventually canceled the third practice session, as it couldn't continue under the current track conditions.

The wind was too strong; insisting on continuing could very likely lead to accidents on the track.

As a result, nobody managed to complete Q3.

However, as time passed, conditions on the track gradually improved, and the wind lessened, with the rain stopping too.

But when the qualifying session first began, the ground was still slick with drizzle, and the wind had only lessened; it hadn't completely stopped.