How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 670 - 284: Turkey Grand Prix Qualifying

After obtaining these items, Qin Miao hurriedly attended the post-race interview and then took the data back to the hotel to study.

Now Qin Miao still has a practice session. He needs to figure out how exactly Hamilton's flying lap is run, where the gap lies between him and Hamilton, and what areas need improvement. He must try to address these deficiencies as much as possible within the day.

Saturday.

Qin Miao felt a bit exhausted when he got up in the morning.

He stayed up looking at data until almost one o'clock last night.

Actually, he had planned to go to sleep around nine o'clock.

After all, Qin Miao had already obtained enough data by that time, even though there were still many gaps. But these data were merely for reference, and Qin Miao could find the missing details himself, so it wasn't a big issue.

However, Qin Miao always had an inexplicable addiction to these things.

Perhaps to others, it was just a bunch of meaningless data and lines, with the only interesting part being Hamilton's in-car footage and telemetry data from the two fastest practice laps.

But to Qin Miao, it felt like reading a novel to ordinary people, just reaching the climax and not wanting to stop, wanting to keep watching.

That corner can be taken like this, it's surprising you can accelerate so early here, can you be more aggressive with the throttle at this point?

Amidst one surprise after another, Qin Miao gradually lost track of time.

When he regained clarity, it was already close to one in the morning.

He could only take a quick shower and go to sleep.

Of course, after waking up, Qin Miao got revitalized by downing a health tonic.

But when Qin Miao opened the door and found his assistant Barber, he received some rather unwelcome news.

It was raining again on Saturday.

The whole sky was overcast.

Seeing this weather really made Qin Miao feel on edge. It had rained in the last two Grands Prix at crucial moments and just wouldn't stop!

The gloomy, continuous rain cast a shadow over Qin Miao's mood.

After it rained, the range in which he could apply the knowledge he stayed up learning last night would be very limited.

But regardless of anything else, he still had to face the race.

After completing all the usual pre-race preparations in the paddock, Qin Miao got back into his car.

As the race began, Qin Miao could only try out his knowledge from last night's all-night study on the track using intermediate tires.

So at first, Qin Miao ran a long-distance test with the intermediate tires.

The final result was quite satisfactory, with the time gap between Qin Miao and Hamilton reduced to 0.2 seconds.

However, this was only the time gap in the wet condition; it has some reference value, but not much.

Qin Miao also knew that following Hamilton's rhythm would never allow him to surpass him.

Isn't there a saying, "Those who resemble me thrive, those who imitate me perish."

You can learn Hamilton's driving habits and techniques for emergencies, but if Qin Miao truly wants to be faster than Hamilton on the track, he needs to carve out his own driving style.

So after knowing he could achieve a decent baseline result using Hamilton's driving style, Qin Miao spent the remaining practice session honing a racing rhythm that felt most comfortable for him.

By the end of the third practice session, Qin Miao's results were not bad.

Even though it was raining, Qin Miao still ended up in fifth place when the session finished.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, the practice results are just for amusement. The real worth lies in qualifying and race results.

Just when Qin Miao thought the qualifying session would be like the third practice under continuous rain, the rain stopped as qualifying began... 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Seeing the clearing sky, Qin Miao felt a bit relieved.

It's worth noting that because the Mercedes team has a significant advantage on this track, and Verstappen had replaced a new power unit in the previous race, Hamilton's team decided to replace a power unit as well during this race.

However, Hamilton didn't go as far as Verstappen in replacing components; he only installed a new internal combustion engine, so he didn't have to start from the back of the grid like Verstappen but only needed a ten-place grid penalty.

So it's foreseeable that during the qualifying stage of this race, Hamilton would go all out, seizing the opportunity with his new engine to secure pole position.

After all, since Hamilton would be penalized ten places, performing well in qualifying would mean fewer competitors to overtake during the actual race.

The choice made by Hamilton's team wasn't problematic. Given that the Istanbul track suits Mercedes cars well, replacing a new engine here, almost like a home race, was the option with the least loss.

As for Qin Miao, due to his protective driving style towards car components, his engine was still in good condition and hadn't exceeded the FIA's limit on engine components a driver can use in a season.

Nevertheless, Reyes still advised Qin Miao to replace a new set of engine components in the next two races.