How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 679 - 286: First Career Grand Slam (6K, Bonus 9/20)_4
Recently, this old guy has been heard talking about losing weight, but from the looks of it, there's no sign of slimming down at all.
However, this doesn't affect the support he's giving Qin Miao on the racetrack.
After Qin Miao took the stage, his national anthem began to play.
After the song ended, everyone applauded the champion winner.
Qin Miao also retrieved his championship hat.
Then it was time for the awards ceremony, and after that, came the fun champagne spraying session.
Qin Miao was the first to aim his champagne at Frankie, and Frankie, in turn, immediately aimed at Qin Miao.
Meanwhile, Verstappen and Perez sprayed champagne at each other.
For a moment, it was as if there was an invisible, intangible barrier between the four of them.
However, as soon as Qin Miao turned his aim toward Verstappen, this illusion disappeared.
After playing around, the four clinked glasses to enjoy the wine of the victors.
After that, the celebration ended, and Qin Miao needed to go back to change clothes to prepare for the post-race activities he needed to attend.
After Qin Miao, Verstappen, and the others left the podium, the director also provided the final driver standings and points tally for this race.
1: Qin Miao +26 (Fastest lap)
2: Verstappen +18
3: Perez +15
4: Leclerc +12
5: Hamilton +10
6: Gasly +8
7: Norris +6
8: Sainz +4
9: Stroll +2
10: O'Kang +1
Counting the points from this race, the driver standings are as follows:
1: Qin Miao 292
2: Hamilton 259 (+33)
3: Verstappen 256 (+36)
4: Norris 124
5: Leclerc 123
6: Perez 121
7: Sainz 95
8: Ricardo 83
9: Gasly 62
10: Alonso 50
11: Vettel 44
12: O'Kang 36
13: Stroll 20
14: Tsunoda 12
15: Russell 10
16: Kimi 5
17: Latifi 3
After this race, there hasn't been much change in the driver standings, but Hamilton, who had won the last race and managed to open a gap with Verstappen, was caught up again after this race.
Moreover, the points gap between Qin Miao and both Hamilton and Verstappen has widened once more, and it's believed that after this race, these two drivers are likely going to shift their focus from each other back to Qin Miao.
After this race, the team standings are as follows:
1: Mercedes: 551
2: Red Bull: 377
3: Ferrari: 218
4: McLaren: 207
5: Alpine: 86
6: Alpha Tauri: 74
7: Aston Martin: 64
8: Williams: 13
9: Alfa Romeo: 5
10: Haas: 0
As with the driver standings, there were no changes in the team standings after this race.
However, as Mercedes' points continue to amass, it might be possible to declare them the champions of the team standings for this season after the next two Grand Prix races.
Qin Miao took a quick shower, changed clothes, and while waiting in his lounge, Barber brought him some gossip.
"Do you know why Hamilton hasn't returned to the team house for a meeting yet?"
While eating some dark chocolate to replenish his energy, Qin Miao curiously asked, "Why?"
Barber leaned in closer to Qin Miao and cautiously said, "It's heard that Hamilton is arguing with the strategy director, James Vincent, questioning why he was called into the pit to change tires at that moment."
Qin Miao was also a bit surprised, since in his impression, Hamilton was a relatively rational person, and he wondered why such irrational behavior would occur at this moment.
After a deeper chat with Barber, Qin Miao learned the reason Hamilton, who originally had reached third place, fell back to fifth.
It was because the team believed Hamilton's tires wouldn't last until the end of the race, so they called Hamilton back to the pits.
But after exiting the pits, Hamilton did not achieve the planned speed that the team had expected.
He then got stuck in fifth place and couldn't move up further.
He was even attacked by Gasly from behind at one point.
For the seven-time world champion, that was a bit of an embarrassing situation.
