How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 701 - 293: Leclerc’s Home
Previously, Leclerc hadn't really considered this aspect, but ever since Qin Miao first mentioned the title "Le the Fourth" in front of him, Leclerc couldn't help but consciously think about it at certain moments.
For example, the United States Grand Prix this race week.
Leclerc started 4th and finished 4th...
Although a large part of this is due to survivor bias, when Leclerc carefully thought about it, it seemed like he really finished 4th quite a few times this season...
"I really hope you can take this fourth place title from me," Leclerc joked.
Qin Miao laughed, "No way, I believe you're everlasting youth."
"Everlasting youth? What does that mean?"
As Leclerc was curious, Barber came over.
Seeing Qin Miao, he breathed a sigh of relief, as he had been waiting in the team lounge for quite a while without seeing Qin Miao return, he was worried something might have happened to Qin Miao on the way.
But then Barber saw Leclerc next to Qin Miao, and after a moment of surprise, he hurriedly pulled out the photo of Qin Miao with Leclerc from his backpack.
Qin Miao spotted Barber too and casually took the photo and the pen Barber handed over, saying, "Sign it. After you do, I'll tell you what everlasting youth means."
Leclerc skeptically took the items Qin Miao handed over and then signed his name on the back of the photo.
Qin Miao carefully handed the photo back to Barber, telling him to keep it safe, and then, under Leclerc's curious gaze, Qin Miao explained, "This is actually a Chinese joke, where the first letters of a Chinese phrase are taken individually to form a phrase."
"So what does everlasting youth mean?"
Qin Miao cleared his throat, subtly planned his escape route, and then said, "It means... forever fourth."
"Fuck!!!"
"Hahahahaha..."
...
Finally, the rankings and points for this race are as follows:
1: Verstappen +25
2: Hamilton +18
3: Perez +15
4: Leclerc +12
5: Qin Miao +11 (fastest lap)
6: Ricardo +8
7: Sainz +6
8: Norris +4
9: Yuki Tsunoda +2
10: Vettel +1
There's not much to say about Qin Miao's fastest lap; in the last few laps, with medium tires and a large patch of clean air ahead, it would have been abnormal not to get the fastest lap.
After this race, the driver standings are as follows:
1: Qin Miao 303
2: Verstappen 281 (+36→+22)
3: Hamilton 277 (+33→+26)
4: Perez 136
5: Leclerc 135
6: Norris 128
7: Sainz 101
8: Ricardo 91
9: Gasly 62
10: Alonso 50
11: Vettel 45
12: O'Kang 36
13: Stroll 20
14: Tsunoda 14
15: Russell 10
16: Kimi 5
17: Latifi 3
After this race, Hamilton and Verstappen swapped places on the overall standings, and the points gap between Qin Miao and the two was narrowed.
However, there is still a gap. If Qin Miao really works hard, it's possible he could secure the driver's championship in his first career season.
But Hamilton and Verstappen won't agree so easily.
Leclerc's position on the overall standings remains unchanged, but Norris and Perez swapped their positions, with Norris dropping two places and Perez rising two.
The reason for this change is mainly because Norris retired from this race and didn't score any points.
Besides this, there were no other changes in the driver standings.
The team standings mirror the driver standings, with all teams increasing their points but without any positional changes.
1: Mercedes: 580
2: Red Bull: 417
3: Ferrari: 236
4: McLaren: 219
5: Alpine: 86
6: Alpha Tauri: 76
7: Aston Martin: 65
8: Williams: 13
9: Alfa Romeo: 5
10: Haas: 0
It's worth mentioning that with only five Grand Prix remaining this season, while the driver standings are still uncertain, the fight for the overall team championship is already quite clear.
If Qin Miao and Hamilton can finish first and second in the next race, Mercedes will successfully secure the 2021 team championship at the Mexican Grand Prix, marking Mercedes-Benz F1 Team's eighth team championship.
The benefits of winning the team championship are numerous.
Most importantly, winning the team championship means higher bonus weights from the FIA's year-end bonuses and the share from TV broadcast rights.
The direct economic difference between champion and runner-up amounts to tens of millions of US Dollars, not to mention the sponsorship bonuses for being a champion.
And that's just what's visible; the intangible wealth, like more fans, higher team influence, and attractiveness to employees, isn't any less than the visible rewards.
So at Mercedes, everyone is united, and everyone is excitedly confident about this.
When the team wins the championship, everyone in the team will receive a considerable performance bonus, which even includes the janitor at the team headquarters.
Qin Miao and Hamilton will naturally not receive any less in bonuses.
However, on the plane, Qin Miao found it hard to sleep at night when thinking about having to pay 60% of his bonus in taxes to the UK government.
At this time, Qin Miao was on a plane to France.
But this time, Qin Miao's destination wasn't France; it was Monaco.
After all, his wife was still busy in Monaco, and returning home would just leave him alone. Instead of going back to the UK, he might as well go directly to Monaco to find Qimeng.
