How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 722 - 300: There Is No Hatred Without Reason

After the race ended, during the time when the top three drivers went to the podium to give interviews, the cheers at the scene never stopped.

The commentators from Five-Star Sports felt a bit complicated after watching this race.

On one hand, they were happy that the Mercedes team uncharacteristically lost all their competitive edge in this race.

Even Hamilton, as strong as he is, couldn't show off in front of Verstappen and had to watch the gap between them widen.

Such an exciting race with increasingly unpredictable results was extremely thrilling for both the commentators and the audience.

On the other hand, due to the accident at the start, Qin Miao's lead in points further diminished.

It seemed like he was about to fall off the top spot in the drivers' standings.

Although they all knew in their hearts that as a rookie driver, Qin Miao had a slim chance of winning the drivers' championship in his first year,

they still held onto unrealistic fantasies about a "what if" scenario.

But this accident poured cold water on their fantasies, even though Qin Miao's subsequent chase was undeniably exciting, the loss in ranking and points was real.

However, as commentators, despite feeling a bit upset about the accident Qin Miao encountered during the race, they still had to fulfill their responsibilities after the race was over.

"Anyway, let's congratulate Red Bull's Verstappen and Perez for achieving unexpectedly great results and a dominant performance at the Mexican Grand Prix," Bin concluded. "I believe after this race, everyone at Red Bull will be very happy for a while."

"But we also hope that after this race, Mercedes can find the reason why there's such a big performance gap with Red Bull and hope they can adjust their car's condition for next week's Brazil Grand Prix."

"Lastly, we hope that Qin Miao will not give up on progressing because of one race's failure. You always have fans supporting you from behind, and we will always stand behind you to support you."

"Okay, due to time constraints, this broadcast ends here. See you next week, viewers!"

...

After stopping the car, Qin Miao looked at the broadcast on a nearby vehicle and felt a bit regretful.

If it weren't for that mistake, maybe he would have been one of the top three, what a pity.

It just seemed that luck didn't favor him, such is fate.

However, Qin Miao didn't have much time to lament, as Leclerc came over.

Seeing Qin Miao looking up at the broadcast showing Verstappen's post-race interview, Leclerc teased, "Still calling me Le the Fourth? Now you're the fourth!"

Qin Miao rolled his eyes, his previously somewhat sad mood dispersed by the comment.

"I got fourth because a crash pushed me to the back, not because of my capability.

Besides, before mocking me, did you think...you didn't even make it to fourth, did you?" Qin Miao gave Leclerc a mischievous smile.

"Oh, shut it." Waving his hand dismissively, Leclerc squatted down, curiously looking at Qin Miao's car's left front tire.

Leclerc came to chat with Qin Miao as a secondary reason; since they lived not far apart, he could easily ride over on a bicycle to see him.

His main reason for coming was to check the condition of Qin Miao's worn tires.

At the Rodriguez Brothers Circuit, which is a clockwise track, the left front tire of the car wears out the most and is the most severely worn.

To know the extent of Qin Miao's tire wear, just looking at this tire could reveal quite a bit.

From Leclerc's perspective, Qin Miao's tire had worn down to about 2 millimeters of rubber, and you could even see the Kevlar fiber pattern inside from the black tire tread.

Leclerc had a feeling that if Qin Miao continued with this tire for just three more laps, it would definitely blow out.

"How come Gasly and Sainz couldn't catch up to you with your tire in this condition?" Leclerc pondered while pointing at the tire that could be described as a 'candle in the wind'.

Qin Miao half-squatted next to Leclerc: "Want to learn? I can teach you."

Leclerc perked up: "Teach me? What's the trick, and how much does it cost? How do you do it?"

Qin Miao gave a mysterious smile, "I cheated; I have a skill that reduces my tire wear by 30%."

Upon hearing Qin Miao's answer, Leclerc rolled his eyes almost to the sky, thinking, "If you're going to make something up, at least make it plausible!"

"Forget it then," Leclerc said, waving his hand uninterestedly and getting up for a weigh-in.

Qin Miao also shook his head helplessly; he was telling the truth, and if Leclerc didn't believe him, he couldn't help it.

Taking one last look at his car's tires, Qin Miao got up to go for a weigh-in too, feeling a bit shaken.

Not long after Qin Miao left, almost every driver who had heard about Qin Miao's feat came over to check out the wear on Qin Miao's left front tire after parking their own cars.