How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 772 - 315: Saudi Qualifying
Today, Qin Miao was once again hitching a ride, except this time it was on Norris's plane.
Like Qin Miao, after spending a few days in Monaco, Norris also returned to the UK.
Conveniently, Norris was planning to go to Saudi Arabia this Wednesday. During a chat in the drivers' group, Qin Miao messaged Norris and naturally hitched a ride on the plane.
They departed in the morning and arrived in the afternoon, as the flight was direct and fast.
Upon landing, the two parted ways, each heading to their respective teams' hotels to check in.
The following process returned to normal; Qin Miao had already experienced this process twenty times this year, so he was very familiar with it.
From the initial confusion and nervousness to the current ease and confidence.
It must be said, in just one year, F1 has brought a huge change to Qin Miao.
The most obvious and useful change is that Qin Miao has developed a sincere and friendly smile.
After returning to the hotel, he rested for one night.
Thursday marked the official start of Qin Miao's race week.
He arrived at the track early, had breakfast first, and then walked the track.
It is worth mentioning that after walking the track, Qin Miao ran into Norris, who then borrowed Qin Miao's scooter again.
Qin Miao had a feeling that Norris no longer regarded him as an outsider after getting familiar with him.
In the afternoon, he recorded media promotional videos, attended a fan meet-and-greet, and in the evening attended a dinner with local sponsors from Saudi Arabia, which was a somewhat informal commercial event.
It is worth mentioning that these wealthy Middle Eastern sponsors truly have deep pockets. Two sponsors tentatively agreed on two sponsorship deals with Mercedes during dinner.
However, this had nothing to do with Qin Miao, as besides his basic salary, he could only earn a bonus from the team.
Even if a contract was signed, he wouldn't get a penny from it.
Friday marked the start of practice sessions one and two.
The weather in Saudi Arabia was still nice today, with an air temperature of 28°C and track temperature of 35°C. Despite the Jeddah Coastal Circuit being by the sea, the track was only 50 meters from the Red Sea at the closest point, but due to Saudi Arabia's environment, the air humidity was only 69%.
The good news is that the meteorological department reported no rain in the coming week, so the chance of rain was only 20%.
Like the Qatar Grand Prix two weeks ago, the Jeddah Coastal Circuit was also newly added to the F1 calendar this year.
This was due to Saudi Arabia and these Middle Eastern countries starting to spend lavishly worldwide after realizing that oil would not be the world's primary energy in the future.
Due to Saudi Arabia's unique track terrain, this track is undoubtedly a very high-speed circuit.
This week's upgrades for Mercedes were based on this, simplifying the car's aerodynamics to increase stability at high speeds while reducing drag, allowing for at least a 5 km/h top-speed boost on straights.
The only downside is a slight loss of downforce when cornering, but this loss is within the team's acceptable range.
The Mercedes car's characteristics naturally lean towards straight-line acceleration, as the Mercedes engine is the most powerful in the paddock.
On a straight-heavy track like Saudi Arabia's, they naturally play to their strengths to the fullest.
Besides the car upgrades, the atmosphere within the Mercedes team was a bit tense this week.
As the season was nearing its end, everyone was very concerned about the points and standings of the two, including the drivers themselves.
So, their relationship was tense, and communication was becoming less frequent.
Toto was indeed a little worried when he saw the tense atmosphere between the two at the team meeting in the morning. He was afraid of a repeat of the internal conflict between Rosberg and Hamilton back in the days.
Even though Hamilton and Qin Miao both maintained basic restraint towards each other.
But Toto could clearly feel that the tension between them was full of powder kegs, and no one could say when these powder kegs would be ignited.
It could be just a minor disagreement over position swapping on the track, or a small squabble within the team off the track.
The heap of powder kegs between the two could be fully ignited, and whatever happens then would be something Toto and Mercedes team could not afford.
So, to prevent this from happening, before practice session one started on Friday, Toto went to the drivers' lounge, half comforting, half threatening them with the points gap from Verstappen.
It was like giving them both a preventive vaccination.
Sometimes, Toto was quite thankful for Verstappen, as his presence kept those two talented drivers from putting all their focus solely on each other.
Verstappen's presence was also considered the key role in maintaining the harmonious atmosphere within the Mercedes team.
Thinking back, Toto thought the world was really quite magical.
After having lunch at noon, Qin Miao took a nap to recharge his energy. After waking up and preparing for a while, he headed to practice session one.
The timing of these races in the Middle East was the same, with qualifying and the main race both starting in the evening, so the data collected during practice sessions one and three was not extensive, though there were still many test items that could be carried out, and the drivers could familiarize themselves with the current race track.
