How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 848 - 340: FIA Year-End Awards Ceremony

"Mattia, why are you back so soon?" Leclerc asked without looking up.

Qin Miao was taken aback, then looked at the nameplate in front of his seat and realized this was Binotto's spot.

However, Qin Miao didn't take offense, because visiting Leclerc wasn't his main goal anyway.

"It's me."

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Leclerc turned his head and said after seeing it was Qin Miao, "Why didn't you say anything before sitting down? I thought Binotto arrived."

"Come on, we're buddies," Qin Miao joked, then casually asked, "By the way, what model is your plane again?"

"That's what you came here to ask?" Although Leclerc was puzzled, he still answered, "Bombardier Challenger 350. Why? Planning to bum a ride again?"

"Tsk," Qin Miao clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, "Am I just a freeloader in your eyes?"

Leclerc shot Qin Miao a sidelong glance and nodded after putting away his phone, "Yes."

"Damn," Qin Miao cursed, "Back then, I only hitched rides with you when it was convenient. If it weren't convenient, I wouldn't have. Most people wouldn't even get a chance to offer me a ride, so be content."

Leclerc crossed his arms and looked at Qin Miao with a "I caught you red-handed" expression.

Qin Miao waved his hand, "Forget it, let's not talk about this. Are you heading back to Monaco after the party?"

Leclerc gave a "I knew it" look.

Of course, you're just here to hitch a ride.

But Leclerc didn't agree with Qin Miao. Instead, he shook his head and said, "It might not be convenient, I still have things to deal with here in Paris, and it will be a while before I head back to Monaco."

Qin Miao clicked his tongue, this guy isn't following the script! Shouldn't he have just said yes?

Then after Leclerc said yes, I could casually say, this time I'm not freeloading, I'm using my plane.

You're totally not following the plan here!

But since Leclerc isn't playing along, I'll stop pretending too: "How did you know Gulfstream sent me a Gulfstream G650?"

Leclerc: ...

???

"What?"

Leclerc had the same reaction and expression as Zhou Guanyu, with a similar look of confusion.

At this moment, Leclerc fully expressed his inner shock, bewilderment, and confusion.

Qin Miao regretted a little that he wasn't one of those short-video oddities with a camera on his face because if he were, he could have captured this moment.

But unlike Zhou Guanyu's questioning, after a moment of surprise, Leclerc nodded and said, "If it's Gulfstream, they might indeed just give you a plane. After all, your reputation in Europe and Asia is quite high, especially in your homeland. I've seen on Twitter, many people say you're almost like a national hero there, known by everyone."

Qin Miao rubbed his nose and modestly said, "I'm just moderately popular back home, and you're pretty well-known in your country too; there's practically no one in Monaco who doesn't know you."

But actually, China is a place that values success above all.

As long as you succeed abroad, your popularity and recognition in China will grow exponentially.

If only a handful of people following F2 knew Qin Miao when he first entered F2, after his first victory in F2, this number began to grow explosively.

However, as Qin Miao won more in F2, the pace at which people learned about Qin Miao started to slow.

After all, only a few people are interested in F2 and racing, so by the late stages of F2 races, Qin Miao's increasing fans were quite limited.

When Qin Miao finally won the F2 World Championship, about only one in a thousand people in China had heard of Qin Miao's name.

But as Qin Miao moved to F1 and won his first F1 race, his fans truly began to grow explosively.

After Qin Miao's first F1 race, it's hard to say exactly how many fans he gained, but F1's viewership in the Asia-Pacific region increased by 70%.

When Qin Miao won his first F1 race, F1's viewership surged another 40%, even though it was after an entire season of racing when viewership was nearly saturated.

This growth rate was truly astonishing.

Now that Qin Miao has won the F1 World Championship, on that very night, he occupied a ten-minute feature on the evening news.

To know that this is the evening news, ten minutes for one person, Qin Miao.

This achievement basically means about half the people in China have heard Qin Miao's name.

So Qin Miao's words were overly modest in front of Leclerc.

Leclerc rolled his eyes, "How many people are there in Monaco? And how many in your country? Do you really think I'd believe what you're saying?"

Qin Miao simply dropped the act, "You're right, I'm just here to show off. So, what do you think about Gulfstream giving me a plane? Jealous?"

"Tsk," Leclerc looked at Qin Miao with great disdain, "I think your presence here is becoming a bit of an eyesore."

Qin Miao smiled contentedly, "Okay, I've said what I needed to say, it's time for me to go."

After speaking, Qin Miao stood up to leave, while Leclerc shook his head helplessly where he stood.