How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 1175 - 443: The All-New W13_2

So after the performance ended, the two also had a friendly interaction with the audience on-site."Qin Miao! Good luck in the race! We believe in you!"

"Qin Miao, look here, look here!"

"Go for it! Qin Miao, I believe you can win this year’s world championship!"

"Qin Miao, I want to have your babies!"

"Qin Miao, I executed you in COD this week! I have the recording!"

When Qin Miao was signing for the lucky fans on-site, the fans surrounding him would always shout things at Qin Miao, also as a way to express their excitement after seeing him.

Either to cheer for Qin Miao, or to encourage him, expressing that they will always support him from behind.

But as a species, humans often have their unique diversity.

So when Qin Miao was signing for the fans, one fan directly shouted this.

Originally getting used to automatically tuning out the cheers and encouragement, Qin Miao was taken aback after hearing this, then made a husky-pointing expression towards the person who called out to him.

"I’ve got my eye on you!"

That person laughed when seeing Qin Miao’s expression.

Qin Miao could understand the fans’ mentality after seeing him, even to the extent that as long as they caught his attention, if he responded with just one sentence, they could be happy for two months about that one reply.

They might even use this experience to brag at the dinner table or with friends for a long time.

It may sound like Qin Miao’s fans are a bit humble, but before becoming an F1 driver, Qin Miao himself was an F1 fan, and before that, he had raced in F2 for a while.

Even then, although he was already a driver, his mentality was still like a normal person, getting excited after seeing F1 drivers, wanting to get their attention.

So at this moment, Qin Miao completely understands the mindset of these fans.

After being busy in the fan area for over ten minutes, finally, Qin Miao and Hamilton thanked the fans who came to the site through the microphone and asked them to look forward to the Sunday main race or something similar.

After the event concluded, Qin Miao naturally received applause and cheers from all the audience present, and Hamilton was no less.

After this event ended, Qin Miao’s Thursday work was completely over.

Saying goodbye to the fans on-site, Qin Miao returned to the hotel.

After arriving at the hotel, Qin Miao freshened up, exchanged greetings with his mom and Qimeng, then turned back into his room to relax at the computer for a while before lying on the bed to sleep.

In modern times, after lying on the bed, it’s unlikely to sleep immediately, so Qin Miao pulled out his phone to take a look.

Unsurprisingly, Qin Miao found videos of his roadshow performance spreading everywhere on his phone.

When Qin Miao was on-site, most people called out to him in Chinese, but Qin Miao genuinely thought most of the audience were locals from Singapore.

But in reality, most of the people filming videos were Chinese.

After being moved, Qin Miao could only marvel at how wealthy the domestic fans truly are now.

Time quickly reached Friday, the day for the first and second practice sessions.

Upon arriving at the track, Qin Miao indeed felt Marina Bay circuit’s "enthusiasm" for the drivers.

Although it’s already evening, the Marina Bay circuit still felt sultry.

Even without the outside racing suit, just wearing the internal sweat-wicking, fireproof undergarment made Qin Miao feel stuffy, and soon sweat started to seep out.

Not to mention the feeling during the first practice session when fully suited up and seated in the already-ignited cockpit.

The feeling was just like being in a sauna.

But in a sauna, you’re at least not wearing so many clothes, and sweat can be released, but now even if Qin Miao sweats, it’s all absorbed by the set of sweat-wicking undergarments.

The sensation of the continuously sending heat waves from the engine behind you made Qin Miao involuntarily say: "It’s a bit too warm in the car today."

Frankie didn’t expect Qin Miao to still have the mood for a joke at this moment and responded with a laugh: "It is indeed a bit hot, but believe me, once you hit the track, this situation will significantly improve."

Qin Miao: "Of course, it’s only around 60 degrees Celsius, I can handle it!"

...

Joking aside, before coming to Singapore, Qin Miao underwent high-temperature endurance training.

For the recent three weeks, other than resting and working at the team, almost every morning, Qin Miao would wear a racing suit in the team’s specially designed sauna room, enjoying the sweltering 60-degree atmosphere while driving in the simulator.

To be honest, the feeling is quite intense, two words to describe it: bittersweet.

Two hours of practice, even without much bodily G-force pressure, Qin Miao would sweat profusely due to the temperature alone.

After one practice session, Qin Miao would lose two kilograms.

However, with so much preparation time, Qin Miao kinda got accustomed to the feeling of being in a steamy race car now.

Soon, it was time for the first practice session.

For all teams, Marina Bay track is almost an entirely new circuit, mainly because entering the new aerodynamic era significantly altered race car characteristics.

Furthermore, this Grand Prix weekend, Marina Bay circuit got a fresh asphalt repaving, so nobody knew the exact grip level before hitting the track.

Both Qin Miao and Hamilton need to readapt and comprehend this track.

When the green flag waved allowing Qin Miao to head out onto the track, he saw the FIA’s official mobile marshaling camera hanging above Mercedes’ garage.

On both sides of the garage door are FIA official invited journalists holding cameras.

All filming the upgraded Mercedes cars.

Qin Miao didn’t wave or greet them, as he was already in work mode, focusing on track testing the car’s upgrades.

Though honestly, the Mercedes team unanimously agreed that today’s race couldn’t fully showcase the W13B’s features and performance.

After all, Marina Bay is a street track, and among the entire calendar, it boasts the most right-angle turns, constituting 50% of the track’s corners.

Here, cars rely more on mechanical grip than aerodynamic efficiency.

According to the team’s simulator, the Mercedes upgrade, this actually resulted in minimal overall speed improvement, mainly changing the car’s characteristics and balance.

In terms of corner entry and exit, the characteristics shifted from oversteer to understeer.

Everything seemed unprecedented; now, Qin Miao needed to familiarize himself with the car and test its various performances.

Upon Qin Miao driving his car onto the track, he immediately felt the difference; the steering wheel now felt slightly heavier, resembling last season’s W12.

Once on track, the car’s acceleration and braking showed little change.

Since the engine and gearbox remained unchanged, the alterations were solely aerodynamics, maybe reducing the overall drag slightly, though this slight drag reduction’s effect on acceleration was negligible.

Speaking of, Qin Miao was quite impressed by the Mercedes folks, managing such widespread changes, yet the W13B remained lighter than the W13 by 1 kilogram, though still above FIA’s minimum required weight, just based on weight, overall lap times for the car significantly improved over W13B’s lap.

PS. dear fans, there’s a double monthly ticket event at the end of the month, if you have any, give me some!