How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 1088 - 414: King of the Kids

Therefore, I think the current W13 is actually the best platform we can get right now. Half a season of races has already given us enough data and characteristics about the W13. We can address the upgrade potential problem of the car by redesigning and improving the W13’s floor.Although this is also quite an undertaking, after improving the floor, there are still a bunch of issues to handle, but it’s a lot better than building a new concept W14 from scratch. The key point is that we know new technical regulations are about to be released, allowing us to design cars based on the new regulations and seize the initiative over Red Bull and Ferrari, aiming to restore the car’s former competitiveness in the second half of the season..."

For a long time afterward, Elliott was explaining his ideas and intentions to the team staff.

Meanwhile, Qin Miao elbowed the aerodynamics engineer beside him and asked, "Do you know what the new technical rules are? How come I’ve never heard of them."

The engineer leaned closer to Qin Miao and whispered, "I just found out too. Toto has been in contact with the FIA recently and is facilitating the issuance of a new technical directive to avoid porpoising on the track. The team expects that the FIA will likely require us to increase the ride height of the cars to avoid porpoising."

Qin Miao nodded thoughtfully, as this initiative was driven by Toto, so the team should be prepared in advance.

Thinking about this, Qin Miao glanced again at Elliott on the stage.

"Given the performance in the last three Grand Prix and our current situation, I propose to halt the current W14 development. All its existing design results should be preserved as technical reserves, continuing to improve and develop on the basis of the original W13.

That’s all I wanted to say."

Qin Miao: ???

I was just asking my buddy next to me about something. How is it over already?

Now Qin Miao suddenly had a flashback to his middle school days, where he would look down to pick up a pen and by the time he looked up, he couldn’t understand what the teacher was saying.

However, putting this aside, Qin Miao carefully considered Elliott’s proposal.

Then Qin Miao remembered.

After the Austrian Grand Prix, Hamilton had discussed this issue with him.

His stance at that time was not against it.

This was also Qin Miao’s genuine thought upon hearing Elliott’s presentation.

Although this issue is closely tied to Qin Miao as a driver, he couldn’t really think of a better solution in a short time.

So Qin Miao decided to wait for the team’s decision on the news.

Following this, Qin Miao faced the traditional process of the Mercedes team.

The higher-ups of other teams came forward to express their opinions and raised some questions.

Elliott, having prepared his documents and test data, addressed them one by one.

Finally, everyone voted on the current proposal.

Besides Qin Miao, several others abstained.

When tallying the votes, the decision was passed with a 0.5 vote rate.

Qin Miao was somewhat surprised by the result, as it felt like a quick change of direction, especially considering the last large meeting was not long before the Canadian Grand Prix.

It’s only been a month...

Of course, in his mind, Qin Miao was just grumbling a bit. This was the team’s decision; since Qin Miao decided not to participate, he wouldn’t raise any objections at this time.

After the agenda was approved, Hamilton took the stage again.

This time Hamilton mainly wanted to halt other upgrades for the W13 and redesign the driver’s cockpit for the W13.

Given the characteristics of the current car, driving is really under tremendous pressure for Hamilton.

Not just on the track, but also in external public opinion.

Being a seven-time world champion, being overshadowed on the track by a sophomore makes it hard to hold one’s head up. Moreover, this season, aside from Hamilton’s home race at the British Grand Prix, Hamilton hasn’t been on the podium in other races.

It’s hard to say without sounding bad, seeing how every aging F1 driver experiences a decline in their prowess, but none have declined as fast as Hamilton.

The rest of the meeting focused mainly on the car’s upgrades.

Qin Miao started to zone out halfway through. If this internal team meeting, concerning new season car development, counted as Mercedes’ highest-level business secrets, banning mobile phones for everyone, Qin Miao would have pulled out his phone and started watching videos by now.

The meeting lasted two and a half hours, by the time Qin Miao left the conference room, it was almost closing time.

However, Qin Miao still headed to the team’s simulator department to run a dozen laps on the simulator.

It wasn’t because Qin Miao was so passionate about work; it was purely because he hadn’t touched a race car in almost three days and his hands were itching.

Driving a race car is like this; it’s similar to fishing, it can be addictive.

When you take a corner at extreme angles, your brain clearly understands the dangers of such turns, but you navigate through this extreme position without danger.

Because you know the danger involved in taking such a corner, the joy of successfully navigating it and the feeling of survival ignite your adrenaline and dopamine, making Qin Miao and drivers like him unable to stop.