How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 1124: Chapter 427: The Furious Red Bull

Before the start of the race, Qin Miao, like all the other drivers, found a moment to pay tribute to the F2 driver Anthony Hubert, who died in a crash at that corner.

At Spa’s Elloge corner, there have been many racing accidents, with cumulative losses in the millions of US Dollars being minor.

Yet the only F2 driver who has died here so far is Anthony Hubert, and it’s during this era when the FIA has introduced a series of rules to protect drivers’ personal safety.

But nobody wants to see such accidents happen.

What others can do is to take it as a cautionary tale.

Besides Qin Miao, there were other drivers who came to pay their respects, but they brought flowers and the like.

Qin Miao brought two packs of spicy sticks from home.

These weren’t the ones from Weilong; he brought those five-cent packs from a small shop in his hometown.

Qin Miao thought they tasted pretty good, and Hubert might have liked them.

Even if he didn’t, he’s no longer alive to complain.

Once the tribute was over, Qin Miao returned to his regular work routine.

On Thursday, after the usual marketing work, he attended the pre-race press conference.

Friday, practice session one and two.

However, Friday brought crucial news for Qin Miao and every F1 fan back home.

Alfa Romeo renewed their contract with Zhou Guanyu, signing a two-year deal extending to the end of 2024.

This clearly indicates the team’s recognition of Zhou Guanyu’s strength, but truth be told, even if Alfa Romeo’s car is powerful, their strategy team and tire changers carry on the lousy legacy of Ferrari.

So if Qin Miao were in Zhou Guanyu’s position, he might consider switching to another team next season.

Even Haas would be better, at least their tire changes and strategy team aren’t as abysmal as Alfa Romeo.

But Zhou Guanyu isn’t considering all of that.

Geely is still negotiating with Martin, but the two parties haven’t reached a deal, and Geely faces significant resistance. Even though Zhou Guanyu has already met Geely’s chairman and received assurances, he can’t confirm that Geely will join the game anytime soon.

Zhou Guanyu can’t base his career on a gamble.

If Zhou Guanyu had Qin Miao’s skills, he wouldn’t worry about not getting a seat, but Zhou Guanyu, while talented, hasn’t reached the level to expect more. With a two-year contract in front of him, Zhou Guanyu has no reason to refuse.

So eventually, Zhou Guanyu renewed his contract with Alfa Romeo.

Time quickly moved to Saturday, practice session three.

At the end of practice three, the Red Bull drivers took the top two spots.

Qin Miao and Hamilton focused on long-distance testing.

Ferrari appeared only in the last 24 minutes.

But before the end of practice session three, Leclerc made a mistake at T12, ran off the track, and hit the wall.

Fortunately, the crash wasn’t severe; Leclerc just damaged the right front wing plate, while the suspension and rear wing remained intact.

However, Leclerc’s incident filled the track with a significant amount of gravel, leading to a red flag in the final stage of practice three.

As practice three resumed with only 4 minutes left on the clock, Qin Miao stayed in since he had already gathered all his data.

By the time the broadcast cameras showed Mercedes’s pit box, Qin Miao was already out of the car.

Two hours later, qualification sessions began.

Today at Spa, the sky was heavily overcast, but fortunately, there was no rain.

Meanwhile, numerous drivers changed engine parts on their cars and faced varied penalties. freёwebnovel.com

Bottas was one of them.

After changing parts, regardless of his qualification results, Bottas would start from the 14th position.

Still, Bottas reached Q2 and even helped Zhou Guanyu with tow twice, advancing his teammate to Q3.

Ricardo also lived up to McLaren’s expectations, stopping at Q2 as Norris reached Q3.

The first qualification session after the summer break had an immediate spectacle by Ferrari.

Originally, Ferrari planned to adopt Mercedes’s tow tactics in Q3.

Leclerc was to use old soft tires to tow Sainz for a lap, then switch places with Sainz using old tires to tow Leclerc with fresh tires.

Everything seemed well planned, and Sainz started his flying lap.

Then, as Leclerc exited the pits, the crew unexpectedly fitted a set of brand-new soft tires.

Leclerc was baffled when he saw the tires on his car and hastily asked the team about what to do with them.

His track engineer, Harvey, resignedly replied, "Just run a flying lap."

Naturally, without Leclerc towing him, Sainz couldn’t sacrifice his flying lap to help Leclerc, so Ferrari’s double-driver tow tactic fell apart before it even began.

For Ferrari fans, the unexpected incident seemed almost predictable.