How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 1198: Chapter 453: Sudden Realization

Fortunately, Qin Miao and Barber had already left the paddock, making their way from the hotel’s underground garage to their hotel room.

During almost every race weekend, the Mercedes team would book the entire Ritz-Carlton Hotel near the track. This meant that only Mercedes team staff would be in the hotel, so there was no concern that Qin Miao’s unexpected actions would leak to the outside.

Qin Miao mainly felt that he had been complacent lately, so he couldn’t help but slap himself.

Once Barber restrained him, Qin Miao didn’t continue any further actions.

"Even if we didn’t do well in a qualifying session, it doesn’t warrant such a reaction." Barber seemed to sense why Qin Miao was acting this way and advised, "Today is just your first day racing at Suzuka Circuit, yet Hamilton is only 0.1 seconds faster than you on a single lap.

How many years has he been racing at Suzuka Circuit? And despite having so many more years of experience than you, even Hamilton didn’t make it to the top three in qualifying?"

Admittedly, Qin Miao felt that Barber made a lot of sense, but Qin Miao still explained, "That’s not why I’m upset..."

"I just realized that I’ve been complacent about my racing training and track familiarity recently," Qin Miao said. "Previously, when facing tracks I was unfamiliar with, I would spend at least six hours on the simulator to get to know the track before the race.

Before each Grand Prix, I would dedicate at least six hours a day on the simulator to familiarize myself with a new track. But for Suzuka Circuit, I only spent the usual four hours of daily training getting to know the track."

"During the team’s debrief in the afternoon, the time gaps in many corners between me and Hamilton were mostly within 0.0 seconds, which indicates that my talent and ability are still not inferior to Hamilton’s. I lost out on effort and track familiarity..."

"In short, I got cocky, although I should have expected this; after all, I’m the only one in F1 history to have become world champion at the age of 20.

I just didn’t expect to realize this fact a little too late..."

Barber: ...

After hearing Qin Miao’s words, Barber really didn’t know what expression to put on to deal with Qin Miao’s various issues.

Because it was too extraordinary.

Are you praising yourself, or are you deeply reflecting on your mistakes?

Barber could be considered a staff member related to the racing industry, so he wasn’t unfamiliar with racing simulators. In fact, he quite liked racing, and he even won a regional karting championship as a child.

However, due to family reasons, he didn’t continue down this path.

But even for someone like him, sitting in a racing simulator for more than two hours would make him feel a bit bored and develop a strong aversion to the racing game and steering wheel in front of him.

As for Qin Miao, his daily training involved sitting in the racing simulator for six hours. During these six hours, Qin Miao not only had to drive but also resist the G-forces and vibrations from the simulator equipment.

Apart from that, he also needed to take time for other training.

And he has persisted for over two years.

Now, he merely reduced those six hours to four, and Qin Miao felt he had become too complacent. Honestly, Barber believed that Qin Miao becoming one of the top F1 drivers was almost inevitable.

"So... what do you plan to do now?" Barber released his hold on Qin Miao and cautiously asked, "Going to train?"

Qin Miao rolled his eyes, "There’s a race to run tomorrow. Cramming last minute can’t sacrifice my rest time; it’ll severely affect tomorrow’s race performance. I’m going to sleep."

"Are you sure?" Barber was still a bit uneasy.

Qin Miao thought for a moment and said, "You can think of my current state as a sudden realization, just like suddenly understanding how to calculate an equation or comprehending a book."

...

After returning to the hotel in the evening, Qin Miao still took the time to watch Verstappen’s onboard lap.

That guy was indeed fast, especially comparing his performance with his teammate Perez; you could genuinely feel Verstappen’s strength.

But the final result was unsurprisingly as Qin Miao expected.

Verstappen was indeed strong, and Qin Miao could understand many of Verstappen’s cornering techniques. In fact, if Qin Miao and Verstappen traded places and Qin Miao was driving the current RB17,

Qin Miao could achieve Verstappen’s speed in the Red Bull car, and he was confident he could be even faster than Verstappen.

However, all this assumes the current Red Bull RB17 as a premise.

Qin Miao piloted the W13B, which had entirely different characteristics from the RB17, so naturally, Qin Miao couldn’t pick up any techniques or methods to improve his lap times based on Verstappen’s lines and braking points — they could only serve as references.

After watching the footage, Qin Miao went to sleep. The night passed without much being said, and the next day was Sunday, the start of the Japanese Grand Prix race day.

Opening the curtains.

Rain, heavy rain.

The team’s weather department provided Qin Miao data indicating that this rain would last all day, including today’s race.