How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 1202: Chapter 454: Inviting the Gods

After all, just as Zhou Guanyu had just thought, they both have been pretty busy as drivers during this period.

After patting Zhou Guanyu on the shoulder, Qin Miao returned to his own car and began the final preparations before the race started.

Qin Miao doesn’t have any particular opinion about Tsunoda; he just has an opinion about this country.

On a national level, Qin Miao can’t do much and doesn’t have that kind of influence.

However, on the F1 track, Qin Miao is confident he can outperform this group of adversaries.

As for Red Bull cars using Honda engines, Qin Miao can only say he’ll try his best and make every attempt to attack them to achieve a higher ranking.

Of course, if he really can’t win and catch up to Verstappen in front, Qin Miao will try to finish ahead of Perez’s Red Bull no matter what.

As Qin Miao sat in his car, the rain that had just stopped for a while started again; however, it wasn’t very heavy, just a drizzle.

But Qin Miao felt a bit numb.

Reyes also approached and asked Qin Miao, "It’s raining again, should we change back?"

Qin Miao waved his hand helplessly, "Forget it..."

However, as the time for the warming lap got closer, the rain was getting heavier.

Qin Miao: "Reyes, help me adjust it!"

Reyes: ...

When the time for the warming lap came and all the staff around the track had withdrawn, the rain on the track had become a moderate rain.

Given the track conditions, all drivers used intermediate tires for the starting phase.

As for full wet tires, the rain wasn’t heavy enough for that, and as many F1 fans jokingly say, when the rain gets heavy, F1 tends to stop the Grand Prix.

If the rain was truly heavy enough for full wet tires, the event would likely call out the red flag and wait for the rain to pass before deciding on when to resume the race.

Local time 2 PM sharp, the drivers who had been ready in their positions saw the red lights above their heads go off, the green light turn on, and the warming lap begin.

Verstappen, Leclerc, and others immediately started to accelerate.

Then Qin Miao was dumbfounded.

Because once Sainz in front started speeding up, Qin Miao couldn’t see anything, except for the white mist kicked up by the intermediate tires.

Even though this wasn’t Qin Miao’s first rain race in his career — he’d experienced last time how the mist from the car in front was so thick that he couldn’t see the road ahead at all —

yet Qin Miao was still bewildered by the mist from the car in front today.

Because the mist was simply too thick, and this was just the warming lap!

Also, because the mist kicked up during the warming lap was so large, the gap between cars was quite wide during the warming lap, naturally to avoid incidents like the one Mick Schumacher had during a practice return lap.

The race hasn’t even started, and teammates might already retire, who would you complain to?

And another benefit is that if the gap is wide, the car behind can drive on the racing line, further draining the water from the track before the race starts. After the race starts, the grip on these racing lines will, of course, be stronger.

During the warming lap, the Mercedes team also demonstrated the maturity of their weather forecasting to Qin Miao.

Because Qin Miao received a notification from Frankie on the team radio: "Qin Miao, the rain won’t let up soon, it might even intensify five minutes after the start, be careful at the start."

Despite being a bit helpless, Qin Miao responded, "Okay, I will be careful, notify me of any weather changes anytime."

The warming lap naturally didn’t encounter any accidents.

After the warming lap ended, the drivers returned to their starting positions, and the medical chase car was also in position.

The green flag hesitated for a moment, but finally waved under the signal of the race official, indicating that the race was about to begin.

Soon, five red lights lit up.

Went out.

"Five red lights off, the start of the 2022 Japan Grand Prix begins! Let’s see how Qin Miao, who has consistently struggled with rain races, does at the start today!" Five-Star Sports commentators, as always, focused greatly on Qin Miao at each Grand Prix.

Today is no exception.

Qin Miao knew that, due to various reasons, Sainz would definitely focus his attention on him during the start phase, so when the warming lap ended, Qin Miao deliberately pointed his car slightly towards the inside line of the track, preparing to squeeze towards the inside line right from the start.

Qin Miao understood that since he made this move, Sainz would likely merge into the inside line after the start, using the mist generated by the car to disrupt his vision.

Even though he’s not good at rain races, regardless of whether it’s in the rain or not, his starting ability is one of the best among all current F1 drivers, something Sainz has to guard against.

But the truth is, after the start, Qin Miao only drove about 50 meters towards the inside line, then during the shift from third to fourth gear, he changed the direction of the car back to the outside line, ultimately positioning himself in front of O’Kang, who also wanted to start from the outside line.

During this period, Qin Miao even had a moment to glance at his rearview mirror.