CHAPTER 173: CHAPTER 116: GRAND PRIX PREPARATIONS

Actually, viewers who didn’t pay much attention to F1 races before didn’t know that there was a Chinese driver in F2 because of a well-known fact: the domestic environment doesn’t really nurture the soil for producing a qualified F1 driver.

Only those who frequently watch F1 races know that there’s a Zhou Guanyu in F2.

Even some casual F1 fans who don’t follow F2 races don’t know there’s such a person as Zhou Guanyu.

But now it’s different. Instead of just one Chinese driver in F2, there are clearly two Chinese drivers in F2, and the fact that these two Chinese drivers have a particularly good relationship is a headline, easily attracting attention at home.

So, after this picture was posted back home, it quickly sparked intense discussions on major social media platforms.

[Is this Xiaozhou? Who’s the other one?]

[That’s Qin Miao, from the Ferrari junior team, who just entered F2 this year.]

[Xiaozhou and Xiaoqin have a really good relationship.]

[Just look at Zhou Guanyu’s Weibo, these two play games every night together...]

[I need all the info on this handsome guy in red! Right now!]

[Whoa, when did F2 get two Chinese guys?]

[Are they doing a track walk?]

[Yes, this should be a track walk. Tomorrow is the start of the Austria Grand Prix, so a track walk today is quite normal.]

[Why is there so little information about Qin Miao online? You can’t even find footage of his races.]

[This year, my hope for Xiaozhou is to get on the podium once. As for Xiaoqin, be bold—get on the podium just like Xiaozhou.]

[Is it really appropriate to put so much pressure on the newbie? I just hope Qin Miao quickly gets familiar with the feel of racing in his first season, and then becomes competitive like Xiaozhou.]

[In any case, let’s quietly wish these two young drivers the best. By the way, Xiaoqin’s looks are really impressive.]

...

The two on the track didn’t know that just by doing a track walk, there was already quite a buzz back home.

The two continued to measure the Red Bull Ring circuit with their own footsteps and all sorts of details.

During this process, they were in a state of mutual inspiration. However, Qin Miao had a deeper understanding of the track, while Zhou Guanyu had more proficient driving techniques on this track. These two, while walking the track, surprisingly created a certain chemistry, complementing each other.

They chatted too happily while walking the track with friends.

They forgot about the passage of time, and by the time they returned to the pit room, the sky was already starting to dim, the time was approaching 5 PM, and in another hour the track would be closing.

However, they had also completed the last task of the day. After summarizing the insights from the track walk back in the pit room, they went for a meal together.

No one went out to play in the evening, because the race was the next day, and everyone knew the importance of priorities, realizing it wasn’t the time for playing around.

However, quite a few drivers hoping to perform well at the first race of the year were more or less diligent on the simulator.

Of course, this did not include Qin Miao. After dinner, he happily went back to the hotel, took a shower, and then turned on his laptop to play games again.

Not a word was spoken all night.

Waking up driven by his biological clock, Qin Miao squinted his eyes slightly to adjust to the surrounding light, then moved Qimeng’s long leg off his stomach and took his hand out of Qimeng’s shirt.

He smelled the faint milky fragrance on his hand and started cleaning up in a good mood.

After changing clothes, he jogged straight to the track. Since the track was not far from the hotel, Qin Miao ran over as a warm-up exercise he had to do every morning.

As for his wife, Qin Miao’s morning work mainly involved race preparations, which had little to do with her work, so he didn’t wake her up, letting her sleep a little longer.

The morning gave Qin Miao a considerable amount of preparation time, and in the afternoon, the practice session was for Qin Miao to get familiar with the track, and for Qin Miao’s team to collect data on Qin Miao racing on the track, to help them formulate the setup and tire allocation for the upcoming qualification and main race.

However, the main task was to find a setup suitable for Qin Miao’s driving style. Unlike F1, in F2, a Grand Prix weekend only has five sets of dry tires, three soft tires, and two hard tires, plus three sets of wet tires.

This small number of tire allocations really didn’t require much brain effort.

The morning passed in the busy work around the car. Qin Miao adjusted the car’s setup to the simulator settings, which he found the most comfortable to drive, based on his previous data from the simulator. Then it was just waiting for the afternoon practice session to start.

At this time, the number of spectators in the paddock gradually increased. Even though their pit room was at least a hundred meters away from the area where tourists were, Qin Miao could vaguely hear the noise and clamor coming from over there.

Qin Miao didn’t go to join the commotion. Having completed the car’s preparations, he was ready to take the opportunity to casually check on Zhou Guanyu.

But Qin Miao was stopped by Roxin.

"There’s an official FIA interview for you. This is your first formal interview with a major media outlet, so be careful with what you say." Roxin, patting his protégé’s shoulder, despite already giving a reminder, still felt a bit uneasy: "I know you’re a bit... casual in private, but these interview recordings will be released before the race, so think carefully about the consequences of what you say and do before you act."