CHAPTER 199: CHAPTER 125: FANS (6,000 WORDS, BONUS 5/13)

After this sprint race, 13 drivers have earned points.

Among them, Qin Miao leads with 44 points, a full 26 points ahead of the second-place tie between Long Jia De and Ticktum.

Zhou Guanyu and Qin Miao’s teammate Mick Schumacher both have two points.

Qin Miao didn’t inquire about Mick’s specific situation and wasn’t interested, but he knew Zhou Guanyu’s low score was purely due to bad luck.

However, right after the award ceremony, when Qin Miao was carrying his gear on his back and helping Sui Wentao and the others push his car back to the temporary pit house, Qimeng approached Qin Miao.

Under normal circumstances, Qimeng wouldn’t interrupt Qin Miao while he was still working. She had a clear boundary between work and life, and she was very sensible.

So seeing this girl here at this moment indicated that there was something very important requiring Qin Miao’s personal attention.

"What’s up?" He stopped what he was doing, and fortunately, Qin Miao’s car wasn’t far from the temporary pit house, so it wouldn’t take much effort for Sui Wentao and the other two to push it back.

Qimeng apologized to the three of them and then pulled Qin Miao to a relatively quiet place and said, "Many F1 team leaders just called me."

Qin Miao raised his eyebrows but then thought of his performance on the track yesterday and today, "Unexpected yet reasonable. So what’s their intention in calling?"

Qimeng took out a notebook and handed it directly to Qin Miao.

Qin Miao opened it and looked at the contents inside.

The girl’s handwriting was as delicate as ever, and compared to hers, Qin Miao’s handwriting could really be described as chicken scratches.

The notebook recorded exactly who called and also noted down the contact numbers.

There were also verbal promises from various teams.

At the end, Qimeng also added her own recommendations and the perceived credibility of the caller’s words.

It was clear Qimeng had spent a long time preparing before bringing this to Qin Miao.

"So many?" Qin Miao was surprised that just one race performance had attracted so much interest from the teams.

Qimeng said, "Your performance on the track was just too stunning. If I were in charge of these teams, I’d reach out to you immediately, trying to recruit you."

After speaking, Qimeng asked, "Any thoughts?"

Qin Miao didn’t hesitate much and closed the notebook, returning it to Qimeng by saying, "I’m not planning to switch teams now. After all, Ferrari treats us quite well, giving us houses and cars."

Qimeng nodded understandingly and was not surprised. Sometimes Qin Miao was like this. Instead of calling it loyalty, it was more like being stubborn.

He leaned towards choices with more human touch over better options.

Still, Qin Miao explained his reasoning, "Besides, it’s impossible that no one within Ferrari has heard about this. Knowing so many teams have reached out to me, they’ll probably discuss my contract terms too."

"Alright, I’ll call them back tomorrow to inform them."

"Thanks for your hard work." Qin Miao reached out and patted Qimeng’s head.

"No problem~"

...

With personal issues settled, Qin Miao returned to the team meeting room for a meeting.

This was a summary meeting after the Austrian Grand Prix, and Qin Miao couldn’t skip it.

Luckily, the meeting wasn’t too long, and since Qin Miao’s performance was outstanding, most of the discussion was praise and encouragement.

Who doesn’t like being praised, especially when it’s directly in front of them?

During the meeting, Qin Miao learned why Mick didn’t perform well in this race: the car’s setup was off.

Upon hearing Mick’s explanation, Qin Miao glanced at the engineer who had been sent down from the Ferrari F1 team in surprise.

Rather than a demotion, he was following orders to accompany the Crown Prince on his studies. With his presence, Mick’s car setup issues shouldn’t have occurred.

Qin Miao didn’t delve into the details. After the meeting, he happily gathered Qimeng, Frankie, Sui Wentao, and others to go out for a meal.

Although there were some follow-up matters to handle, those were Sui Wentao’s responsibilities and had little to do with Qin Miao as a driver. After their meal, they could just return and work an extra half hour to sort things out.

They went to the buffet restaurant Zhou Guanyu had taken Qin Miao and Qimeng to last time.

With buffets, you never go hungry. Although it’s a bit pricey, Qin Miao’s financial situation at that moment could cover it.

They ate and drank while chatting about things that happened during the race, and listened to Qin Miao talk about his maneuvers and feelings during overtaking.

In such an environment, surrounded by familiar friends and colleagues, Qin Miao felt at ease.

"No pressure! I’m not bragging, but throughout the entire race, I barely felt any stress. The only interesting thing during the main race was the lack of power steering, making the battle with the steering wheel through corners T6 to T10 somewhat fun."

"However, I think the sprint phase was a bit more interesting than the main race, at least the first ten laps were."