CHAPTER 451: CHAPTER 205: FAMILY AND FRIENDS AFTER THE RACE (6K, BONUS 13/20)_3

The awards for third place were also presented by royalty, but Qin Miao didn’t recognize them either.

Next was the national anthem segment.

After listening to two Dutch national anthems, it was time for the photo op and champagne spraying segment.

After a simple celebration, Qin Miao was the first to wave to the audience below the stage, carrying his championship trophy and champagne down the stairs.

At that time, the broadcast wasn’t even over yet, and the live camera captured Qin Miao descending the stairs while Verstappen and the others were still celebrating. It was very much like a worker clocking out right on time after finishing their job, unwilling to stay a minute longer at the office.

Smiling, he handed his champagne and trophy to Toto and Reyes, and then Qin Miao went to Qimeng’s side, holding her hand.

Just then, Barber pulled a towel out of his backpack and handed it to Qimeng. After wiping Qin Miao’s face with the towel, Qimeng said: "Tired? Any plans for tonight?"

As Qin Miao led Qimeng and the Mercedes staff towards the paddock, he said, "There should be a small team gathering tonight. The next race is in Azerbaijan in two weeks, so we have some spare time. Why not stay in Monte Carlo for a couple of days?"

Qimeng nodded: "That works, but I won’t go to your gathering tonight. You performed so well today, we can negotiate the terms of the contract with Yili, but I feel this is probably the limit. Yili is very eager to sign the contract, but they’re also getting a bit impatient. The final contract should be finalized in the next few days, so I need to oversee it."

Qin Miao nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

Qimeng waved it off, "It’s not a big deal. Ever since the studio was founded, most of the miscellaneous tasks have been handed off to others. Now all I have to do is steer the main direction.

But when you have some free time, you’ll have to take me for a good tour around Monte Carlo."

Qin Miao naturally agreed to Qimeng’s request. After all, while bustling around for his own matters, Qimeng never once complained, and Qin Miao was very aware of this.

If Qin Miao couldn’t even do such a small thing, he would look down on himself.

Returning to the team habitat to change into a new set of clothes, Qin Miao stepped into the paddock once again.

Since he was one of the top three finishers, there was a media conference to attend after the race.

The details of the press conference won’t be described here.

After the press conference, Qin Miao attended a sponsor event for the team. After the event, Qin Miao’s day of work was finally over.

However, the performance in today’s race was far from settled.

The buzz in the paddock is also an essential part of the F1 Grand Prix. After the race, Qin Miao’s crazy overtaking maneuvers during the main race were the talk of many neutral fans and Mercedes supporters.

Qin Miao has proven in race after race that he has greater prowess in both offense and defense compared to Bottas, who excels mainly in qualifying.

Due to Qin Miao’s amazing overtakes in this race, many bloggers at home and abroad started reviewing the race footage, preparing to create a compilation of Qin Miao’s overtakes to profit from this wave of buzz.

In essence, Qin Miao’s start from 12th place and finishing 2nd stunned the entire racing community.

After the Monaco race, although Mercedes suffered from Leclerc’s crash during qualifying, Qin Miao’s spectacular performance in the main race mitigated the damage.

Additionally, thanks to Qin Miao’s presence, Mercedes maintained their lead over Red Bull.

After dealing with his affairs, Qin Miao then celebrated with his team members.

After spending some time with Qin Miao, everyone knew he didn’t drink, so the evening was just about dining and drinking, but nightlife activities like clubbing weren’t on the agenda.

However, after the evening gathering, Qin Miao didn’t return to the hotel right away. Instead, he and Zhou Guanyu went together to visit Leclerc’s home in Monaco.

Although Leclerc didn’t score today, it was a rare chance for friends to gather and chat, and Leclerc had failed to finish a home race more than once.

This might sound bizarre, but Leclerc had already prepared himself mentally for another DNS (Did Not Start) outcome before today’s race began.

Having prepared himself in advance, Leclerc found it easier to accept his failure this time.

This time, Qin Miao and Zhou Guanyu visited Leclerc’s home as friends, naturally avoiding any topics about racing while there.

Besides Qin Miao and Zhou Guanyu, Leclerc’s younger brother, Arthur Leclerc, was also at home.

To Qin Miao’s surprise, Arthur felt really excited upon seeing him, eagerly approaching him to request a signature.

"Qin! Oh my God, you actually came. I watched your race today; your overtakes were just stunning!" Faced with Arthur’s fanboy enthusiasm, Qin Miao was momentarily at a loss. He sheepishly looked towards Leclerc.

But Leclerc just wore an amused expression, showing no intention to help Qin Miao out of the situation.

Qin Miao could only helplessly start chatting with his young fan.

Later, the group sat on the sofa at Leclerc’s house, shooting the breeze. It seemed like Qin Miao, Zhou Guanyu, and Leclerc always had endless topics to chat about when together.