CHAPTER 462: CHAPTER 209: DEBUFF 2

However, Hamilton quickly recalled that there had always been this rumor within the team that Qin Miao seemed to never get an upset stomach no matter what he ate. It was said that back in F2, he could gorge on fried chicken burgers or other high-calorie junk food daily without gaining a pound.

On his way back to the team, Qin Miao devoured two Magnums, and since Hamilton didn’t want one, Qin Miao left it in the team’s fridge.

Then it was time for the team meeting to start. The content of the meeting was quite dull, so it’s not worth elaborating on here.

After the meeting ended, Qin Miao had some time to rest at the team house while waiting for the practice session to begin.

If it were earlier times, Qin Miao would undoubtedly have laid back comfortably in the lounge, waiting for the first practice to start.

But things are different now. After all, Qin Miao now has a contract with Yili, and although the main terms do not specify, the details emphasize that during the three days of the Grand Prix weekend, Qin Miao must participate in at least two pre-race or post-race interview activities each day.

Meanwhile, Yili also sponsored the Mercedes team because of Qin Miao.

Qin Miao didn’t think to ask about the exact amount, but since Mercedes is not short of money, they quickly agreed to the sponsorship amount.

It can be said that since Qin Miao signed with Yili, he has become a pay driver to a certain extent, except that the fee isn’t paid by himself.

After doing a few interviews with some local Azerbaijani self-media, Qin Miao finally completed all his pre-race preparations thoroughly.

Before the first practice started, Qin Miao, in his racing suit, received good news from Reyes in the team P room.

Yet, for some reason, all the team technicians seemed a bit sluggish, constantly drinking Monster Energy drinks.

"Good news, the car started, and it can run normally," Reyes said.

While pulling up the zipper on his racing suit, Qin Miao nodded.

"But there’s also bad news." Reyes didn’t beat around the bush and directly said, "The cause of the car’s engine failure was found; a half-shaft broke for some unknown reason.

We don’t have the means here to handle this problem, so this engine has to be sent back to the factory for repairs before it can be used again.

And today, we can only use the set of engines we usually use for practice sessions, as well as the set used for racing in the past."

Honestly, this news wouldn’t be considered bad on other tracks. Tracks like Monaco and Hengelo with lots of corners don’t require much horsepower, and one can barely make do and overcome it.

But the Baku track demands a lot of engine power, and many teams usually opt to open a new engine on this track to give the car more powerful output power and force during the race phase.

However, Mercedes on the other hand, even before the race started, already gave Qin Miao a debuff.

There was no way around it; Qin Miao couldn’t just not race because the engine power wasn’t enough.

So, facing Reyes’ somewhat embarrassed expression, Qin Miao waved it off and said, "This has nothing to do with you guys, just having a car to drive under these circumstances is good enough. I only hope nothing unexpected happens to the car on the track."

Reyes comforted, "Actually, the engines we use for practice sessions are durable enough. Using an engine previously used for practice sessions in the race, and using the one nearly done for races for practice sessions, should be fine."

"Can’t we just ship a new half-shaft from Brackley?" Qin Miao asked somewhat reluctantly.

After all, to Qin Miao, isn’t an engine just a matter of replacing a broken part, and that’s it?

Reyes paused and then chuckled helplessly, explaining, "Replacing a half-shaft here, we can’t hide it from the FIA. Once changed, they will spot the replacement marks, and it’s like scrapping an engine for us.

But if we replace the half-shaft in Brackley, we can ensure that no matter how they check, they won’t find any dismantling marks."

Qin Miao: 6.

"Is it okay to tell me such things so openly?" Qin Miao was amazed.

Reyes waved it off, "We’re all on the same side, no need to worry, besides this is an unwritten rule within all teams, it’s acceptable to replace internal parts of a brand-new engine that never hit the track.

After all, with only four engines in a season, breaking one without even hitting the track, how will you play this season? Accept the penalty and step back?"

...

No matter how you look at it, the problem was solved in an indirect way. Qin Miao wasn’t too worried about the car going on strike on the track, but it was foreseeable that in the race phase, Qin Miao would have 10 horsepower less than his teammate Hamilton.

"Aside from this, is there anything else?" Qin Miao asked one final time.

"No more problems," Reyes gestured OK.

Qin Miao then began plugging noise-canceling headphones into his ears, then putting on his head scarf and helmet.

Once fully equipped, Qin Miao sat in the car.

Just as the first practice started, Qin Miao applied a buff to his car. Knowing the news of the car engine’s strike, Qin Miao realized that the system task requiring him to win was now highly unlikely, but fortunately, failing to complete the task wouldn’t carry any penalties, and besides, Qin Miao didn’t mind much, not feeling too burdened mentally because of it.

Inside the car, Qin Miao confirmed the car’s setup on the display in front of him, which was the most comfortable setup Qin Miao ran on the simulator.

Although it felt good on the simulator, what effect it would have on the real track was uncertain.

Though, practice sessions are meant for the team to do just that.

Once confirmed, Qin Miao gave Reyes a thumbs-up.

Reyes nodded, and just as the first practice began, let Qin Miao out.

In fact, with an F1 car with an engine power of several thousand horsepower, losing a dozen horsepower is hard to feel, but on the track, it showed as a difference of about 0.2 seconds.

Qin Miao knew, if he wanted good results in today’s race, or even to win the unlikely-to-win championship, tire choice and fuel management in this race would be crucial.

Thus, as soon as he got out, Qin Miao began conducting heavy fuel long-distance tests with soft tires.

During the first test run lasting twelve laps, Qin Miao’s issues of tire degradation and fuel consumption were never something their crew worried about; their real concern was Qin Miao’s lap time and his adaptability to this track.

Yet as the work progressed, everyone intentionally forgot about the engine problem in Qin Miao’s car, simply focusing on their work at hand.

Qin Miao wasn’t sure about other teams, but on the Mercedes side, the data collection on Qin Miao’s car was quite efficient, and subsequent car setups were also very precise.

During the first practice phase, Qin Miao ran three times.

Both Qin Miao and the team were quite satisfied with the testing results.

At least in terms of aerodynamics, Qin Miao got the setup he wanted.

Actually, finding the aerospace setup for the Baku track isn’t too complicated, as it’s a medium-low downforce track.

After the first practice was paused, data was sorted out to determine what work needed to be done in the second practice. The break between the first and second practice was almost over.

There were some interesting points in the first practice aside from the work, such as Mazepin crashing again, deforming the rear wing with a direct hit.

Given the characteristics of carbon fiber, once deformed, the rear wing is as good as scrapped.

But fortunately, Ural Petroleum is wealthy and doesn’t care about a broken rear wing.

In the first practice, only Mazepin had a crash; others either veered into the buffer zones and saved themselves or spun around without crashing.

In the end, during the first practice session, Verstappen took the first place with a time of 1:43.184.

Hamilton came in sixth, and Qin Miao seventh.

Just as the second practice started, Leclerc crashed his front nose at T15, as the position was rather tricky, and the track’s guardrail was also deformed by the crash.

Matthew needed to come over and restore the position of the crash barrier, so a red flag was issued by the race officials.

After the red flag ended, the practice race continued, but no further crashes occurred. Qin Miao safely and steadily completed the testing projects needed by the team.

Then he safely brought his car back to the P room.

After the second practice ended, Qin Miao’s ranking dropped to eleventh instead of improving.

Meanwhile, Qin Miao’s teammate Hamilton finished with fourth in the second practice session, and the first place was taken by Red Bull’s Perez with a time of 1:42.115, and Pan was 0.1 seconds slower than Perez.

During the two practice sessions on Friday, Red Bull completely dominated Mercedes.