How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 260 - 143: Upgrade

Although surprised that a chassis of this hardness would appear on a road-legal car, I have to say that Lotus’s excellent chassis tuning brings great handling, and because the car is light, the front-end responsiveness when driving is almost catching up to F3. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The most crucial point is this car is cheaper than an F3 and can even get registered for road use.

However, if I saw someone driving this car to buy groceries, I would sincerely call them a "badass."

After dropping off his wife, Qin Miao took this car for two more laps on the track and also broke his own Silverstone lap record with it at the rental company, losing interest afterward.

Though Lotus is indeed a car specifically designed for the track, it still falls short compared to F2.

You were designed for the track? Heck, my F2 was born to race on the track, don’t you know what "specialized skills" mean?

After playing around for an afternoon, Qin Miao and the other two headed back.

Qin Miao’s schedule later returned to normal: studying, meetings, practice.

Qin Miao enjoyed a long-lost period of ordinary daily life.

But it was because Qin Miao hardly opened his phone to check Twitter or similar apps that bring in outside information.

During this time, rumors were flying everywhere, mostly revolving around whether Sainz would join Ferrari.

As for Qin Miao?

Although his performance in F2 was indeed remarkable, no one dares to guarantee that his dazzling performance in F2 will be maintained after he enters F1.

Sainz’s performance with McLaren has been witnessed by everyone.

He may not be called a genius, but he is definitely capable of holding the position of Ferrari’s number two driver.

And the audience following Qin Miao is still a minority, at most the small domestic fan community cares about Qin Miao, raising their voices for him on social media at home and abroad, but their efforts are ultimately in vain.

On the eve of the second British Grand Prix, which is Thursday, Ferrari and McLaren jointly announced the news that Sainz will join Ferrari next season.

Although Sainz is strong, on the other hand, with Ricardo about to leave Renault, McLaren is very interested in Ricardo, so naturally, letting go of Sainz comes without any psychological burden.

Readily agreeing to Ferrari’s request, they even sold the other side a favor.

Once the news was confirmed, basically everyone who knew about Qin Miao’s contract with Ferrari called him immediately.

Their intentions were good, thinking that Qin Miao lost his place at Ferrari and wanted to comfort him.

But Qin Miao didn’t feel much about it, even somewhat annoyed by these people who kept calling because from Roxin’s words, Qin Miao had long suspected that Sainz would eventually join Ferrari, whereas these calls left Qin Miao unable to properly train.

Yet they were all out of goodwill, so Qin Miao couldn’t say anything harsh.

With one call, it took at least ten minutes to explain the complexities to the other party, but the one who gave Qin Miao the most peace of mind was his own mom.

She only called to ask if Qin Miao was alright.

Qin Miao didn’t explain much, just said, "No worries, I was already mentally prepared for this."

Upon getting her son’s definite answer, his mom nodded knowingly and didn’t delve further into the issue, instead inquiring about Qin Miao and Qimeng’s situation, advising the two to look after each other as it’s hard work abroad.

Gotta say, it’s really not surprising that’s my mom. She always makes Qin Miao feel at ease when it comes to these major issues.

Another day passed, Friday, the beginning of practice and qualifying sessions.

As soon as Qin Miao arrived at the paddock today, he noticed something strange about the atmosphere.

Before, even though Mick’s crew didn’t show much friendliness when they saw Qin Miao, they’d at least greet him when they met.

Now, they greet Qin Miao less frequently and wouldn’t give him the friendly smiles they used to.

Qin Miao quickly figured out the reason, feeling a bit upset inside.

Compared to Ferrari’s backstab, these people’s attitudes made Qin Miao feel the coldness and reality of this paddock even more intensely.

Qin Miao felt a bit uncomfortable internally, but didn’t show it on the outside; in others’ eyes, he was still the same Qin Miao.

He shook his head, throwing those scattered thoughts out of his mind, and focused all his attention on the upcoming race.

The good news for Qin Miao is that the weather over the last three days is quite nice, with the probability of rain below 20%.

Additionally, Qin Miao’s car not only got a new undertray but also a new engine.

The reason was Sui Wentao and his team found a crack on Qin Miao’s engine while replacing the undertray, but for some reason, despite the crack on the cylinder casing, the engine was running stable for so long without any mishap.

Although the inspection revealed the crack wasn’t deep and probably wouldn’t affect the engine’s normal operation, to be on the safe side, Qin Miao still spent money to get a new engine.