How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 841 - 338: Drivers’ Gathering

On the other side, Zhou Guanyu also brought some surprises to Alfa Romeo.

Maybe it's because he often communicates with Qin Miao about racing knowledge, or perhaps because of Qin Miao's influence, after Zhou Guanyu officially announced that he will join Alfa Romeo next season, he did not relax at all. He continued to race normally and trained very hard. As a result, during testing, Zhou Guanyu's average lap time was only 0.13 seconds slower than Bottas's.

This result may not compare to Qin Miao, who just entered the paddock, but for a rookie at Zhou Guanyu's level, this is definitely considered excellent.

Finally, two days later, Qin Miao completed all his work in the paddock for this season.

After the testing ended, Qin Miao planned to invite drivers he got along well with to have a meal together, choosing the Chinese restaurant where Boss Zhou took Qin Miao last time.

After all, from Qin Miao's perspective as a native Chinese, the food there was indeed good.

Good things should naturally be shared with good friends.

Originally, Qin Miao just wanted to bring along drivers he was close with, like Le the Fourth, Norris, Zhou Guanyu, Brother Tou, and Kimi.

However, for some reason, Russell also chose to invite everyone for a meal after the race ended.

Then he directly organized a big gathering in the drivers' group chat.

Russell invited all the F1 drivers this time; the only ones invited were those who raced on the track this season.

He did not invite Zhou Guanyu, who will join F1 next season.

And considering Russell is the head of the Drivers' Union, no one could say anything wrong about him hosting this event.

Of course, Qin Miao had no reason to refuse.

After all, if everyone went and you didn't, wouldn't you feel a bit out of place?

Fortunately, Qin Miao had only thought about it and hadn't begun inviting other drivers yet.

Since Russell had taken the initiative, Qin Miao just tagged along for the event. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Anyway, when Qin Miao wanted to meet up with Leclerc and the others, it was purely out of friendship, just thinking of having a meal at the end of the season. It's not about currying favor or elevating his status among the drivers or anything.

F1 drivers don't worry about splitting the bill or anything. None of these twenty people lack money for a meal, so Russell was ready to pay for it himself.

Unexpectedly, the restaurant owner offered the meal for free, with only a small request that Qin Miao and the drivers come back for another meal after next season's races, and the owner would again offer a free meal.

This was like having the drivers advertise for him with a single meal; the boss's clever plan was obvious. But the drivers didn't refuse. This was a win-win situation, and meeting up after the new year, chatting without pressure, and sharing the frustrations of the season was quite enjoyable.

Because today was just a casual dinner, with no outsiders around, everyone relaxed while eating, chatting and joking with their fellow drivers.

What surprised everyone the most was that after the final race of the 2021 season, with Qin Miao taking the driver's championship from Hamilton, the two of them were sitting across from each other at dinner.

It seemed their relationship hadn't soured because of it; in fact, they seemed to be having a great conversation during the meal.

Rosberg: Impossible, it's staged! This is staged!

Actually, the relationship between Qin Miao and Hamilton wasn't as strained as other drivers imagined. Both Qin Miao and Hamilton clearly separate on-track and off-track relations.

Moreover, Hamilton knew that the main reason he didn't beat Qin Miao this season was that Qin Miao was more consistent. He secured all the points he needed without making any mistakes.

Meanwhile, much of Hamilton's attention had been focused on Verstappen, neglecting or even underestimating his teammate, leading to his failure this season.

By reviewing the season's race footage, Hamilton realized that his speed was still the fastest in the paddock.

Qin Miao might further close the speed gap with him next season, but Hamilton was confident he would still be the fastest driver next season.

Therefore, Hamilton was confident he could reclaim the world championship next season. It's just one more season, he could wait.

With this confidence, Hamilton naturally didn't have a grudgeful face when interacting with Qin Miao.

Qin Miao, on the other hand, was quite simple. He wasn't someone who liked to be hostile towards others.

Even though he encountered a lot of scheming in the paddock over the year.

Some Western celebrities would even knock on Qin Miao's door in the middle of the night just to get a cameo during the F1 broadcast.

Yet Qin Miao's heart remained quite pure, with a reciprocate-in-kind mindset: if you treat me sincerely, I will do the same in return.

Hence, we see the scene we have today.

However, the person who chatted the most with Qin Miao during dinner was Leclerc sitting next to him.

There were actually quite a few common topics between them, mainly because they lived close to each other, basically neighbors. They often hung out during their off time, and both came through the Ferrari youth training program, meaning they had plenty to talk about.