How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 92 - 79: Zhou Guanyu (2)

It’s important to know that such high-pressure weekends, where everything is almost non-stop, aren’t limited to just one - there are 22 weekends like this a year.

Being in such a high-pressure state for a long time, Qin Miao really doesn’t think he can handle it.

After watching the first day’s practice session and roughly experiencing the daily work intensity of F1 drivers, Qin Miao and Qimeng did not participate in the subsequent paddock activities.

Because Qin Miao was still holding a helmet worth ten thousand British Pounds, and the weather in Silverstone has been quite unstable these days. If it rains, the signature from Leclerc on Qin Miao’s helmet will be ruined.

So for safety’s sake, Qin Miao decided with Qimeng to return to the hotel first to put the helmet away after which Qin Miao could feel at ease.

After returning to the hotel, Qin Miao was taken to the gym by Qimeng.

Although today was supposed to be a day out, Qimeng didn’t want Qin Miao to slack off in his training.

Qin Miao also didn’t want the progress he had made through countless hours of sweat to fall back.

So Qin Miao had no resistance to training, and even though Kong Youming wasn’t with him at the moment, after nearly half a month of training, Qin Miao already had a rough idea of what training programs he should do and the standard movements of these programs.

Qin Miao could independently complete a basic set of training without any problems.

The day passed by just like that, and the night was uneventful.

The next day, the two of them got up early again and went to the Silverstone Circuit.

Today there would be F1’s third practice session and qualifying.

Having learned from the previous day, Qin Miao realized there was nothing much to see in practice, so he didn’t plan to boringly wait in the P-room today.

However, Qin Miao was still somewhat curious during the qualifying phase, wanting to see what kind of work the teams generally do during qualifying.

Entering the paddock from their regular spot, Qin Miao and Qimeng took the sightseeing car directly to the rest area behind the team’s P-room and then smoothly entered the viewing area above the P-room.

Just like yesterday, they ordered some food casually to pass the time while waiting for the F1 practice session to start.

Worth mentioning, Qin Miao again saw that Asian person he had met the previous day on the stands.

Qin Miao wasn’t very sure about the exact name of the team this person belonged to, but judging by his attire, he should be under Renault’s young driver program.

Soon the F2 qualifying began.

Comparing F2’s qualifying with F1, it’s much simpler and shorter, only lasting half an hour.

There’s no breakdown into Q1, Q2, Q3. All F2 teams complete their flying laps within half an hour.

Since F2 cars aren’t as fast as F1, and most importantly, the performance differences between F2 cars aren’t significant, there isn’t the severe traffic issue seen in F1 during qualifying.

Watching all this from the stands, Qin Miao was quite excited about possibly sitting in an F2 cockpit one day because F2 drivers are different from F1 drivers.

Although both can drive formula cars, F2 drivers don’t have to participate in so many activities like F1 drivers do. F2 drivers basically race each day, do one post-race interview, and then can directly return to the team base to analyze their issues without wasting time interacting with fans.

As the F2 drivers drove out for the warm-up laps, Qin Miao deliberately checked the name of that Asian person.

Knowing that foreign naming conventions differ substantially from domestic ones, Qin Miao saw only the name ’ZHOU’ for that Asian person.

As a Chinese, Qin Miao instantly recognized this as a Chinese surname. Not surprisingly, this Asian person should have the surname Zhou.

However, at this time Qin Miao wasn’t sure if he was a compatriot, since surrounding countries also use Chinese surnames. Thus, Qin Miao took out his phone to check the nationality and name of this UNI-Virtuosi Racing Team driver.

Soon, Qin Miao confirmed his identity as indeed Chinese, named Zhou Guanyu.

After confirming his identity, Qin Miao immediately felt a sense of recognition and kinship, naturally becoming more attentive to Zhou Guanyu.

During qualifying, Zhou Guanyu was evidently in great form. The first flying lap was set at 1:38.498, temporarily taking first place.

At the time, Qin Miao was indeed a bit excited: Damn, is this guy really that fierce?

Besides the excitement, Qin Miao was also surprised because even though he often watched F1 races, he didn’t know there was a Chinese driver in F2, leading him to subconsciously assume Zhou Guanyu’s skill was probably below average.

But now, after the first flying lap of qualifying, he directly took the overall first place, which certainly surprised people.

During the qualifying mid-session break, the drivers returned to their respective P-room areas to rest and prepare for the final phase.

Originally, Qin Miao expected to see scenes of numerous F2 drivers consecutively breaking the fastest qualifying lap set by Zhou Guanyu, with frequent changes in qualifying ranks.

But unexpectedly, even until the end of qualifying, no one was able to break Zhou Guanyu’s fastest lap from the first stage.

Instead, Zhou Guanyu refreshed his own fastest lap and set a new fastest lap record for F2 on the Silverstone Circuit with three minutes and twenty-two seconds remaining.

And the record time was: 1:38.182.

Ultimately, in the F2 qualifying stage, Zhou Guanyu won pole position. As for second and third place, Qin Miao didn’t recognize them, so he simply ignored them.

Seeing Zhou Guanyu’s pole position, Qin Miao also became interested in F2.

However, Qin Miao’s interest in F2 was not the race itself, but whether he had the opportunity to drive an F2 car like Zhou Guanyu.

Although GT3 cars are cool, with their foundation and the aerodynamic kits added by official designs, GT3 cars’ looks are undeniably top-notch.

But the essence of GT3 cars lies in converting civilian supercars for race use. They might look cool, but compared to formula cars, which are designed from birth to run on tracks, they are slower.

If it were earlier, when Qin Miao hadn’t acquired the system, hadn’t driven F4, and hadn’t participated in AMG GT races, he likely wouldn’t have much interest in formula cars.

Because he knows that without nurturing racing instincts from an early age and lacking backing from sponsors, he can’t possibly become an F1 driver.

As for F2? An event with such low visibility - back then, he might sneer at it, thinking F2 couldn’t compare to GT3.

But now it’s different. Qin Miao has the actual experience of driving race cars and has felt the speed of F2 firsthand on the spot.

He knows F2 is actually much faster than GT3.

And human nature prompts Qin Miao to meticulously pursue better experiences, so he instinctively wants to feel faster speeds, drive faster cars.

To put it bluntly, Qin Miao now wants to test what it’s like to drive an F2.

Since his compatriot can achieve pole position in F2 qualifying, then with the system, he might also shine on the F2 track.

Furthermore, Qin Miao believes, being an F2 driver is much more leisurely than being an F1 driver.

With this thought, a sudden idea hit Qin Miao, and he took Qimeng along downstairs.

Just then, the F2 qualifying had just concluded, and all cars were still on the track yet to return.

Unlike F1, after the race, F2 doesn’t have interviews for the top three qualifiers. After qualifying, drivers directly drive their cars to the P-room entrance, and F2 team staff promptly pack up and leave.

After all, F1’s practice and qualifying are lined up next, so they can’t occupy the space for long.

However, Qin Miao didn’t go downstairs to see them tidying up; he remembered that yesterday, while wandering around the paddock with Qimeng, he saw the area where F2 teams park, store things, and adjust settings.

Now, Qin Miao planned to take Qimeng there.

His thinking was pretty straightforward: Qin Miao simply wanted to go over and ask how to become an F2 driver. If he could meet Zhou Guanyu, he might even ask for a photo together.

This kind of idea... Not many people would come up with.

At first glance, Qin Miao’s approach might seem thoughtless, but if you think about it carefully, you’d be amazed to find that Qin Miao’s approach actually makes a lot of sense. No pathway to becoming an F2 driver? Then just go ask the team manager or another senior staff member of F2...

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