How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

The car charged straight into the gravel.

Honestly, Zhou Guanyu felt that such a mistake shouldn't have happened to a genius like Qin Miao.

Although Zhou Guanyu felt sorry for his friend's mistake, he didn't forget his main job and kept a close eye on Drogovich ahead of him.

Damn it, was it you who caused Qin Miao to make a mistake? I respect you as a man, but the victory in today's sprint race must fall to a Chinese person again.

We've dominated the F2 this season! No one else matters, I'm telling you, Zhou Guanyu said!

And also because of Qin Miao's mistake, the car couldn't move, and it was right at the edge of the track. For safety reasons, a safety car was deployed.

After replaying the scene of Qin Miao going off the track a few times, the broadcast captured Qin Miao who had already gotten out of the car.

Qin Miao didn't leave the track but stayed in the rain with his car.

Because Qin Miao hadn't taken off his helmet and the visor was down, even photographers who aimed their cameras at Qin Miao's head couldn't see his eyes at the moment.

This scene of Qin Miao standing with arms akimbo in the rain, watching other F2 cars go by, was captured and later became a favorite photo for Qin Miao's fans to use when asking for autographs.

But that's another story.

Qin Miao only left the track after helping Matthew and the crane tow his car away, during which he also checked his car's chassis.

Carbon fiber is indeed very light and strong enough, but after directly plunging into the gravel, quite a few stones left scratches and dents on Qin Miao's car chassis.

Even a board burst open with a crack.

Although these damages can be repaired, the aerodynamic effect and weight balance after the repair would surely be weaker than before.

Plus, since Qin Miao could afford a new base plate, it was expected that he would ask the team technician to replace it after going back.

On the track, two laps after the safety car was deployed, Qin Miao's car was towed away.

The race was about to restart.

For Zhou Guanyu, the bad news was that the sprint race had already completed twenty laps and there was only one lap left, but the good news was that he had used the safety car to catch up to Drogovich, erasing the original gap of over 4 seconds. If he executed well, he could finish off Drogovich on the final lap.

At this point, Qin Miao had already found a small scooter at the exit of the pit lane and asked Matthew to drive him back to the paddock.

The director didn't focus on the race on track and instead showed plenty of shots of Qin Miao.

Qin Miao was practically the only F2 driver who received an F1-level treatment within the paddock, mainly because of Qin Miao's tremendous personal ability.

However, despite beating the commentators, opponents, and even the on-site director in several races, he still couldn't impress the higher-ups at Ferrari.

But the director just showed Qin Miao's ride back, then turned the cameras to the track.

The safety car had pulled out, and Drogovich was suppressing the speed of the pack.

Zhou Guanyu was staring intently at Drogovich's car rear, more focused than he had ever been, feeling like the whole world had slowed down, and all he saw were Drogovich's taillights.

Finally, at the T17 corner exit, Drogovich gunned the throttle, and the vehicle's speed soared.

Zhou Guanyu's reaction was no slower than Drogovich's. The difference in time they hit the accelerator was about 0.1 seconds.

The most critical thing was that Zhou Guanyu was so close that Drogovich felt the pressure, and he gave too much throttle coming out of T18.

The conditions Zhou Guanyu faced were better than Qin Miao's because there was a long straight ahead, allowing his tires to warm up sufficiently.

Although there was no DRS, he also made no mistakes at the exit, having a faster relative speed and slipstream than Drogovich.

So, mid-way down the starting straight, Zhou Guanyu managed to go wheel-to-wheel with Drogovich, and entering T1, he overtook Drogovich.

Having gained the racing line, Zhou Guanyu naturally played hard, leaving no room for Drogovich to enter the corner.

Drogovich could clearly see that Zhou Guanyu had already overtaken him before entering the corner, so faced with Zhou Guanyu's firm defense, he reluctantly conceded the racing line.

Actually, Drogovich was quite unlucky, nervously leading more than 2/3 of the race under Qin Miao's pressure.

In such a high-tension race, constantly on edge, it felt less like racing and more like playing "Outlast."

After finally waiting for Qin Miao's mistake in stressful defense, thinking he could breathe a sigh of relief and relish the joy of victory, the safety car came out, and then Zhou Guanyu took over Qin Miao's baton and started to pressure Drogovich.

And it ended up like this, defending all that time and still losing the victory.

The race organization also stated that his several defensive maneuvers against Qin Miao would be investigated, risking a penalty that could cost him even the podium.

After one lap, Zhou Guanyu finished in the rain.

Starting from seventh, Zhou Guanyu's performance in this race was impressive, climbing to third alongside Qin Miao and finishing off Drogovich on the last lap to claim first.

Zhou Guanyu wasn't sorry for Qin Miao's mistake; Qin Miao had enough championships, so missing one or two didn't matter.

All Zhou Guanyu wanted now was to enjoy the joy of victory.

While Zhou Guanyu was receiving his award, Qin Miao returned to the team garage. His car would be sent directly to the Prema team's temporary garage by Matthew, avoiding a trip back to the pit lane.

If nothing went wrong, Qin Miao's car was already in the packing process, and any base plate replacement would be done at the team's headquarters in Vicenza.

After all, the purchased spare parts were stored there.

Once back in the pit lane, Qin Miao didn't need to be weighed. The purpose of weighing was to ensure the driver's weight met the standards, guaranteeing the validity of the result.

But for Qin Miao? He didn't finish the race. Why check something when there's no result?

Qin Miao went straight back to his team garage.

Roxin knew he had to step in after Qin Miao's mistake, calling him over to talk and comfort him.

Having been in the team leader position for so many years, Roxin had his own understanding of how to console young drivers.

On the other side, after Zhou Guanyu received his award, the race ranking and score conditions were announced.

Zhou Guanyu +15

Drogovich +12

Long Jia De +10

Dretraz +8

Daruwala +6

Mazepin +4

Ticktum +2

Panasonic +1

Since the fastest lap was held by Qin Miao, and he didn't finish the race, the fastest lap's two points were void.

With this sprint race victory, Zhou Guanyu firmly secured his second place in F2, while maintaining the record with Qin Miao that all championship wins in the points stages since the first main race of the season were by Chinese drivers.

So far, only Zhou Guanyu and Qin Miao have stood on the top podium of F2 this season, which was a boost of confidence for domestic racing fans.

Although by this time, people in the country were past the stage of getting euphoric when complimented by foreigners.

Most people could view foreigners with a calm attitude, and some even began to dislike the appearance of black men domestically.

However, seeing Zhou Guanyu and Qin Miao command lightning on the F2 stage still made domestic fans proud.

After all, it's been many years, and finally, within the country, talented drivers emerged in the racing industry, and it turned out to be two of them.

Also, due to the influence of Qin Miao and Zhou Guanyu, the F2 audience in the country even caught up with F1 for a period.

More people in the country are developing an interest in racing, which might be the power of idols.