How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

After entering T1, Qin Miao's driving style gradually became conservative, adapting to the feeling of driving an F1 and getting familiar with the car's performance.

Even with the Man and Car Unity skill as a base, a new body requires a process of gradual adaptation to its control, doesn't it?

After a simple lap, Qin Miao began to speed up.

But since it was just testing, Qin Miao didn't push to the extreme, simply running data as required by the team.

While a car was running on the track, the rest of the Mercedes team staff gathered to watch Qin Miao's racing data changes, naturally including Toto.

This was considered Qin Miao's first time driving a Mercedes race car on the track, and both Qin Miao and the rest of the Mercedes team hoped for Qin Miao to drive steadily, considering both his confidence and the car.

The first lap resulted in average driving for Qin Miao, with a mediocre speed ranking him only thirteenth on the lap time leaderboard at this time.

Industry insiders know that this is only the winter testing phase. Teams won't reveal their ace cards during this phase and might even have a completely different aerodynamic layout between winter testing and the actual race stage.

So most veteran spectators just watch for entertainment during winter tests, and some don't even bother watching as it indeed can be somewhat dull for spectators.

Nevertheless, this year in a mysterious Eastern country, the number of spectators watching the practice races increased tenfold compared to previous years.

Due to Qin Miao's sudden rise in F1, when he was announced as China's first F1 driver, the news stayed on the Weibo hot search list for three days.

This led many who only knew of F1 but were mostly unfamiliar with it to become interested in the sport and start following it.

Upon seeing Qin Miao's first lap results, many impatient newcomers began expressing doubts on forums.

Of course, these car fans who started questioning everything without understanding eventually realized their mistakes amidst the disdain from veteran fans.

After completing the first lap, Frankie's voice sounded in the TR: "Good speed, keep it up. If possible, gradually increase your lap speed within a controllable range, but make sure not to make any mistakes. Our goal now is to gather enough test data."

"Roger that."

Qin Miao responded in his TR.

On the second lap, Qin Miao began probing the car's braking points based on simulator data, but the braking point was at least 25 meters earlier than he practiced on the simulator.

Due to Qin Miao's adjustment, his second lap speed was 0.5 seconds faster than the first lap, and he began to gradually adapt to the higher G-forces experienced during cornering compared to F2.

On the third lap, delving deeper into probing brake points, Qin Miao's speed was 0.7 seconds faster than the first lap, gradually getting accustomed to the feeling of being pinned down by the safety belt during braking.

On the fourth lap, attempting to ride some curbs with minimal speed loss during cornering, Qin Miao's speed was 0.9 seconds faster than the first lap.

Meanwhile, there were new instructions in the team TR: "Drive more aggressively and try to use up more tires."

...

Qin Miao ran a total of thirteen laps on a set of neutral tires.

The thirteen laps did not reach the wear limit of the tires, but the data from these laps was enough for the team to estimate the subsequent wear of Qin Miao's tires based on their current wear.

Driving into the pit lane, Qin Miao activated the speed limit button, maintaining speed as he entered the team's parking spot.

Without a tire change, upon arrival, Qin Miao's car was immediately lifted with front and rear jacks, and two pulley blocks were placed under the racing car before it was pushed into the P garage.

After stopping, Frankie eagerly rushed over and started asking Qin Miao questions: "How was the vehicle's consistency during cornering? Was there understeer on the first bend and oversteer on the second? Apart from insufficient grip and reduced traction due to tire wear, were there other undiscovered issues?..."

Qin Miao removed his headrest and helmet, wiping sweat with a towel prepared by the team while recounting his feelings during those thirteen laps to Frankie.

After delivering all his feedback to the team, Qin Miao also reported the issue with the MGU-K.

In Qin Miao's view, the charge effect of his MGU-K seemed good, but under the influence of the Man and Car Unity skill card, Qin Miao felt the charging efficiency was only around 80%, and the wear rate was excessively fast.

After discussing his feelings with Frankie, Frankie noted Qin Miao's issues, promising to compare the recent data from Qin Miao's car with expected data once the staff responsible for the MGU-K data analyzed it.

During the time Qin Miao communicated the data he obtained on the track with Frankie, his car was shielded by the team, and the rear engine cover was lifted again.

Technicians inspected wear conditions after Qin Miao's car finished its run while extracting data from the car sensors.

The entire winter testing period generally operated in this work mode.