How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 180: Transformation (6K, Extra 4/20)_3



Qin Miao's main research subject is his teammate Hamilton.

A monitor is set up next to his G-force seat, displaying footage of Hamilton's qualifying session and telemetry data, while on the other side is the Mercedes team's simulator.

Qin Miao first runs a lap in his own style, then watches Hamilton's race footage and runs a lap following Hamilton's lines.

He carefully feels the difference between the two driving styles, captures the telemetry data from his laps, and compares his rhythm to Hamilton's.

On average, Qin Miao can improve his lap time by about 0.05 seconds every hour using this method.

By now, Qin Miao's personal skills and lap time have limited room for improvement, and to go faster, he must focus intensely on the details like this.

While focusing on lap time over long distances and detailed lap times, Qin Miao also remembers to train his starting speed and tire management skills.

Qin Miao discovered that even though he has a tire advantage since entering F1, if Hamilton also enters tire conservation mode, his tire wear is only about 18% less than Old Man's.

Although this value is quite significant, Qin Miao clearly believes he can perform better.

Qin Miao knows that this small value is mainly because his tire management is holding him back, so he has recently studied various drivers' tire-conservation driving techniques.

If he has any questions, he can ask Hamilton. After all, their relationship is quite good now, and as long as he doesn't disturb Hamilton when he's busy, Hamilton usually helps to answer Qin Miao's questions.

Also, due to Qin Miao's sudden determination, his routine of training in the morning and playing in the afternoon and evening has changed to training in both the morning and afternoon, and playing in the evening.

He has evolved from a casual daily routine to a nine-to-five schedule.

This lifestyle lasted for three days, and on April 23rd, Qin Miao entered the daily work rhythm that an F1 driver should have.

After morning physical training, he went straight to the team headquarters.

During the remaining time in the morning, a meeting was held. In the last Imola Grand Prix, Mercedes' performance was generally acceptable. Although there were many problems and small flaws, they did not overshadow the achievements. When discussing these problems, Toto, who chaired the meeting, didn't carry much negative emotion.

Apart from addressing the issues encountered on the track, Toto also talked about the work goals the team's design and manufacturing department needed to accomplish during this period, and pointed out that Qin Miao and Hamilton need to actively cooperate with the team's design department.

Next was the logistics and transportation department; they need to ensure smooth logistics for the Mercedes team during the Portuguese Grand Prix, and ensure that newly manufactured parts from the factory's production line are delivered to Portugal as soon as possible.

After the morning meeting, Qin Miao and Hamilton had lunch together in the team canteen.

During lunchtime, Qin Miao was called by Toto to his office to discuss the team's instructions during the last race. Just as Hamilton told Qin Miao, Toto sincerely apologized to Qin Miao and stated that such things will not happen again.

Being well-prepared, Qin Miao generously expressed that the matter was in the past.

Both sides were very satisfied with this conversation, and the results were pleasing to all.

Afterwards, Qin Miao was called by Hamilton to the team's Hall of Fame.

Hamilton took Qin Miao for a tour, talked about the history of these racing cars, and shared some amusing anecdotes about driving these cars during races.

In the afternoon, both Qin Miao and Hamilton entered work mode.

Qin Miao discussed with the staff in the simulator department on how the new parts would perform once loaded onto the simulator.

Meanwhile, Hamilton and Bottas were busy in the team's design department, contributing their efforts to the team's upcoming car upgrades.

Five days later, on Wednesday, April 28th, Hamilton didn't show up at the factory, but Bottas, who had fewer driving duties, continued to assist engineers at the team factory.

Hamilton was busy with other work, such as endorsements, fashion events, or charity activities.

Although Qin Miao had altered his lifestyle, much like Hamilton, to run around for sponsor events, many of his commercial contracts were still in negotiation.

Because Qin Miao's requirements had risen, the contracts he wanted were not as straightforward as the previous ones, and required careful consideration of all terms before signing. Thus, Qin Miao was still relatively relaxed during this period.

But Toto couldn't stand seeing Qin Miao being idle.

Qin Miao's home was right next to the Mercedes factory in Brackley, and the nearby residents were either locals or Qin Miao's colleagues, such as Mercedes staff.

Therefore, Toto specially found a nearby Mercedes employee to ask him if Qin Miao was home during off-hours if urgent work arose. If Qin Miao was home, a courteous call would be made to invite him to the factory to help with some work after hours.


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