How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

This feeling of potential car crash fatalities with any careless operation was intoxicating for Qin Miao.

However, during the first practice session, Qin Miao mostly focused on exploration. He was familiar with this circuit only through games, and the exact conditions in reality were unknown, so he had to rely on himself to slowly explore.

In the one-hour first practice, Qin Miao only pitted once and spent seven minutes adjusting the car's setup.

The rest of the time, Qin Miao was on the track familiarizing himself with the circuit. What pleased Frankie and Toto was that Qin Miao did not show any resistance due to being penalized ten grid positions at the Monte Carlo circuit; he did not think that he couldn't overtake during the official race and thus gave up.

Qin Miao's preparation before the race was still meticulous and thorough, just like before, or even more so.

Meanwhile, even though Qin Miao was using hard tires, his lap times were still improving visibly and steadily.

It was clear that Qin Miao was quickly familiarizing himself and mastering this circuit.

However, it's worth noting that although the lap times were consistently improving, Qin Miao did not drive as he would during a qualifying rhythm, leaving quite some room on the track when cornering.

Nevertheless, Qin Miao's best time on hard tires during the first practice came to 1 minute 13.987 seconds.

Even faster than his teammate Hamilton.

Of course, at this point, everyone was still finding the right setup window for their cars, so the first practice times were just for show.

Simulating long distances and at most doing a non-extreme qualifying simulation is the limit.

Ultimately, Qin Miao ranked third in the first practice, finishing with a time of 1 minute 13.011 seconds.

During the break, the team held a meeting with the drivers.

The main focus was on analyzing the setup window discovered during the first practice, where Qin Miao and Hamilton would give feedback on the details felt on the track, what needed adjustments in the car, and the appropriateness of the setup.

After the meeting and a short rest, it was time for the second practice.

Qin Miao started the second session at the Monte Carlo Circuit on his second set of tires, a set of medium compounds.

At the beginning, they conducted a long-distance test with a heavy fuel load to check Qin Miao's lap times, planning to do another heavy fuel load test with soft tires at the start of the third practice tomorrow, combine the data and decide on which tires Qin Miao should start with in the official race.

In the middle of the second practice, Qin Miao went for his third set of tires, a set of soft compounds, and did a flying lap on the track.

However, while trying to achieve lap times, Qin Miao was obstructed in the second sector, rendering this flying lap time unusable, but even then, Qin Miao still performed strong purple sectors in the first and third sectors.

Of course, this obstruction wasn't Ricardo's fault, but Frankie's.

After all, we all know there's simply no way to give way in the four turns of 5678 in the second sector.

Therefore, no penalty was given by the stewards.

However, according to the team's calculations, Qin Miao's lap time could have been in the 1 minute 11.3-second range if not obstructed in the second sector.

Of course, this wasn't a qualifying session; running a qualifying simulation was just to test Qin Miao's potential under this car setup.

Afterwards, a series of other tests and simulations were conducted, which Qin Miao completed one by one as per the team's requirements for pre-race data collection.

Because he completed the team's assignments ahead of schedule, in the last five minutes of the second practice, Qin Miao drove a few more laps on the track without any burden.

After all, it was using practice-specific gearboxes and engines, and the tires were also old ones intended to be returned to Pirelli after the second practice, allowing Qin Miao to enjoy the pure state of driving: the joy of racing.

Finally, the second practice concluded, and thanks to his simulator experience and confirmation in reality, Qin Miao had successfully mastered the driving skills required for the Monte Carlo circuit.

Honestly speaking, this circuit is truly difficult, narrow with no buffer zones, meaning any driving on this track leaves no room for errors.

A mistake on this circuit can lead to either crashing out by hitting the wall or getting stuck in an emergency runoff area, with considerable time lost while attempting to back out.

However, to enter F1, one must be among the best in racing, and despite Monaco's challenging nature, everyone can control their cars.

What's interesting about Monaco is that the Grand Prix race itself requires 78 laps.

Thus, every driver has to face the danger and difficulty of the Monte Carlo circuit 78 times; no one dares to guarantee they won't make a mistake or lose focus within these 78 laps.

And once a mistake happens...

This circuit is a comprehensive 360-degree test of a driver's driving skills, will, spirit, and physical stamina.

...

Climbing out of the car and removing his helmet and the sweat-soaked headband, Qin Miao shook hands and hugged Reyes before saying, "I feel like the steering is still a bit too much; the angle of the front wing could still drop by 0.5°, the rear pressure is well balanced, and there's nothing else to adjust."

Reyes nodded and recorded the data, then said to Qin Miao, "The tire degradation is still better than we expected, so I think maybe we can further reduce the front wing angle and increase the front wheel camber."