CHAPTER 459: CHAPTER 208: DREAM DRAGON

After glossing over the topic, Kimi said, "Your performance in Monaco was really great. Many of my old friends couldn’t stop praising what you did that day.

But I think compared to your overtaking during the race, putting pressure on the driver ahead, and the team’s strategies like the undercut,

none were as exciting as your back-to-back overtaking at the start."

Qin Miao thought about it, recollecting that at the start in Monaco, he took out Ricardo and O’Kang.

Upon recalling the situation back then, Qin Miao said, "To be honest, that start was partly a gamble, and both overtakes were very risky. One slip and my race would’ve been over."

"Looking back now, I’m a bit scared," Qin Miao paused and then laughed, saying, "Of course, if I get a chance to start from 12th again in Monaco, I’d still do it."

Hearing Qin Miao’s words, Kimi felt somewhat sentimental. Yeah, as a driver, who doesn’t start under danger and pressure, focusing all their efforts?

There was a moment when Kimi felt that this young junior, Qin Miao, was quite to his liking.

Although those brief words increased Kimi’s fondness for Qin Miao, Kimi being Kimi, wouldn’t like other seniors give relentless lectures to a junior once they feel a certain fondness.

Instead, Kimi changed the topic.

"How does it feel to be teammates with Hamilton? Do you feel a lot of pressure?"

Qin Miao smiled when he heard this question; it wasn’t the first time someone asked him this. It seems like everyone thinks your situation inside the team wouldn’t be good when you have Hamilton, the seven-time champion, as a teammate, or that because your teammate is Hamilton, you’d be under immense pressure.

In fact, Qin Miao didn’t really feel much about it. From Qin Miao’s perspective, there’s no stronger or weaker between him and Hamilton. It’s normal for him not to outrun a seven-time champion, and it’s also normal for the seven-time champion to lose to his teammate Qin Miao once or twice.

After all, no one can guarantee they’ll get through more than 20 races in a season without making any mistakes.

"It’s actually okay; I don’t feel any pressure from Lewis."

"There are rumors in the paddock that your contract with Mercedes is for three years, right?" Kimi stroked his chin, "With such a long contract, it’s normal not to worry about your contract and position in the short term."

Qin Miao didn’t bother to explain that his contract salary is floating, with a high ceiling but also a low floor.

Just then, Barber came rushing over, carrying two electric scooters with the Mercedes logo.

Actually, he could have ridden them over, but riding with one hand and carrying a scooter with the other wasn’t very safe.

Meanwhile, Qimeng stayed in the Mercedes team home. The sun is always unkind to girls, and Qimeng wouldn’t go out in the sun unless necessary.

But when Barber got in front of Qin Miao, he was stunned because Kimi’s eyes lit up seeing the scooters in Barber’s hands.

Before Barber could reach Qin Miao, Kimi turned to Qin Miao and said, "These scooters look nice, let me try them."

Barber: ???

Then Kimi’s assistant was dumbfounded, as Qin Miao and Kimi both scootered onto the track, leaving their assistants behind.

Normally, when drivers walk the track, along with their assistants, there would be the team engineers on the side to record track data for planning qualifying and race tire strategies. These data also help evaluate drivers’ performance on the track.

But fortunately, Qin Miao has someone more experienced like Hamilton ahead of him, and the relationship between the two Mercedes drivers is not only harmonious but also excellent.

This allows Qin Miao’s crew members to freeload on Hamilton’s crew’s more accurate and refined data.

Of course, at the staff parties after each race, it’s always Qin Miao’s crew who foots the bill.

This year’s Baku track hasn’t been resurfaced; it uses old asphalt. This track shares characteristics with Monaco. The asphalt is very smooth due to regular traffic, which doesn’t wear the tires much. Pirelli also provided the three softest tire choices, C5-C3, for this race.

Without unexpected incidents or safety cars, Baku usually involves a one-stop pit strategy.

Qin Miao figured, given his tire management skills, he’ll most likely opt for a soft-medium one-stop strategy.

Kimi, after all, is not racing this track for the first time, and while they raced scooters on the track, Kimi would stop at noteworthy spots to inspect.

Like last season, he found a small bump exiting T6, so this time he specifically checked it out.

Kimi wasn’t trying to teach Qin Miao any racing experience; he was purely conducting his track analysis. Just as Qin Miao freely shared his racing data with Kimi, Kimi didn’t mind sharing his observations about the Baku track with Qin Miao.

Qin Miao also enjoyed following behind Kimi to see what details Kimi noticed, comparing them with his own observations.