CHAPTER 519: CHAPTER 227: OLD LONDON AND THE UNION JACK (6K, BONUS UPDATE 11/19) (PART 2)

This isn’t about the drivers being arrogant or anything; it’s simply that they’re really busy.

And this way of doing things is kind of an unwritten rule in the paddock, which most people know about. So when seasoned fans meet the drivers and get a chance to be close to them, they mostly just turn on their phone’s video recording function, walk over, say a few words to the driver, and consider it a photo together.

After arriving at the Mercedes team lounge, Qin Miao had breakfast in the restaurant, and it wasn’t long before Barber arrived as well.

Once Barber settled in, Qin Miao and Barber started the day’s activities.

The first event was to attend the pre-race interview, which there isn’t much to say about. It’s mainly just looking forward to the race’s results and hoping for a good outcome.

The second activity also went smoothly.

Since there were qualifying races to watch today, a significant number of spectators were present.

But given Qin Miao’s extensive experience, having seen images of tens of thousands of people crowding the circuit, naturally, he wouldn’t get nervous because of thirty-plus people in a meeting room.

Nevertheless, the autograph session after the explanation meeting was quite excruciating for Qin Miao.

Though, to be fair, when Qin Miao appeared at the door, the surprised and incredulous expressions on the VIPs’ faces made him quite happy.

This damn vanity of mine.

However, the event wasn’t that long, finishing up in about half an hour.

The third event, involving a guessing game, had the drivers speculating about the vehicles other drivers use for daily commuting.

Worth mentioning is that even though the Challenger had just arrived in Qin Miao’s hands, he had driven it near the paddock, and it wasn’t a secret.

So in this guessing game, Qin Miao’s car appeared, and most drivers couldn’t guess this motorhome, towed by a truck head, belonged to him.

Upon knowing the car was Qin Miao’s, Alonso bluntly stated, "For a young driver like him, it shouldn’t be this kind of vehicle where practicality outweighs aesthetics."

Regardless, the event was over, and Qin Miao’s performance was still average.

After completing this task, Qin Miao took VIPs on several laps around the track during gaps in the F2 race, including some who had taken photos with Qin Miao at the meeting. Seeing that it was Qin Miao driving naturally brought them joy.

Once this activity was completed, the first practice and qualifying sessions of F1 were about to begin.

As such, Qin Miao’s outdoor activities came to an end. Now, all he needed was to wait for the first practice and qualifying sessions to finish, do a post-race interview, and Qin Miao’s first task for the race weekend would be done.

Of course, Qin Miao was able to prioritize, despite running around non-stop before the practice sessions started.

But he ensured he returned to the team’s garage before the scheduled time established by the team.

After a brief handover of work, Qin Miao changed into his racing suit and sat in his racing cockpit in the garage.

Qin Miao is always like this; once he enters his car’s cockpit, he can dispel all distractions from his mind.

The focus of today’s first practice was to verify whether the new parts’ effects on the car were consistent with the simulator data and to simulate lap times for the upcoming qualifying session.

The specifics won’t be elaborated on, as during the practice, both drivers aimed for car tuning while using soft tires to simulate qualifying lap times on the track.

However, due to the need for data collection, throughout the practice session, both cars were equipped with sensors for collecting track data, weighing more than 10 kilograms combined.

As reflected in the lap times, both Qin Miao and Hamilton weren’t among the fastest during the first practice.

After the session, they ended up fifth and seventh, respectively.

During the first practice, Qin Miao used two sets of soft tires, while Hamilton used three.

At this point, Qin Miao still had 7 soft, 2 medium, and 2 hard tires left in reserve.

Hamilton’s tire reserve stood at 6 soft, 2 medium, and 2 hard.

After the first practice, every team began analyzing the data their drivers obtained during the session and started formulating strategies for the qualifying race.

Deciding whether to go all out for the qualifying race or reserve tires for the sprint qualifying and the main race became the focus of each team’s research.

Quickly, the two-hour break for teams and drivers to rest and adjust passed.

Qin Miao and Hamilton exited the team lounge together and entered the garage, waiting for the qualifying race to start.

As they waited, they sat behind Toto, discussing matters related to car tuning.

But, as mentioned earlier, this is, after all, Silverstone in the UK, where the headquarters or research departments of seven teams are located nearby. Hence, every team, including Mercedes, has plenty of data about the Silverstone Circuit.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the setup run on the simulator can be handed to Hamilton without modifications, and he’d achieve good results on this track.

The Grand Prix is held at the Silverstone Circuit in the UK, which was introduced during the F2 stage, so instead of wasting words here, let’s directly enter the Q1 phase.