CHAPTER 543: CHAPTER 235: BRITISH GRAND PRIX CONCLUDES (PART 2)

It turns out that even though Qin Miao promised not to think about a certain task during the Grand Prix, once the race started, he couldn’t help but think about it.

Qin Miao was able to complete everything quite easily, thanks to Leclerc holding off Hamilton behind him for so long.

After the race, Qin Miao definitely owed Leclerc a dinner.

Now Qin Miao finally crossed the finish line, and everything was settled.

After crossing the finish line, Qin Miao felt a sudden release of pressure, with dopamine rushing through his system accompanied by a surge of emotion bursting from within.

He let out a meaningless roar of relief inside his helmet.

Qin Miao completely unburdened himself of his inner weight.

The race ended, and as Qin Miao drove the cooldown lap back to the pits, he initially thought he wouldn’t receive applause from the crowd, considering he won on Hamilton’s home turf, and the British might not take losing well.

But when the race ended and Qin Miao drove back on the cooldown lap, the British audience still applauded him.

This was the reward the champion deserved.

After hearing the applause, Qin Miao reached out his hand to wave at the audience.

Then, at the podium beneath the pit entrance, Qin Miao parked his car, got out, put the steering wheel back in place, and completed the weighing process before seeing Hamilton arriving late.

Hamilton was holding a British Union Jack.

It seemed Hamilton had been interacting and celebrating with the British audience just now.

Qin Miao didn’t rush to celebrate with Hamilton, and to the tune of F1’s official BGM, he turned to give Leclerc a hug.

"Thanks, Shire, today I owe it all to you," Qin Miao said with a smile.

Leclerc was actually somewhat frustrated at the moment. After all, he’d defended against Hamilton for so long, yet at the last minute, his second-place position was snatched away. For an emotionally less resilient person, it could be quite a mental blow.

But faced with Qin Miao’s gratitude, Leclerc quickly composed himself, giving Qin Miao a pat on the back as they hugged, saying, "Congrats, even though losing second place hurts, I’m somewhat consoled that the champion is you."

Qin Miao shrugged and said, "Don’t worry, isn’t Ferrari shifting most resources to next season’s car development? You’ll have plenty of chances to challenge Hamilton next season."

Hearing Qin Miao’s words, Leclerc also thought of the bustling scene inside the Ferrari factory at the moment, and the frustration in his heart dissipated quite a bit.

After chatting with Leclerc for a bit, Hamilton also got out of his car.

As his teammate, Qin Miao had to, both emotionally and logically, go up and give him a hug. And Qin Miao no longer felt guilty for taking someone else’s position, as he had before.

F1 is a commercial league, but no matter how good the drivers’ relationships might be off the track, on the track, in the paddock, they are all competitors.

It’s normal not to feel bad after defeating someone else.

After all, beating someone is their problem, not related to oneself.

As Qin Miao approached, Old Man’s face was full of helplessness and melancholy.

But seeing Qin Miao approach, Old Man broke into a smile and said while hugging Qin Miao, "Well done, kid."

His words contained no dissatisfaction or resentment, just encouragement and praise from an elder to a younger.

Truth be told, hearing Hamilton’s word surprised Qin Miao a lot, and if you observed closely, you could see Qin Miao pause for a moment.

In Qin Miao’s understanding, Hamilton should have been someone who craved championships and victories strongly, and although it wasn’t possible for him to turn face just because Qin won his home turf championship, he didn’t expect such a friendly attitude.

But after hearing Hamilton’s words, Qin Miao still maintained his courtesy, thanked him politely, and went off to celebrate with his team.

The subsequent post-race interview and podium phase needn’t have any extra comments, Qin Miao had been through this process many times, though not as much as his F2 process, but still quite familiar.

However, having the five-starred red flag proudly waving on Britain’s soil still gave Qin Miao a strong sense of accomplishment.

No matter how many times, it always feels immensely rewarding.

After the race, the official rankings and scoring results of the competition were announced.

Main Race:

P1: Qin Miao +26 (Fastest Lap)

P2: Hamilton +18

P3: Leclerc +15

P4: Norris +12

P5: Ricardo +10

P6: Sainz +8

P7: Alonso +6

P8: Stroll +4

P9: O’Kang +2

P10: Tsunoda +1

Red Bull had a tough race probably due to the British home field, with Verstappen retiring and Perez finishing sixteenth.

The entire British Grand Prix race resulted in Red Bull, apart from scoring 2 points in the sprint qualifier for getting 2nd, scoring nothing in the main race.

After the race ended, the driver standings were as follows:

1: Qin Miao 179

2: Hamilton 171

3: Verstappen 169

4: Norris 102

5: Perez 94

6: Leclerc 88

7: Sainz 59

8: Ricardo 49

9: Gasly 34

10: Vettel 25

11: Alonso 25

12: Stroll 16

13: O’Kang 13

14: Tsunoda 8

15: Kimi 1

The main changes in rankings involved the top three drivers and Norris.

As for the team standings:

1: Mercedes: 350

2: Red Bull: 263

3: McLaren: 151

4: Ferrari: 147

5: AlphaTauri: 42

6: Aston Martin: 41

7: Alpine: 38

8: Alfa Romeo: 1

The gap between Mercedes and Red Bull widened to 87 points, a gap that’s quite hard to bridge.

The championship this year seems likely to be monopolized by Mercedes again.

However, the fight between drivers this year is quite intense, and crucially, the battle scene between Hamilton and Verstappen that went tooth and nail in past years is nowhere to be seen, replaced by a tripartite rivalry, and with Qin Miao in the mix, the race for the driver’s championship becomes shrouded in uncertainty.

Will Hamilton become the greatest in F1 history, achieving an eighth world title?

Or will Verstappen end Mercedes’ dominance, kicking off a new Red Bull era?

Or will the young genius Qin Miao burst onto the scene, breaking records, and winning the F1 driver championship in his rookie year?

This controversial and unknown topic quickly became a major talking point among fans in their spare time.

Most are still betting on Hamilton becoming the greatest in F1 history and clinching his eighth title.

After all, both of Mercedes’ drivers are exceptionally talented, and in order for Mercedes to ensure their name is forever etched in F1 history, they’ll likely instruct Qin Miao that this season it’s crucial to guarantee Hamilton wins the driver’s championship.

Of course, these are just the audience’s speculations and conjectures, and whether things will actually pan out as they think, no one can say for certain.

This is also part of the fun of F1.

As long as the season isn’t dominated by a single team, the entire season will be quite exciting.

...

After completing the podium session, Qin Miao went to change his clothes, followed by post-race interviews and a press conference. Once all these were done, Qin Miao and Hamilton took a team photo on the track, with nearly everyone from the Mercedes team gathered at the entrance of the P room.

A crowded scene of crouching, half-crouching, sitting, standing, and standing on toolboxes, with at least sixty to seventy people.

In the middle of all the staff stood the two drivers and the four trophies Mercedes won at the British Grand Prix.

The Silverstone Circuit-shaped driver and team championship trophies, followed by a golden grand trophy, which is a commemorative trophy for the Silverstone champion. The driver who won the British Grand Prix can take this trophy home for a year, but it needs to be returned before the next Silverstone Grand Prix starts.