CHAPTER 568: CHAPTER 245: HENGELO CONCLUDES (6K, EXTRA 3/16)

Compared to a post-race script, this seemed more like a question the host personally wanted to ask Qin Miao.

Qin Miao smiled and answered, "Actually, after I fell out of the points zone and considering the damage to my car, during the red flag period, I didn’t have too many expectations for this race. My main thought, and that of my team, was to get back into the points zone and not let Hamilton widen the points gap too much.

But as you can see now, even I didn’t expect the pit stop I made earlier to have such good results.

However, if I have to say, I feel my offensive ability wasn’t fully displayed in this race. The reason I got to this position was more because of good luck."

"This is your first back-to-back championship win in your career, and you’ve expanded your points gap with your teammate Hamilton, continuing to lead the driver’s standings. Do you think you have a chance to become the first Chinese driver to win the championship this season?"

Qin Miao was taken aback, wondering why this question was so aggressive.

Unlike the first question, Qin Miao mulled it over before answering, "The season is only halfway through, and I won this race merely because Lewis encountered an accident. I believe that if there are no accidents in the upcoming races, both Lewis and Max can catch up quickly."

"Last question, Hungary is the last race before the summer break. Have you decided where to go for a holiday after the race ends?"

Qin Miao wasn’t as cautious answering this one, but he couldn’t really disclose all his summer plans, so after thinking for a moment, he said, "I don’t know for now, but most likely I’ll just stay at home and let my mind relax."

...

After Qin Miao’s interview ended, Hamilton approached Qin Miao, and the two embraced each other with smiles.

Despite Qin Miao not providing substantial help to Hamilton in this race, Qin Miao did help restrain O’Kang and Vettel, which proved that he truly wanted to assist Hamilton.

It’s just that old fox Alonso was a bit too strong.

Teammates don’t need too many pleasantries. After the hug, Hamilton asked, "After the summer break, come by my house. There are quite a few friends who want to meet you."

Actually, Qin Miao is quite the odd one out among the drivers.

Maybe other drivers practice driving and work out like Qin Miao does every day, but besides that, they also spend some time networking and engaging in business activities.

After all, drivers are human too. After working hard to become an F1 driver, spending countless money and energy, most people also want to earn back the money they invested during their time as an F1 driver.

But unlike them, Qin Miao didn’t spend much money becoming an F1 driver, so during his downtime, he doesn’t think about earning money back. He only focuses on improving himself and his team’s competitiveness.

So at times, Qin Miao is more like a regular working person. His life outside of racing is very routine: fitness training, practicing, then going to the factory to help develop new car parts, even working overtime, without dealing much with commercial stuff.

Even if there are commercial contracts, it’s mostly those that require just a likeness endorsement, where all follow-up matters don’t need Qin Miao’s attention.

While Hamilton is happy that his team’s second driver is willing to help collect data and develop the car, Qin Miao’s approach is beneficial for Hamilton. However, Hamilton, as an experienced senior, feels the need to support Qin Miao by helping him build relationships in another circle, which might come in handy in the future.

As for who are those friends of Hamilton that want to meet Qin Miao?

Most of them are business and political figures from the UK, and there are quite a few celebrities.

To give a simple example, one of them includes: William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor.

What? You don’t know who he is...

In our country, he has a short name: Prince William.

Still don’t know who he is?

He has a somewhat famous father, Prince Charles.

And his grandmother is quite well-known in the UK; she is the current Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

...

But, faced with Hamilton’s invitation, Qin Miao didn’t nod in agreement, instead saying, "I’m afraid it won’t work. I have to go back to China during the summer break to fulfill some terms in my contracts, and the whole summer break will probably be spent on that."

Seeing Qin Miao decline, Hamilton didn’t insist, instead saying, "China is a great place, though unfortunately, I’ve only been to Shanghai."

Qin Miao didn’t find this surprising; being an F1 driver, enjoying the spotlight and applause comes with heavy responsibilities, and even leisure and travel are greatly restricted.

Just like Qin Miao.

No matter how dominant he was in F2, going home at night and taking Qimeng grocery shopping or going out with Qimeng, there was no worry about being mobbed.

Even if some frequent F2 viewers recognized him, they were very restrained, at most taking a photo from afar or calling out Qin Miao’s name from a distance, and when Qin Miao looked over, they’d give him a thumbs up, saying he races damn well in F2.