How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 944 373: Unexpected Incidents in the Qualifying Race

After all, in many people's eyes, Qin Miao is just a child; he's only 20 years old.Facing such a sudden setback, it's highly likely that Qin Miao's confidence might take a hit because this was his first time being eliminated in Q2 since entering F1.

Of course, Frankie and the others, being concerned, were somewhat confused. But after Qin Miao lifted the visor of his racing helmet, Frankie did not see any emotional fluctuations in Qin Miao's eyes.

At this moment, Qin Miao appeared extremely calm; even more so than Hamilton, who was complaining to the team higher-ups ever since getting out of his car.

Nonetheless, Frankie said, "Sorry Qin Miao, the final results on this track were different from what we got on the simulator. I know the team has been slow to respond."

After getting off the car, Qin Miao shook his head while taking off his gear: "No need to say more, I understand. The team is not a deity nor the rule makers of F1; there will always be unexpected occurrences.

But I also hope the team understands that if the porpoising issue can't be completely eradicated, the car will basically have no competitiveness on super-high-speed tracks like Imola, let alone winning."

Frankie shrugged helplessly: "Actually, we also know the team has this problem, but as you know, it can't be solved in a short period."

Qin Miao nodded as a sign of accepting this outcome.

The entire following procedure was somewhat unfamiliar to Qin Miao.

After parking the car, he went to the weighing place to complete weighing, then went for the post-race interview.

Walking on the way to the weighing place, accompanied by the roaring engines of the race cars speeding by, Qin Miao suddenly felt a bit dazed.

The interviewer was still a familiar face, but given that the person was from the Mercedes team, there was some confusion out of concern, and they did not ask about Qin Miao's rank on the track. After a few unrelated questions, Qin Miao's post-race interview ended.

After the interview, Qin Miao attended a post-race meeting which mainly analyzed the reasons for the car's lack of competitiveness on the Imola track.

During this meeting, both Qin Miao and Hamilton did not speak much, as this touched on their knowledge blind spots.

The meeting didn't last long, since the poor car speed could easily be determined through data—it was still the same old issue, porpoising limiting the Mercedes car's tail speed.

It can be said that the current W13's characteristics are just not suitable for the Imola track.

The team has now accepted the fact that the W13 has speed limitations and nothing in this race can change that. Now the only concern is whether the W13's long-distance speed at Imola will be better than its qualifying speed.

It is notable that in the Q3 stage, there were three red flags.

Due to increased rain on the track, even with semi-wet tires, experienced F1 drivers were likely to make mistakes.

One red flag was due to Magelsen making a braking error before the braking point, causing the rear wheels to lock on the track, then skidding off leading to about a five-minute red flag.

Another was when Bottas's engine shut off due to car issues, leaving him stuck on the track, and the last red flag was caused by Norris who made a mistake during a lap as heavy rain led him off track and into the gravel trap.

Overall, due to heavy rain during Q3, the Imola Grand Prix qualifying Q3 stage was somewhat fragmented with three red flags during just a 10-minute Q3.

And due to Norris skidding off track with 38 seconds left on the Q3 clock causing a red flag, the pole position battle between Verstappen and Leclerc concluded.

After the Mercedes meeting concluded, Qin Miao received the final ranking results of this qualifying.

1: Verstappen

2: Leclerc

3: Perez

4: Sainz

5: Norris

6: Ricardo

7: Bottas

8: Magelsen

9: Alonso

10: Vettel

11: Qin Miao

12: Hamilton

13: Zhou Guanyu

14: Mick Schumacher

15: Stroll

16: Yuki Tsunoda

17: Gasly

18: Russell

19: O'Kang

20: Albon

Zhou Guanyu was actually faster than Hamilton, but in the last flying lap of Q2, he skidded off the track causing his final lap's time to be canceled.

There was no helping it, as in this race, drivers not only needed to deal with slick ground but also occasional crosswinds on the track.

In conclusion, the qualifying ended just like that.

After returning to the hotel and turning on the phone, Qin Miao's phone notifications wouldn't stop chiming.

Many friends or acquaintances sent him messages, concerned about his mental state.

Clearly, his friends had been closely following Qin Miao's race and were worried that he might not be able to withstand the pressure after being eliminated in Q2, so they immediately reached out to show their concern.

Among them was Jay Chou.

With nothing else to do at this point, Qin Miao simply lay on the bed, picked up his phone, and started responding to his friends' concerns one by one.

An uneventful night passed, and the next day, Sunday, was race day.

Waking up in the morning, rain was already falling from the sky. Qin Miao pulled out his phone to check the weather forecast—it said light to moderate rain…