The sky holds the first place, the earth the second, and I the third.

Moreover, Qin Miao is someone who won the world championship in his first season of professional career. Although in daily life, Qin Miao seems easygoing, everyone speaks highly of his character.

But Toto, with his many years of experience in the paddock, can easily see that Qin Miao is inherently a very proud person.

It's akin to a lion heart wrapped under a gentle exterior.

Because of this, Toto could not understand why Qin Miao would ask him to persuade Hamilton for a tow to achieve a good result in the qualifying round.

And Toto also noticed that Qin Miao used the word "request" in his language, showing a very humble stance.

After the surprise, what Toto felt was deep self-blame.

He quickly realized the main reason for Qin Miao's posture: the weak performance of the Mercedes car this season.

He also knew that the final flying lap in Q2 was Qin Miao giving his all.

When the car returned, Reyes reported directly to him that the car had scratches on almost all the parts that might have touched the track.

This proved that Qin Miao was scraping the walls at every possible corner, pushing each turn to the extreme.

Since the driver had already showcased everything he could but still couldn't achieve a satisfactory result, it was time for him, as the team leader, to take his share of responsibility. As for Hamilton's end... that's within his duties.

"You don't need to step in now. Go back and prepare for the Q3 race. I'll persuade Lewis for you," Toto said, standing up and patting Qin Miao on the shoulder.

Qin Miao was taken aback.

He had been prepared to owe Hamilton a favor. After all, this season neither he nor the team had any chance of winning the championship—he might as well play the wingman in a race on a track Hamilton is particularly familiar with. He did the same last season, after all. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Unexpectedly, Toto was not intending for him to owe this favor.

However, Qin Miao did not insist. Seeing Toto pat his shoulder and head downstairs, Qin Miao just greeted Allison and the others and returned to his car amidst their encouragement.

Elsewhere, after returning from the bathroom to the team garage, Hamilton was surprised to see Toto chatting with his chief engineer.

Seeing Hamilton return, Toto nodded at Hamilton's chief engineer and then walked over to Hamilton.

"Lewis, Q3 is about to start. Let's keep it brief."

Though surprised by Toto's presence at this timing, Hamilton knew Toto wanted to convey something important from the way he spoke, so he nodded and said, "Okay, what's up?"

"Based on the team's assessment, Qin Miao's final flying lap in Q2 was the maximum performance the W13 can achieve on the Monte Carlo track. I believe you've watched the footage of Qin Miao's last flying lap."

Hamilton nodded, unwilling to admit, but having struggled to adapt to the W13 after altering his driving style—his qualifying times and race speeds fell short compared to his teammate.

Thus, after Q2, Hamilton watched Qin Miao's flying lap.

Trying to learn something from Qin Miao's flying lap.

Then, Hamilton saw clearly from the onboard footage why Qin Miao was so fast.

Honestly, Hamilton lacked Qin Miao's daring ability, often scraping walls along every slightly open corner, riding the curb.

Any mistake would end the qualifying session prematurely.

Crucially, it was still Q2.

Reflecting on this, Hamilton seemed to realize something.

"So I hope you can give Qin Miao a tow on the first flying lap of Q3."

Upon hearing Toto's words, the previously somewhat noisy Mercedes garage fell silent for a moment.

Having a seven-time champion give someone a tow?

Even Hamilton, who had some mental preparation, froze for a moment upon hearing these words.

He glanced in Qin Miao's direction, but due to the angle, Hamilton could only see the side of Qin Miao's white porcelain helmet and the display on the Halo system, showing a slow-motion onboard video of Leclerc's lap.

He also checked the times shown in the team garage, Hamilton's 1:12.219, and Qin Miao's 1:11.912.

He pursed his lips.

"Alright."

...

Q3 began, and the two Mercedes drivers did not come out immediately. Instead, they waited until almost all of the other drivers' first flying laps were nearing completion, then Hamilton came out to do his first flying lap.

After Hamilton finished his first flying lap, there were still five minutes left until the end of Q1.

At this time, besides Hamilton's Mercedes, there were only two or three cars running laps, which would unlikely influence Qin Miao and Hamilton's towing strategy.