How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 912 - 360: Post-Race Upgrade

As Perez's car stopped, the cheers at the venue, which had calmed down, erupted again, even louder than when Qin Miao attacked Perez.

Hamilton's rhythm was also disrupted by Perez suddenly stopping on the track, and by the time he bypassed Perez and returned to the track, the time gap between him and Qin Miao had reached 3 seconds.

With only one lap left before the race ends, Qin Miao just needs to safely complete the race to secure a podium finish.

In this race, Qin Miao found success in unexpected ways; the original strategy didn't work, yet inexplicably achieved good results which neither Qin Miao nor the team had envisaged before the race began.

In fact, the car's sudden halt on the track wasn't a personal mistake by Perez.

Having raced in F1 for nearly 10 years, Perez couldn't possibly make such a basic error due to pressure.

For every F1 driver, such mistakes are considered humiliating.

It's as unbelievable as a five-star chef accidentally cutting their hand while chopping vegetables.

Actually, Perez encountered the same issue as Verstappen and Gasly; the engine power suddenly disappeared when exiting a turn.

Because the engine power vanished and the gearbox didn't disengage, the engine helped brake the rear wheels, locking them on the spot and causing the car to skid.

Everything seemed to happen so naturally.

Once the car lost power, Perez inevitably had to stop his car on the track.

Thus, the race deployed the virtual safety car.

There was no need for a safety car because it was the final lap, and the safety car wouldn't make a difference.

So the virtual safety car remained active until the end of the race.

That meant even without being blocked by Perez, Hamilton wouldn't have had a chance to attack Qin Miao.

Finally, among the cheers and smiles of all Ferrari fans, Leclerc crossed the finish line first, followed by Sainz, and lastly Qin Miao and Hamilton.

It's worth mentioning that Zhou Guanyu, originally in tenth place, finished eighth due to the retirement of both Red Bull drivers, scoring points in his first career Grand Prix and earning 4 points.

Those who couldn't attend the race live at Iron Buddha Temple, upon hearing the news, were ecstatic, spreading the word among each other.

After a year of building, Ferrari finally regained its competitiveness on track, returning to championship contention, and from Ferrari's current momentum, it seems they have a chance to reclaim the long-lost position for Iron Buddha Temple.

On the other hand, Qin Miao's fans, though slightly regretful about Mercedes losing competitiveness this season, are still thrilled that Qin Miao secured a podium finish despite the car's poor performance.

Most importantly, Zhou Guanyu's performance wasn't bad either; his mistake at the start didn't affect his form, ending in eighth place.

Overall, despite some minor issues here and there, the performances of the two Chinese drivers still excite fans domestically, making it a thrilling race. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Only Red Bull's team and fans felt the pain.

Of the four cars using Honda engines, only one finished the race smoothly, returning to the pits by itself.

...

"Well done, Qin Miao, your performance today was excellent, it's just a shame we couldn't provide you with a competitive car."

After the race, during the cooldown lap, Frankie's voice came through the team radio, with a hint of remorse for Qin Miao's situation in his tone.

"Acknowledged, no need to blame yourselves, I believe the team can gather plenty of useful data in future races, we'll improve."

"I think so, too."

Meanwhile, on Ferrari's side, there was pure jubilation: "Come on! Let's go!!!"

Leclerc was wildly cheering and celebrating over the team radio, having awaited this moment for too long.

...

During the cooldown lap, the two Ferrari drivers naturally started their driver parade.

Yet Qin Miao maintained his normal driving.

Suddenly, a white and red Alfa Romeo car appeared beside him.

Curious, Qin Miao glanced over and saw Zhou Guanyu also looking his way.

Initially puzzled about why Zhou Guanyu was there.

He quickly brushed off the question, as seeing Zhou Guanyu prompted him to ask which position he finished in.

Since Qin Miao's steering wheel display only showed the top and bottom two positions, he didn't know Zhou Guanyu's exact placement.

Sitting in the car, Qin Miao couldn't directly speak to Zhou Guanyu, nor could he convey his query through gestures effectively.

However, Zhou Guanyu clearly hadn't come over to check on Qin Miao after not winning the race; he was there to show off.

Before Qin Miao could figure out how to ask, Zhou Guanyu directly extended his hand from his cockpit, showing an eight gesture to Qin Miao.