Prema Racing participates in three levels of formula racing, namely F4, F3, and F2.
F4 is managed by another person, F3 is managed by Fini, and as for F2, it is personally handled by Roxin.
What Roxin implied by his words was essentially inviting Qin Miao into his own F2 team.
Since getting to know Qin Miao, Fini never wished for Qin Miao to make mistakes, but during today’s race, Fini sincerely hoped Qin Miao would slip up, so that Roxin would lose faith in Qin Miao, enabling Fini to take advantage of the situation.
However, he himself knew that such a thought was simply wishful thinking.
Because Qin Miao has always been extraordinarily stable, driving without the recklessness and aggressive demeanor typical for kids his age, more often behaving like a seasoned driver with extensive racing experience.
Roxin ignored Fini’s varied facial expressions and continued to eagerly focus on Qin Miao’s results.
Meanwhile, on the other side, after completing his second flying lap, Qin Miao did not return to the pits but continued on the track to complete his third flying lap.
Although he had already pushed his limits in the second lap, Qin Miao knew that running a third flying lap wouldn’t bring significant improvement and forcing the pace could even cause the car to lose control. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel·fiɾe·net
Yet his love for racing cars was undeniable, and having spent the recent months practicing with his 488, Qin Miao rarely had the chance to drive a formula car.
Moreover, the Ferrari Fiorano Circuit is a track full of tight corners, and Qin Miao was deeply fascinated by the tremendously responsive handling compared to his 488 in the curves.
In the end, his last lap was even slower than his second lap, but thankfully only by 0.1 seconds, which was insignificant.
Nevertheless, Qin Miao’s time was over a second faster than the driver who came second.
Returning to the race, after completing his three flying laps, Qin Miao drove the car back to the pits.
Even though this race didn’t limit qualifying and race settings like F1 races, Qin Miao didn’t plan to adjust his car setup upon returning to the pits.
His feeling was that the medium-high downforce setup was quite suitable for running the Fiorano Circuit, so there was no need to change anything.
Ultimately, the qualifying ended, and Qin Miao’s position remained unchanged from his first flying lap all the way through the entire qualifying session.
Qin Miao’s impressive performance naturally attracted the attention of most people on-site, including Prema’s two top executives and Binotto.
Seeing Qin Miao’s almost crushing results, Binotto’s eyes showed a touch of appreciation.
Simultaneously, Binotto couldn’t help but recall Qin Miao’s contributions on the F1 team’s simulator, along with the lap times he achieved on it.
Binotto noted Qin Miao’s name in his mental notebook.
Although it’s a pity Qin Miao isn’t of Italian nationality, his talent, combined with his background as a Ferrari driver academy member, is enough for Binotto to consider him as Vettel’s successor. If Qin Miao can join F2 and perform outstandingly next season, Binotto wouldn’t mind letting Qin Miao run some laps on Alfa Romeo’s car to accumulate Super License F1 race mileage.
Originally intending to leave after watching the qualifying, Binotto was now intrigued by Qin Miao, deciding to stay and watch his main race after lunch.
After the qualifying, Qin Miao, accompanied by Qimeng, Lubos, and two other technicians assisting in car tuning, headed to the restaurant for lunch.
But before leaving the pits, Qimeng remained cautious beyond her years by locking the door with a key.
Both Qin Miao and Lubos were accustomed to it, while the two technicians were considerably impressed.
Arriving at the restaurant, Qin Miao was somewhat puzzled, as instead of tables matched to the number of guests like normal restaurants, this one featured long banqueting tables typical of European royal feasts, where one could sit at both ends and many more could sit in the middle rows.
After the five casually found a spot to place their belongings and rose to pick up food, a middle-aged man in a suit came over with a plate of food and sat beside Qin Miao.
Before Qin Miao could inform him that someone was already sitting there, the man directly extended his hand to Qin Miao and started speaking: "Hello Qin Miao, I’m Richie, the team manager of Trident Team. Our headquarters is based in Milan, Italy, not too far from Maranello. We primarily participate in F2 and F3 races. If you’re interested, you’re welcome to visit our team headquarters anytime."
Facing the man’s polite handshake and warm words, Qin Miao momentarily couldn’t mention the seat being occupied, and could only stand up to shake hands as well, responding with: "Hello Mr. Richie, it’s a pleasure to meet you."
A short distance away, Roxin and Fini, who had been preparing to approach Qin Miao to chat and get acquainted while carrying trays, witnessed this scene, and both felt their fists clench involuntarily.