While the paddock was abuzz with rumors, the three of them, Qin Miao and his friends, had already prepared a lavish lunch. Without Leclerc, who couldn’t eat spicy food, participating, the hotpot before them no longer had any colors that shouldn’t be there. The pure red broth displayed a Hunan person’s persistence and love for chili.
As the broth gradually boiled, waves of spicy aroma wafted through the air, making the trio’s salivary glands start working overtime.
Beside the hotpot, freshly cut beef tripe, rolled beef and lamb slices, cilantro, enoki mushrooms, chicken blood, beef balls, and salmon slices were neatly arranged.
Aside from these foods, two big bottles of Coke also proved the two drivers’ determination to indulge themselves during this meal.
At this moment, none of them were at the table; they were all bringing out the pre-cut food from the kitchen.
When all the dishes were ready, the table in Qin Miao’s house, which could seat seven people without feeling cramped, surprisingly couldn’t hold all the dishes. Quite a few had to be temporarily placed on stools.
When everything was set, the three washed their hands and sat back at the dining table.
There was no raising glasses and saying a few words.
As they sat down, exchanging glances, everyone simultaneously reached out with their chopsticks, grabbing the food they wanted and putting it into the boiling red broth of the hotpot.
"Old Zhou, are you planning to run another year in F2 next year?"
They chatted about their futures as they ate.
"It’s not that I want to, it’s just that there’s really no spot in F1 right now,"
Zhou Guanyu became frustrated talking about it. Wasn’t his rank on the F2 leaderboard higher than Mazepin and Yuki Tsunoda? But this year saw a major reshuffle in the F1 paddock.
A quarter of the drivers have left or temporarily left the F1 paddock.
In such a major reshuffle, Zhou Guanyu should have been able to get a spot, right? But the reality is, despite being the third-place holder in F2, Zhou Guanyu didn’t manage to secure anything and had to run another year in F2.
In fact, Zhou Guanyu’s ending wasn’t too surprising because compared to other rookie F2 drivers, his background was indeed lacking.
Take Nikita Mazepin, for instance, the son of a Russian oligarch.
From the Haas Team’s pre-revealed car livery, one could see that his family had enough money to have a Russian flag painted on a car from an American team.
That’s the power of money.
If Mazepin’s game was a financial offensive, then Mick Schumacher played the relational offensive.
His father’s influence in the paddock and his own reputation in Germany meant many hoped he would follow in his father’s footsteps in F1, so unsurprisingly, he secured a spot in the paddock.
And then there’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Having emerged from Honda’s training program, he was naturally grouped with the Red Bull camp, given that only Red Bull and AlphaTauri in the paddock currently use Honda engines.
Securing a place at AlphaTauri wasn’t surprising for him.
A tough competitor who dominated F2 for an entire season, if no team was scrambling to recruit him, it would be an issue with those teams, not Qin Miao.
So no one doubted his ability. The only question in the minds of bystanders was whether he could adapt to Mercedes’ car and prove his strength within the three races as Mercedes mentioned.
As for the overall negative talk about the situation in the paddock, with most speculating maliciously about Qin Miao and Mercedes’ internal affairs?
The main reason is that Mercedes replacing Bottas with Qin Miao seemed too incredible, making it hard for anyone to understand.
Reality isn’t a game.
In a game, you can see a young driver’s stats are higher than the older one on your team, so you can replace the veteran driver without any mental burden. Such a move is unchallengeable.
But, in reality, no one knows if Qin Miao can adapt to the F1 racing tempo; he may indeed have astounding talent, but there’s no guarantee he can provide what Bottas did for Mercedes last year.
What really angered Zhou Guanyu was the fact that Renault was indeed interested in him, being a member of Renault’s training program, but then came the twist.
Zhou’s idol Alonso, after winning a Le Mans championship outside the paddock, returned.
Renamed Alpine F1, the choice between rookie Zhou Guanyu and the two-time F1 world champion, and one-time Le Mans 24-hour endurance race champion was obvious.
Naturally, Zhou Guanyu found no place in the paddock, and he had to race another F2 season.
If another driver had taken his spot, Zhou Guanyu wouldn’t have been so angry, but it was his idol who took his place.
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Qin Miao raised his Coke and clinked it against Zhou Guanyu’s Coke on the table, offering him some comforting words, understanding Zhou’s recent experiences in the paddock.
Zhou Guanyu shook his head in frustration, took a swig of Coke, and said:
"If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll race another year in F2 this year, and then... we’ll see next year."