Of course, although the rivalry between the two started the moment Qin Miao entered F1, in such a semi-public occasion, no one would tear off the facade or do anything irrational.
Both sides smiled as they shook hands with each other, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then ignored each other, each finding familiar drivers to start chatting.
Qin Miao has grown up now. No matter how slow he is, having spent a year in the paddock, he would have gained some experience, not to mention being taught by Qimeng, and now receiving on-site lessons from Eliza.
Moreover, F1 drivers are pretty much under the cameras all the time in the paddock, so any private grievances won’t be shown openly.
"I saw you did almost 200 laps during winter testing, right? How’s the performance of the Mercedes car this year?" Leclerc asked casually as everyone found their chatting drivers and waited for the interviews to begin.
Leclerc leaned casually against a box with Qin Miao and lightly tossed out the question.
Qin Miao glanced at Leclerc, then sighed and said, "Things aren’t optimistic. I clocked those winter testing results in qualifying mode, you’ve seen the rankings. My fastest lap in winter testing wasn’t even faster than Alpine." Chapters first released on novel fire.net
"Well, your answer just doesn’t cut it, does it?" Leclerc looked at Qin Miao with a face like ’you’re kidding me.’
Qin Miao crossed his arms: "You’ve got ill intentions asking this question, how dare you blame me?"
Leclerc’s handsome face was full of indifference. Since he couldn’t extract any useful intelligence from Qin Miao, he naturally switched topics, "Things are messy inside Ferrari lately, a lot of people are zeroing in on your performance on the track."
At first, Qin Miao didn’t understand what Leclerc meant, he simply thought that internal chaos at Ferrari was great, hoping all those politicking parasites at Ferrari would die off as many as possible, ideally all of them.
But linking it to what Leclerc said afterward, Qin Miao couldn’t help but think a bit more.
Gradually, Qin Miao understood Leclerc’s meaning.
Originally, Sainz’s position was supposed to be his, but then due to the machinations of the big brains at Ferrari, he lost his position, directly leading to his departure.
Qin Miao leaving was one thing, but joining Mercedes made the Ferrari higher-ups who pushed him out restless.
At this point, Qin Miao’s performance on track isn’t just about him and his Mercedes team, it also touches on Ferrari’s face.
Because if Qin Miao’s performance surpasses Sainz’s, Ferrari will inevitably become the laughingstock of the paddock.
Although Qin Miao entrusted Mercedes to broker his contract termination with Ferrari, anyone with a bit of insider knowledge knows the real reason he left was because he couldn’t race F1 at Ferrari.
Driving out a genius driver from their youth academy who could dominate in F2 is something only Ferrari could do.
Ferrari folks were already tagged with the clown’s red nose, if this happens again, that red nose might just grow bigger.
Leclerc sharing this news with Qin Miao was to let him know that if he performs well in F1, someone at Ferrari will suffer.
In Leclerc’s view, this news would cheer Qin Miao up somewhat.
Honestly, Leclerc guessed right. Knowing this news did make Qin Miao quite happy.
Although Qin Miao has found a better place than the circus now, the feeling of being stabbed in the back is still fresh in his mind, even though he wasn’t literally kicked out, his state back then was no different.
Now he finally has the chance to settle old scores, and Qin Miao feels highly motivated.
"Thanks." Knowing this news, Qin Miao genuinely thanked Leclerc.
Leclerc, as if not understanding anything, showed a puzzled expression when Qin Miao thanked him: "What? Thank me for what?"
Seeing Leclerc’s performance, Qin Miao clicked his tongue: "It’s a waste you’re not an actor with your talent."
"I’d rather be a pianist than an actor, like your country’s Lang Lang." Leclerc shrugged and smiled.
"I can’t appreciate those highbrow things. If given a choice between an esports match and a concert, I’d definitely choose the former."
As they were chatting, Norris’s voice suddenly chimed in: "Esports match? Which game?"
Turning around to find Norris in his McLaren uniform, Qin Miao didn’t hold back: "CSGO. I think CSGO matches are among the most entertaining in esports alongside LOL’s world championship."
"I’ve played CSGO, definitely a good game, but I can’t manage LOL, my gameplay is hard to describe."
"Really? Let’s play together sometime."
"Sure, by the way, do you play PUBG?"
The three chatted about games for over five minutes, then cheers were heard from the stage, and the voice of the female host reached Qin Miao and the others.
"Let’s welcome: Leclerc, Norris, Russell, Tsunoda, Qin Miao!"