For the drivers, it’s actually not much fun; it’s just part of their daily work.
However, for the fans who like these drivers but struggle to understand their habits, this event is perfect for them.
The activity didn’t last long; Qin Miao finished answering all his questions within fifteen minutes.
This event was organized by FOM, and it’s not mandatory, so naturally, there is no payment involved. It’s considered a mutual achievement.
The drivers get the exposure they want, and FOM benefits too, but the benefits are somewhat vague.
However, after the interview, the organizers still prepared a gift for Qin Miao.
The gift isn’t particularly valuable; it’s just a figurine of Qin Miao made by the local organizer.
It’s about the same size as Hatsune Miku’s fufu.
These items would normally be hung in driver shops for fans attending the Grand Prix to purchase, counted as driver memorabilia.
The revenue from these merchandise sales is split 40/60 between the driver and the local organizer, respectively.
This is also why hosting fees for an F1 Grand Prix can easily reach tens of millions of US Dollars, with so many tracks and government departments eager to host. Besides ticket revenue, there’s also income from merchandise and other entertainment facilities, which can effectively boost the local economy and promote tourism through the spectators who come from afar.
Back on topic, after the interview, Qin Miao took the gift bag prepared by the staff and returned to the team.
On the way back, Barber took the items from Qin Miao and said, "There’s no more work today. After returning to the hotel, it’s free time; you can take a bath and relax."
Qin Miao nodded, acknowledging the staff who greeted him in the paddock, and curiously asked, "Do I have any work tomorrow?"
"Before tomorrow’s race starts, there will be a pre-race interview with Sky Sports and an online fan meeting to attend. After that, it’ll be the official race. Once the race ends, the next race is the back-to-back Spanish Grand Prix. We’ll have three days to prepare after the race, so we can rest in Portugal for a day or we can go straight to Spain. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by n̷o̷v̷e̷l̷f̷i̷r̷e̷.net
Of course, if you want, we can also temporarily fly back to the UK and then catch a connecting flight to Spain."
Although Spain is right next to Portugal, the two tracks are quite far apart. The Portuguese Grand Prix track is at the bottom left corner of the Portugal map, while the Spanish Grand Prix track is at the top right corner of the Spain map. Despite the two tracks being connected by land, the straight-line distance between them exceeds 600 kilometers, so going overland would take almost a whole day. Flying is the best option.
"No need to go back," Qin Miao felt the inconvenience of having the headquarters based in the UK.
Since the UK is an island nation, for someone like Qin Miao, who needs to travel all over the world, going home in a hurry is quite troublesome and can only be done by flying.
If not flying, taking a ferry leisurely wouldn’t guarantee arrival at any predictable time.
After finalizing his work plan, Qin Miao and Barber headed back to their hotel together.
Even though he had run one qualifying race and participated in an event, Qin Miao wasn’t too tired and had the leisure to play a couple of games of CSGO with Zhou Guanyu, who was idle at home.
The night passed without any words.
May 2nd, Sunday, the start day of the Portuguese Grand Prix.
The first thing Qin Miao does after getting up is check the weather since being a non-swimmer is something known to those familiar with him or who know about him.
He was worried it would rain on the day of the race.
Fortunately, it was sunny today, and the temperature was very comfortable, with a perceived temperature of 24 degrees.
For racing, it might be a bit cool, but for people, it’s a very comfortable temperature to be in.