To be honest, Qin Miao was genuinely feeling a bit upset, but once Toto spoke, Qin Miao’s emotions became slightly disjointed on the spot.
Is this how you comfort someone? And is this really the time to be talking about bonuses?
As the leader of a team, shouldn’t you be like an elder or a respected senior, gently guiding and advising the younger ones?
What on earth does bringing up money directly accomplish?
But truth be told, after Toto’s nonsense-like speech, Qin Miao did feel his negative emotions ease slightly.
Before Qin Miao could say anything, Toto handed him a spare headset and said, "Hamilton."
Qin Miao was somewhat surprised to take the headset, and only after confirming that Hamilton wanted to talk to him did he put it on.
Very quickly, Hamilton’s voice came through the headset: "Hey, Qin, don’t worry, and don’t be upset. Situations on the track are inevitable; who hasn’t faced them in their career? Trust me, everything will get better."
Receiving comfort from a competing teammate at such a time, Qin Miao still felt a sense of being valued and cared for deep in his heart.
He was also a driver, and he naturally knew how bothersome it was to divert attention during a race to talk to someone, potentially risking distractions that could lead to driving errors.
Yet despite that, Hamilton still waited until Qin returned to the P room to tell him these words.
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t touched. Qin Miao also knew that at this time, if he continued to be indecisive, it would seem somewhat ungrateful.
"Thank you, Lewis, but I’m fine, don’t worry. I’ll be waiting for you in the P room until the race ends." So Qin Miao calmly replied.
After responding, Qin Miao sat beside Toto, watching the broadcast on the monitor while occasionally glancing at the lap times of other drivers on track, as well as data like tire wear.
When Qin Miao was at Ferrari, he had watched these things next to Binotto, and he was quite familiar with these kinds of weather maps and data screens, so he naturally understood them.
And in the race, even though Qin Miao was lost as a loyal wingman, Hamilton didn’t show much decline on the field. Leveraging the advantage Qin Miao built up before retiring, he led the race all the way to the finish.
Ultimately, he won the championship under the chase of the two Red Bull drivers.
This race didn’t pose much pressure for Hamilton; the only thing that stirred his emotions slightly was Qin Miao’s withdrawal.
The final race standings are as follows:
P1: Hamilton +26 (fastest lap)
The total points standings are as follows:
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Due to Qin Miao’s withdrawal from this race, his ranking dropped from second to third, and Alpine’s two drivers suddenly emerged, squeezing onto the points table.
The team points standings are as follows:
Because they lost a key player, the point gap between Mercedes and Red Bull, which was gradually widening, instantly narrowed.
But Qin Miao’s withdrawal can only be said to be a non-combat crime. After identifying the problem with Qin Miao’s car, they should try to avoid it next time. Mercedes, after all, is Mercedes; they won’t let a problem go unsolved for three or four races.
During the post-race award stage, since it was close to the pit entry, Qin Miao also walked out with the Mercedes team staff, celebrating Hamilton’s victory in this race.
Hamilton spotted Qin Miao in the crowd and even came over to hug his little brother and comforted Qin Miao a few words.
The subsequent process won’t be detailed further. Although Qin Miao stayed among the team staff in the crowd, he genuinely felt no joy, merely that everything had nothing to do with him, and in the crowd, he felt like an outsider.
After the award ceremony ended, Qin Miao went to the interview area to accept a post-race interview.
During the interview, it was inevitable that journalists would ask about the reasons for withdrawing from the race.
The team had roughly identified the cause of Qin Miao’s car losing power during this period. But because the race hadn’t ended and Qin Miao’s car hadn’t been transported back, they hadn’t disassembled the car to determine the exact issue.
Thus, facing the journalists’ questions, Qin Miao could only say: "According to the team’s guess, it seems the gearbox had issues, but since the car hasn’t returned, we can’t confirm which part of the gearbox had a problem.
So I’m sorry, I can’t provide an accurate answer to your question."
Then, journalists asked if this race’s loss and withdrawal would affect Qin Miao’s mentality and his state for the next race?
Qin Miao shrugged: "Humans are very forgetful creatures; no matter how painful something is, after two or three days, the feeling of pain will start fading. A month later, life will be back to normal. Withdrawal is just an inevitability among the accidental. I think I can adjust my mindset before the next race begins."