Coincidentally, Verstappen’s qualifying result was still slower than Qin Miao’s, though only by 0.03 seconds.
But this 0.03 seconds was enough to put Qin Miao in second place in qualifying once again.
With Verstappen crossing the line, many fans were instantly delighted.
[Great, just as I expected]
[Qin Miao has been second in qualifying in all four races of the 21st season]
[Looks like the nickname Qin the Second is here to stay]
After the Q3 session, Hamilton’s position didn’t change, while Qin Miao once again landed in his loyal P2 after qualifying ended.
The final qualifying results were as follows: Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel·fiɾe·net
P1: Hamilton (This is Hamilton’s 100th pole position in his career)
After qualifying, Hamilton, having achieved his 100th pole position in his career, naturally celebrated enthusiastically in his TR.
Meanwhile, Sky Sports aired a short documentary.
It listed the top three drivers in terms of pole positions:
Ayrton Senna: 65 pole positions.
Michael Schumacher: 68 pole positions.
And Lewis Hamilton: a whopping 100 pole positions.
Without a doubt, Hamilton is the greatest F1 driver of this era, bar none.
Once the documentary finished, the camera focused on Hamilton parked in front of the interview area, still sitting in his car and happily chatting on TR. Judging by his nodding and shaking, he seemed quite pleased.
At this point, Qin Miao also parked his car next to Hamilton’s, and after getting out, he went up to Hamilton immediately.
As both were wearing helmets, which had earplugs inside, nothing they said could be heard, so Qin Miao simply reached out and shook hands tightly with Hamilton for a while.
After that, the camera focused on Hamilton while Qin Miao returned to his car to organize his things before joining his team members to celebrate.
Being eternally second is nothing to be ashamed of; it’s simply because Qin Miao can’t outrun his teammate. As long as Qin Miao beats Verstappen, his job is done.
The next steps were pretty routine.
Helmet on for weigh-in, then gear off for interviews. We’ll skip over the details of the subsequent interview content here.
The host mainly asked whether the loss in the last race affected Qin Miao and whether it would affect tomorrow’s race.
Qin Miao’s response was standard, but he expertly gave diplomatic answers regarding some private questions.
After the interview, Qin Miao attended some events as invited by the press officer.
Then he headed back to the second floor of the team headquarters for a brief meeting, marking the end of the day’s work for both Qin Miao and Hamilton.
In the evening, Qin Miao received a call from Qimeng.
Though their time together hasn’t reached the seven-year itch, they’ve known each other for almost five years, and their feelings have gradually evolved from love to familial affection, so their conversations aren’t as syrupy as before.
"Finished with work?"
Qin Miao could tell from Qimeng’s tone that there was something important to discuss. Conveniently, Zhou Guanyu had plans tonight and couldn’t play games, so Qin Miao was playing Civilization 6 alone, just in time for a chat with Qimeng.
So he didn’t turn off the game, just put the phone on speaker and said: "Yeah, just relaxing at the hotel with the computer, if there’s anything, go ahead."
Qimeng didn’t suspect anything: "During this time managing the company, I’ve been in touch with the people from Yili. They also have strong intentions of collaborating with us and I can sense that they wish to sign a contract quickly, even willing to make concessions in advertising and other areas."
Qin Miao put down the mouse: "Rushed? Does that mean the better I perform, the more favorable the contract conditions will be for us later?"
"Definitely, but the underlying reasons are likely more than that," Qimeng replied.
Though Qin Miao needs the influence, he’s not very knowledgeable commercially, so he could only helplessly reply: "I really don’t get this, handle it as you see fit."
"Okay, we’ve already begun the procedures and once they’re completed, we can officially negotiate with Yili."
"By the way, are you sure you want to use the name Qin Miao Media? Isn’t it a bit too casual?"
Qin Miao said: "I think it’s fine, the company is to serve myself alone, there’s no plan to expand, so spending brainpower on choosing a catchy name is pointless."
"Alright, we’ll talk more about it later.
But I must remind you, Zhou Guanyu’s birthday is at the end of the month, you need to prepare a fitting gift for him."
Qimeng stressed the word ’fitting’ particularly in this sentence.
Qin Miao has a track record; last year, he found out it was Zhou Guanyu’s birthday only on the day itself, and without time to prepare a gift, he just said "Happy Birthday" and left it at that.
If it weren’t for the really close relationship between Zhou Guanyu and Qin Miao, Qin Miao’s stunt might have cost him a friend.