After finishing the meal, Qin Miao was ready to leave after saying goodbye to Toto.

Toto was a bit surprised to see Qin Miao leaving so early, "There's another private gathering later, which I think you still need to attend. At these meetings, you can meet a lot of different people."

"Yeah, Qin, meeting some big shots will do no harm to your future," Hamilton chimed in from the side.

However, Qin Miao shrugged and said, "Forget it, I'm not really into that kind of scene. I'd rather go home and watch a movie with my girlfriend."

Seeing this, Toto didn't persuade him further, and knowing Qin Miao's personality from his contract, Toto just said, "Take care on your way back," and let Qin Miao go.

After nodding to Hamilton, Qin Miao left Bahrain.

Anyway, Qin Miao is now an indispensable member of the Mercedes team. Even if he didn't hitch a ride on Toto's private jet, after knowing he planned to return to the UK, someone from Mercedes would still arrange his travel for him.

It's a bit of a pity not to catch Toto's private jet, but the first-class seat on a commercial flight is still quite comfortable.

By the time Qin Miao got home, it was already past 5 AM the next day.

After winning an F2 race, Qin Miao usually still has extra leisure and energy to do things both he and his girlfriend love.

Now, after the main race, Qin Miao hurried home, but now he doesn't want to do anything else, just to sleep well at home.

Running an F1 main race is really exhausting, even with Qin Miao's stamina rating of 99, he can hardly bear it after the race.

Of course, a major reason is also due to flying all that way.

In any case, Qin Miao returned to his spiritual harbor after the race, and had a nice three-day rest.

During these three days, Qin Miao didn't even touch a car, let alone hit the gym.

And after a three-day rest, Qin Miao began to pick up training and practice his feel for racing again.

The second race of the year is scheduled for April, with a three-week break in between. During this time, Qin Miao basically didn't travel far, just shuttled between his home and the team.

Morning physical training, and in the afternoon dragged by Toto to the factory to run simulator data, hone his driving skills, and discuss car upgrade plans and the upcoming Imola Grand Prix tuning settings with various departments.

Moreover, the possibility of rain on this track is very high, so during this time, in addition to continuing to hone his skills, Qin Miao also practiced rain racing on the Imola Circuit like crazy on the simulator.

This monotonous and repetitive life continued until Wednesday, April 13, the day before the Imola Grand Prix began.

It's worth mentioning that quite a few small episodes happened during this time.

The first is Qimeng's work phone started ringing frequently again, mostly brands wanting Qin Miao to endorse, both domestic and abroad.

There were also invitations wanting Qin Miao to participate in some events as an on-site guest, commonly referred to in the entertainment circle as running the circuit, attending an event for a fee.

And this time, unlike in the past, most of the parties calling Qimeng were sincerely wanting to cooperate with Qin Miao.

Qimeng filtered some herself and then asked the Mercedes team's evaluation team to filter some more, resulting in Qin Miao gaining three more endorsements.

When it comes to endorsements, Qin Miao has no other requirements; the money isn't the issue, what's most important is fewer hassles.

Besides this, Boss Zhou also arrived in Brackley.

Seeing Qin Miao's excellent performance on the track, simply watching the race on TV no longer satisfied Boss Zhou. Despite the current bad environment, he flew directly to the UK on his private jet and found Qin Miao through the address.

Naturally, Qin Miao exchanged pleasantries with him and had him stay for a meal at home.

Afterward, Boss Zhou bid farewell. Although his main purpose was to watch Qin Miao race, he still had some business in the UK.

On the one hand, he needed to check on things since he came all this way. On the other hand, Boss Zhou saw that Qin Miao was genuinely busy, and staying at Qin Miao's place would turn him into a third wheel, and Qin Miao wouldn't be able to focus on his training.

So after agreeing to meet again in Italy, Boss Zhou left.

The third was the little trinkets Qin Miao speculated about, which indeed got mailed to him as gifts.

However, they were sent to Mercedes headquarters, and then the receptionist there handed these gifts over to Qin Miao.

Nothing much happened afterward, life and work continued as usual.

After these little episodes, Qin Miao arrived early at the location for the second race of the year: Imola, Italy.

Qin Miao arrived at the track a day earlier than usual for this race.

Previously arriving just on time, always made Qin Miao feel rushed and short on time. By arriving at the venue a day earlier, Qin Miao had more preparation and rest time.

Wednesday was mostly about resting in the hotel, taking Qimeng for a stroll around the Imola Circuit, and inviting Leclerc for a meal. That's how Wednesday passed.

On Thursday, after completing his usual morning workout, Qin Miao went to the FIA's little black room.

Although Qin Miao's defense during the last Bahrain Grand Prix wasn't illegal, his act of squeezing Verstappen off the track was considered dangerous driving, so Qin Miao was summoned for a meeting, where FIA officials gave him a bit of a lecture.

However, the time spent on this lecture wasn't too hard to endure.

In the afternoon, Qin Miao went to the pre-race meeting room prepared by FIA for the drivers.

This is something that happens before each race.

Qin Miao arrived relatively early this time, so when he got there, only Alonso was in the meeting room.

Seeing Qin Miao come in, Brother Tou nodded at him as a form of greeting, "Afternoon, Qin."

"Afternoon." Qin Miao nodded in response while shaking hands with Brother Tou and gave each other's shoulder a pat.

This is pretty much how everyone in the paddock, staff and drivers, shakes hands and greets each other.

After shaking hands, Qin Miao casually sat next to Brother Tou.

Once Qin Miao sat down, Brother Tou turned his head to look at him and said, "I watched the replay of the Bahrain race. I must say, your defense was really impressive."

"Oh, really? Haha, I think I still have a lot of room for improvement." Qin Miao replied humbly.

Alonso had met quite a few Chinese people, and he was used to the humility ingrained in their bones, although at this moment Qin Miao seemed more like he was being modest with ulterior motives.

However, Alonso didn't mind, instead, he adjusted his seating position to face Qin Miao and curiously asked, "I've carefully studied your defense against Verstappen. Each time you left Verstappen limited space when giving way, but not enough to violate FIA's defense rules. How exactly do you define and judge whether your actions on the track are compliant?"

Qin Miao was not particularly surprised by Alonso's question. He knows that defending on the track is entirely built on experience and accumulation. To improve one's ability, it's a simple and easy way to humbly learn from drivers more skilled than oneself.

Thinking of this, Qin Miao felt somewhat excited because this was like getting recognition from a top driver.

And responding to Alonso's question, Qin Miao didn't hold back; there was nothing to hold back. He honestly said, "I generally rely on my feeling."

This really wasn't Qin Miao showing off in front of Alonso; his grasp on the track regarding defensive discretion did rely on the feeling he mentioned.

And Brother Tou, being a gifted one, might find Qin Miao's response superficial, but for drivers like Brother Tou, sometimes racing is all about the car's sensation. Some people can drive faster based on their instinct rather than by the book.

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