Chapter 247 - 138: Born Rebellious, Part 2

Words : 1322 Updated : Sep 27th, 2025

Then they discovered a problem with the brake pads.In fact, after every race, Qin Miao’s team would replace the brake pads with a new set for him. After all, racing cars experience the most wear on the four tires in contact with the ground, followed by the brake pads, and then the engine and transmission that provide power. It’s unclear whether Sui Wentao and his team were careless when changing Qin Miao’s brake pads or not, as the other three tires were fitted with new brake pads, but this tire still had the old brake pads. At that moment, Qin Miao hadn’t realized the seriousness of the issue. He thought: since a problem has been discovered, it would be fine if it gets fixed. After all, the pre-race car inspection is meant to identify and eliminate issues. So Qin Miao stood up and said to Sui Wentao, "Old Sui, there’s an issue with the right front wheel’s brake pads, please replace it with a new one." Sui Wentao was puzzled when Qin Miao requested this, as cars are supposed to be checked before departure and before going on track. There shouldn’t be any problems. Besides, brake pads are components that need regular replacement, so they shouldn’t have issues... Although he was puzzled, as it’s his responsibility, and since Qin Miao requested it, he had to go over and check. However, when he removed the right front wheel of Qin Miao’s car, the cold sweat broke out immediately. Because he could clearly see that the brake pad on the right front wheel was obviously worn. Anyone with a bit of professional racing knowledge knows these are marks left from long-term use. The right front wheel of Qin Miao’s car actually had an already used brake pad. The occurrence of this situation is partly due to the carelessness of the technician during work, and also because he, the chief technician for Qin Miao’s team, wasn’t thorough during the recheck. With such an issue, he had to take responsibility. Because this kind of mistake could mean the difference between winning and losing a race, and in a larger sense, it concerns the driver’s safety. So when Roxin found out, the entire team’s work stopped immediately, and everyone gathered around Qin Miao’s car for a meeting. After investigating, it was determined that the person responsible for this error was the right rear tire changer, Alvin. After identifying the responsible person, the team imposed the maximum penalty on Alvin: a month’s work without pay, but fortunately, he didn’t cause any substantial losses, so Alvin retained his job. And Qin Miao’s team’s chief technician, Sui Wentao, received a verbal warning and was fined 1,000 euros. Although it seemed the main person responsible, Alvin, only lost a month’s salary, Sui Wentao, who had no significant responsibility, was affected as well. Alvin’s mistake would be recorded in his personal file and due to this mistake, his prospects for promotion were essentially gone. It’s important to note that many F1 team technicians are promoted from F2 teams. F2 is not only the best path for drivers to enter F1, but also the best path for technicians and team leaders to enter F1. While Sui Wentao was fined 1,000 euros, he only received a verbal warning, so his future wasn’t affected. After this incident, the group dispersed and continued preparing for the practice session. However, the morale around Qin Miao’s car was very low following the incident. Facing this, Qin Miao wanted to comfort everyone, but not having high emotional intelligence, he didn’t know what to say. However, Qin Miao faintly realized the main reason for this situation was that he was somewhat "perfunctory" during his car inspections, merely touching the car briefly before signing off, assuring the car was fine. Qin Miao’s approach easily made others subconsciously relax their thoroughness during inspections, since if Qin Miao, the owner, wasn’t taking the car seriously, the rest naturally wouldn’t be as careful either. Therefore, Qin Miao also had a certain degree of responsibility for this occurrence. After identifying this, Qin Miao noted in his new notebook: Even if inspecting is just for show, make sure to check every key component before signing off... After this interlude, Qin Miao finally successfully passed his car inspection, completing his warm-up and pushed the car onto the track with team members. There wasn’t much to elaborate on during the practice session, it was all calm and uneventful. Everyone ran their own pace and collected their data. Qin Miao completed two lap trials quickly during the practice session, spending the rest of the time searching for a comfortable setup, which unfortunately, the final effect wasn’t very satisfying. When the practice session ended, Qin Miao was ranked fifteenth. After a short break at noon, the qualifying session quickly followed in the afternoon. At the start of the qualifying session, there are generally three commentators analyzing the on-field situation and warming up for the race. Ever since the first sprint race of this season, Qin Miao had become an unavoidable topic for the hosts. This time was naturally no exception. The view switched to the race scene. As it wasn’t raining, Qin Miao didn’t queue early at the pit exit like the previous qualifying session. The director first focused the camera on the cars lining up at the pit exit waiting to be released. After holding this frame for about three seconds, the director switched the camera to Qin Miao. Due to Qin Miao’s excellent performance in F2, he received treatment that other F2 drivers didn’t. Which was a specific photographer tailing him, only responsible for capturing Qin Miao, allowing the director to cut to Qin Miao’s perspective before the race started. At this time the qualifying session had started, and drivers were already on track, yet the broadcast was still showing a side view of Qin Miao. Interestingly, though Qin Miao’s side view was shown with his helmet on, only revealing his eyes and eyelashes, most viewers weren’t averse to it. About a minute later, Qin Miao took his water bottle from under the helmet. After handing the bottle to Sui Wentao, Qin Miao drove out. Notably, after Qin Miao drove out, Zhou Guanyu also followed in his car. Anyone with insight could see that Zhou Guanyu was likely trying to follow Qin Miao’s car for slipstream opportunities or something similar. This was okay with Qin Miao. It was during their track walk when Zhou Guanyu jokingly mentioned wanting slipstream help on this track. Zhou Guanyu’s intent was truly just a joke, at most with a small hint of probing. But unexpectedly, Qin Miao directly agreed generously, telling him to feel free to follow. However, Qin Miao specified that he wouldn’t wait deliberately for Zhou Guanyu, if he wanted the slipstream, he’d have to time it himself. ... Half an hour later, Qin Miao leisurely drove back into the pit and parked directly at his team’s entrance. Roxin watched Qin Miao with a complex expression. If this kid has fifty pounds of bones, at least forty-nine pounds are rebellious. After all, he’s someone who would rather help drivers from rival teams with slipstream rather than his own team. However, with this complicated expression, Roxin couldn’t say much. How do you address Qin Miao? Claiming he’s damaging team interests? Hell, this person has scored more points alone than the combined total of the second-place team, UNI Team’s two drivers. Even totaling the points of the six drivers from the last three teams with Qin’s points would still have excess. This claim doesn’t hold at all. Breaking internal unity? The fact that Qin Miao and Mick have issues goes back to the days when he was in the Ferrari youth training program, how can you break something that’s already not united? At this moment, Roxin could only watch with a complex expression. Truly happy, yet also truly upset.

Chapter 247 - 138: Born Rebellious, Part 2

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