Chapter 1385 - 521: The Clown (2)

Chapter 1385: Chapter 521: The Clown (2)

Although the impression of these Middle Eastern oil barons has always been that they are rich, for them, anything that can be solved with money is not a problem.

But in reality, these Middle Eastern people are quite shrewd, and they know what it means to accomplish great things with little money.

A few hundred million US Dollar investment to build a track and host an F1 Grand Prix station race.

With one smooth combo, almost all F1 fans know that there is a country called Bahrain in the world.

As a result, Bahrain’s global reputation has skyrocketed.

This is a typical case of accomplishing great things with little money.

After talking about so many features of this country, the trophy here must have a lot of local characteristics.

At least it’s not like some Grand Prix events where the European venue gives out champion trophies made of Chinese porcelain.

In fact, the official Bahrain Grand Prix trophy is a conventional one.

However, this trophy is a bit large, almost as big as half of Qin Miao.

When Qin Miao received it, he felt the weight; it was particularly heavy.

The award presenter handed it over with both hands.

Since he needed to shake hands, Qin Miao could only tuck the trophy under his arm and then smile as he shook hands with the other person.

After the ceremonial handshake, Qin Miao raised his trophy above his head to show it to the audience.

He was met with a wave of applause and cheers.

After the simple celebration, Qin Miao properly lifted the trophy, which was almost half his size.

Hmm, from the appearance, it looked like pure silver, but there was a large golden ring structure on the rim, body, and base.

Given the Middle Eastern penchant and the weight of this trophy, the outer layer is likely pure gold, and the trophy body is very likely pure silver.

The reason it wasn’t so heavy that Qin Miao couldn’t lift it is probably because the inside of the trophy is hollow.

And this is not likely because the Middle Easterners didn’t think about giving the drivers a solid trophy; it’s perhaps because a solid trophy would just be too heavy.

After all, if the thing were solid, considering the size of this trophy, even if it wasn’t gold but pure silver inside, the weight would probably reach a ton.

No matter how strong Qin Miao’s physique is, he wouldn’t be able to lift a one-ton trophy and interact with the audience.

Following that, Verstappen and Hamilton also received their trophies, similar in appearance to Qin Miao’s trophy, just noticeably smaller.

Verstappen still needed to hold his with both hands, while Hamilton could easily raise his above his head with one hand.

As the familiar tune played, Qin Miao happily picked up the champagne at his feet, shook it vigorously a few times, and then started spraying it at Frankie.

Then it was Hamilton’s turn, and during the target change, Qin Miao also hit Verstappen.

However, Verstappen, isolated on the podium, mainly aimed his firepower at the Red Bull team staff below, while Qin Miao, Hamilton, and Frankie had their own little battle.

Soon, Qin Miao’s clothes were completely soaked.

But Qin Miao didn’t mind; back in F2, he didn’t like the feeling of a completely soaked racing suit.

Now, Qin Miao looks forward to experiencing this feeling every Grand Prix weekend.

Because having this feeling means he won today’s race.

Finally, after Qin Miao and the other two drivers and the Mercedes team representatives finished celebrating, the live director presented the final driver ranking and score of the race:

P1: Qin Miao +25

P2: Verstappen +18

P3: Hamilton +15

P4: Perez +12

P5: Alonso +10

P6: Sainz +8

P7: Stroll +6

P8: Bottas +4

P9: Zhou Guanyu +2

P10: Gasly +2 (fastest lap)

In fact, apart from the excitement of seeing the iconic scenes right at the opening race, what delighted the spectators was witnessing the rise of the Aston Martin team.

After all, Alonso got fifth in today’s race.

Although this position still isn’t as high compared to Qin Miao and Verstappen’s performance and results today, it was already an exceptional result for a team that was struggling at the mid-lower end last season.

Also, because of the sudden rise of the Aston Martin team, Brother Alonso also enjoyed the inevitable benefits of a small team’s rise, winning today’s audience-voted best driver, and garnering a lot of attention.

Besides, Brother Alphonsus’s teammate from last season, O’Kang, today became known as the legendary penalty king, directly penalized to the point of retiring voluntarily.

With the fifth-place result, the whole Aston Martin team was naturally in a joyful mood.

Brother also showed the on-site fans what "old man’s joy" means, as he couldn’t stop smiling after getting out of the car.

He even thought Hamilton looked better during the post-race interview.

Meanwhile, what surprised domestic fans was Zhou Guanyu’s excellent performance in today’s race.

Zhou Guanyu and his teammate Bottas finished eighth and ninth in today’s race.

The two of them together scored six points for the Alfa Romeo team.

Although Alfa Romeo’s start this year didn’t match their exceptional start in the ground effect era’s first year,

this result is impressive considering Alfa Romeo’s overall speed was not as good as last season.

Strictly speaking, this result is already an overperformance for the Alfa Romeo team.

The representative of the Alfa Romeo team, Bravi, was already all smiles, happier than during New Year’s celebration.

It’s worth mentioning that due to Vassel’s departure, Alfa Romeo currently does not have a true team leader.

Bravi is merely the team manager, and before Sauber and Audi complete the team transition, Alfa Romeo is unlikely to have an official team leader.

This is a mutual blame game; Audi’s acquisition of Sauber doesn’t happen like Lynk & Co’s, completely taking over the team in one off-season.

Once Audi fully acquires the team’s shares, personnel changes and appointments will be much easier and future arrangements more convenient.

However, Audi didn’t immediately take over the Sauber Group either; they are gradually acquiring the Sauber Group’s shares, naturally lacking the same level of control as Lynk & Co over the team.

This results in Sauber wanting a leader Audi isn’t satisfied with, and Audi’s appointed leader being rejected by the current Sauber.

As such, many feel that in Alfa Romeo’s current state, there may be an official team leader only when Audi officially enters F1 in 2026.

Of course, there are team leaders within the paddock who satisfy both Audi and Sauber, and one of them has just left his position.

Yes, it’s the legendary car engine designer, Iron Buddha Temple’s eternal hero and eternal clown: Mattia Bi→not→to↑.

When it comes to Binotto, Audi and Sauber’s thoughts were surprisingly aligned.

Even if Binotto’s management abilities are average—or perhaps disastrous—for the team, with such a big shot in engine development here, Audi and Sauber can tolerate slightly weaker management from Binotto.

It surely can’t be worse than Alfa Romeo’s current performance, right?

And although Alfa Romeo is a customer team of Ferrari, using Ferrari engines, since Audi planned to enter F1, they started building their engine development department, which is also an excellent opportunity for Binotto to showcase his abilities.

During the off-season, Binotto certainly had private talks with Audi.

Then Binotto, in casual conversations with friends, clearly pointed out that Audi is just a bunch of clowns.

And Audi didn’t speak poorly of Bi as it turned out, only expressing regret at not being able to collaborate with him.

It’s evident that the negotiations fell through.

On the other hand, when Lynk & Co approached Bi, their conversation was rather enjoyable.

Red Bull was also eagerly anticipating Binotto’s inclusion.

It’s just that Binotto still has a garden leave, and he still wants to be a team leader.

But there’s no specific information on how Lynk & Co, Red Bull, and Binotto’s discussions went; no news from within the paddock.

Not even any gossip or rumors.

In short, many veteran paddock media figures remain skeptical about Alfa Romeo’s performance this season.

As for today’s performance of Alfa Romeo...

Probably just the last struggle before the decline.