Chapter 1403 - 527: Treating the Boss to Dinner (2)

Chapter 1403: Chapter 527: Treating the Boss to Dinner (2)

5. Alfa Romeo: 7

6. Alpine: 8

7. McLaren: 0

8. Lynk & Co: 0

9. Haas: 0

10. Williams: 0

...

After the race ended, Qin Miao returned to the UK that same night.

At this point, Qin Miao had already made up his mind to go to Ferrari, and emotionally speaking, he did prefer Ferrari over Mercedes.

After all, growing up watching the races of the red Ferrari team, he definitely has some longing and anticipation in his heart.

Of course, besides sentimentality, the main factor is that Ferrari is offering far too much.

Qin Miao also cannot deny the contributions made by Mercedes and Toto to him, as Toto has truly been very good to him.

So Qin Miao plans to tell Toto about this matter sooner.

Although saying this news after winning the championship will definitely greatly dilute Toto’s joy upon learning of Mercedes’ two consecutive championships.

But Qin Miao feels that this matter has to be confessed to Mercedes sooner or later, and saying it early at least gives Mercedes time to prepare for his departure.

Such as finding a suitable driver to replace him, and the team’s various commercial contracts will need to be renegotiated after Qin Miao leaves.

Qin Miao is aware of his influence, which can be seen from the increasing number of domestic sponsors on the body of the Mercedes racing car.

These sponsors’ contracts with Mercedes explicitly require him to stay with the team.

Of course, Mercedes also has a backup plan; if Qin Miao suddenly jumps ship, Mercedes does not need to pay too much for breach of contract, only refund the sponsorship fees behind the contract.

There won’t be too much loss for either Mercedes or the sponsors.

But if he says it in advance, Mercedes can minimize losses, and at least during this period, Mercedes won’t need to search for new domestic sponsors.

In short, announcing this news early is definitely harmful to Qin Miao; resources and racecar development directions will certainly shift towards Hamilton’s driving habits and ideas.

However, from a team perspective, it is relatively good news...

At least, aside from the world’s youngest two-time world champion planning to move to Ferrari, that’s how it is.

But this is the only thing Qin Miao can do for the team before leaving.

...

Since he left Saudi Arabia that night and considering the time difference, when Qin Miao flew for nearly 10 hours back to the UK, it was still night local time.

However, it was already past five in the morning, almost dawn.

After getting off the plane, Qin Miao went straight home.

Arriving home, Qin Miao didn’t idle; he did some cleaning, and when the nearby supermarkets opened in the morning, he put on a mask and went to buy some groceries.

After handling the ingredients, it was noon, so Qin Miao called Toto, knowing Toto was currently in the UK for business, otherwise he wouldn’t have returned so quickly.

Upon answering the call, Toto curiously asked, "Qin Miao? It’s rare for you to call me at this time. Not fishing or playing games on your day off?"

Qin Miao laughed, "My leisure life shouldn’t just be fishing and gaming all the time, right? I need to expand some other hobbies. Also, I called to see if you are free tonight, want to come out for dinner?"

"Hmm, let me check." The sound of flipping pages came from Toto’s side, likely checking a memo or something similar. After a while, Toto said, "I’m free tonight, where should we eat?"

"At my place." Qin Miao said, "You must have heard the rumors in the paddock, right?"

"What rumors? There are too many paddock rumors. I even heard someone saying you’re planning to move to Ferrari." Toto joked.

Qin Miao froze.

What the hell?

Aren’t those paddock rumors?

Cough, cough, it’s about me being able to cook." Qin Miao quickly explained.

"Oh, this I have indeed heard of, and even saw the videos Leclerc posted of you cooking. But I always regretted not getting a chance to taste your cooking, looks like today is my chance."

"Then we’ll meet tonight." Qin Miao said.

"Looks like I should hold off on lunch today and eat less, see you tonight."

"Alright, I won’t interrupt your work anymore, see you tonight."

After speaking, Toto hung up.

Thinking briefly, Toto couldn’t immediately figure out why Qin Miao, who rarely contacted him proactively, would call him like this.

Could it really be as he joked, Qin Miao planning to move to Ferrari?

Thinking of this, Toto couldn’t help but laugh.

Hasn’t Ferrari been a mess this season? Their performance isn’t good, they just changed their team leader, and internal affairs are chaotic.

With their non-competitive cars, how can they attract Qin Miao? By seducing him?

Given the arrogance of those Italians at Ferrari, it’s simply impossible.

Shaking his head, Toto didn’t dwell further on the issue, instead redirecting his focus to his work.

In the evening, when Toto parked his car at Qin Miao’s doorstep, it was just the right time for dinner.

After all, Qin Miao had invited him for dinner at his home.

Arriving too early or too late wouldn’t be appropriate.

When Qin Miao heard someone knock on the door, he put down his phone and went to open it.

Opening the door, he saw his boss standing there in a black coat.

The weather in the UK is different from the Middle East, with an average temperature in March in single digits.

Not dressing warmly would certainly result in catching a cold.

"Welcome, come in."

Smiling, he gave Toto a hug and pointed at the slippers he’d prepared, signaling Toto to wear them.

Once inside, besides feeling the warmth of Qin Miao’s home, Toto also smelled the aroma from the chicken soup simmering on the fire.

Raising his eyebrows, as Mercedes’ team leader, Toto has traveled everywhere and tasted all kinds of cuisines worldwide.

But he had never encountered the fresh aroma of the chicken soup simmering in Qin Miao’s home.

Changing shoes and entering, Toto remarked, "Even after watching the videos of you cooking, I thought those were just Leclerc and others messing around, maybe your dishes wouldn’t be too tasty. Now it seems I really underestimated you, I don’t know how many times I’ve been surprised by your changes."

Qin Miao instinctively touched his nose, thinking that soon it might be surprise turning into shock.

But Qin Miao didn’t say anything directly, instead saying, "You’re just in time, the soup is almost ready."

After saying that, he led Toto to the dining room.

Then Qin Miao went into the kitchen, turned off the stove, served the soup, and brought out a few dishes he’d prepared earlier from the warmer.

The table was set with five dishes.

Though Qin Miao doesn’t drink, he prepared some wine for guests.

With the dishes ready, Qin Miao asked Toto, "Want some wine?"

Toto replied while tucking a napkin into his collar, "I’ll need to drive home later, so I won’t drink."

"Orange juice?"

"Sure."

Qin Miao poured a glass of orange juice for both of them.

Then the two began to eat and drink normally.

During the meal, Qin Miao didn’t mention his reason for inviting Toto, and Toto wasn’t in a rush to ask, choosing instead to enjoy the dinner cooked by an F1 world champion.

After eating, Toto took the initiative to help clean up the table.

Once everything was tidied, Qin Miao invited Toto to his study.

This house’s study had undergone modifications, with added soundproofing by Qimeng, enabling conversations without concerns of eavesdropping.

Sitting down, Toto noticed several places obviously meant for displaying trophies were completely empty, with circular marks left from previous trophy placements visible.

"Where are your trophies?" Toto asked curiously.

Looking at the spot Toto was paying attention to, Qin Miao said, "I sent them to my home in Monaco, as you know, Monaco’s security is quite good, so no worry of them getting lost."