Chapter 1497 - 546: Ferrari’s True Monarch Erlang (Part 2)

Chapter 1497: Chapter 546: Ferrari’s True Monarch Erlang (Part 2)

On the track, Qin Miao can actively refuse the team orders from Ferrari’s strategy group regarding position swaps.

Qin Miao can also choose not to follow the team’s instructions for pit stops during the race.

Qin Miao can participate in Ferrari’s team meetings to decide the direction of car development.

The team must adapt the car’s development direction to suit Qin Miao’s driving habits.

Qin Miao owns his own image rights, and Ferrari must pay Qin Miao to use his image for publicity.

Additionally, Qin Miao becomes Ferrari’s global ambassador, which also requires Ferrari to pay him.

When Qin Miao attends Ferrari’s commercial activities, Ferrari needs to pay him an appearance fee.

It’s important to know that normally when drivers attend team promotional events, the team doesn’t have to pay them.

Because driver contracts normally include clauses requiring cooperation in team promotions, but Qin Miao is an exception here.

The last clause, and the most significant one.

Qin Miao can impeach any Ferrari executive except Vassel.

Once receiving Qin Miao’s impeachment, Ferrari must treat it seriously and thoroughly investigate the subject of the impeachment. If problems are found, the person will be immediately dismissed.

To prevent Qin Miao from causing chaos within Ferrari, there’s a correction mechanism: if Qin Miao issues three incorrect impeachments, this right will be revoked.

But in reality, having this right means no one will try to upset Qin Miao in his work environment.

Qin Miao is highly unlikely to use this right.

But truth be told, all previous clauses are minor; Qin Miao will actually return to Ferrari because of this last clause.

Because of this clause, Qin Miao doesn’t need to worry about political struggles while racing for Ferrari.

Now, Qin Miao essentially holds a position right under Vassel at Ferrari.

If someone really tries to trouble Qin Miao, he can directly proceed with impeachment.

At this point, someone might say, "Your impeachment is like a nuclear weapon, it has a deterrent effect before use. After use, it loses impact. Without foundational support at Ferrari, impeaching someone leaves them with many ways to respond."

But remember, F1 is a commercial alliance, and Ferrari has been here the longest, troubled the most by internal political struggles.

People are eager to get into Ferrari because there’s profit to be made inside.

For many years, not many high-level officials at Ferrari have had clean slates.

They all have some dirt.

None can withstand scrutiny.

This is widely understood, even within Ferrari; it’s internally accepted that higher-ups can skim a bit off the top, as long as they get the job done.

With the focus on exploiting team resources, they can no longer provide Ferrari with an excellent car, as the team is no longer pure.

This is akin to Ferrari’s executives handing a knife to Qin Miao; normally he wouldn’t use it, but it’s there.

However, if someone jumps out in front of Qin Miao, then he can start cutting.

Signing this contract essentially makes Qin Miao somewhat like the True Monarch Erlang within Ferrari; although he works in the Celestial Court, he follows orders selectively.

These are basically the main terms of Qin Miao’s contract.

If you tell these terms to someone who doesn’t watch F1 races, they’ll likely think this is a wealthy heir parachuting into a vice executive position.

His job would seem like just playing games and goofing off within the company.

But if these terms are revealed to other teams in the paddock, besides Ferrari, teams from the mid-to-top ranks would just think Ferrari has gone crazy.

Because they simply couldn’t offer such conditions.

But teams like Sauber, Lynk & Co, Haas, and Williams.

They might indeed not mind offering Qin Miao similar conditions, and if he’s willing, they would even consider giving him the position of team leader, or offer him over 10% permanent equity in the team.

However, Qin Miao still has ambitions; he wants to secure an extraordinary team position while driving a car capable of winning world championships, instead of supporting a struggling team.

In summary, these are the conditions Ferrari presents to Qin Miao.

They’re remarkably generous, just short of putting him on a pedestal.

Upon reviewing the contract and confirming all terms were already negotiated and that nothing has been added or removed, Qin Miao handed the contract to the lawyer he brought along.

Despite having confirmation from his agency, there’s a Chinese saying: "Caution ensures longevity."

Since the contract involves substantial amounts of money, a single punctuation or word difference could greatly affect its outcome and efficacy; thus, after Qin Miao confirms no issues with the terms, he still needs a specialist to check for clarity with wording and punctuation before signing.

While Qin Miao’s lawyer was verifying the terms, Vassel and Qin Miao stepped out of the room, found a spot in the hall, and ordered some food.

Being in a Ferrari fan restaurant, the food naturally was Italian cuisine.

Qin Miao had lived in Maranello for quite a while, so he was familiar with the taste of Italian food, without any issues of adaptation.

During the wait for the food, Vassel asked Qin Miao: "How have you been lately? I noticed your standing on the driver leaderboard doesn’t look very promising."

Upon realizing the second floor was deserted, Qin Miao removed his mask and said: "No choice, Red Bull’s car performance this season is incredibly strong—fast and balanced. On balanced circuits, W14’s advantage simply doesn’t show, and on tracks like Monaco, it can’t even compete against Aston Martin."

"What kind of car do you hope to drive next season? We can optimize the car’s track characteristics for you in advance, at least reducing part of the adaptation time." Vassel looked at Qin Miao.

Qin Miao scratched his head; to be honest, Ferrari treating him this way was a bit unexpected.

It’s clear Ferrari truly values him and wants him to secure another driver world championship for them.

Vassel’s concern is a common one for drivers joining new teams: adapting to the car’s characteristics.

But Qin Miao, backed by a system, and possessing skills, pretty much isn’t afraid of starting from scratch with new car challenges.

Regardless of the car given, he can quickly adapt and fully unleash its performance.

So Qin Miao thought for a moment before saying: "Honestly, you don’t need to waste too much time on this."

Vassel looked at Qin Miao with an inquisitive expression, wanting an answer.

Qin Miao said: "Do you know what Verstappen’s biggest strength is?"

Vassel briefly recalled the intel on Verstappen collected by Ferrari, then said: "Exceptional rain combat ability and stability?"

Qin Miao paused, then nodded: "Those are advantages too, but Verstappen’s real strength is his adaptability.

Red Bull often designs cars that aren’t easy to drive, yet simultaneously, their performance is strong. Verstappen’s edge over teammates is his ability to adapt to these challenging cars and bring out their performance.

This allows Red Bull to increase the car’s performance without considering driver compatibility. No matter how difficult the design, as long as the car’s consistency is uniform, Verstappen can handle it."

Vassel’s eyes lit up: "Are you suggesting...?"