Chapter 388: Chapter 185: Unexpected Event
However, Qin Miao didn’t mind this 20-minute cooling period because he knew Verstappen’s soft tires wouldn’t last as long as his own medium tires. He figured that if he defended against Verstappen two more times, his soft tires would lose grip.
To be honest, Qin Miao’s defense this time was mainly to exploit Verstappen’s eagerness to win, but he didn’t want to trade positions with him.
Just now, if Verstappen had forced his way into the corner, there was a high probability that he would have overtaken Qin Miao directly.
Of course, there was also a risk of Verstappen being thrown off by Qin Miao’s left front wheel.
Although this possibility wasn’t great.
But Verstappen didn’t dare gamble on whether Qin Miao could control his car, so he chose to forgo this risky move.
After all, the race had just started, and everyone’s energy reserves were relatively full, so their minds were relatively clear, able to control their inner emotions.
There were still 55 laps to go in the race, and there were plenty of opportunities for Verstappen to overtake Qin Miao in those 55 laps. Moreover, Hamilton hadn’t pulled too far away; Verstappen could even see Hamilton’s taillights, so there was no need to rush at this moment.
Verstappen looked at Hamilton’s car in the distance, his eyes full of confidence.
...
Seven laps later, Verstappen looked at Qin Miao’s car 0.4 seconds ahead of him, with the taillights flashing. He couldn’t help but ask in his team’s TR, "I see Qin Miao is on medium tires, my soft tires have no grip. I feel like we can try to undercut Qin Miao now."
From Verstappen’s voice, it wasn’t hard to tell that he was a bit agitated.
"Copy, MAX, pit on the eighteenth lap." Verstappen’s track engineer replied quickly. Judging by how fast they responded, they must have already had the idea of letting Verstappen pit first to undercut Qin Miao.
And the conversation within the Red Bull team’s TR, after being reviewed, was also broadcasted by the FIA.
"Hahaha." Fei, who understood the hidden meaning in Verstappen’s words, burst out laughing, "Verstappen must be annoyed by Qin Miao’s defense, knowing he can’t get past Qin Miao, and his tires are worn, so he’s starting to rely on a pit stop to undercut Qin Miao."
Bing also laughed and said, "It must be frustrating to be locked out, especially when you’re faster than the other person."
[Damn, is Qin Miao that strong?]
[Defensive master, not joking with you?]
[Yes, recognized by Verstappen as a defensive master]
[Master Qin? That name doesn’t sound good]
[I also think it doesn’t sound good. How about this nickname, Qin the Second? It’s catchy]
[Qin the Second works]
[Approved]
On the track, Qin Miao naturally also learned from Frankie that Verstappen behind him was about to pit.
After all, all teams’ TRs are interconnected.
But just as Red Bull wouldn’t pit along with Mercedes for the champion, Qin Miao, who already had an advantage, wouldn’t follow Red Bull’s strategy.
Moreover, Qin Miao and Verstappen were on different strategies. Right now, Qin Miao’s medium tires still had enough grip, and pitting to change tires would be too wasteful.
So on the track, Qin Miao maintained his rhythm, and the gap between him and Hamilton had already come to three seconds.
Hamilton simply entered a cruising mode, keeping the gap with Qin Miao at more than three seconds.
Sainz, in fourth place, was inherently slower than Qin Miao and Verstappen, so even with the two fighting on defensive lines these past few laps, Sainz could only barely keep his DRS-train behind them.
And as Verstappen pitted, without the DRS assistance from him in front, Sainz began to fall behind Qin Miao by 0.4 seconds per lap, looking at the gradually receding Qin Miao, feeling utterly powerless.
To be honest, when Sainz found out he could go to Ferrari, he was very excited.
Even knowing that to secure the No. 2 driver spot, he would need to beat Qin Miao in Ferrari’s internal tests, he wasn’t really concerned and even somewhat looked down on Qin Miao.
A Chinese? What talented driver could come from China?
F1 isn’t child’s play like F2, any F1 car is a beast, not something a newcomer like Qin Miao, who has only touched F1 in a simulator, can handle.
So even knowing he needed to have an internal contest with Qin Miao, Sainz, who already had years of F1 experience, was not at all worried, and was prepared to give this Chinese kid a good lesson.
But then what happened afterwards was the event that shamed Ferrari: Qin Miao left, and Mercedes openly poached Ferrari’s cornerstone.
In the paddock, such betrayal of an old employer was despised by everyone, and even more so was the idea of Qin Miao betraying a team like Ferrari, with its deep history and massive fan base.
Surprisingly, the paddock discussion at that time didn’t criticize Qin Miao much. Instead, many Ferrari fans angrily criticized the Ferrari executives, with Binotto being the unluckiest of all.
After all, he was Ferrari’s leader, so he became the target of fans who were not aware of the details, but he was actually the one hoping Qin Miao would stay at Ferrari.
It could only be attributed to fate.
At the time, Sainz was pretty happy, thinking Qin Miao was very aware of the situation and behaved wisely.
But with the start of the 2021 season, Sainz realized something was off.