Then on the race track, Qin Miao was attacking Hamilton in front, followed by Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, and Vettel Alonso.

Because Gasly was held back by Qin Miao's defense, the few drivers behind were trapped in the "little train" driven by Qin Miao.

As a result, unknowingly within the paddock, Qin Miao had already garnered the nickname of the "train driver."

After all, in the 2022 season, Qin Miao started the train many times, and even during the entire Monaco Grand Prix, Qin Miao clinched the race championship by driving a train.

At this moment, the time gap between Hamilton at the head of the pack and Sainz in front was already up to 6 seconds.

Just as everyone thought that, due to infighting, the two Mercedes drivers would be directly left behind by the drivers ahead by over a 1-minute time gap in the race.

Lap 9, Sainz, with a 4-second gap to Verstappen ahead and a 6-second gap to Hamilton behind, exited the track at T5 and directly entered the T5 escape lane.

However, once the camera cut over, fans realized Sainz's car had lost all power due to an engine issue right at the exit of the corner.

There was no alternative but for Sainz to retire.

Since Sainz's retirement was at the track exit and there were no car debris on the track, the race officials only issued a yellow flag without deploying a safety car.

Under the yellow flag, and at this time, the front row drivers were just reaching T17 and T18.

Not far ahead was the entrance to the pit lane.

It was no surprise that most drivers chose to enter the pits and change tires at this point.

Qin Miao was naturally included in this group.

Mercedes directly opted for a double pit stop.

After both Qin Miao and Hamilton pitted, the DRS small train that had accumulated behind them due to their duel was completely disrupted, and Qin Miao was officially off duty as train driver.

This time, Qin Miao's tire change wasn't long, only 2.7 seconds, but when Hamilton changed his tires and moved into the tire change position, it cost Qin Miao 2 seconds.

So, when Qin Miao exited the pit lane, the time gap between him and Hamilton in the DRS zone had widened to 3 seconds.

However, by this point in the race, Qin Miao had completed all his pit stop strategies; with a brand-new set of hard tires, he could run to the finish directly.

This challenge might be difficult for other drivers, perhaps even greatly affecting speed, but this was Qin Miao.

Pirelli studied him throughout the 2021 season but never figured him out as he was ruthless.

As for Hamilton and the other drivers who pitted at this time, considering their tire-saving capabilities, they would still need one more pit stop to change tires in this race.

Next, the race entered a cruising state, and as Qin Miao's tire temperature rose, he began continuously overtaking the cars ahead from the back of the pack.

Lap 15, overtook Hamilton, who hardly defended against Qin Miao.

Lap 17, overtook O'Kang.

Lap 18, overtook Gasly.

Lap 19, overtook Ricardo, reaching fifth position.

Next, Qin Miao only had Norris ahead at a 3-second position.

Just as Qin Miao prepared to speed up and casually take down Norris, a timely reminder came from the team over the TR: "Qin Miao, Norris hasn't pitted yet. Our actual position is already fourth, and the race is still long. Please take care of your tires."

"Received."

Upon receiving the team's reminder, Qin Miao's speed began to drop.

However, in Lap 21, just as everyone thought the race would proceed normally, Ferrari surprised the fans again.

Because Perez had pitted for a tire change during the yellow flag, Leclerc began to lead the race, but suddenly, in Lap 21, at the straight, a massive plume of white smoke rose from the back of the car.

Leclerc didn't come to a stop on the track.

His engine failure happened to occur at the big straight. With speed of over 300 kilometers per hour, even though Leclerc suddenly lost power, he managed to roll into the pit lane by the car's inertia.

Fans of F1 races know that the cars are light enough for one person to push.

Leclerc even stopped directly outside the gate of the scrutineering area.

With the retirement of both Ferrari drivers, Qin Miao unexpectedly moved up to third after Norris pitted to change tires.

It appears that if Mercedes wants second place this season, they'll have to rely on Ferrari's performance.

But Leclerc seemed accustomed; despite retiring, he didn't yell hysterically on the team TR: "NO! NO! NO!"

Starting from Lap 23, Qin Miao resumed cruising.

Lap 24, just as fans knew that Qin Miao's race had already ended, they shifted their focus to Zhou Guanyu in eighth place.

Zhou Guanyu, who was defending his idol Alonso's attack, suddenly received a TR from the team.

"Sorry, Zhou, the car is malfunctioning. We fear we have to retire."

Zhou Guanyu: ???

In the end, Zhou Guanyu returned to the team's P bay to retire.

So far, the race had only completed 24 laps, but three cars using Ferrari engines had retired.