Chapter 1049: Chapter 403: Mercedes’ Heroic Performance

However, on the Silverstone track, the performance of the Red Bull cars is essentially equal to Ferrari.

This is not good news for Ferrari, as at the beginning of the season, the performance of Red Bull cars was noticeably inferior to Ferrari.

But now, nearing the midpoint of the season, the Ferrari is evenly matched with Red Bull, which only proves that Ferrari’s upgrades haven’t been as fast as Red Bull’s.

Afterwards, Leclerc and Verstappen both attempted some offensive and defensive maneuvers on the track.

However, after the first lap ended and the positions of six drivers in front were sorted out, there were no changes in ranking.

Yet, during the tussle with Verstappen, Leclerc’s left front nose wing endplate got knocked off.

Perez also broke his right front endplate from entangling with Leclerc during the race start.

But despite this, both drivers continued racing with their damaged endplates.

However, when the DRS was activated during the third lap, Leclerc had already opened up a 4.7-second gap behind Perez.

Clearly, the damage to Perez’s car was more severe than Leclerc’s.

Consequently, Hamilton was just 0.4 seconds behind Perez, while Qin Miao was following Hamilton 0.5 seconds behind.

Both were looking to capitalize on Perez’s vulnerability.

However, before Hamilton and Qin Miao could make their move, Perez, whose speed had dropped significantly, was called into the pits for medium tires in the 5th lap.

And since it was still early in the race, Perez fell to the last position after exiting the pit.

Of course, before Qin Miao joined F1, Perez was known as the tire preservation master.

It’s believed that the Red Bull team plans to have Perez run a super-long stint later on.

They might also be counting on a safety car.

The reason why both drivers had the same car damage location, yet showed distinct differences in lap times post-damage,

mainly lies in Red Bull’s overall aerodynamic design this season, which is fast.

Once the car’s overall aerodynamic effect is compromised, the speed of Red Bull cars naturally drops significantly.

As for Ferrari, the reason for their speed this season is their engine’s output, which is at least 20 horsepower more than other teams.

Ferrari simply copied Mercedes’ past design philosophy, focusing on brute force.

Therefore, even if Ferrari’s left front wing endplate is knocked off and the overall aerodynamic layout is affected, Leclerc’s car speed won’t be compromised.

After Perez pitted, Qin Miao and Hamilton both moved up one position from 5th and 6th, and their positions for this race won’t change further.

And when the race reached the 7th lap, both Qin Miao and Hamilton’s single lap speeds were faster than Perez’s.

Perhaps Perez was preserving his tires, but in any case, he has largely missed the contention for the top four.

In the 8th lap, Qin Miao, who had been following Hamilton within 1 second in the DRS zone, finally found an opportunity to attack his teammate.

At this time, Hamilton was no longer benefiting from the DRS provided by the driver ahead, and his overall speed wasn’t as fast as Qin Miao’s, partly due to his discomfort with the current W13, despite the many modifications made for him.

In the DRS zone between T5 and T6, Qin Miao reduced the time gap with Hamilton from 0.7 seconds to 0.3 seconds.

Then, when they came to the DRS zone between T14 and T15, the gap was widened back to 0.5 seconds by Hamilton.

However, this did not affect Qin Miao’s attack.

Entering the DRS zone, Qin Miao activated DRS and unleashed his battery, which had reached 70% power.

On Hamilton’s side, though he had broken the ice with Qin Miao, personal relationships remained personal; in the race, Hamilton would not give Qin Miao any friendly gestures.

Facing Qin Miao’s attack, Hamilton’s defense was resolute. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Seeing Qin Miao attempting to overtake, he began weaving on the track.

After all, they hadn’t reached the braking point yet, so weaving a few times had no impact.

However, Qin Miao did not follow Hamilton’s rhythm; instead, he accelerated fully on the racing line, avoiding potential bumps on the track and giving the car and engine the best acceleration conditions.

Having weaved two or three times, Hamilton noticed that Qin Miao wasn’t making any opportunistic moves to attack him, so he stopped weaving.

Yet, knowing Qin Miao’s exceptional late braking ability, Hamilton didn’t release the inside line, keeping it firmly occupied.

Then the two closed in at an unexpected speed, and finally, Qin Miao was side by side with Hamilton at the braking point.

The two Mercedes were almost neck and neck as they entered T15.

However, T15 was a long right-hander, so Hamilton, on the inside line, had a line advantage.

Whereas Qin Miao on the outside might suffer slightly for now, T16 was yet another left turn, making him the one on the inside then.

As long as he maintained side by side with Hamilton on the outside line of T15, he would have the advantage in T16.

Although as he exited T15, Hamilton intended to use his more forward position to squeeze Qin Miao off the track, he hesitated for a moment when preparing to exit the corner, slightly delaying his throttle.