2: Leclerc

3: Sainz

4: Qin Miao

5: Perez

6: O'Kang

7: Magelsen

8: Mick

9: Alonso

10: Hamilton

The reason Hamilton is in tenth is not hard to guess. In Q3, he didn't achieve a valid single lap time.

Besides that, the most surprising thing is the performance of the two Haas drivers, Magelsen and Mick, who are seventh and eighth.

Normally, given the speed of the Haas car, even if a track suits their car, it would be unlikely for them to achieve this position in qualifying.

Clearly, today's sprint race rules have greatly benefited the two Haas drivers.

The reason for their appearance here is not hard to guess. During practice sessions, not only Zhou Guanyu, but many drivers couldn't fully familiarize themselves with the characteristics of their cars on the Red Bull Ring in just one practice session. The two Haas drivers, being very familiar with their cars due to Mick Schumacher's presence, had more of the budget allocated to repairs rather than upgrades.

Therefore, the car's consistency and predictability have always been stable.

After getting a little familiar with the track, they could already make a good performance using the current car.

Of course, the surprises don't end there.

The Red Bull Ring is reportedly the track most prone to triggering track limit rules among all Grand Prix circuits.

This is because turns T9 and T10 are high-speed downhill right-hand corners. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

T9 is a high-speed downhill right turn, and cars with slightly higher downforce might not even need to brake, just coast into the corner using inertia.

The outer kerbs at T10 are very flat, so drivers tend to take their exit lines wider, using more of the kerbs.

As a result, it's inevitable that drivers might exceed track limits in qualifying.

And there's one unlucky person in this race.

Perez had both of his Q3 flying laps go beyond the white line at T10 with all four wheels, resulting in his times being canceled.

Even on his last flying lap in Q2, Perez exceeded the white line with all four wheels.

Thus, Perez's Q3 result was canceled, and his Q2 result was only based on a baseline qualifying lap. Consequently, Perez could only start from the thirteenth position in the sprint race.

Meanwhile, the drivers starting behind Perez collectively gained a position.

Therefore, the correct starting grid for tomorrow's sprint race is as follows:

1: Verstappen

2: Leclerc

3: Sainz

4: Qin Miao

5: O'Kang

6: Magelsen

7: Mick

8: Alonso

9: Hamilton

10: Gasly

After the race, Qin Miao, not being among the top three in qualifying, didn't have too much trouble, joined a post-race interview, and returned to the team base.

In the post-race meeting, which was quite normal, it followed the routine post-race meeting procedures that Mercedes had developed over the years. After completing them, Qin Miao and Hamilton could both clock out.

However, before they could leave together, Toto found the two of them and took them to Qin Miao's lounge, where he shut the door.

He seriously advised both of them that due to budget cap considerations, they should try to protect their cars as much as possible in tomorrow's sprint race. He didn't even care how well they could finish, or how many points they could bring back.

He just wanted them to bring the cars back safely, with no damage other than the paintwork.

The main race is what counts, after all, as it offers more points.

Compared to the main race, there's no need to go all out in the sprint race since even if you get first place, it's just 8 points.

Moreover, FIA has also discussed with the teams, and the teams wished for the budget cap rules to make an exception for any damages incurred during the sprint race.

The general idea was for car crashes and damages during the sprint race to not be counted under the budget cap but be calculated separately.

But they couldn't reach an agreement.

Since big teams are wealthy, they wouldn't mind pushing hard during the sprint race, then use the damage as an excuse to make some "free" small upgrades that don't count towards the budget cap.

FIA considered that if such an allowance was made, teams like Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull might exploit it, and with smaller teams opposing it due to their limited resources, the matter ended inconclusively.

This is why, after the meeting, Toto sought out the two Mercedes drivers for communication.

Both Hamilton and Qin Miao expressed their respect for Toto's wishes.

After all, a position in the sprint race is only worth one point, there's no need to go all out.

Thus, Qin Miao's work for the day concluded.

On the way back to the hotel, Qin Miao saw Leclerc again.

At that time, Leclerc's spirit was revitalized.

Although Leclerc fell to second place in qualifying, the time gap between him and pole-sitter Verstappen was only 0.029 seconds, indicating their speeds were neck and neck.

Thus, with today's race set as a baseline, Leclerc was somewhat reassured.

However, it is often said that Ferrari never conjures something up in two consecutive races, meaning there might still be a chance for Leclerc to stand on the top podium in this race.

After resting for a day, Saturday came.

On Saturday, Qin Miao completed most of the testing work in the second practice session, and other tests that didn't have a significant impact on car tuning were left for the upcoming sprint race, to be collected along the way.

The time quickly approached the sprint race, with its preparation almost identical to that before a regular main race.

Once everything was ready, and the warm-up lap was about to start.

However, at that moment, a yellow flag appeared on the track.

Alonso's car had stalled on track.

When everyone thought Alonso's car had broken down, the camera cut over, and fans found it a bit exasperating.

Indeed, Alonso's car was stopped on the track, with nobody around, no smoke coming out, but the tire blankets hadn't been removed from his car's four wheels!

Meanwhile, other drivers had already headed out.

Therefore, with tire blankets on, Alonso couldn't start the car.

But since Verstappen and the pack had already moved, the sprint race couldn't be paused.

Thus, other drivers had to continue moving, while Alpine had to wait until all other cars had left to return to the track to handle Alonso's car.

Of course, that's not the only surprise. Meanwhile, on the other side.

After all the drivers had completed the warm-up lap and returned to their positions, Zhou Guanyu's car suddenly slowed down and came to a stop at the apex of T10.

His car had stalled.

Upon seeing this, domestic fans immediately began venting their frustration at the Alfa Romeo team.

Ever since Alfa Romeo opened its social media account domestically, aside from the few races where Zhou Guanyu finished successfully, the comments section during almost every other race was filled either with sarcasm or outright insults.

Originally, due to Qin Miao's presence, there was a surge in the number of domestic fans, most of whom had little viewing experience and were accustomed to the terrifying consistency of Mercedes on the track.

This season, after Zhou Guanyu joined Alfa Romeo, the team made repeated blunders during races, which naturally upset the fans, prompting a flood of criticism.

Fortunately, after being stopped on track for over twenty seconds, Zhou Guanyu managed to restart his car under the guidance of the team engineer.

Although starting an F1 car in normal conditions is akin to starting a tractor, using a special starting rod inserted into the car's rear light position to connect to the engine and start it using external force,

the team also anticipated Zhou Guanyu's scenario of a suddenly stalled engine on track, as well as when all cars are stopped on the track before the race and suddenly stall.

Therefore, F1 cars are equipped with the ability to start using the car's internal ERS power or an external power source.

However, Alfa Romeo's mishap led to Zhou Guanyu's sprint race starting grid position changing from 15th to a pit lane start.

To say the least, Qin Miao also felt that this Alfa Romeo car truly deserved criticism.