How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 601 - 260: Dutch Grand Prix Race
It is worth mentioning that due to Latifi's crash, Norris was directly hit back to thirteenth place and ultimately missed out on Q3.
And when someone goes down, someone naturally goes up, Giovinazzi picked up the wallet Norris dropped and successfully advanced to Q3.
Q2 came to a comma amidst the collision between the two Williams drivers.
Qin Miao managed to complete his first valid flying lap before Russell initiated the crash horn; at that time, Qin Miao used the set of old soft tires that had been used in Q1, so after Q2 stopped the clock, Qin Miao narrowly advanced in eighth place.
However, as a result, Qin Miao's tire reserve became one white, one yellow, and two red sets of new tires, along with a set of soft tires that ran two out-laps but never ran a flying lap.
In the Q3 stage, there weren't as many surprises on the track, and because there were nearly half fewer race cars on the track, the team was more casual when releasing cars.
Throughout Q3, Qin Miao's performance was very stable, but after all, this is Verstappen's home turf, and Verstappen is clearly more familiar with the track, having practiced more times and for longer than Qin Miao. Compared to Verstappen's speed, Qin Miao was still noticeably slower, although the speed gap between Qin Miao and Hamilton wasn't large.
After the first flying lap in Q3, Qin Miao was in third place, with only a 0.1-second gap from Hamilton.
And after the last flying lap in Q3, Qin Miao still remained in third place.
The final rankings after Q3 ended were as follows:
Pole position: Verstappen
2: Hamilton
3: Qin Miao
4: Gasly
5: Leclerc
6: Sainz
7: Giovinazzi
8: O'Kang
9: Alonso
10: Ricardo
... 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
"Too fast, can't catch up, really can't catch up." Qin Miao's voice echoed through the Mercedes team's TR, carrying a hint of helplessness.
Before Frankie could speak, Toto comforted Qin Miao: "Don't get discouraged, Qin Miao, it's Verstappen's home turf. Defeating him here would be a pleasant surprise."
Of course, Toto didn't tell Qin Miao that Verstappen's fastest lap was even achieved without using DRS.
In the post-race interview session, naturally, it was Verstappen's happiest moment; as he gave interviews, the whole place was filled with cheers and whistles, and the grandstands by the track were constantly rising with orange smoke.
This is the unique way Dutch fans and Verstappen fans celebrate. Qin Miao had already witnessed such scenes at the Red Bull Ring; indeed, the orange smoke could float onto the track with the wind.
So when Verstappen finished his interview, Qin Miao watched the smoke drifting across the track like admiring scenery.
Soon, it was Hamilton's turn for the interview after Verstappen finished.
When Hamilton took the stage, the audience wasn't as polite. Even though the host explicitly asked the crowd not to boo Hamilton when he took the interview, stressing they need to give the seven-time champion the respect he deserves, as Hamilton began the interview, the venue was still filled with boos and clamor.
For a while, Hamilton couldn't hear the host's questions, and the host couldn't make out Hamilton's responses.
But Hamilton has been in this business for so long, he's well aware of the nature of the fans at these events. Hence, during his interview, Hamilton was eager to survive, filling his speech with praise for Dutch fans at Zandvoort and the circuit.
Thanks to Hamilton's comments, his subsequent interviews proceeded smoothly, with the audience calming down for the last two questions.
And Hamilton reciprocated by waving to the audience when he left, prompting them to respond with applause and cheers.
As Hamilton left the interview area, he patted Qin Miao on the arm when Qin Miao went up for his turn.
When Qin Miao looked over, Hamilton gave him a knowing look.
Qin Miao nodded in understanding.
Hamilton's message was clear: "Little brother, I've already demonstrated; if you want to conduct interviews at the opponent's home ground without being embarrassed by the audience, just do as I did, first praise the local fans with some compliments, then conduct the interview normally."
After all, flattery never fails.
Qin Miao really understood.
So when it was Qin Miao's turn for the interview, he followed Hamilton's advice, complimenting the audience, saying the fans were enthusiastic, the track's atmosphere was strong, and the circuit was fun, among other things.
Thus, when Qin Miao was interviewed, the audience was just like during Hamilton's interview, hardly causing too much noise, and when Qin Miao finished his interview, they gave him applause.
Naturally, the collective cheers and applause Qin Miao and Hamilton received after their interviews still couldn't match half of the cheer that Verstappen alone received.
Returning backstage, after tidying up his gear, Qin Miao accompanied Hamilton to the post-race interview area to attend the news conference.
Qin Miao and Hamilton were already well-versed in this.
However, the local Dutch media focused their attention more on Verstappen, leaving Qin Miao and Hamilton happy to take it easy.
