How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 605 - 264: The Consequences of a Head-On Clash

On lap 43, at the starting straight position, Qin Miao didn't defend against Hamilton behind him, allowing Hamilton to overtake him using DRS on the starting straight.

This wasn't a team order, mainly because Qin Miao's lap speed with his current tires wasn't as fast as Hamilton's new medium tires.

No matter how extraordinary Qin Miao's tire preservation abilities are, he can't defy the laws of physics to run faster with a set of tires losing grip than Hamilton, the seven-time champion, with his new tires.

At this moment, Verstappen also pitted early in an attempt to undercut both Qin Miao and Hamilton.

Qin Miao and Hamilton were running different strategies, and blocking Hamilton would only lead to pointless gains for their rivals.

So Qin Miao let Hamilton go.

After letting Hamilton pass, Qin Miao and Verstappen behind him began a long-distance test.

The race organizers displayed the gaps between the three and estimated Qin Miao's position after his pit stop, including how many seconds behind Verstappen he would be.

The earlier excitement was gone.

However, when the front group of three championship contenders entered a brief period of calm in their competition, the back of the field did not lack exciting scenes.

At this time, Perez, who started from the back of the grid, had charged up to eleventh place, with McLaren's Ricardo and Norris ahead of him.

And at this moment, Perez was only 2 seconds behind Ricardo. With Red Bull's car performance, overtaking Norris ahead was just a matter of time.

During these laps, when Qin Miao, Hamilton, and Verstappen were running their rhythm, the director turned the camera to other drivers.

However, soon, as the race reached lap 49, viewers watching the tussle between Giovinazzi and Vettel suddenly noticed that the director switched the camera, and a Mercedes W12 on medium tires slowly entered the pit lane.

"Is this Qin Miao?"

"Yes, Qin Miao. He pitted after running 49 laps on medium tires, without losing much speed; only he could achieve this." Fei remarked.

This was Qin Miao's first pit stop in the race and the planned final pit stop. He had a gap of 10.7 seconds with Verstappen behind him and was likely to exit the pits about 10 seconds behind Verstappen.

Qin Miao was preparing to change to soft tires. According to Mercedes' own test data, if both cars run with normal tire wear, Qin Miao can be faster by 0.9 seconds per lap on soft tires compared to medium tires.

And if he pushes aggressively without regard to tire wear, Qin Miao can be more than 1.5 seconds per lap faster with soft tires than he was on mediums.

Although Verstappen wasn't driving a Mercedes, the speed difference between the tires should be similar.

So, if nothing unexpected happens, Qin Miao will catch up to Verstappen ahead in about 11 laps, with 11 laps left until the end of the race.

Qin Miao will have enough time to attack Verstappen ahead.

As for what happens when Qin Miao overtakes Verstappen, what about Hamilton ahead?

If the Mercedes higher-ups and staff were faced with this question, they might hesitate for a moment, then somewhat uncertainly say, "Let's talk about it after he overtakes."

As for Hamilton, after overtaking Qin Miao and extending his lead over Qin Miao to 5 seconds, he began to protect his tires.

Even though Hamilton's set of medium tires had already completed 21 laps, thanks to Hamilton's deliberate tire preservation after overtaking Qin Miao, the tire wear was still within controllable limits.

Given the development at this point, Hamilton's exact thoughts are not difficult to guess, even though the team initially planned two stops for Hamilton.

However, the race organizer and team did not force Hamilton to make two stops.

Hamilton thinks that given Qin Miao's defensive skills and Verstappen's speed, if he follows the team's plan, the championship will likely slip through his fingers.

His teammate Qin Miao plans to finish the race in one stop, and Qin Miao still has a set of brand new soft tires. Given Qin Miao's tire management skills, he will undoubtedly use soft tires for the last stint.

Therefore, Qin Miao will definitely have a battle with Verstappen.

Considering Verstappen's defense and his desire for the championship, Verstappen will not easily let his position go to Qin Miao.

They will certainly have a good fight later, giving Hamilton more time to increase his distance from both of them and protect his tires.

If they fight long enough, regardless of who wins, the benefit will go to Hamilton.

Thinking about this, although Hamilton didn't communicate with his team staff, he has quietly decided to tough it out in the later stages of the race without pitting, to see if he can complete the race on his current set of medium tires.

Even if Hamilton loses this gamble, Gasly behind him is almost 63 seconds away. At worst, he's bringing back a third place.

There is limited loss if Hamilton bets and loses, but the gains are considerable if he wins, and doing nothing will at best secure a second place.