How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 658 - 280: Norris-Brand Milky Torpedo

"Does this mean that Qin Miao! Qin Miao has a great chance of winning the championship!"

Of course, at this moment, both Mercedes drivers weren't thinking that much; they were thinking whether the increasing rain would give them any advantage or not.

On the other side, the director had already switched the camera to McLaren's Norris.

Because of the sudden downpour in the second timing sector, water had already pooled on the track.

This meant that the dry tires Norris was insisting on using had completely lost their effectiveness.

When Norris entered T4, you could clearly see he was particularly slippery.

Accelerating out of the turns was difficult.

By the time he reached T5, the spray from the rear of the car could obscure 70% of the following drivers' vision.

Thus, when Qin Miao and Hamilton arrived at the T5 exit, Qin Miao suddenly noticed that a McLaren appeared in front of him.

At first sight of that McLaren, Qin Miao thought he was lapping Ricardo who was ninth.

But upon closer inspection of the ranking data on his steering wheel's display, wasn't this Norris?

Considering the current rain and Norris's tires, it's understandable how Qin Miao caught up to Norris by over ten seconds within a single timing sector.

"Awesome! Norris's decision error gave Qin Miao a chance, a very big chance. Now Qin Miao is in a commanding position for the championship, just needing to defend Hamilton's attack to secure it!" Fei excitedly said.

"Exactly, with Qin Miao's defensive skills, defending against Hamilton's attack isn't too difficult, and with the rain eliminating DRS, it's even easier." Zhou Haoran also said.

Now the live director no longer had to worry about which shot to cut into the broadcast stream.

Because on the short straight between T5 and T6, Qin Miao, Hamilton, and Norris all appeared within the same frame.

At this moment, Norris's speed was incredibly slow, as water pooling was causing his tire temperature to drop rapidly, further weakening the already poor grip.

So when Qin Miao and Hamilton passed through T6, arriving at T7, Qin Miao was just 0.3 seconds behind Norris.

Yes, Qin Miao completely caught up to Norris just by relying on one small straight.

Due to Norris's tire problems, his braking point was much earlier than those of Qin Miao and Hamilton.

Norris, realizing this due to the sudden increase in rain, understood that his original decision not to pit and change tires was wrong. At this point, Norris deeply regretted his decision.

Despite knowing his speed wasn't as fast as Qin Miao and Hamilton's,

seeing Qin Miao and Hamilton—originally 16 seconds behind—chase up to within a second of him within a single timing sector filled Norris's heart with dissatisfaction.

Therefore, upon seeing Qin Miao preparing to overtake him at this corner, the unwilling Norris didn't directly let Qin Miao pass, but instead took a defensive inside line.

Norris didn't have any malicious intent; it was purely an instinctive move from being in a rush.

Seeing this, Qin Miao naturally relied on his grip advantage with semi-wet tires in wet conditions and prepared to overtake Norris from the outside.

Hamilton, noticing the outside line blocked by Qin Miao and Norris, had to gamble on the inside line if he didn't want to lose too much speed and miss this hard-won chance to overtake Qin Miao.

Despite understanding the risk, Hamilton also knew there were only two laps left until the race's end.

Qin Miao is inherently strong defensively, and missing this opportunity meant another chance might not come in this race.

Then, from the aerial view, you could see the two Mercedes and a McLaren entering T7 side by side.

Just when everyone expected a fierce battle upon exit,

an incident occurred on track again.

Norris's tires locked upon braking.

With rainwater, a wheel-to-wheel battle with other drivers, and Norris using dry tires, a tire lock was quite normal under these conditions.

But coincidentally, Norris's tire lock happened just as Qin Miao was decelerating into the corner.

Suddenly, a "bang" sound was heard.

On the outside line entering the corner, Qin Miao was fiercely hit from the side by Norris's out-of-control car.

Fortunately, because Norris braked earlier and Qin Miao's car was forward, the collision involved Norris's left front wheel striking Qin Miao's car's side pod and underplate.

Meanwhile, Qin Miao's left front tire broke Norris's left front wing endplate.

Under inertia, this endplate slid off the track and into the runoff area.

Luckily, Qin Miao's tire didn't blow out from this.

But the grip of Qin Miao's tire, already in an extreme state, was entirely lost from Norris's hit.

However, in this slow-speed corner, despite being initially dazed from the impact, Qin Miao instinctively chose to counter-steer.

Although Qin Miao, with his physical sensation and car control, executed the best possible response, he still nearly crashed into the barrier.

But fortunately, Qin Miao stopped just before hitting the wall.