How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 676 - 286: First Career Grand Slam (6K, Bonus 9/20)

After struggling on the track for a whole lap, Vettel finally returned to the pit lane to switch to intermediate tires.

The Martin Team's attempt was indeed bold, but obviously, the track conditions were not quite as they had anticipated.

Moreover, due to this pit stop, Vettel's position fell to second to last.

Although Vettel's original tenth position would only earn the Martin Team one point, this failed attempt left Vettel with nothing.

On lap 42, after running for four laps, Qin Miao surprisingly discovered that the time gap between himself and Leclerc ahead hadn't shortened much; it was still a five-second gap.

Gaining only one second in four laps was indeed unexpected for Qin Miao.

But the team timely offered comfort: "Leclerc's tires probably won't last until the end of the race, you're doing well, keep it up."

Qin Miao decided not to further accelerate, glanced at the time gap between himself and Verstappen behind him, and continued to run at his comfortable pace.

Meanwhile, the team also on the TR asked Hamilton to pit.

But surprisingly, Hamilton chose to refuse.

After all, Hamilton had been following Perez for almost 20 laps before overtaking him, pitting would place him behind Perez again, which he wasn't too pleased about.

He felt that if he got blocked by Perez once more, it would be very difficult to improve his position further.

Since Hamilton had made his decision, the team couldn't force him, as the one controlling the car is Hamilton, not the strategy team.

So, the tire changers of the Mercedes team moved Hamilton's tires back to the P room, and the matter was left unresolved.

On lap 44, Leclerc's speed began to drop, and as Qin Miao continued at his pace, he suddenly saw a red Ferrari appear ahead.

And this Ferrari was gradually being closed in on by him.

...

On lap 46, Qin Miao used the absolute speed of his car to overtake the slowing Leclerc on the main straight.

During his straight-line overtake of Leclerc, Qin Miao even deliberately drove outside the racing line where there was standing water to cool down his tires.

Even though it was unclear why Leclerc's speed slowed suddenly, from the speed Leclerc was showing now, Qin Miao's worries were clearly unfounded.

Although the speed difference between new and old intermediate tires isn't large, the added vehicle performance makes this gap significant.

When overtaking Leclerc, Qin Miao didn't use any special tactics, relying purely on tires with better grip; he entered and exited the corner together with Leclerc from the outer side with standing water, and then used the stronger performance on the straight to overtake Leclerc directly.

It was simple and straightforward.

After being overtaken by Qin Miao like a gust of wind, Leclerc was momentarily stunned.

Originally, he and the Ferrari team had intended to defend against Qin Miao.

Leclerc even asked the team on the TR if it was possible under the rules to complete the race on this set of tires.

From Leclerc's attitude, it was clear he planned to defend Qin Miao with this set of old intermediate tires until the end of the race.

But man proposes, God disposes. Just as Leclerc asked, Qin Miao completed his overtake.

After being overtaken by Qin Miao, Leclerc chose to pit.

With Verstappen and Hamilton not far behind, if Leclerc continued to hold on the track at this point, he risked being overtaken by them leveraging their car and tire performance.

After coming out of the pit lane, Leclerc returned to his familiar fourth place.

In front of him was Hamilton, and Perez was only one second behind him.

Because of Leclerc's pit stop, Hamilton moved up eight places from tenth to third.

This position aligned well with Hamilton's expectation of his best possible finish in this race, so he focused on maintaining it till the end.

On lap 50, with eight laps remaining, the Mercedes team asked Hamilton about the current condition of his car's tires. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The Old Man naturally knew why the team was asking this; they felt his tires might soon fail and wanted to call him in to change them.

But right in front were Qin Miao and Verstappen, and Hamilton's intention was definitely to stay on the track.

Overtaking the two ahead was impossible; Hamilton's rear tires were bald, providing no grip, but maintaining position was achievable.

After all, Leclerc, ten seconds behind, was unlikely to overtake Hamilton, even with new tires, before the race ended.

On lap 51, the team still indicated over TR that they wanted Hamilton to pit.

Not going beyond three times, and considering the last Russian Grand Prix where the team's decision for Hamilton to pit early and switch to intermediate tires was key in securing his victory,