How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 709 - 296: Red Bull Held Back by Concerns
After discussing with the team, Hamilton first provided a slipstream for Qin Miao, and then Qin Miao did the same for Hamilton.
This arrangement seemed very fair, as neither of them would be disadvantaged, but in reality, Qin Miao was at a slight disadvantage compared to Hamilton.
After all, the driver who goes first experiences less optimal track conditions compared to the driver who follows.
But there was no other way; although Toto said he wouldn't interfere in the competition between himself and Hamilton, Mercedes subconsciously showed a bit of favoritism towards Hamilton compared to Qin Miao.
Qin Miao couldn't say much about this because he was the newcomer after all.
Moreover, considering Hamilton's contribution to the Mercedes team, Qin Miao didn't feel resentful about this preferential treatment.
Plus, after Toto's words, at least on the surface, Qin Miao wouldn't encounter uneven resource distribution within the team, and he was quite satisfied with the current situation.
In Q3, during the first flying lap, Hamilton indeed provided a slipstream for Qin Miao without holding back along the main straight from T17 to T1. According to the team's estimate, Hamilton saved Qin Miao 0.3 seconds on this straight alone during the flying lap.
And Qin Miao did not squander the slipstream provided by Hamilton, completing the flying lap without any mistakes.
After crossing the line, Qin Miao's time was 1:16.111, temporarily placing him in first position.
Meanwhile, Verstappen's time was only 1:16.225 at this point.
Red Bull immediately noticed Mercedes's slipstream strategy, but when they looked at Perez, they couldn't bring themselves to implement it.
Since there was only enough time left for the drivers to complete one more flying lap, Red Bull couldn't sacrifice Verstappen for Perez's time.
Nor could they let Perez provide a slipstream for Verstappen at the cost of Perez's lap time.
In any other Grand Prix with such a situation, Red Bull's strategy team would dare to do so, but today's race was in Mexico.
As Perez's home race, Red Bull would rather let neither Verstappen nor Perez benefit from a teammate's slipstream than favor one over the other.
So even after discovering Mercedes's towing strategy, Red Bull was powerless to do anything, feeling as disgusted as swallowing a fly.
They had no choice but to accept the loss quietly.
In the last lap of Q3, Qin Miao provided a slipstream for Hamilton.
It is worth mentioning that this flying lap by Hamilton started relatively early, so after providing the slipstream, Qin Miao still had enough time to get back on track for another flying lap before the countdown ended.
Thanks to the slipstream from Qin Miao in the last lap, Hamilton managed to get under the 1:15 mark, securing pole position with 1:15.981.
However, Qin Miao made a noticeable throttle error in the second sector of his last flying lap, leading to a loss of rear grip post-race.
Although Qin Miao quickly counter-steered and saved the car, he lost the chance to improve his time in the last flying lap of Q3.
The good news was that Verstappen's final flying lap time wasn't ideal without a teammate's slipstream.
By the time the Q3 clock stopped, neither Verstappen nor Qin Miao managed to improve their fastest times from their first flying laps in Q3.
Finally, amid the cheers from the Mercedes garage, Mercedes took the front row at a circuit not traditionally strong for them.
Hamilton secured pole position, Qin Miao was second, and Red Bull's Verstappen and Perez started from the second row in third and fourth.
Even though everyone knew that due to the long main straight at the Rodriguez Brothers Circuit, a pole sitter whose start wasn't as fast as the third-place starter's could easily lose the lead due to slipstream from cars behind, Mercedes didn't forgo the fight for pole.
They clearly knew what was more important.
After qualifying, the driver's standings were as follows:
1: Hamilton
2: Qin Miao
3: Verstappen
4: Perez
5: Gasly
6: Sainz
7: Ricardo
8: Leclerc
9: Tsunoda
10: Norris
11: Vettel
12: Kimi
13: Russell
14: Giovinazzi
15: O'Kang
16: Alonso
17: Latifi
18: Mick
19: Mazepin
20: Stroll
However, during the start, Russell, Tsunoda, Norris, O'Kang, and Stroll all had to start from the back of the grid due to engine changes, just like Qin Miao in the previous race.
Approaching the season's end, almost all drivers had used up the FIA-allotted number of engines, so they could only brace themselves and accept the FIA's penalties.
After qualifying, Hamilton, Qin Miao, and Verstappen naturally went for the post-race interviews.
Qin Miao was relatively satisfied with his position, so he was quite relaxed during the post-interview. Hamilton also put his arm around Qin Miao's shoulder to thank him.
After all, during the last lap, Qin Miao really did provide a slipstream for Hamilton from corner exit all the way to the braking point.
