How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 739 - 305: Working Up a Sweat, Toto

Yet despite the choice being in favor of Qin Miao, he didn't opt for it but chose to consider the bigger picture instead.

This alone is enough to demonstrate Qin Miao's extraordinary foresight.

While the three commentators from Five-Star Sports were discussing the pros and cons of Qin Miao's decision to yield, Toto let out a long sigh.

What he didn't even notice was that not only were his palms sweaty, but his shirt's back was also completely drenched with sweat.

However, Toto knew that after this race, Qin Miao's reputation within Mercedes would only rise another notch.

After all, this counts as yet another self-sacrifice by the genius driver for the benefit of the team.

If things continue to develop in this manner, by the time Hamilton actually retires, Qin Miao is very likely to seamlessly transition into the next spiritual leader of the Mercedes team.

Just like Hamilton now.

Imagining such a scene in his mind, Toto suddenly felt at ease.

That would also be good, at least both Daimler and Liberty Media Group would undoubtedly support it wholeheartedly and wouldn't mind offering Qin Miao a bigger contract.

After all, Qin Miao represents an undeveloped massive market.

You can tell just from the fact that a single region in China contributed 15%-25% of the total viewership for the recent F1 Grand Prix.

On the track, after letting Hamilton pass, Qin Miao felt somewhat regretful internally.

After all, it wasn't just a position he gave up, but also the points that would come after the race.

But at this moment, Hamilton had already raced far ahead, and the possibility of Qin Miao catching up to Hamilton was gone.

Now, Qin Miao had no way to turn back, and all he could do was continue to perform well in his own race.

However, after the two drivers exchanged positions to the delight of Mercedes fans, the outcome was not as everyone had expected.

After getting rid of Qin Miao's constraint, Hamilton's speed in pursuing Verstappen wasn't particularly ideal.

Unlike Verstappen and Qin Miao, Hamilton's tire wear was much more severe than these two drivers' since he had been catching up from behind.

So after overtaking Qin Miao, Hamilton's tire wear had reached its limit, and even though the safety car had circulated for several laps and there was a virtual safety car, it couldn't save his precarious tire condition.

But the good news was, although Hamilton's pace in pursuing Verstappen was somewhat slow, he was still steadily closing the gap with Verstappen, so the team didn't call Hamilton in immediately.

Soon, the race reached Lap 27.

On Lap 26, realizing his pursuit of Verstappen was slowing down, Hamilton finally chose to pit on Lap 27 at the team's request.

After pitting, Hamilton switched to hard tires, completing the change in 2.4 seconds, rejoining behind Ricardo, placing him in the 6th position.

Once out, the team sternly reminded Hamilton, "The out-lap pace is crucial; according to our calculations, Verstappen will pit on the next lap."

And indeed, because Verstappen was running in front, he couldn't immediately follow Hamilton's pace into the pits.

The lap after Hamilton pitted, which was Lap 28, Verstappen chose to pit and, like Hamilton, switched to hard tires.

Since Verstappen was leading Hamilton at this time, the entire Red Bull team didn't need a too complicated strategy—just pit whenever Hamilton did.

Following the Mercedes-Benz pace may not offer an advantage, but at least there won't be any lapses in pit decision-making.

However, at this point, the new hard tires were already faster than the medium tires, and Hamilton's out-lap was practically all-out.

Hamilton was fastest in the second and third timing sectors.

Although Verstappen rejoined ahead of Hamilton, this pit stop helped Hamilton shave 2 seconds off the gap with Verstappen.

Now, there was only a 2-second gap between Hamilton and Verstappen.

The time lost battling with Qin Miao was essentially recovered with this pit stop.

However, Red Bull hadn't lost out much either; after all, Verstappen hadn't lost his position, and by Lap 30, Hamilton was only 1.5 seconds behind Verstappen.

Even though Hamilton was indeed continuously closing the gap with Verstappen, it was evident that he was encountering the same problem as Qin Miao; close behind Verstappen, due to the turbulent air, Hamilton's approach speed was slowing.

Just when everyone thought Qin Miao was out of the championship contention, and it was time to watch the battle between Hamilton and Verstappen, an unexpected event occurred on the track.

At the end of Lap 30, a virtual safety car appeared on the track.

And at this time, Qin Miao hadn't pitted!