How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 780 - 317: The Second Red Flag

Over at Red Bull, Horner's smile could hardly be contained anymore, and Marco beside him didn't even try to hide his emotions, his old face crinkling with laughter.

Verstappen looked at the two Mercedes behind him, equally delighted, his heart full of excitement.

Leading position, and on a street circuit no less!

The three commentators from Five-Star Sports, analyzing the impact of this red flag and the ranking of the three drivers on the overall standings, couldn't help but have a hint of disappointment in their tone.

Qin Miao also felt a bit helpless after getting out of the car. Why did it have to be a red flag at such a crucial moment?

However, Qin Miao was willing to accept this reality.

After all, what's done is done, and the event was not going to rescind the red flag.

After getting out of the car, Qin Miao didn't leave the track but walked all the way from the pit exit to the Mercedes garage at the pit entry.

Qin Miao knew he had to actively seek change.

If he did nothing and just went along with the way the race was going, Qin Miao realized he might end up stuck in third place.

Even though Qin Miao was confident he could overtake Verstappen in the race to come, he didn't know if something unexpected might occur on the track.

So after returning to the team garage, Qin Miao asked strategy director James Vincent for a copy of the team's strategy options.

After reviewing them, Qin Miao finally decided to change a set of tires during the red flag period.

He would switch directly to medium tires.

Previously mentioned, Qin Miao typically reserves three sets of brand-new tires before a race starts, so even if he started this race on medium tires, he would still have a brand-new medium set in his tire reserves.

Therefore, changing tires at this time meant Qin Miao still had new tires to use.

After the red flag, it would be a static start. Hamilton no longer had new medium tires, and Verstappen would likely switch to hard tires when he came in, so he was probably going to complete the race on one set of hard tires.

This meant that the only way for Qin Miao to significantly improve his position would be at the start.

Once the team realized Qin Miao planned to start on a new set of medium tires, they naturally didn't oppose it.

But after Qin Miao confirmed starting with these tires, James Vincent couldn't help but ask, "After switching to mediums, are you going to make another pit stop? I'll have the strategy department calculate it for you."

Qin Miao squinted slightly: "Unless there's an accident, no pit stop needed."

After saying that, Qin Miao left the team garage,

leaving Toto and others bewildered and surprised.

We acknowledge that Qin Miao's tire management is strong, you've indeed shown some extraordinary performances in that aspect, like completing an entire race on a set of hard tires, and that set is still held at Pirelli's headquarters.

However, even though the Jeddah Circuit isn't particularly harsh on tires, it's still a high-speed track second only to Silverstone. No matter how impressive Qin Miao's tire management skills are, managing to run 35 laps on hard tires sounds possible, but with medium tires, it seems rather unlikely.

However, Qin Miao wasn't quite aware of Toto and others' skepticism, nor did he care.

Qin Miao knew it would be difficult to finish the remaining distance of the race on medium tires, but if he didn't take this risk, he felt that after this race, Hamilton would completely overtake him on the drivers' points standings.

No matter what the result of this decision might be, at least Qin Miao's strategy was different from Hamilton and Verstappen's.

If something unexpected occurred on the track again, Qin Miao could very likely benefit from it.

By this time, Reyes and the team had already learned about Qin Miao's new tire choice through team radio.

Since they had already brought the tires to Qin Miao's car, by the time he returned, they had already mounted a brand-new set of medium tires for him.

Finding a spot to sit down, Qin Miao pulled out an energy bar from Barber's bag and took his water bottle in hand, eating and spacing out while waiting for the race to restart.

During this time, the cameraman focused the broadcast camera on Qin Miao, as among the three drivers vying for the championship, he had been unluckiest, suffering the most from the red flag.

Feeling annoyed, Qin Miao saw the cameraman practically shoving the lens in his face.

He pushed the camera lens a bit further away with a hint of irritation. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Then Qin Miao recalled something Eliza had told him.

When facing live cameras, it's best not to make any overly intense or excessive actions, since the camera is essentially the audience's eyes on you.

Qin Miao thought he might have been a bit too rough pushing the camera lens away.

After some thought, he unwrapped an unopened energy bar he was holding and handed it in front of the camera.

[No thanks, I'm not eating]

[C'mon, toss it in my mouth]

[Waaah, despite being so unlucky, Qin Miao is still offering me food, he's so kind]

[Thanks, but no. However, please toss the half-eaten energy bar in my mouth]

[I'm thirsty, Qin Miao, let me take a sip of your water bottle]

[Does anyone want the wrapper from the energy bar Qin Miao is holding? If nobody wants it, I'll eat it.]