How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 781 - 317: The Second Red Flag (Part 2)
[You guys upstairs are really unbelievable]
[Are all of Qin Miao's fans this abstract?]
Over at Five-Star Sports.
The three commentators had been discussing for a while how Qin Miao could turn the tables in the upcoming race and move up a few positions.
There was no lack of concern in their words about Qin Miao's final result in this race.
But as the discussion went on, the broadcast showed Qin Miao handing a power bar to the camera.
Bing laughed and then said, "It seems like this sudden red flag hasn't troubled Qin Miao too much, at least Qin Miao still has the confidence to joke around."
After hearing Bing's words, the other two commentators also laughed and chimed in with a few comments.
...
As time passed, the red flag was about to end, and the race was about to restart.
Qin Miao put his helmet back on, finished putting on his racing suit, and returned to his car.
Once back in the car, he carefully put on his gloves and secured his steering wheel.
Soon, as Reyes and the others left the track, the race was about to restart.
Verstappen drove out of the pit lane ahead, and Qin Miao followed closely behind Hamilton.
Just when everyone thought the warm-up lap would go normally until the real race began.
The top three drivers started acting up during the warm-up lap.
Verstappen drove a normal warm-up lap, then Hamilton deliberately slowed down significantly after Verstappen passed a blind corner.
And Qin Miao also slowed down significantly after Hamilton passed through this blind corner.
Qin Miao learned this technique of cooling the front tires from Hamilton.
Hamilton dug a hole for himself this time.
Then, the spectators saw a spectacle on the track: there was at least a twenty to thirty-meter gap between Verstappen, in first place, and Hamilton, in second place.
Between Qin Miao, in third place, and Hamilton, in second place, there was also a gap of over ten meters.
Qin Miao, after all, was fairly honest and didn't extend the distance to the limit like Hamilton did.
Meanwhile, Qin Miao didn't forget to constantly weave left and right to warm up his car's tires.
During this process, because Hamilton and Qin Miao were too far back, Verstappen kept complaining on the team radio, nearly cursing.
Hamilton also commented: "Why is Qin Miao so far from me?"
Connecting it to the distance between Hamilton and Verstappen, Hamilton's statement carried a bit of black humor.
But in reality, Hamilton and Qin Miao's actions, while somewhat unethical, didn't violate the FIA's warm-up lap regulations, as long as the distance to the car ahead didn't exceed ten car lengths.
Subsequently, the three naturally began to fiercely jockey on the track.
All slowing down, but due to the blind corner's surprise, ultimately, Hamilton and Qin Miao were both at least three seconds slower than the lead driver before stopping in their positions.
Just before Qin Miao could stop his car in position, he slammed the brakes and then hit the gas pedal.
This maneuver would cause Qin Miao's car tires to briefly spin.
This is a method of trading tire life for tire temperature at the start.
Compared to the first two drivers, Qin Miao's only advantage now was his medium tires, so getting the tire temperature to an ideal point was necessary.
As Latifi took his position, the second start countdown for the race began.
The five red lights lit up one by one, then all went out simultaneously, and the race restarted!
Qin Miao's start was remarkable, exceptionally fast, while Verstappen, who was in first, had a noticeably slow start.
Hamilton, in second, had a faster start than Verstappen, but not as fast as Qin Miao.
So just as they started and ran 100 meters, Hamilton was side by side with Verstappen, and Qin Miao's front wheels were already at Verstappen's rear right wheel, closing in on Verstappen.
When they reached the T1 braking point, all three cars were side by side on the track, with Qin Miao on the outside, Verstappen in the middle, and Hamilton on the inside.
As they entered the corner, Hamilton was ahead, followed by Qin Miao, with Verstappen being the slowest.
But Verstappen clearly didn't want to give up the position he gained by chance; he knew how important this position was for him.
So, after passing the T1 braking point, Verstappen didn't slow his car to a safe level.
As a result, the audience could clearly see that Verstappen's maneuver caused him to significantly surpass Qin Miao, who braked 10 meters later, and he even entered the corner alongside Hamilton, who had been half a car ahead of him.
Since Hamilton knew he had the line rights, he didn't yield the racing line even when he noticed Verstappen braking late.
And with such a late braking, it was practically impossible for Verstappen to return to the normal racing line, so it could be assumed that after realizing he was losing his position, Verstappen never intended to yield his current position; he initially had the mindset of holding his position even if it meant going off the track. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Consequently, Verstappen, who was side by side with Hamilton entering the corner, drove his car off the outside curb of T2 due to his speed.
And because this route taken by Verstappen required no deceleration, after passing the curb, Verstappen directly got ahead of Hamilton.
Temporarily retaining his position.
But Verstappen's sudden move also disrupted Hamilton's rhythm, causing him to miss the best exit line in front of him.
Then, because of Verstappen's maneuver, O'Kang, who benefited in T1 by passing Qin Miao, took advantage of Hamilton missing the best exit line, overtook Hamilton, and moved into second place.
Qin Miao, due to Verstappen's extraordinary maneuver, dropped two positions to fourth.
Because when Qin Miao had to slow down to enter the corner, Verstappen just went past Qin Miao's side, and to avoid crashing into Verstappen in the corner, Qin Miao missed his entry point.
That's when O'Kang picked up the free spot.
Qin Miao felt a bit frustrated at this point. Both his starts were faster than Hamilton and Verstappen, but due to the proximity of T1 to the starting line on the Jeddah track, his good starts were wasted twice.
And it was rare to see that after Verstappen and O'Kang overtook him, Hamilton didn't complain over the team radio.
Instead, it was Qin Miao who expressed dissatisfaction over the team radio: "Verstappen should be penalized, he cut the corner directly! And blocked my entry line!"
"Alright, Qin Miao, keep calm, the team will fight for you." Frankie responded, "Our suggestion is to stay close to Hamilton; there's a chance Verstappen will be required to give back his position."
While Frankie was communicating with Qin Miao, Mercedes' Toto had already begun contacting the FIA race stewards via radio.
On the other side, Red Bull was also contacting the FIA to argue their case.
Verstappen's unjustified overtaking was definitely going to be penalized; it was just a matter of time.
Red Bull wasn't trying to avoid a penalty for Verstappen; rather, they wanted him to give back one position and fall behind Hamilton, avoiding a drop to third place.
Mercedes' demands were completely opposite; they wanted Verstappen directly penalized to third, ideally with a five-second stop in the pit lane.
But just as representatives from both teams set off to contact the FIA, and before they'd even left their respective team booths, a cloud of dust rose on the track, with Perez and Leclerc colliding.
Perez's Red Bull spun left after the collision, directly smashing its front wing against the track wall, and the entire wing broke off on the spot.
The race director immediately showed the yellow flag, and in less than thirty seconds, it turned into a red flag.
PS. Coughing, fever, feeling dizzy and muddled.
This is yesterday's draft; I can't write today, so there won't be anything tomorrow, apologizing in advance.
Yesterday, Guangdong suddenly dropped from 27 degrees to 13 degrees; I wore too little, I'm sorry.
Also, I hope everyone takes care of themselves and dresses warmly.
I apologize sincerely.
