How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 1102: Chapter 419: Esteban · Good Teammate · O’Kang

Sunday, the day when the main race starts.

The weather on Sunday is similar to Saturday, on Friday it was so hot on the track you would feel it through long pants, but today you need a jacket.

Even though today’s weather conditions aren’t the best news for the race cars’ tires, the drivers are quite happy.

Because the cool weather means the temperature inside the racecar’s cockpit will definitely be more comfortable.

Today’s pre-race driver parade seems to lack a bit of the usual boundaries, drivers parade in their team units, two drivers from the same team share a car for the parade.

Qin Miao and Hamilton didn’t really greet the on-site fans while in the car but chatted all the way about whether today’s weather would pose any difficulties for the tire choice.

For this race, Hamilton plans to complete it with a one-stop strategy using yellow and white tires, but if today’s weather affects the tire durability and lap times, Hamilton will definitely need to reconsider his plan.

So, even though Hamilton had a smile on his face throughout the driver parade, he was actually somewhat distracted.

In contrast, Qin Miao interacted enthusiastically with the on-site fans.

After the driver parade segment ended, the time swiftly approached the moment the main race was about to begin.

In today’s race, Qin Miao didn’t use medium tires to start.

After all, Qin Miao got pole position in yesterday’s qualifying, and the two drivers starting behind Qin Miao are Ferrari drivers, and Ferrari cars excel largely because of their terrifying engine performance.

So in the start of today’s main race, Qin Miao’s priority is definitely to hold onto his pole position.

As everyone knows, Hengelo circuit is a track that’s easy to defend, and although it has two DRS zones, their actual effect is negligible.

So with the speed and defensive capabilities Qin Miao has shown this season, as long as he maintains his pole position at the start, barring any surprises, Qin Miao can utilize his tire strategy difference coupled with his extraordinary defensive ability to secure a win.

Very soon, the camera panned to the track, where Qin Miao was sitting inside his racecar’s cockpit.

At this moment, the environment on the track wasn’t very quiet. The noise from idling engines, the loud discussions and coordination by the staff, the buzz of on-site spectators, and the announcer’s voice blasting through the loudspeakers all intertwined, creating a chaotic atmosphere in the entire arena.

But amidst this chaotic environment, sitting inside the cockpit, Qin Miao took off his gloves and nonchalantly opened his palm towards the sky, seemingly to check if raindrops might fall into his palm.

Coincidentally, not long after Qin Miao opened his hand, drizzle started to fall from the sky. freēwēbnovel.com

Even though the rain quickly passed, a significant amount of raindrops gathered in Qin Miao’s hand.

Qin Miao looked at the raindrops in his hand, sighed helplessly, and could only pray silently in his heart.

Dear God, if it’s going to rain, please let it pour more now, and avoid a downpour once the race has started.

Soon, all the staff on the track withdrew, and the warm-up lap began.

During the warm-up lap, Qin Miao clearly felt the difficulty of getting his set of soft tires up to temperature, knowing that before his car picked up speed, the tire temperature might only maintain the level it had when just taken out of the tire blankets.

At least there’s some temperature, it won’t overly affect Qin Miao’s starting rhythm.

With the medical car in position at the back, the green flag waved, and the race was about to start.

Throughout this season, Qin Miao hasn’t faltered at the start, especially now that he’s using a brand new set of soft tires.

Although waiting for the drivers behind to take their positions took a considerable amount of time, causing a drop in Qin Miao’s tire temperature, it didn’t impact his reaction speed.

Soon, the five red lights went out, and the race started.

After the start, Qin Miao barely changed his starting line because shifting his line would mean the car couldn’t utilize all the engine’s traction for acceleration.

This would place the Mercedes, which already accelerates slower than the two Ferraris behind, into an even deeper predicament.

However, Ferrari is Ferrari. Even though Qin Miao pushed his car’s engine and tire grip to the limit, Sainz still caught Qin Miao’s slipstream and prepared to overtake on the inside before Turn 1.

Qin Miao naturally couldn’t give him this opportunity, immediately shifting to the inside line when Sainz tried to overtake, shutting the door on him.

Sainz had no choice but to return to the outside line.

But taking the outside line at this point doomed Sainz’s attempt to fail.

With DRS not yet activated, even if he wanted to take a cross line, the remaining distance wasn’t enough for Sainz to accelerate.

So Qin Miao managed to defend his position at Turn 1, and during the exit of Turn 1, nudged Sainz off the track, disrupting his exit rhythm.