Free Web NovelChapter 1185: Chapter 448: Unexpected Success_2
After witnessing this scene, the three commentators of Five-Star Sports really felt like clowns on rockets—thrilled to the max.
On one hand, it’s because Qin Miao’s inexplicable stubbornness unexpectedly allowed him to reap all the benefits from Yuki Tsunoda’s error, and on the other hand, the commentators were happy because the driver who crashed was Yuki Tsunoda.
Although the three commentators don’t have much resentment towards Yuki Tsunoda as a driver, the fact that he carries that flag means that any Chinese person seeing him would harbor some innate animosity.
How could such a scene not make the commentators feel schadenfreude?
Double happiness, indeed!
Aside from the commentators, the spectators who understood F1 cheered in surprise upon seeing Qin Miao pit in at this moment, because they knew how much of an advantage Tsunoda’s mistake had given Qin Miao.
Meanwhile, on the team side:
"BOX! BOX! Don’t be stubborn this time, Qin Miao, trust us!" Frankie promptly reminded Qin Miao over the team radio after the FIA announced the safety car.
"Alright, but wasn’t my blunder lucky somehow?" Qin Miao breathed a sigh of relief while quipping.
"Yes, we don’t deny that, but these things are unpredictable. Please don’t do it again, okay?"
"Alright."
Qin Miao smoothly pit and changed his tires.
Under such circumstances, even if the team made a mistake during the tire change, it wouldn’t be a big deal. However, people are unpredictable; the more one should focus, the more mistakes happen, yet during relaxed times, things often go perfectly.
Tire change time: 2.05 seconds, even Qin Miao was stunned—it’s probably the fastest tire change for the Mercedes team this season.
The bald intermediate tires were replaced with a set of new medium tires.
While Qin Miao could consider soft tires for their longevity and fast lap times on this track, the team declined.
The team felt the C5 soft tire’s wear rate was too fast.
Even for Qin Miao, using his superior tire-saving skills would only allow him to last 20 laps on a set of soft tires; afterward, he’d need to pit for new tires.
Otherwise, Qin Miao risked a significant drop in speed and a potential blowout.
With 24 laps to go before the race ends, and despite the safety car leading a few laps, Qin Miao, positioned first, didn’t need to chase other drivers using soft tires. It’s crucial to play safe, using medium tires to finish the race.
He would have enough tire resources to defend against potential pursuers from behind in the later part of the race.
Having learned from past mistakes, Qin Miao promised Frankie he wouldn’t ignore team orders this time.
Exiting the pit lane, Qin Miao fell in line behind the safety car.
The current race standings are:
1: Qin Miao
2: Hamilton
3: Perez
4: Leclerc
5: Sainz
6: Norris
7: Verstappen
8: Ricardo
9: Stroll
10: Vettel
As observed, besides Qin Miao, Norris and Ricardo, the McLaren drivers who didn’t pit, also benefited from Tsunoda’s misstep.
Ricardo originally didn’t make it into the points zone, but neither McLaren driver pitted during Tsunoda’s safety car-triggering error.
Thus, they also benefited from the safety car rewards.
Apart from those two, upon seeing the familiar rearwing ahead, Hamilton felt somewhat explosive inside.
For heaven’s sake, I’ve led the entire race! The entire race!
And now the prize was snatched away by Qin Miao.
But Hamilton couldn’t do much, only watching helplessly.
Sometimes life is like this—the effort you put in might be surpassed by someone else’s single choice.
After taking the lead, Qin Miao noticed something promising—a part of the track not on the racing line remained wet.
Thus, the race controllers might not activate DRS.
Even if DRS were activated, with the non-racing line wet, Qin Miao’s defense would be significantly easier. He merely needed to stay on the dry racing line, making it nearly impossible for opponents to brake later on the inner line.
Any attempt at late braking would result in spinning out.
Add to that, behind him was his teammate Hamilton, not a Red Bull car, so Qin Miao felt secure about securing today’s championship victory.
However, Frankie informed Qin Miao of fresh news: "Qin Miao, the track buffer zone’s barrier repair is anticipated to take a long time."
Qin Miao inquired, "Are they deploying a red flag?"
"They shouldn’t deploy a red flag, but this safety car period will likely last quite a while. Considering today’s race has had multiple safety cars, the final 22 laps have been reduced to a 40-minute countdown, with an estimate of needing to run 20 more laps." Frankie explained.
Qin Miao helplessly opened his helmet visor for ventilation. Tailgating the safety car lacked wind pressure, so cracking the window for some air was harmless.
Meanwhile, Qin Miao remarked, "I’m starting to regret not insisting on using soft tires earlier."
Frankie shared his sentiment. Though if the race had aligned entirely with Qin Miao’s vision, all his decisions, from a professional driver or strategy group’s perspective, would be incorrect.
Nonetheless, Qin Miao’s choices always somehow become optimal due to unexpected track conditions.
One might say during the Singapore Grand Prix, Qin Miao had a certain degree of luck bestowed upon him.
"It’s done now, don’t overthink it.
Now that you’re leading, maintaining your position is crucial and key." Frankie generously acknowledged Qin Miao’s words while emphasizing it was merely luck and had nothing to do with the team’s professionalism or mistakes, ultimately encouraging and calming Qin Miao.
With 35 minutes left on the clock, the race restarted.
Qin Miao informed Hamilton over the team radio of his launch timing.
Given Perez’s surprising speed today, in case Hamilton didn’t react and got overtaken by Perez upon Qin Miao’s start, there’d be pressure on both the team and Qin Miao himself.
Transferring that pressure to Hamilton meant less burden for Qin Miao.
When it comes to playing train engineer, Qin Miao has some expertise.
He’s somewhat famous in and around the paddock, with colleagues praising his skills at leading trains.
Hamilton had to deal with Perez behind him, unable to transfer pressure to Qin Miao, and even if Perez outspeeded Hamilton significantly, with Qin Miao leading, Perez could only stay in third without derailing.
After trailing Qin Miao for three laps, Hamilton and Perez both felt frustrated.
"Fuck!" Perez cursed angrily inside his helmet without using his team radio.
No use, couldn’t overtake.
Blocked directly by two Mercedes cars.
Even after saving 80% ERS power during those three laps, using it in an attempt failed, slipping on the wet non-racing line, causing Perez’s tires to lock up.
Besides Perez, Hamilton internally muttered "FUCK" too, but he felt more helpless than Perez.
He had no time to attack Qin Miao; most of his focus was on dealing with Perez behind him.
