Based on Qin Miao’s tire degradation speed, the speeds of the two strategies are actually quite similar, with a difference of only about 2 seconds, which is basically negligible.
At this point, Qin Miao was not yet fully accustomed to the intensity of F1 races, so he did not take risks and chose the second option, running normally and setting normal lap times.
Qin Miao’s first lap in Q3 was quite average; he reached fourth place using a set of old soft tires, but was quickly pushed down again.
If Qin Miao’s Q3 was uneventful, with him just focusing on setting lap times, then on the other side, Hamilton and Verstappen were fiercely competing against each other.
In the Q2 stage, the average lap time for everyone was around 1 minute and 30 seconds, with the fastest, Sainz, clocking in at 1 minute and 30.001 seconds.
But when it came to Q3, Hamilton, who was rather lackluster in Q2, clocked a flying lap of 1 minute and 29.559 seconds, beating Sainz’s time by 0.5 seconds right off the bat.
The key point is that as soon as Hamilton crossed the line, improving his time by 0.5 seconds, Verstappen, who was behind him, responded by refreshing Hamilton’s time, going 0.23 seconds faster: 1 minute and 29.329 seconds.
You might have 0.5 seconds hidden in your pants, but I’ve got more than nothing in mine!
And Qin Miao, this little challenger, could only watch as the big guys engaged in this high-level duel.
Now racing in the F1 circuit, Qin Miao truly understood what it meant to always have someone better out there, and particularly how he never managed to clock faster than 1 minute and 29.329 seconds even on the simulator.
In the eyes of these F1 drivers, F2 appears quite basic, like a beginner’s village.
The countdown to the end of Q3 reached the final 3 minutes, and the last flying lap of Q3 began.
This lap was also the final battle for pole position. Qin Miao returned to the pit to put on a new set of soft tires. The technicians wiped down the aerodynamic components on Qin Miao’s car to ensure a smooth surface, facilitating faster airflow.
Then Qin Miao, along with the other cars, exited the pit lane to start the last flying lap of the night.
Qin Miao was once again the first to be sent out, with Old Man still behind him.
"In this last flying lap of the qualifying session, Qin Miao is currently in sixth place. Although this ranking aligns neatly with his driver number, I sincerely hope Qin Miao can improve his qualifying position."
"On the contrary, I think Qin Miao’s performance is already very commendable. After all, it’s his first time in an F1 race. Regardless of talent, there’s always an adaptation period on the track. I believe Qin Miao will eventually showcase his talent on the track, but it certainly won’t be achieved in just one Grand Prix qualifying session. It’s not something that can be accomplished overnight." Fei expressed his confidence in Qin Miao but was not optimistic about his performance today.
"Actually, Qin Miao’s performance is relatively stable," Zhou Haoran interjected. "I observed Qin Miao’s lap times across the three qualifying sessions, and there was a consistent speed improvement in each flying lap, roughly 0.1 seconds each time. His adaptation speed is really fast; maybe this final lap will bring us some unexpected surprises." Zhou Haoran didn’t forget to crack a joke at the end.
The other two commentators knew Zhou Haoran’s last remark was a joke and joined in with their own comments.
Bing just laughed, while Fei jokingly said, "Could it be that Qin Miao will beat Hamilton in the qualifying session?"
"That’s impossible, no matter how you think about it."
"Yeah, if Qin Miao really could beat Hamilton in qualifying, Toto would have a headache about the number one driver issue after returning to Brackley."
"Just joking, just joking..."
The three commentators laughed and skipped over the topic, refocusing on the track. The rightful source is novel✶fire.net
The director’s camera once again focused on Qin Miao since he was the first driver to start his flying lap.
Meanwhile, Qin Miao’s lap time data also appeared at the bottom left corner of the screen.
Since Qin Miao was the first to start, the chances of encountering traffic issues on the last lap of Q3 were quite low, so Qin Miao didn’t hold back at T14 and went through at normal speed.
T14 had regular braking, but entering the corner was later, and the direction was wider, using more track to create a wider line, which would result in a faster top speed on the long start-finish straight.
After all, the timing for this last flying lap only started after Qin Miao crossed the start line, so even if this method wastes a little time on this lap, it won’t matter much.
T15 was a non-turn, exiting with full throttle.
The DRS activation had been practiced countless times by Qin Miao. While he couldn’t open the DRS at the right spot with his eyes closed, in practice, he never took more than 0.2 seconds after crossing the line to activate the DRS.
This was a perfect DRS activation timing.
Following Old Man’s teaching on the long start-finish straight, avoided some invisible bumps to maintain sufficient engine traction at all times.
With full throttle all the way to the end of T1, thanks to Qin Miao’s tune-up, he reached a terrifying 349 KM/H at the braking point of T1.
Around 120 meters, he stepped on the brakes, with 3/4 of the car outside the white line on the track, naturally doing this to obtain a wider entry line.
Down to second gear, a bit later into T1 to ensure sufficient exit speed on the following straight; entering a bit later provides wider space.