Qin Miao actually considered trying to defend against Verstappen a bit more to see if he could snatch second place from him.
However, given the condition of his tires, the advantage Red Bull’s Honda engine had in a straight line, and the characteristics of the Bahrain circuit, Qin Miao eventually gave up on this unrealistic idea.
After all, no matter how you put it, Verstappen’s skill was stronger than his. Plus, with twelve laps left in the race, Qin Miao’s tire wear was already beyond his pre-race estimations due to twice defending against Verstappen. After some consideration, Qin Miao decided not to continue suppressing Verstappen.
After completing his task of defending for three laps, Qin Miao let Verstappen pass through the DRS zone between T10 and T11, much like he had let Hamilton pass earlier.
With that, the battle for the podium positions in this opening F1 race came to an end.
No matter how durable Verstappen’s set of hard tires was, or how fast he was, it was impossible for him to close a 24-second gap to Hamilton with 13 laps remaining.
Even if a slow car blocked Hamilton by one second per lap, it wouldn’t be enough.
Yet despite this, after freeing himself from Qin Miao’s confinement, Verstappen continued to push hard to catch up to Hamilton.
In this regard, Verstappen was more commendable than Qin Miao. Once Qin Miao realized something wasn’t feasible, he usually wouldn’t pursue it, whereas Verstappen would never give up hope for victory as long as the race wasn’t truly over.
This isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with Qin Miao’s outlook on life, only that the different environments they grew up in shaped these two racing talents’ differing approaches.
Unless a safety car appeared in the remaining laps, the top three positions in this race would remain unchanged.
We all know that the appearance of a safety car is a rare event, and even if one did appear, it would depend on Hamilton’s position.
If Hamilton’s position was good, he could take the opportunity to pit for new tires once the safety car came out.
And if Hamilton’s position wasn’t good, Qin Miao could pit. It’s worth mentioning that Qin Miao still had a fresh set of soft tires, and if he pitted, he might have a chance to challenge for the Bahrain Grand Prix victory. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on NovєlFіre.net
Of course, in the end, no changes occurred in the latter half of the race.
"Qin Miao has completed his task, and after defending for those three laps, Verstappen’s hope of winning this race is gone."
"That’s right, no matter how you look at it, Verstappen can’t catch up with this 24-second gap."
"Qin Miao has surprised us once again. I never thought we would have such a talented driver from our country someday."
"His talent is astonishing, and importantly, Qin Miao also has mentors who recognize his talent. Just look at Ferrari’s ranking now; if Qin Miao had only joined Ferrari, he definitely couldn’t have performed so well in his first race."
"That’s because Qin Miao has strength, and his performance in F2 caught Toto’s attention, giving him the opportunity to join Mercedes."
"That’s true. In any case, we commentators are in for a treat this season."
"Ahem, neutrality! We are professional commentators, so we shouldn’t show bias towards any driver during commentary."
During the rest of the race, the director only occasionally cut to Verstappen to see where he was, but mostly focused on the battles in the midfield group.
On lap 53, with three laps remaining, Hamilton’s slightly confused voice came through on the team radio: "Where’s Verstappen? Why haven’t I seen him? Did he undercut me?"
In fact, the team never told Hamilton that Qin Miao had held Verstappen back for eight laps, thinking that knowing this might make Hamilton relax too much and affect his performance.
However, they didn’t want to risk Hamilton losing focus due to a lack of pressure and potentially making a serious mistake on track.
Although the possibility was small, to be safe, the team didn’t inform Hamilton, letting him maintain a state of calmness and manageable pressure to complete the race.
But now, with the race nearing its end, since Hamilton had asked, the team truthfully informed him of the situation: "Qin Miao blocked Verstappen for 8 laps, and now he’s 15 seconds behind you."
Hamilton paused for a moment upon receiving this information, then spoke with some disbelief: "Wow, it seems I owe part of this victory to him. Where is Qin Miao now?"
"Qin Miao is 31.2 seconds behind you, currently in P3."
After saying this, any grievances the Old Man had about Qin Miao taking Bottas’s spot disappeared.
The Old Man and Bottas worked well mainly because Bottas never threatened the Old Man’s standing in the team. Qin Miao, joining Mercedes with the highest winning streak in F2, inevitably made the Old Man wonder.
But after this race, the Old Man realized that Qin Miao’s abilities were indeed inferior to his, plus, during the race, Qin Miao helped him defend against Verstappen for so long, effectively securing the victory for him.