Lap 45, as the track conditions continuously improved, the race committee decided to enable DRS.
However, for Leclerc, this DRS was rather redundant, as Qin Miao had already pulled away by more than 2 seconds. Both were on medium tires, and with no rain, Qin Miao’s lap times were 0.5 seconds faster than Leclerc’s.
Simply put, his car was faster.
Just as Leclerc was pondering a strategy shift to secure his third-place position, a new incident occurred on the track.
Immediately after the incident, the race committee deployed the safety car.
The driver involved in the accident was Russell, who was in tenth place.
The crash happened just before T2 on the track.
Here, Russell, with the advantage of having DRS, launched an attack on Stroll, who was in ninth. Naturally, Stroll wasn’t about to easily give up his position, so he chose to defend the inside line. Russell, with DRS, did not want to let go of this overtaking opportunity, opting to overtake from the right.
Although the track was dry enough for DRS activation, water remained on the grass beside the track.
While Stroll left enough space for Russell, driving the infamous Williams, this rare chance for points made Russell overly eager. He lost control of his car momentarily while overtaking on the right, with the right-side tires rolled onto the grass.
In that critical instant, Russell’s right-side tires lost all traction, and even the differential couldn’t save him.
Realizing the problem, Russell valiantly turned left to correct the car, but this maneuver only added sideways momentum to the already spinning car, pushing Russell’s car towards the left.
Fortunately, Stroll hadn’t braked yet and was at a safe distance from Russell.
Thus, when Russell’s car veered off course, it did not hit Stroll but crashed directly into the left track wall.
Instantly, a mass of debris scattered across the track through the violent impact.
After hitting the wall with its front wing, Russell’s car lost all momentum and, under the effect of the rebound force, slid back towards the track center.
Kimi, in eleventh place, could not dodge in time, causing his front wing to hit Russell’s rear diffuser. Luckily, Kimi managed to pull his car away at the last second, resulting in a large piece of damage only to his left front wing.
Following this, debris quickly spread over the track, and Russell’s car lost power and came to a stop.
With the track in such a state, continuing the race was impossible, prompting the race committee to swiftly change the yellow flag to a red flag.
Upon receiving this news, the Ferrari duo was utterly dismayed.
With 18 laps remaining, it was evident that post-pit stop, everyone would switch to soft tires.
Not only did they have no new soft tires, but the over 30-second gap to Hamilton was reduced to less than three seconds.
Leclerc initially believed he had a podium finish within reach, but never anticipated such an event.
If all lapped cars were allowed to un-lap and everyone restarted in position, he wasn’t sure he could fend off Hamilton’s attack in 18 laps.
After the red flag signal, Qin Miao dutifully drove his car back to the pit area, stopping behind Verstappen.
Since resuming a race after a red flag isn’t immediate, Qin Miao hopped out of his car to stretch a bit.
Imola’s T11 and T12 featured sudden downhill and uphill changes, exerting over 4.3G of lateral force. After so many laps, even Qin Miao’s robust physique was feeling discomfort. Though he could tough it out to the end, being able to move his limbs a bit was quite pleasant.
Not long after Qin Miao stopped, Qimeng in a Mercedes team outfit came jogging over with a Mercedes jacket. The outdoor temperature was just in the teens, and Qimeng was worried that Qin Miao might catch a cold, having sweated profusely during the race and discarded his jacket due to the heat.
Qin Miao had stopped right at the pit exit, and Mercedes’ garage was at the pit entrance. By the time Qimeng reached Qin Miao, she was already out of breath.
Seeing Qimeng approaching, Qin Miao accepted the jacket with a smile and put it on, without saying much. Official source is NoveI(F)ire.net
Afterward, Qin Miao turned to look at the cars ahead and behind.
Verstappen remained in his car, while Leclerc, like Qin Miao, had exited his vehicle.
Qin Miao and Leclerc exchanged glances from a distance, and although they had fiercely competed for almost 20 laps, there was no anger or disdain in their eyes—just mutual smiles and nods. Neither approached for a conversation.
The race wasn’t over yet; it was better for everyone to maintain some distance.