After being ill for a long time, Qin Miao, after all, is a fierce person with full defensive ability, and immediately saw through Verstappen’s intentions.
You don’t want me to comfortably enter the corner, do you? Fine!
Qin Miao didn’t dodge either, instead showing his relentless fearlessness.
He went wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen into the corner.
And Verstappen, like when Qin Miao overtook Leclerc, braked early to prepare for a switchback.
As for Qin Miao, he directly adjusted the brake balance to the rear, ensuring the front wheels had enough steering while braking, sticking to Verstappen on the brakes, and then shifting slightly to the right to gain a better entry line, matching Verstappen’s cornering rhythm.
Throughout this process, both cars maintained a wheel-to-wheel state entering the corner.
Verstappen, who had intended to brake late for a switchback, was stunned to find Qin Miao did not pass him.
He watched helplessly as his best cornering line was blocked by Qin Miao.
When exiting the corner, Qin Miao could use the curb, while Verstappen on the inside line at T3 could only ride the speed bumps on the curb.
As for not giving up the best line, and crashing out with Qin Miao together?
Well, Qin Miao is after all the number two driver of Mercedes, while Verstappen is the number one driver for Red Bull; exchanging one for one would be a loss for Verstappen and Red Bull, and a gain for Mercedes.
Although Verstappen’s defensive and offensive approaches on the track seem reckless, he is clear about priorities and gains and losses when it comes to interests.
Moreover, the time from braking to entry and exit is less than two seconds, leaving little time for drivers to think and weigh pros and cons.
So upon seeing that Qin Miao did not leave him space, knowing this race is very important for himself, Verstappen immediately chose to yield to Qin Miao.
Since Verstappen went over the speed bump on the curb during the corner entry, the car was bounced up by the bump due to the suspension, inevitably affecting Verstappen’s corner exit rhythm.
Leclerc also took advantage of the opportunity from Qin Miao and Verstappen’s duel, as Verstappen was still bouncing on the curb, Leclerc snuck up behind Qin Miao and seized the second position.
By the time Verstappen got back on track, he was already surrounded by two Ferraris.
And having completed this overtake, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the director switched the camera to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff’s view once it was confirmed there were no other overtaking scenes on track.
Despite Hamilton having dropped out of championship contention due to an error, Qin Miao’s sudden burst reassured all Mercedes supporters.
And when Toto saw this scene, he clenched his right fist and shouted loudly: "Nice!"
The audience could clearly see the bulging veins on Toto’s neck.
Even though the audience couldn’t hear exactly what Toto shouted, his expression and actions showed he was very pleased with Qin Miao’s performance.
Of course, Qin Miao’s somewhat controversial way of overtaking naturally led to protests from Red Bull staff and Red Bull fans’ criticism on Twitter, and Verstappen’s frantic messages on the TR.
Verstappen: "****! **********! ********!"
But if you’re being strict about it, Qin Miao’s maneuver was indeed no issue.
Because entering T2, Qin Miao braked late, and though both were wheel-to-wheel, Qin Miao’s front was somewhat ahead, so his front was actually in front of Verstappen, giving Qin Miao the right to the line.
Moreover, Verstappen has used this method to push opponents off track several times, so aside from Red Bull fans being upset by Qin Miao’s approach, most viewers familiar with Verstappen would only exclaim: "Top-level defense!"
And after hearing the words from Verstappen’s TR, Verstappen’s race engineer could only advise him to stay calm, maintain a steady attitude, and continue racing.
As for Qin Miao and Mercedes fans seeing Qin Miao’s maneuver:
"Awesome!" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NoveI[F]ire.net
"Yes! Defend Verstappen just like that!"
"Use Verstappen-style defense against Verstappen!"
After exiting the corner, Qin Miao moved into the lead, followed by Ferrari’s Leclerc, then Verstappen, followed by Sainz, Hamilton, and Norris.
Indeed, right after Qin Miao overtook Verstappen at T2, Hamilton also used better starting speed compared to Norris to gain faster straight-line speed, passing Norris on the straight before T2.
Norris, knowing his start wasn’t great, didn’t make extra moves against Hamilton’s attack, letting Hamilton through.
He had to be wary of Ricardo behind Hamilton, as getting into a tussle with Hamilton could allow Ricardo to take advantage.
Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, he chose not to defend against Hamilton.
After Hamilton overtook Norris ahead, both Mercedes drivers in the starting phase at T2 had completed overtakes on the drivers ahead of them.