Ultimately, Verstappen overtook Qin Miao at T2, moving into second place.
Although the overtaking was completed at T2, strictly speaking, Qin Miao lost out to Verstappen at the start.
"Sorry everyone, my start wasn’t good." After realizing he couldn’t help Hamilton hold off Verstappen, Qin Miao said somewhat frustratedly over the TR.
This time, Qin Miao had no way to fend off Verstappen’s attack, largely because his reaction at the start was a bit slow.
If only Qin Miao could have been 0.05 seconds quicker at the start, he wouldn’t have been outdragged by Verstappen at T1 and would have had the confidence to hold the line at T2. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn NoveI~Fire.net
But unfortunately, there are no ifs in racing.
Toto responded to Qin Miao: "Don’t worry, we have the advantage in strategy. Keep your own pace. If you can pressure Verstappen, do it; if not, just try to widen the gap from Leclerc behind."
Toto always had a magical ability in such moments, and after hearing his voice, Qin Miao indeed felt much more settled.
The negative emotions in his heart also dissipated a bit.
Verstappen had been holding his breath since the start, knowing that Qin Miao’s defensive abilities were too strong. If he couldn’t get past Qin Miao at the start, the price he had to pay to overtake later in the race would be too high.
It could even mean his chances of winning the championship would be blocked by Qin Miao.
So, after successfully breaking through the blockade of the two Mercedes and overtaking Qin Miao, Verstappen suddenly felt a surge of excitement as if he had won the race.
"Let’s Fucking goooo!"
Verstappen’s overly excited voice echoed through the TR.
The race gradually settled into a calm rhythm, with Hamilton leading, and Verstappen took some time to overtake Qin Miao, now barely hanging 1.5 seconds behind Hamilton.
Chasing further ahead was almost impossible, and the gap between the two was gradually being widened by Hamilton.
Qin Miao was 0.8 seconds behind Verstappen, and this gap was also gradually widening.
Leclerc from behind used up his ERS aggressively, trying to get into the DRS zone behind Qin Miao before it opened.
And he indeed managed to do so.
Behind Leclerc, chaos ensued, but as the race progressed, the field gradually sorted itself out.
Everyone began to line up.
At this point, Qin Miao felt no great pressure.
Although Leclerc was in the DRS zone behind him on the second lap, his ERS was almost depleted by now, so it wasn’t too difficult for Qin Miao to shake him off.
Qin Miao admitted that if he were driving the Ferrari like Leclerc, he might not necessarily outrun him, but he was driving a Mercedes, and his car was no joking matter.
What stood out was its sheer speed.
Although Mercedes had high overall downforce, which often resulted in high tire temperatures and faster tire wear, the sufficient downforce translated into absolute cornering speed.
And Qin Miao preferred a low downforce setup; coupled with his tire management skills, tire wear problems were basically no concern for him.
So, by the third lap, when DRS opened, Leclerc realized that even with the DRS, he could barely follow Qin Miao on the long straight, only slightly closing the gap between the two cars.
But the advantage he gained from DRS would always be pulled back by Qin Miao in the multi-corner sections of the first and third timed sectors.
The overall environment was unfavorable for Leclerc; despite the DRS assistance, Leclerc was gradually being pushed out of the DRS zone by Qin Miao at a rate of 0.15 seconds per lap.
Honestly, watching Qin Miao’s car made Leclerc feel a slight rise in blood pressure.
But there was nothing he could do about it.
Soon, however, a twist came on the track.
Just after Qin Miao passed T1 of the eighth lap, the race direction called a yellow flag.