Sainz must be very angry; no one can tolerate their girlfriend saying her ex-boyfriend is better than them.
Whether it’s the public opinion within the Ferrari team or on the track facing Qin Miao.
Qin Miao, driving a Mercedes, was so fast on the track that Sainz couldn’t even see his taillights. How could he catch up? How can he prove he’s not worse than Qin Miao?
Originally, Sainz could console himself with the fact that the Mercedes car was better than the Ferrari. But just now, just now, Qin Miao was following a tire-conserving line while Sainz took the normal line, even using his car’s DRS at all costs. Even so, Sainz still couldn’t get close to Qin Miao, and the gap between them was gradually widening.
He even had a feeling that once Qin Miao realized the driver behind was him, Qin Miao didn’t even bother to look back at him.
A sense of defeat and helplessness instantly enveloped Sainz.
But, you know, Sainz’s feeling was correct.
Qin Miao heaved a sigh of relief after realizing Sainz was behind him, then indeed directly ignored his presence.
After overtaking O’Kang, Qin Miao started chasing down Perez.
Perez joined Red Bull only this year, and the car was developed entirely according to Verstappen’s driving habits. Despite Perez’s skills, using an unsuited weapon limited his performance.
So at this time, Master Pei’s speed wasn’t fast, and four laps later, Qin Miao caught up with him.
At this moment, Qin Miao had no skills left to use. He also knew it wasn’t the time to conserve tires. Because of Perez’s identity, to prevent himself from pressuring Verstappen, Perez would definitely do his utmost to defend against him.
And shortly thereafter, Qin Miao heard Frankie’s notification: "Red Bull has given Perez a strict order; he will fully defend against you."
Qin Miao understood, but still asked, "What’s the condition of my tires?"
Asking this question essentially meant: "Can the tires I’ve conserved over the past few laps support me in attacking Perez in the upcoming race?"
Frankie naturally understood: "Tire condition is good, better than we expected, keep it up."
This roughly meant: "There’s room; go for it!"
Qin Miao glanced at the ERS battery reserve on his steering wheel: 87%.
What else is there to say, just go for it.
Although Qin Miao couldn’t use any skills on the subsequent track, it didn’t mean he couldn’t apply pressure.
Qin Miao remained within a 0.2-second to 0.5-second range behind Perez. Whenever there was an overtaking opportunity, Qin Miao would slightly maneuver half a car’s length out.
This method of applying pressure effectively pressured the car in front without losing too much speed due to overly aggressive maneuvers.
However, given that Red Bull and Mercedes cars perform similarly, overtaking without wearing out the tires too much requires a suitable opportunity.
Qin Miao found this opportunity after exiting T15 on the 19th lap.
Qin Miao noticed that when Perez exited the corner, he touched the right curb a bit too much.
After noticing this, Qin Miao immediately activated the ERS upon exiting the corner.
He also floored the throttle to the extreme.
What was originally a relatively mild driving style instantly changed, and he began to accelerate aggressively.
Perez also realized he had made a mistake due to Qin Miao’s pressure. After passing T16, he started weaving on the track to prevent Qin Miao from catching his slipstream.
At this moment, Qin Miao could no longer care about the tires. No matter how much Perez weaved, Qin Miao matched Perez’s weaving.
After opening the DRS on the start/finish straight, Qin Miao’s speed in approaching Verstappen was even faster. By halfway down the straight, Qin Miao was already side by side with Perez.
And with Perez defending the inside line, he had no options left. He could only hope to make up for his mistake with a late brake at T1.
Unfortunately, the speed loss from Perez’s mistake was too significant. Coupled with Qin Miao’s full effort, before entering T1, Qin Miao overtook the Red Bull car from the outside line.
Seeing the Mercedes already in front of him on the start/finish straight, all Perez could do was sigh in regret.
So fast, really fast.
"Nicely done!" Frankie, witnessing Qin Miao complete an overtaking maneuver, excitedly said over the TR.
In truth, Qin Miao felt a bit nervous inside when overtaking Perez. After all, it was a Red Bull, and he knew Perez would defend with everything against him.
But just when everyone thought the two would have a fierce clash, Qin Miao happened upon a mistake by Perez.
Overtaking Perez in this situation brought Qin Miao a sense of joy even greater than receiving a gift from Zhou Guanyu on his birthday.
This was purely a stroke of luck for Qin Miao; if Perez hadn’t made that mistake, overtaking him wouldn’t have been as easy.
After reaching fifth place, Frankie said: "Now switch to cruise mode." The most update n0vels are published on NoveIＦire.net
Qin Miao regretfully glanced at Ricardo ahead of him, who was less than three seconds away. If his tires were sufficient, he could really take him in three laps.