However, due to the cornering angle limitations, Qin Miao’s attack didn’t yield any rewards this ti. Taking a crossover line out of the corner only brought Qin Miao closer behind Verstappen.
Moreover, Verstappen had already exhausted his ERS charge within the DRS zone, and the heavy braking at T1 didn’t provide much charge.
He basically used up all the charge while accelerating out of T1.
And Qin Miao? His charge was already at 90% on the 18th lap, and he released a wave on that 2.2 km straight, but didn’t use it all. After replenishing so charge at T1 and a bit more while tailing Verstappen through T2, Qin Miao still had 30% charge when he entered the DRS zone of the first timing sector after T2.
This ti, Qin Miao went hard, directly darted to the inside line with both DRS and ERS, and opened the rich fuel mode fully.
Verstappen also knew that he absolutely couldn’t let Qin Miao hold the inside line, so as soon as Qin Miao prepared to dart inside, he changed lanes to squeeze Qin Miao’s position, intending to seal off all the space for Qin Miao to dart inside before he did.
The straight between T2 and T3 isn’t very wide.
Verstappen’s lane change directly blocked all routes for Qin Miao to dart inside.
Qin Miao, of course, anticipated Verstappen would defend against him like this, so he was always wary of Verstappen’s lane changes. Once Verstappen moved, Qin Miao feigned a move to the outside line.
Upon seeing this, Verstappen naturally moved a bit towards the outside line as well.
Although the asphalt of the Baku circuit is often driven on, the grip of the asphalt on the driving line is slightly better than that off the line.
Moreover, Verstappen’s entry angle into the corner wasn’t great either. If he forced his way in from that position, his speed would drop a lot.
He might even get overtaken by Qin Miao using a crossover line due to the slow speed.
But just as Verstappen began to lightly turn his steering wheel outward and glanced at the right side mirror, he suddenly realized there was no sign of Qin Miao’s car in his rear-view mirror.
At that mont, a chill ran down Verstappen’s spine, making his pores tighten abruptly.
When Verstappen turned back to look at the left side mirror, he saw Qin Miao’s car’s left tire almost scraping the barrier, squeezing into the barely car-wide gap between Verstappen and the wall. Unsure if his eyes deceived him, he also saw so white and green bits flying off the back of Qin Miao’s car.
Despite the noticeable debris, which was clearly from a Rolex foam ad board, kicking up, Qin Miao’s car remained unaffected, accelerating further instead of slowing down.
In that instant, Verstappen realized Qin Miao had deceived him with a fake move.
With such a wealth of experience and talent, Verstappen naturally prepared for a feigned move and response strategy. After a right turn, the space on the left wasn’t imdiately open wide; at best, it could fit another F1 car, leaving barely three centiters to spare after one car fit.
This gap would make any driver lacking confidence in their skills balk, as even a slight collision in such a tight spot could result in a major accident.
Drivers face car repairs after the race.
Even experienced drivers wouldn’t take such a risk unless it was a crucial race mont due to such a narrow gap.
But Qin Miao? He just jumped right in there, and judging by how deeply Qin Miao entered, he must’ve decided almost instantly upon seeing the gap to dive in.
Verstappen could only sigh at the terror Qin Miao’s talent posed, then silently moved to the outside line to give Qin Miao more space.
Verstappen had experienced Qin Miao’s defensive capability; he knew Qin Miao with DRS would definitely overtake entering T3, and a late brake would leave Verstappen helpless.
So, Verstappen could only return to the outside line, ensuring his rhythm wouldn’t be disrupted by Qin Miao, applying pressure on Qin while recharging and seeking opportunities to reclaim his position.
All of this took place within a short three seconds.
The three Five-Star Sports comntators stood up from their seats, thrilled after witnessing Qin Miao’s overtaking maneuver.
Bing raised his arm and shouted, "Qin Miao! What a beautiful overtake!"
Fei applauded repeatedly, "Beautiful! Just like that! Qin Miao is back in first place!"
Brother Ran couldn’t hide his inner excitent, but he still explained to the audience the difficulty of Qin Miao’s overtake, "When Qin Miao was forced to the inside line by Verstappen, he prepared a fake move to the outside, which faked out Verstappen. Qin Miao then directly jabbed into the tiny space Verstappen left.
These maneuvers are exceptionally challenging; any mistake here could an a collision and retirent."
Lastly, Fei concluded, "Resolute, composed, bold yet ticulous, and technically skilled!
Finally, we’ve waited so long, our country finally has such a genius driver!"
After Qin Miao completed this overtake, all the engineers in the rcedes pit, who were tensely focused on the broadcast, stood up from their positions to high-five each other in celebration.
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