Just past the DRS detection point, Verstappen dove into Qin Miao’s inside line; after activating DRS, his speed was even more terrifying.
Halfway through the DRS zone, Verstappen overtook Qin Miao.
During this process, Qin Miao didn’t make any defensive moves because there was no need; even if he defended, he couldn’t hold it.
At this mont, Qin Miao was trying to maintain his speed, and the battery had relatively low charge, so when Verstappen overtook him, Qin Miao didn’t resist.
However, after entering T1, Qin Miao accelerated, aiming to catch Verstappen’s slipstream and DRS.
Unfortunately, under tire-saving mode, Qin Miao couldn’t follow Verstappen as easily as Hamilton could follow Perez.
So, for the next segnt, Qin Miao needed to use all the ERS charge to ensure he didn’t fall out of the DRS zone from Verstappen.
But in lap twenty-four, the team radio sounded: "Qin Miao, pay attention to the tire temperature."
Qin Miao, realizing he was overly aggressive in pursuit of the championship position, was jolted awake.
Awakened by the team, Qin Miao took a deep breath, stopped focusing on Verstappen, and began protecting his tires.
As a result, Qin Miao gradually fell behind Verstappen until he dropped out of the DRS zone.
By lap twenty-seven, Verstappen widened the gap with Qin Miao to two seconds and started his own tire conservation.
After all, the race wasn’t halfway over yet, and excessive tire wear was not good news for the drivers.
Qin Miao shifted his focus from Verstappen to Perez behind him.
At this ti, the gap between Qin Miao and Perez was 1.9 seconds, while the gap between Perez and Hamilton was 2.2 seconds.
Qin Miao knew it would be difficult to catch Verstappen by normal ans.
So now he thought about staying in this position a little longer, as he had a set of soft tires that had run only three laps in the pit, and if a safety car appeared in the middle of the race, he might have a chance to turn the tables.
Of course, this idea was just a form of self-comfort born of helplessness, and even when Qin Miao’s skills were off cooldown, he didn’t target Verstappen.
Because the gap between them was too wide, once it surpassed a certain distance, the pressure value on Verstappen wouldn’t significantly increase, even with skill boosting.
Besides, nobody could predict what would happen during the race, so he preferred saving his skills for unexpected situations rather than wasting them on Verstappen.
In lap twenty-eight, after Verstappen lapped Mazepin, Qin Miao also lapped him.
After twenty-eight laps, this guy’s speed was a full forty seconds slower than his teammate Mick.
Given the current race status, by the end of the race, he might be a minute slower than his teammate and could even be lapped by him.
By lap thirty-one, Qin Miao was already three seconds behind Verstappen, and he had widened his gap with Perez to 2.4 seconds.
The top three drivers had found their most comfortable race rhythm.
Hamilton hovered 2.5 seconds behind Perez.
That’s how this season’s cars were; due to the presence of turbulence wings, cars found it extrely difficult to follow.
Turbulence wings provided enough downforce while expelling chaotic airflow sideways, disrupting the aerodynamic effect and balance of the cars behind, making following very difficult.
This is also why FIA planned to change the cars to ground effect vehicles next season.
Ground effect vehicles removed the turbulence wings, with the floor providing primary downforce, accounting for 60% of the car’s downforce, thus significantly reducing turbulent airflow and making following easier.
This digression is all about next season and not this current race.
On the track, honestly, Qin Miao at this point found the feeling he had during F2 racing, when the focus wasn’t on fighting cars, but on running laps.
At most, he would numbly count how many Pirelli advertising boards there were on the main straight.
However, due to high speed, Qin Miao often hadn’t finished counting before he had already zood past a hundred ters.
But right in this lap, a yellow flag suddenly appeared on the track.
Running his rhythm, Qin Miao naturally didn’t know what had happened.
When the broadcast cara cut over, it showed Stroll, who had started on hard tires and hadn’t pitted for thirty-one laps, completely shattered his front wing, both rear wheels collapsed, a plu of smoke rising behind his car, debris flying everywhere.
If you looked closely, you could even see the very front of the monocoque had already been shattered a little.
The Baku track, although much wider and faster than Monaco, was ultimately a street circuit.
After such a major accident, the safety car was irrelevant; a red flag was almost certain.
Qin Miao imdiately received the situation from the team’s radio: "Stroll crashed about 150 ters from the pit entry in the third sector, lots of debris, high likelihood of a red flag, drive carefully."
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