At this mont, Verstappen was already feeling numb.
No matter how he suddenly sped up or whatever, Qin Miao always managed to keep the ti gap between them around 1.5 seconds.
Since Verstappen had followed Qin Miao for quite so ti, his tires didn't get much cool air.
Whether it's the engine's cooling system or the surface of the tires, or even Verstappen himself, during the ti behind Qin Miao, he was inhaling all the exhaust from Qin Miao's car and the chaotic airflow cut by the W12's wings.
As a result, Verstappen's car tires and engine couldn't cool effectively; when the tires overheated, they started to grain, and because Verstappen wanted to keep up with Qin Miao's pace, the tires were consistently in a state of excessive wear.
The engine, due to overheating, lost at least 2 to 3 horsepower.
Naturally, on the straight line, Red Bull with initially slower tail speed was even slower compared to rcedes.
On lap eighteen, Hamilton overtook O'Kang and Gasly ahead of him to reach seventh.
anwhile, Verstappen behind Qin Miao abandoned the chase for Qin Miao—it was truly unreachable.
The ti gap between them now widened to 2 seconds.
This situation mainly arose because Verstappen's gap to Sainz behind him reached 10 seconds, such a ti gap in place, Qin Miao knew there was no complete condition or need to hold back; even if he held back now, Sainz couldn't catch up before the race ended.
So, honestly maintain his pace and then finish the race.
On lap twenty, Hamilton overtook Leclerc, climbing to sixth.
On lap twenty-three, Hamilton reached the DRS zone behind fifth-place Norris, similarly before the T1 braking point, using tail speed and the late inside lane brake, he overtakes Norris relaxedly, moving up to fifth.
After overtaking Norris, the race entered the twenty-fourth lap—this being the last lap of the sprint qualifying race.
Just like Verstappen at last week's xican Grand Prix, Qin Miao took the lead from the start and kept the lead throughout the entire race.
Under the waving checkered flag, Qin Miao crossed the finish line.
After this sprint qualifying race ended, Qin Miao finally alleviated the pressure of having his points constantly chased by Hamilton and Verstappen.
Besides this, Verstappen in second brought ho two points, and Sainz in third brought Ferrari one point.
Of course, the highlight of this sprint qualifying race had to be Hamilton starting from the back of the pack.
Starting twentieth, within just twenty-four laps, he climbed fifteen positions.
Though there were reasons like the track being easy to overtake, Hamilton replaced his engine, and other drivers not being keen on defense.
Hamilton did indeed rise fifteen positions through sheer skill.
With such a display, it's unimaginable how strong Hamilton will be in the main race.
"Perfect tire choice established early on after the start to provide enough advantage, coupled with terrifying tire managent and control over long-distance cruising speed, completely exhausting Verstappen's late attack possibilities—that's Qin Miao, what a fantastic race!" After Qin Miao crossed the finish line, Five-Star Sports' Zhou Haoran concluded on Qin Miao's performance.
...
The Old Man eventually brought ho fifth, after overtaking Norris, there was too large a gap to Perez ahead of him, no ti left to push further.
However, besides the penalty Hamilton faced in sprint qualifying starting from the back, in tomorrow's main race, he would face a five-place grid drop.
So, despite climbing to fifth in this sprint qualifying race, Hamilton would start tenth in the main race, right behind Vettel and ahead of Ricardo.
But believing that tomorrow's main race, Hamilton should have the sa performance as today, in twenty-four laps, Hamilton climbed fifteen positions, tomorrow with seventy-one laps, enough for Hamilton to go from tenth to first.
After the race ended, Qin Miao drove back to the pit lane entrance.
Skillfully removing the steering wheel, he got off the car then reattached the steering wheel.
Without much celebration, Qin Miao took off his gloves while walking towards where the team engineers were gathered.
The first person he naturally saw was his wife; he smiled and went forward to give Qing a hug.
"Incredible, the start was beautiful!"
Qing praised.
"Indeed, how can I not be the best F1 driver in China?" Qin Miao fully accepted his wife's praise.
"Okay, go find Frankie and the others to celebrate." After the simple hug, Qing actively let go of Qin Miao.
...
"So Qing also ca today? Didn't see Qing in the broadcast images of the third practice." The three comntators from Five-Star Sports weren't strangers to Qing; after all, she often appeared in F1 broadcast images.
Moreover, with her being Qin Miao's girlfriend, there weren't many dostic fans following Qin Miao closely who didn't know her.
Qing indeed arrived at the paddock only during the sprint qualifying race, mainly because she slept too late last night and woke up a bit late.
After the hug, Qin Miao found Frankie and the others for a simple celebration.
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