After passing T27, Qin Miao was only 0.9 seconds behind Hamilton, and at the DRS detection point, he managed to get Hamilton's DRS.
However, the cost was quite heavy. Coming out of T24, Qin Miao's car battery was at 91%, but after T27, it was only at 29%.
In just two chicanes and a hairpin, Qin Miao had burned through 62% of his battery, and this covered a distance of less than 1.3 kiloters.
At the sa ti, Qin Miao knew that using this mode had reduced his battery's lifespan by at least three hours.
Three hours doesn't seem long, but it's important to realize that the overall lifespan of F1 power unit components is only about 200 hours.
Three hours isn't short at all.
In comparison, it's like taking a year off a person who could live to 70.
But Qin Miao was quite satisfied with the effect this ti.
After exiting the corner, Qin Miao opened DRS to close in on Hamilton and Verstappen.
However, because Hamilton also had Verstappen's DRS, Qin Miao's rate of closing in on Hamilton wasn't very high.
Verstappen saw that Hamilton had DRS before T27 and knew that on the following long straight, Hamilton would use his DRS and also slipstream him.
So when they reached the long straight after the corner, Verstappen ran on the dirty side.
On one hand, due to the tire rubber and dust on the ground here, the acceleration of the car behind was not as fast.
On the other hand, he pre-positioned on the inside, so that once Hamilton caught up, he would only have the outside line to attempt an overtake.
After passing the white line at the finish line and entering lap 37, Hamilton moved to the outside line to make a move.
Due to position and speed, Qin Miao was slowly closing the gap with Hamilton after the corner.
Once Hamilton moved to the outside line, Qin Miao followed Hamilton's pace to the outside line of the track.
Even though both Hamilton and Verstappen could slipstream from behind, Hamilton's track side was cleaner, which allowed Qin Miao to accelerate faster than Verstappen.
After Hamilton moved out, he took advantage of his car's speed to get alongside Verstappen at the braking point of T1.
Qin Miao was 0.5 seconds behind the two drivers in front, roughly a car length behind Hamilton.
This distance was delicate and wouldn't threaten the positions of the two in front.
But if their duel was too intense and resulted in them going off the track, Qin Miao would get an opportunity.
Then Qin Miao saw Verstappen's signature late braking on the inside line.
When entering the corner, Verstappen's late braking allowed him to enter the corner earlier than Hamilton.
Naturally, Verstappen gained the line advantage.
However, because Verstappen braked a little too late, he lost rear tire grip.
So, while drifting, Verstappen squeezed Hamilton towards the outside of the track.
Seeing this, Qin Miao thought: What a chance! After following Hamilton for so long, this is the mont I've been waiting for!
When Hamilton and Verstappen both went off-track in an effort to cut the corner, Qin Miao maintained a normal line.
After being squeezed out by Verstappen, Hamilton intended to return to the track.
Given his years of experience on the track, Verstappen's corner entry would definitely result in a penalty.
Even though the FIA stewards were noticeably siding with Red Bull and bending so rules in recent races, these are FIA-set rules and must be enforced.
However, upon seeing Qin Miao behind him, Hamilton realized returning might allow Qin Miao to overtake with a better angle and speed.
Hence, after a brief consideration, Hamilton decided not to return to the track imdiately but instead pretended it was too late to make the corner and followed Verstappen through the inside of the run-off area back onto the track.
Thus, Hamilton's attack did not translate into a positional advantage.
The opportunity right before Qin Miao also vanished because he couldn't use the sa outside line cut over the kerb as Hamilton and Verstappen.
Cutting through T2 ant Qin Miao had to run at least 50 ters more on a slower part of the track.
As a result, after exiting T2, Qin Miao, who initially entered Hamilton's DRS zone, saw the gap reopen to 1.3 seconds.
"What the hell, they cut the corner!" Qin Miao complained in frustration in the team radio: "Is there no penalty? Is there no justice left?"
As for Hamilton, he also had sothing to say: "Verstappen pushed off the track! He's out of his mind."
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