Therefore, during all three qualifying sessions, all drivers can use soft tires for lap tis, and during the race, they can also use new tires.
Finally, no more such constraints, which is good news for Qin Miao.
Soon, ti moved on to qualifying Q1.
After the 15-minute countdown began, all the teams' drivers gradually left their pits and went onto the track.
However, on the rcedes side, both Hamilton and Qin Miao didn't go out imdiately; they stayed in the team's pitroom until there were 9 minutes left in Q1 before being released.
An old rcedes tradition.
By that ti, the two Red Bull drivers had already occupied the first and second places.
It's worth ntioning that when Qin Miao and Hamilton were running warm-up laps, Bottas, who hadn't touched a race car for a year, hit the track and on his second flying lap, reached second place, surpassing Perez and trailing Verstappen.
Although Bottas didn't stay in that position for long before being pushed down by the two Ferrari drivers, his imdiate performance upon returning to the paddock showed that Bottas still had his edge.
As for whether Bottas' outstanding performance would slap Ferrari in the face as Qin Miao did last season...
That's basically non-existent because everyone knows the strength gap between Bottas and Hamilton, whereas last season Qin Miao won the world championship by surpassing his teammate Hamilton and Verstappen.
This world championship sufficiently demonstrates the terrifying personal strength of Qin Miao.
At this mont, the two rcedes cars began their first flying lap.
With 6 minutes left in Q1, the two rcedes drivers crossed the finish line one after the other.
Since Qin Miao went out before Hamilton, his ti was posted first, 1:32.317.
The defending champion's ti placed him in 8th, even behind Alonso.
As if not finished, Hamilton followed closely behind Qin Miao, and it was clear his speed was slightly faster, yet Hamilton's ti was only 1:32.085, slower than his forr teammate Bottas by a full 0.248 seconds.
This result left everyone in the paddock and beyond surprised, and even over at Red Bull, they exchanged slightly bewildered glances.
Despite the unexpected results, no one thought rcedes' cars were deficient, as rcedes has long presented an enigmatic presence in the paddock, with many people thinking they were simply hiding their capability once again.
With about 5 minutes left in Q1, most teams called their drivers back to adjust their car settings.
anwhile, the two rcedes drivers took advantage of the clear track to run another flying lap, even using the old soft tires.
Hamilton was unable to improve his ti, but Qin Miao, thanks to his extraordinary tire conservation skills, actually improved his ti, posting a lap of 1:31.987.
Just so, he moved up above his teammate Hamilton in rank.
After completing this lap, although there were still over three minutes left in Q1, both rcedes drivers opted to return to the team pitroom, choosing not to go out for another flying lap.
Even though the scores of the two rcedes drivers were not impressive, they both steadily progressed to Q2.
While dostic fans might feel it's a pity not to see Qin Miao unleash his full power, it seems that Qin Miao has always been like this, and they are sowhat used to it.
Moreover, aside from Qin Miao, isn't there still Zhou Guanyu on the track?
Compared to the steady and conservative approach of rcedes during Q1 and Q2, Zhou Guanyu's qualifying seems far more exciting?
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