Also, Red Bull was sowhat too anxious due to Ferrari's sudden pit stop; they didn't have ti to calculate where Perez would end up after his stop.
When Perez completed his tire change at a speed of 2.9 seconds and exited the pit zone, he was positioned 3 seconds behind Qin Miao.
The ti gap is a minor issue, but the key is Qin Miao ahead.
Considering Qin Miao's relationship with Leclerc, combined with his tire-saving and defensive capabilities, will he attempt to defend against Perez?
Although Qin Miao currently doesn't have any competitive relationship with Perez, and rcedes and Red Bull weren't in the sa tier this season.
But at this mont, Qin Miao has nothing else to do but cruise.
There's a Chinese saying: "On a rainy day, hit the child—idle ti needs distractions."
And another: "Since you're already here."
Since you've arrived behind , Perez, I have to show sothing to increase our team's sponsors' presence in front of the caras, right?
Just as Qin Miao was getting ready for action, at the end of lap 16.
As if possessed by another driver with the sa surna, Russell made a mistake on the track and crashed into the protective wall.
It was ntioned earlier that any incident on the streets won't be minor.
Unsurprisingly, the safety car was deployed.
Following that, Perez's pit stop ant nothing.
With the safety car out, most drivers naturally chose to pit.
However, starting from Hamilton, the drivers behind didn't choose to pit at that ti, as they were too far from the pit entry.
By the ti they pitted, the car queue ahead had already compressed. If they pitted then, it would only increase the loss, not reduce it.
While Qin Miao's soft tires could still run, and his speed was faster than most drivers on dium tires, Qin Miao still opted to pit.
As ntioned before, rcedes is in a state that's neither too good nor too bad, so whether Qin Miao pitted or not wouldn't significantly impact his final result in this race.
Thus, it's better to seize such advantages when they appear.
After Qin Miao pitted and changed tires, he naturally returned to the position behind Perez.
And Leclerc seed to be favored by fate, swiping the biggest advantage of this race.
In addition to that, Verstappen moved up a position to second, followed by Sainz and Perez.
It can be said that the only victim of Russell's crash was Perez.
The safety car stayed from lap 16 to lap 20, only then were Russell's car debris fully cleared.
Following that, Leclerc naturally began compressing the car queue, preparing for a restart.
Qin Miao had so plans, such as seeing if he could find any opportunities from Perez ahead once the race resud.
After Leclerc's restart, exiting a corner at T27, Qin Miao, on dium tires, was left 0.2 seconds behind Perez.
Even as Qin Miao tried to catch up on the long straight using his engine and tire grip advantage.
However, upon seeing Qin Miao's intention to attack behind him, Perez firmly held onto the track's inside line, and at the back of the long straight, Qin Miao's car started to porpoise, barely able to gain any speed. Thus, the closest Qin Miao got to Perez was less than a ter from Perez's rear diffuser.
And then that was it; Perez reached the braking point at T1.
Facing Perez who firmly held the inside line, even if Qin Miao braked late, he saw no chances to attack; he could only express helplessness.
The race pace then returned to the familiar cruising mode for Qin Miao.
Qin Miao was gradually pulled away by the leading group ahead, while the two Alpines behind posed no threat to Qin Miao.
It highlighted a sense of boredom.
Notably, because Hamilton didn't pit for tire change during the safety car, he appeared behind Magelsen.
Of course, everyone knows Hamilton's position is temporary; as he pits for a tire change, he'll inevitably fall back again.
Unnoticed, the race reached lap 36.
Just as Qin Miao was starting to feel bored, another incident occurred on the track.
Alonso's car suddenly had issues, and its speed began to sharply decline.
The gearbox got stuck in fourth gear, and attempts to shift were futile.
Alonso even reported through the team radio that his car had lost power.
Then Alonso attempted to coast back to the pits using the car's montum, but due to being too far from the pit entry, he only managed to slide to the pit entry and stopped.
anwhile, Bottas, who potentially scored points in this race, had to withdraw due to car failure.
And this wasn't the end; Ricardo also retired from the race.
Ricardo encountered a gearbox issue, getting stuck in second gear and unable to shift up.
Hence, he could only withdraw helplessly.
Three cars retiring in three laps was a rare large-scale event in Formula 1.
Among these, Hamilton might have been the most unlucky.
The first safety car ca out and he didn't pit, and this virtual safety car was indeed Hamilton's best opportunity to attack, but he was inford by the team too late as he passed the pit entry.
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