Despite Qin Miao's sudden acceleration, catching up to 1.3 seconds behind Leclerc was already the limit of what Qin Miao could achieve. Next, Qin Miao could only watch helplessly as Leclerc, whose tire temperature had already risen, gradually distanced himself.
And he couldn't do anything about it...
Of course, Qin Miao's pit stop was later than anyone expected.
By the 28th lap, Qin Miao's set of dium tires was still within standard speed, and he was even 0.2 seconds per lap faster than Perez, who had already pitted once ahead of him.
But Red Bull wasn't in a hurry at this ti. After all, Qin Miao would have to pit eventually.
Chase if you want, but even if you overtake Perez, you'll fall behind after your pit stop.
However, by the 35th lap, Qin Miao's speed had slightly decreased, with the original 0.2 seconds per lap chase speed dropping to 0.1 seconds per lap.
But such a chase speed still surprised quite a few people.
After all, Qin Miao's set of tires had already run 35 laps.
Horner and Marco were full of questions at this point.
Darn Pirelli, what did you do? Did you mix Michelin into Qin Miao's tires?
How can they still run?
By the 35th lap, when Qin Miao ca out of the pit lane, the original 2-second gap with Perez had now beco 1.1 seconds, and soon he would enter Perez's DRS zone.
Of course, Red Bull remained calm at this point, knowing that according to F1 rules, Qin Miao would have to pit once, and no matter how incredible his tire managent skills were, the ti gap with Perez would reopen after his stop.
Even on Qin Miao's team, Frankie anxiously asked, "Qin Miao, how's the tire condition now? Do you need to pit for a tire change?"
Upon hearing Frankie's words, Qin Miao ca out of his Man and Car Unity cruising state.
Actually, what the team staff didn't know was that Qin Miao had just entered a state of Man and Car Unity.
After all, it was cruising, Qin Miao didn't feel much pressure and started zoning out, running the race instinctively.
After hearing Frankie's words, Qin Miao snapped out of that state.
Then Qin Miao suddenly realized Perez was already in front of him.
"Huh? Oh, the tire condition is good, what's my lap ti now?"
Frankie checked and found Qin Miao was only 0.4 seconds slower than at the start of the race: "Still pretty good, 0.2 seconds per lap faster than if you pitted for hard tires now."
Upon hearing Frankie, Qin Miao suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question: "How many laps can I run on soft tires at full push?"
"Ten laps."
"Then let's pit 10 laps before the end of the race."
"Huh? ...Okay."
This radio transmission was a bit too long, and although the broadcasting team wanted to release it, they ultimately didn't.
But when the broadcast team heard Qin Miao's words, they all looked surprised and astonished.
Soon, however, the situation took a turn. By the 36th lap, Qin Miao received news: "It may rain in 8 minutes."
Qin Miao was taken aback: "Should I speed up a bit?"
"No, maintain the current status; we have a chance to overtake Perez ahead, and I think we can wait a bit for a safety car."
"Okay."
Even though Qin Miao didn't think there was a chance for a safety car or virtual safety car on the current track condition, he didn't have anything else to do anyway, right?
Although he had caught up to Perez's DRS zone, the straight-line speed of Qin Miao's car really couldn't catch up with Red Bull; catching up to Perez mainly depended on cornering speed.
So after confirming he couldn't pose any threat to Perez, Qin Miao gradually entered the Man and Car Unity state again.
The high-ups at Red Bull breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
This ti, the broadcasters didn't miss the opportunity and released the first conversation between Qin Miao and Frankie.
Brother Ran translated it, and Bing and Fei, these two elderly mbers, were full of questions: "Huh? Did Qin Miao's tires still have grip after running so long?"
Yet Qin Miao didn't wait for the rain, nor the pit window, but instead, a yellow flag on the track.
In the 41st lap, there was a collision on the track.
Just after a defensive move, Gasly collided with Alonso, damaging his car significantly, probably with a loose tire.
And when Norris passed Gasly, an unintended collision occurred between them; Norris's right rear wheel directly hit Gasly's left front wheel, causing Norris's right rear tire to burst on the spot, with the tire skin flying off, leaving only a bare rim on the car.
With one tire missing, the car couldn't continue, but the good news was that Norris's car happened to stop right at the entrance to the Matthew pit lane, which seed convenient for handling.
In the anti, the race stewards promptly deployed the safety car, giving Qin Miao a huge advantage.
But the Red Bull team also saw the threat Qin Miao's safety car pit stop posed, so when Qin Miao was called to pit, Perez was also summoned to the pit.
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