Leaving Leclerc at the front aside, Qin Miao already managed to make Verstappen feel irritated.
Verstappen couldn't overtake, and going slow was painfully slow, he was really grinding his teeth at Qin Miao.
But Verstappen is soone who listens to advice, so he held his temper and kept charging his car's battery, waiting for the right opportunity.
However, just as Verstappen's car battery reached 70%, Sainz was already in a position to make a move on Verstappen due to Qin Miao further slowing him down.
This was because Verstappen's brain was a bit overloaded by Qin Miao's defensive tactics.
When Qin Miao was suppressing Verstappen initially, he controlled his speed just enough so that if he went a little slower, Verstappen could break through Qin Miao's defense and overtake him, but due to Qin Miao's defensive moves, Verstappen just couldn't manage it.
Whether it was late braking or taking the outside line, he was always just that little bit off.
And despite hearing team instructions not to attack Qin Miao, Verstappen actually could have forcibly overtaken Qin Miao on the outside line using the performance of his car.
But at that mont, Verstappen's head was a bit muddled by Qin Miao's defense, along with his thirst for victory and urgency as Leclerc continued to gain distance ahead, plus the reminders from his team.
All sorts of information cramd into Verstappen's head at once, preventing him from realizing this.
After all, you can't say the environnt inside an F1 car is comfortable, but it's a bit like hell on earth.
Lateral G-forces above 4G pressure from all four directions at tis, stepping hard on the brake requires at least 50 kilograms of force with the left foot, coupled with an average cockpit temperature above 50℃.
It's really like taking a sauna, riding a roller coaster, and lifting weights all at the sa ti.
A normal person would need to puke after just 5 minutes in such an environnt, yet an F1 driver has to race for over an hour while being clear-headed enough to handle all kinds of things.
Verstappen being able to do what he has is already quite good, you can't ask much more from him.
And since Sainz started making moves on Verstappen, the pressure on Qin Miao naturally decreased.
And because Verstappen's speed was further slowed down, Sainz could actually put up a good fight against Verstappen.
However, at the T4 exit, Sainz, who could originally still threaten Verstappen's position, made an error and went off the track.
The good news is when Sainz went off, he was facing the recovery zone, so thanks to inertia, he managed to return to the track, but by the ti he did, he had fallen to 11th place.
Sainz going off the track was a small disaster for Ferrari, the Spanish fans on site, and even for Qin Miao.
Seeing the dust rise in his rearview mirror and the Ferrari rushing into the gravel, Qin Miao's mouth twitched.
Damn, what's the use of you? It didn't take long for you to pressure Verstappen, but how did you end up off the track yourself?
But after Sainz went off the track, the happiest ones were the two Alfa Roo drivers.
Because Bottas and Zhou Guanyu both did nothing and got a free position, moving up to fifth and sixth, respectively.
Before this season started, Alfa Roo never dread of touching such positions.
But Qin Miao now had a headache, as with one less target for Sainz, the pressure was back on him.
And this ti Verstappen was truly cunning, no matter how Qin Miao tried to lure him into a trap, he remained unmoved.
He just waited behind Qin Miao for DRS, and even in the short DRS zone between T9 and T10, despite having DRS from Qin Miao, Verstappen didn't make a move, simply following closely behind.
Then, not until the main straight on the 9th lap, did Verstappen truly make a move on Qin Miao.
At this point, Verstappen's soft tires were already quite worn, and his lap tis were nearly the sa as Qin Miao's on the dium tires.
However, the car performance gap and DRS advantage were glaringly obvious.
Qin Miao had tried to resist, for instance, weaving, or running in front of Verstappen's left front to make his car eat the turbulent air from his rear wheels.
But these were all futile efforts.
Finally, Qin Miao simply abandoned any defensive maneuvers, drove normally on his racing line, letting Verstappen overtake him on the inside line.
Thus, after starting second and defending against Verstappen for 9 laps, Qin Miao eventually had to let Verstappen pass with so helplessness.
Nonetheless, the Spanish fans on site still applauded Qin Miao's brilliant defense for those 9 laps.
At least they enjoyed watching those 9 laps of defense.
This is the way an F1 race should be, fighting it out intensely on the track.
After being overtaken, Qin Miao felt a bit helpless, but not regretful.
Anyway, his car's performance not matching Verstappen's is an unchangeable fact, being unable to outrun Verstappen is normal, beating Verstappen is what's truly worth celebrating.
User Comments
0 comments from readers