Chapter 1363 - 512: Qin Miao: We’ve Got an Old Six!_2

Chapter 1363: Chapter 512: Qin Miao: We’ve Got an Old Six!_2

Simply driving slightly over the curb would cause a loss of grip and send the car skidding.

At T14, Qin Miao took a wider line, almost going off the track to accelerate prematurely, thus unleashing the full potential of his W14 on the straight where DRS is available.

In actuality, under normal conditions, there was no need for Qin Miao to race this extremely, because even someone as consistent as Qin Miao might make mistakes while driving on the edge.

The difference between drivers might be that Qin Miao’s chances of making an error are just a bit lower.

But there’s no choice, Verstappen and Red Bull together gave Mercedes a hard time.

They started learning to hold back their strength.

Not only Qin Miao on the track, but Hamilton behind him also started going all out.

Moreover, Old Man’s racing line is even more extreme than Qin Miao’s, literally treading the edge of the FIA’s regulation boundaries.

It’s the kind of boundary where if the FIA staff were stricter, Hamilton’s performance would have been penalized.

But considering the accomplishment of seven championships, coupled with Hamilton crossing the line with only a 1:29.811, failing to claim pole, the FIA did not investigate further.

Compared to Hamilton’s extreme driving, Qin Miao’s performance was slightly inferior, eventually settling at a 1:29.888 at the finish line.

Despite breaking the 30-second barrier and outpacing his first flying lap by 0.112 seconds, Qin Miao’s performance couldn’t surpass his teammate Hamilton, naturally ruling out the possibility of contending for pole position in the Bahrain qualifiers.

Unsurprisingly, the fastest lap time in today’s qualifier belonged to Verstappen. After the final lap in Q3, Verstappen’s time was: 1:29.708.

Verstappen’s time was 0.103 seconds faster than Hamilton in 2nd place, and 0.2 seconds faster than Qin Miao.

Honestly, not only Qin Miao and Mercedes were puzzled by this gap, but everyone else witnessing the time difference was surprised.

However, the qualifier has ended, and the result won’t change.

The final standings and times for the first qualifier of 2023 are as follows:

1: Verstappen 1:29.708

2: Hamilton

3: Perez

4: Qin Miao

5: Leclerc

6: Sainz

7: Alonso

8: Stroll

9: O’Kang

10: Hockenheim

Of course, besides Red Bull, today’s race brought surprises to the audience with Aston Martin.

After recruiting Brother Tou, Aston Martin, which ranked lower than Alfa Romeo last season, suddenly surged, with both drivers strongly entering Q3.

Stroll even carried injuries.

This indeed surprised many, as spectators who enjoy excitement relish such drama of an ordinary team’s sudden rise.

Moreover, Aston Martin has Brother Tou, whose two-time world championship adds a heroic comeback vibe to Aston Martin’s rise.

These are storylines that people love to see.

Naturally, Aston Martin gained considerable attention.

However, the director appeared to have different thoughts.

After the qualifier, during the time drivers returned to the repair area, the director immediately switched the broadcast to Toto and Horner.

The expression difference between the two team leaders was apparent.

Toto, although not as emotionally reactive as before, didn’t smash headphones, but his furrowed brows and constant dialogues via his headset showed his anxiety and eagerness to understand the performance gap between his cars and Red Bull.

On the other side, Horner’s demeanor was the complete opposite of Toto Wolff, smiling with wrinkles, happily conversing with Marco beside him.

A calm, composed stance, observing the race’s unpredictable dynamics.

As for Newey? After the qualifier, the aerodynamics master left work immediately.

Many feel Newey resembles the two-time world champion Qin Miao, as both possess a casual demeanor and have the capability for such freedom.

Back to the point.

Since not securing a top three in the qualifier, Qin Miao didn’t need to attend a post-race interview on the track.

He parked his car in the inspection area and proceeded to weigh out.

Getting fourth today, Qin Miao didn’t deem it regrettable; on one hand, it’s too late to change anything.

On another, Qin Miao truly gave his all on the track, while not believing in pushing the car to extremes like Hamilton for the season’s opening race.

Of course, the main point is Qin Miao’s confidence in his long-distance pace and tire management.

As Vassel said post-interview: Winning the qualifier does not equate to winning the race.

Even if Qin Miao didn’t perform well in the qualifier, he can gain significant advantages in the race by utilizing different tire strategies.

After concluding the post-race interview, Qin Miao returned to the team’s P room without changing clothes.

Qin Miao was genuinely curious why Verstappen’s lap time is so fast.

After reviewing the race, Qin Miao gained a general understanding.

This season, Red Bull’s main advantages are evident: they perfected car adjustments suitable for Bahrain, and Verstappen’s driving skill was extraordinary.

Furthermore, Red Bull’s DRS efficiency baffled Qin Miao.

Multiple factors combined to make Verstappen exceptionally fast.

Yet, the most incomprehensible aspect for Mercedes was RB19’s DRS efficiency.

Mercedes optimized W14’s straight-line acceleration and top speed, naturally enhancing their DRS speed advantage.

However, judging by Mercedes’s assessment, RB19’s DRS efficiency surpassed W14’s.

Mercedes’s aerodynamics chief Jarrod Murphy suspected RB19’s DRS button might be linked to a turbocharger or nitrous oxide, breaching regulations.

Why would Red Bull’s DRS increase their top speed by over thirty kilometers?

If a layperson or regular fan witnessed this data, they might simply exclaim how extraordinary it was.

But as Mercedes’s aerodynamics chief, Jarrod Murphy’s expertise screamed this data was incredibly abnormal.

...

One can only say, Red Bull encountered an era most suitable for them, where under Newey’s guidance, they maximized their team’s characteristic in aerodynamics.

Strictly speaking, Mercedes’s loss in today’s qualifiers was justified.

Qin Miao got the outcome he wanted.

Shaking his head, Qin Miao remarked to Frankie beside him: "Last year’s results somewhat made us overconfident; we were overly optimistic at the season’s start."

Frankie shook his head and said, "That’s not necessarily bad, at least at the season’s start, technicians and factory staff were very enthusiastic, shortening many components’ development cycle, it’s a double-edged sword."

As the conversation continued, the global broadcast disconnected, leaving only the audience and other team staff on-site to witness the remaining footage.

At this point, the director was more flamboyant.

He directly played footage of Toto before the qualifier on the broadcast screen.

Back then, Toto’s face was full of confident smiles.

Then swiftly switched to Toto’s sulky face post-qualifier.

The contrast was obvious.

Full of humor.