Chapter 1375 - 517: Qin Miao Gets Dirty!

Chapter 1375: Chapter 517: Qin Miao Gets Dirty!

Exiting T1, they approached T2.

There’s only one line through this position.

And acceleration needs to begin even before reaching the apex of T2.

Thus, this corner only has one driving line, with no possibility of overtaking.

Yet, at the spot where he should have accelerated, Qin Miao lifted off the throttle.

Although Qin Miao’s car continued moving forward due to inertia, the acceleration suddenly slowed.

Verstappen, behind Qin Miao, intended to maintain his gap with Qin Miao, so he was following very closely. The time gap was only 0.3 seconds.

Suddenly seeing Qin Miao’s car grow larger in his view, Verstappen was instantly drenched in cold sweat.

At the same time, in Verstappen’s mind, the process of braking and judging whether Qin Miao’s car had a failure happened almost simultaneously, and both were completed.

Because after Verstappen braked, Qin Miao immediately accelerated fiercely, and his car sped away.

The 0.3-second gap between Qin Miao and Verstappen was instantly widened back to 1.2 seconds.

That’s right.

This is F1, where a single braking mistake can directly cause a loss of one second.

And Qin Miao’s action proved to Verstappen that there was no mechanical failure during that moment—it was all intentional.

Qin Miao’s move has a specific name on the track: brake testing.

"***! Qin Miao brake tested me!" Verstappen cursed over the team radio.

This kind of tactic is, to some extent, indeed a bit dirty.

Plus, Verstappen and Qin Miao were competing for today’s race win, so after being messed with by Qin Miao, Verstappen couldn’t contain his emotions.

Normally, when drivers encounter such tactics from the car in front, they might at most curse a bit internally.

But Verstappen was a bit anxious, especially with only two laps remaining, so it was natural that he did not suppress his impulse.

For all F1 drivers, the brake test from the car in front is indeed a hard-to-defend tactic.

Because when you’re chasing the car ahead, you don’t know when the opponent will suddenly brake, disrupting your rhythm.

When seeing the car ahead suddenly enlarge, all drivers will make the quickest judgment based on their position relative to the car in front.

Either brake sharply or steer out of the slipstream, preventing a collision while not slowing down your car.

That’s why Qin Miao dared to play this game with Verstappen. If it were an F2 driver behind, or if the F1 driver behind were less skilled, Qin Miao would not dare to do this.

It’s possible Qin Miao could test them ten times, and they might react only once.

But who knows when Qin Miao might encounter this one-in-ten chance?

As for Verstappen, Qin Miao was confident that with his reaction speed, he definitely wouldn’t crash.

As for causing an accident from Qin Miao’s brake test?

If such a thing happened, Qin Miao would accept the penalty.

If Qin Miao were penalized ten seconds, he wouldn’t say a word.

But afterward, Qin Miao would have grounds to question and mock Verstappen’s driving skills.

Being brake tested into an accident—it’s either foul play or incompetence.

At the very least, he wouldn’t deserve the position of Red Bull’s lead driver.

In short, from Qin Miao’s perspective, anyone could be troubled by a brake test, but it’s impossible for Verstappen right now.

And facts proved Qin Miao’s judgment correct.

Verstappen did react in time and even gifted Qin Miao a massive one-second advantage.

Although Qin Miao knew he couldn’t avoid being cursed by Verstappen over the team radio,

Qin Miao gained the time and opportunity to breathe and adjust. Verstappen earned Qin Miao’s respect by proving his skills, and the audience enjoyed the show.

A win-win!

Verstappen: #￥...￥!!%#@￥

Of course, Qin Miao’s tactics came with consequences—in the next lap, the fifty-sixth lap.

After catching up to Qin Miao again, Verstappen’s aggression significantly increased.

You didn’t need to listen to Verstappen’s team radio; you could clearly see through his attacks on Qin Miao that Verstappen was now visibly anxious.

By the time they reached the third DRS zone of the fifty-sixth lap, which is the start-finish straight, Verstappen re-entered within 0.4 seconds of Qin Miao’s DRS zone.

This time gap, coupled with Verstappen’s car DRS’s incredible effect, gave Verstappen the potential to overtake Qin Miao.

But remember, the biggest advantage of the Mercedes car this season is its exceptionally high top speed and acceleration.

Additionally, Qin Miao still had stored ERS energy left unused.

So, although Verstappen made his move on the outer line during the attack on T1, even managing to slightly edge ahead of Qin Miao, and he cleverly controlled his car to let Qin Miao pass the DRS detection point at T1 first,

Qin Miao consistently held to the inside line, not giving Verstappen the chance to insert himself inside.

Then, when Verstappen braked on the outside, Qin Miao braked late on the inside, blocking Verstappen’s optimal racing line before T1, and just as Verstappen was preparing for a wider line, Qin Miao had already straightened his car and begun accelerating out of the corner.