Chapter 1418 - 533: Got Totally Shafted_2

Chapter 1418: Chapter 533: Got Totally Shafted_2

And make sure this advantage is so great that even with a tire advantage, Qin Miao can’t catch up.

Because after the red flag, a static restart is required.

And at this moment, someone on the track started to strategize.

During the warm-up lap, Hockenheim drastically slowed down at the T7 where Albon had his accident, to ensure his tires were warmer than the cars ahead.

He aimed to widen the gap with the car in front, allowing the opponent to be the first to stop at the grid, giving himself a temperature advantage on the tires when starting, which would improve grip.

But this deceleration directly opened a Pandora’s box.

All the drivers behind him started to slow down: Qin Miao, Tsunoda, and Perez, along with O’Kang beside them, even stopped on the track.

And for the drivers behind, the T7 after T6 is essentially a blind corner.

In other words, before you pass T6, you can’t see the track condition after T7.

Therefore, Zhou Guanyu almost braked too late and nearly crashed into a cluster of stopped cars outside T7 after exiting T6.

Startled, Zhou Guanyu naturally cursed and shouted over the team’s radio.

However, barring any accidents, this traffic jam won’t lead to any penalties.

Because no drivers were physically injured in the process.

After this interlude, the drivers spent some time running warm-up laps, finally returning to their positions.

And Qin Miao profited during this period thanks to Hockenheim’s maneuver.

When stopping his car, Qin Miao parked about five seconds later than Hockenheim, who was ahead of him.

Compared to Stroll ahead of Hockenheim, Qin Miao stopped at least ten seconds later in his grid position.

Therefore, the temperature of Qin Miao’s tires was at least 10 degrees Celsius higher than the drivers in front, and at least 20 degrees Celsius higher than Verstappen, who first stopped in the grid position.

The most direct effect was that as the five red lights lit up and then went out, when the race restarted, Qin Miao’s start immediately outpaced Hockenheim and Gasly in front of him.

At that moment, Qin Miao relied on the absolute speed of his start to complete an overtake from the outside line on Hockenheim ahead, then took advantage of the moment Hockenheim was overtaken to slip into the gap between Hockenheim and Gasly, moving from the outside line to the inside line.

And at this moment, Gasly also noticed Qin Miao on the inside line.

Although Gasly knew he wasn’t a match for Qin Miao, he couldn’t afford to lose his position at the start just like that.

What would that say about him?

So before T1, Gasly squeezed towards Qin Miao on the inside line, nearly pushing Qin Miao onto the grass of the pit exit.

Knowing he didn’t have right of way on the track, Qin Miao chose to concede as Gasly squeezed over, gradually giving up his position.

But Qin Miao wasn’t worried; even if the tires slightly touched the grass near the pit exit, it was fine.

Because as the cars approached the braking point of T1, for a wider entry and later braking point, Gasly had to revert to the outside line to brake into the corner.

And it was at this point that Qin Miao took the opportunity to closely follow Gasly. ℯℯ𝘭.

Due to Qin Miao’s tires being warmer than Gasly’s, and the Mercedes brakes outperforming Alpine’s, Qin Miao braked later than Gasly on the inside line.

Upon entering the corner, Qin Miao had already completed the overtake on Gasly from the inside line.

Earlier, facing Gasly’s squeeze, Qin Miao seemed timid.

Yet now Qin Miao entered the corner before Gasly and had the right of way, giving him every right and confidence to assert dominance.

After exiting the turn, he pushed Gasly towards the runoff area outside the track.

However, Qin Miao pushed into thin air because seeing Qin Miao’s inside line with late braking, Gasly had already given up struggling.

How can you fight this?

Setting aside driver skills, the gap in car performance alone was so vast it made Gasly feel a bit hopeless.

Whether it was acceleration or braking, Qin Miao triumphed. Insisting on fighting from the outside line against Qin Miao would only result in being pushed off the track, wasting tire life, and not gaining any advantage.

He might as well let him pass.

Yet simultaneously, Gasly felt a bit emotional.

He previously had no chance to compete with Qin Miao. Qin Miao entered the F1 paddock with a lofty position, out of reach for midfield drivers like Gasly.

It’s hard to believe that although both Gasly and Qin Miao are F1 drivers, they talked more about games, and conversed more in their gaming banter than in real life.

Their relationship swiftly solidified over gaming sessions with Leclerc.

Now this counts as their first brief encounter of attack and defense on the track.

Gasly felt the immense pressure coming from Qin Miao.

The serene composure when you press against the opponent, and the overwhelming, unstoppable force when they pressure you, left Gasly feeling bewildered.