Chapter 1421 - 534: Counterattack Moment (2)

Chapter 1421: Chapter 534: Counterattack Moment (2)

Both losing time and wasting tires without gaining anything.

Considering the team’s own interests, the strategy group naturally hoped Hamilton would let Qin Miao pass.

But while they were discussing, Toto directly made the decision: "We won’t participate in this discussion; let the drivers make their own decisions on the track."

Upon hearing Toto’s words, the strategy group staff paused for a moment, then exchanged glances and didn’t discuss it further, continuing to focus on their own tasks.

On the track, the three contenders for the championship, including Qin Miao, didn’t get much screen time for a long period afterwards.

This situation persisted until lap 43.

Because on this lap, for the first time in today’s race, the time gap between Qin Miao and Hamilton didn’t increase but actually decreased.

Qin Miao was 0.1 seconds faster than Hamilton on this lap.

Clearly, Old Man’s tires were starting to deteriorate, and simultaneously, the gap between Verstappen and Qin Miao also narrowed to 0.09 seconds.

Undeniably, both of them were indeed faster than Qin Miao, with one leading by 7 seconds and the other by 4.5 seconds.

However, as the race progressed and Qin Miao’s tire management advantage came into play, these differences became irrelevant.

By lap 44, the producer realized that the main focus of the race had shifted, so they promptly switched the main camera to Qin Miao.

The screen also displayed the lap time difference between Qin Miao and Hamilton.

"Oh? We can see that Qin Miao’s lap time is now faster than Hamilton’s; it seems it’s finally time for Qin Miao to shine," Bing said with a smile after seeing the data provided by the on-site producer.

After all, this was the moment they were most looking forward to in this race.

"There are still 14 laps left until the end of the race; let’s see if Qin Miao can catch up to Verstappen before it finishes."

"I actually have confidence in Qin Miao’s ability to pursue hard in the latter stages; now my only concern is whether Qin Miao will catch up and overtake Verstappen just a few laps before the race ends." As a dedicated fan of Qin Miao, Zhou Haoran had full confidence in Qin Miao’s driving skills.

"Hey, hey, hey, now isn’t the right time to say that; Qin Miao has just started the pursuit," Fei quickly stopped Zhou Haoran; boasting now wasn’t appropriate.

Zhou Haoran felt it was no big deal; after all, they had been hailing Qin Miao a lot on the track during the first two races of the season.

So Zhou Haoran maintained his view: "There’s a good chance Qin Miao will win today’s race; the later the race goes, the greater Qin Miao’s advantage becomes. Catching up is really just a matter of time now."

Fei didn’t think Zhou Haoran’s words were jinxing, just felt that speaking so confidently at this moment wasn’t appropriate.

On the track, Qin Miao was aware from the car’s instruments that his lap speed was faster than Hamilton’s, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit excited.

However, after just one timed sector, Frankie reminded Qin Miao, saying: "Qin Miao, your pace is a bit too fast now; you can slow down a bit to protect your tires. The race is long, and we can catch up."

Qin Miao then realized he had been pushing too hard in the previous flying lap.

Taking a deep breath on the straight, Qin Miao adjusted his mindset and resumed racing normally.

"No rush, no rush."

...

By lap 46, the gap between Qin Miao and Hamilton had become one-sidedly shortened by Qin Miao.

At this point, Qin Miao caught up with Hamilton by 0.41 seconds in one lap, and it’s evident that Qin Miao’s pursuit speed will keep getting faster.

Meanwhile, Hamilton had been watching the gap between himself and Qin Miao, and as Qin Miao closed in, Old Man admitted that his already sweaty body, running the race in warm conditions, was now drenched.

At the same time, Hamilton started worrying that when Qin Miao caught up, the team might give him team orders to let Qin Miao pass.

This wasn’t baseless worry; any leader considering the team’s interest would undoubtedly issue team orders under these circumstances.

Hamilton’s feelings for Qin Miao were quite complex.

It was a bit like Big Hair looking at the rabbit now; not long ago, Qin Miao was a young brother needing his care, but now he had reached a height Hamilton could barely aspire to.

However, Qin Miao had no such thoughts, and he didn’t even consider Hamilton; Qin Miao’s eyes were set solely on Verstappen leading the race.

Hamilton, made sweaty by Qin Miao, also stirred some unease in Verstappen ahead.

At this point, Verstappen wished that Qin Miao and Hamilton would have internal conflicts, clashing as soon as they met.

But clearly, this wasn’t going to happen.

By lap 50, Qin Miao’s pursuit speed increased further, catching up to Hamilton in the third sector inside the DRS zone, bringing the lap time gap to 0.7 seconds.

With such a large time gap, defending against Qin Miao was bound to be a difficult task for Hamilton.

Yet surprisingly, Old Man felt quite relaxed.

Because when Qin Miao caught up, the Mercedes team didn’t issue any orders forcing Hamilton to let Qin Miao pass.

Just this was enough to alleviate much of Hamilton’s pressure.

Though he didn’t know why the team refrained from ordering him to give way,

Hamilton wouldn’t waste this opportunity given by the team and would definitely try defending Qin Miao’s attack on the track.

Thus, spectators saw that in the second sector DRS zone, the two Mercedes drivers began their attack-defense battle.

Old Man positioned himself to block the inside line when Qin Miao entered his DRS range.

But Hamilton’s actions made Qin Miao confused, as in Qin Miao’s opinion, given their differing speeds, there was no reason for Hamilton to defend, and time was ticking to close the gap to Verstappen.

However, judging by Hamilton’s actions, it’s clear he thought differently.

Qin Miao initially considered overtaking Hamilton from the outside line but abandoned the attempt upon seeing Hamilton’s maneuvers.

Normally, if Old Man decided to give way, Qin Miao could easily overtake Hamilton from the inside line, allowing them to maintain their rhythm on the track, benefiting both.

But if Hamilton seriously defended, Qin Miao’s overtaking timing wouldn’t be optimal.

Returning behind Hamilton, Qin Miao refrained from attacking in the DRS zone of the main straight.

On one hand, this DRS zone was too short, and on the other, being blocked by Hamilton had disrupted Qin Miao’s rhythm, requiring him to close the gap again.

Yet simultaneously, Qin Miao didn’t forget to report to the team.

Previously, Qin Miao might have dealt with teammates on the track, but now he understood the importance of tackling in both on-track and off-track settings.

Although off-track tactics might not always work, having more possibilities was beneficial.

"Lewis should let me pass; he’s wasting our time!" Qin Miao righteously complained when he opened the team’s TR.

Frankie listened helplessly because, as soon as Qin Miao caught up behind Hamilton without an obvious yield, Frankie had relayed the situation to the team. But the team disagreed, stating they wouldn’t interfere with the fair competition between the two drivers on track.

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