Chapter 1540 - 564: Qin Miao Gradually Gets Used to Racing in the Rain

Chapter 1540: Chapter 564: Qin Miao Gradually Gets Used to Racing in the Rain

If the lap time is suitable, Qin Miao can save one set of soft tires.

But unfortunately, this set of soft tires is the softest C5. It ran three flying laps in practice sessions with heavy fuel and low downforce settings, and another flying lap during qualifying. This is already the limit of what this set of soft tires can achieve.

If he continues, not to mention the lap time, Qin Miao feels this set of tires might burst.

As a result, Qin Miao’s first flying lap in Q2 directly fell to the last place, with a lap time 0.4 seconds slower than the second-to-last Russell.

As for Verstappen...

His performance was more than a second faster than Qin Miao’s, but his flying lap was canceled because he exceeded track limits when exiting T10.

On the second flying lap, Qin Miao returned to the team’s pit room and put on his second set of soft tires for the Grand Prix weekend.

Once the tires were changed, Qin Miao’s performance immediately improved, jumping straight to third place.

Qin Miao also realized that many drivers on track had their results canceled due to exceeding track limits when exiting T10.

Since Qin Miao didn’t pursue the limit in these laps, his exit from T10 didn’t push the track to its extreme like other drivers, so he hadn’t been penalized by the FIA.

But after understanding the reason, Qin Miao couldn’t help but be extra cautious when rounding this corner.

Once Qin Miao’s performance was good enough to enter Q3, he directly clocked out.

The live broadcast even captured Qin Miao parking the car and getting out to stretch his body.

However, Verstappen’s canceled Q2 result wasn’t the end, but rather a kind of ritual’s beginning.

Starting from Q2, more and more drivers rushed out of the track at T10 and had their lap times canceled.

The unluckiest among them... Well, perhaps not unlucky, but Perez’s recent performance indeed hasn’t been good.

Not only did Perez’s first and second flying laps in Q2 get canceled, but also his third flying lap.

The reasons were all the same: exceeding track limits when exiting T10.

As a result, Perez didn’t have any results in Q2 and was directly eliminated.

This marked the fourth consecutive race where Perez failed to enter Q3.

The drivers eliminated in Q2 were: Albon, O’Kang, Russell, Piastri, Perez.

Actually, above O’Kang and Albon were Gasly and Hockenheim.

The reason these two could rank above O’Kang and others purely relied on the canceled lap times of the last flying lap due to exceeding track limits.

And before their results were canceled, Gasly and Hockenheim had better results compared to them, simply a stroke of luck.

Honestly, seeing so many drivers on track having their results canceled due to exceeding track limits, Qin Miao gradually realized something was amiss. In the pre-race driver meeting, he remembered clearly that Ben Sulayem seemed to have said that today’s race officials wouldn’t be so strict with penalties for exceeding track limits in the third timing sector.

Could it be that he meant the third timing sector was T9 instead of T10?

Besides, last year’s Austria Grand Prix, drivers exceeding track limits at T10 in the third timing sector was quite a normal occurrence, and the FIA didn’t penalize drivers for this reason.

This is why so many penalties were issued for this Grand Prix weekend by the FIA.

Because when driving on the track, drivers didn’t take much into account, with most relying on instinct and muscle memory.

Moreover, for veteran drivers, they’ve raced on this track five or six times, with the angle at T10’s exit in the third timing sector consistently exceeding the track limits and using the shoulder on the outside of the track to the fullest. There hadn’t been any penalties before, so why start now?

However, no matter what, these are appeals to be addressed after the race.

For the FIA, a flexible penalty scale is just an inconspicuous tool in their arsenal.

It really isn’t worth mentioning.

Although Qin Miao has raced here many times, he’s not the type to overlook issues and fail to make adjustments.

Upon confirming that the FIA closely scrutinizes this section, Qin Miao slightly lifted the throttle while exiting T10 to pass.

The race quickly proceeded to Q3.

On the first flying lap, Verstappen ran a 1:04.503.

At this time, Qin Miao was also running flying laps. Although he was still using old soft tires, this set of old tires had only been used for one flying lap on the track, so overall, the grip was still good.

But unfortunately, after completing this lap, Qin Miao’s performance was only 1:04.990.

Don’t think Qin Miao was at a disadvantage; keep in mind that Verstappen also used old tires.

Seeing Verstappen’s performance, Qin Miao genuinely felt a headache.

You could only admire Red Bull’s home advantage.

For the last flying lap in Q3, after some deliberation, Qin Miao opted for a new set of soft tires.

Given his defensive capabilities, if he could secure a better starting position in Sunday’s main race, it would be advantageous in maintaining the points gap between him and Verstappen.

After completing this lap, Qin Miao achieved a time of 1:04.503.

This was already the fastest time Qin Miao could achieve with the current state of the W14.

Exiting T10, Qin Miao’s rear wheels were only two to three centimeters away from exceeding the track limits when the FIA’s officials would penalize.