How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 948 - 374: Propped Up by the Competition

The team has discovered in numerous races that Qin Miao possesses a unique technique for heating up tires.By the 20th lap, all drivers had completed their pit stops and switched to dry tires, and almost all drivers opted for medium tires, with Qin Miao being the only one using soft tires.

However, no one found this surprising because given Qin Miao’s long-distance speed and tire management skills, his soft tire durability showed no significant difference compared to other drivers’ medium tires.

And because all drivers had pitted once, Qin Miao’s position remained unchanged.

Fortunately, after switching to soft tires, Qin Miao’s speed increased significantly.

Now Qin Miao’s lap speed was able to catch up to Norris ahead by 0.6 seconds.

Despite this, the team remained concerned.

Because under the current track conditions, overtaking off the racing line is difficult.

Even if Qin Miao caught up to Norris ahead, overtaking him would be tough.

So viewers could see Qin Miao closing in within a second behind Norris by the 27th lap.

Qin Miao tried to attack Norris within this time gap for three laps.

But just as the team feared, with significant standing water on the track, Qin Miao had to leave the racing line to attempt overtaking Norris.

The tires on Qin Miao’s car immediately began to cool rapidly, reducing grip, and even causing slipping.

Qin Miao also attempted to set up his outer line for overtaking before the braking point at T2.

While chasing Norris, Qin Miao deliberately drove on the outer track line more than once.

Trying to dry out the outer track a bit.

However, even Qin Miao has occasional lapses in his calculations; the drainage capability of dry tires is far inferior to that of wet tires.

At this point the racing line was created by 18 drivers using their wet tires, and Qin Miao with one dry tire barely improved track conditions.

Thus, Qin Miao was stuck behind Norris, despite being quicker, but unable to overtake due to track limitations.

Norris didn’t even make many defensive moves against Qin Miao.

Of course, Qin Miao was not the only one facing such a situation on the track.

Leclerc, also faster than the driver ahead, was blocked behind Perez.

Both friends simultaneously gave up their attacks by the 22nd lap.

Qin Miao cruised behind Norris at 1.4 seconds, protecting his tires, much like Leclerc ahead.

As time passed, it quickly reached the 34th lap.

Unexpectedly, the rain expected to fall before the race had not come, and the race management even activated the DRS this lap.

Upon receiving this news, Qin Miao visibly narrowed the gap with Norris ahead.

Seeing the DRS activation, Norris was first startled, then quickly realized it was already the 34th lap, and wondered how much speed Qin Miao could still have with soft tires running for 15 laps?

Then in the 35th lap, at the T14 and T15 combination turns, Qin Miao closed within a second behind Norris.

Seeing the Mercedes W13 in his rearview mirror, Norris broke into a cold sweat.

Damn, is Qin Miao really not human? Did Pirelli become your father? How is your soft tire still gripping after running this long?

Not keeping Norris waiting long, in the first timed sector of the 36th lap, Qin Miao effortlessly used DRS to overtake Norris and move to fourth place.

During this process, Qin Miao followed the same path he had deliberately run on the track earlier.

Showing that Qin Miao’s early preparations paid off.

But at this point, Qin Miao believed this race was effectively over for him, because after overtaking Norris, he was 17 seconds behind Leclerc ahead.

This gap wasn’t enough for Qin Miao to lap in the race, but it was virtually impossible for Qin Miao to advance further.

On Five-Star Sports, Fei was delighted to see Qin Miao overtake Norris but expressed some regret, saying, "Mercedes’s car this season is really not up to par, unless drivers ahead make mistakes, Qin Miao can only finish fourth after overtaking Norris."

Following this, Qin Miao began cruising, making every effort to protect his tires.

Despite being shocked by the grip on Qin Miao’s soft tires after running a long time, Norris wasn’t anxious about dropping his position.

With 27 laps to go until the race’s end, Norris didn’t believe the soft tires on Qin Miao’s car could last another 27 laps.

Interestingly, by the 40th lap, Verstappen lapped other cars and caught up to Hamilton.

The race management also showed Hamilton the blue flag, and throughout the process, the director’s camera remained focused on Hamilton and Verstappen.