Chapter 1392 - 524: The Entire Team Must Be Taken Along

Chapter 1392: Chapter 524: The Entire Team Must Be Taken Along

For everyone at Mercedes, the news of Verstappen’s retirement was a morale booster.

Though the starting position at the Jeddah Circuit isn’t as crucial as in Monaco or Hengelo.

The qualifying position will most likely determine your finishing position in tomorrow’s race.

But starting fifteenth, coupled with Qin Miao and Hamilton’s strong performances this season, Verstappen likely lost all chances of competing for the race win against Qin Miao and Hamilton in today’s race.

Even if Verstappen catches up in the latter stages of the race, under Hamilton and Qin Miao’s defense, it’s highly unlikely that Verstappen can surpass the two Mercedes drivers.

For the rest of the race, Qin Miao and Hamilton only need to focus on Perez and each other.

As for Ferrari?

Best of luck to them.

Speaking of Ferrari, in today’s race, Ferrari once again engaged in some inexplicable maneuvers.

Leclerc replaced a set of electronic controls as a precaution during the first practice session.

This is already the third set of electronic controls Leclerc has replaced this season.

Bear in mind that this season has only had two races so far.

An F1 season only allows two electronic control replacements within the rules.

So in just the second race of the 23rd season, Leclerc was penalized with a ten-place grid drop for exceeding the replacement limit.

You have to admire Ferrari.

Even when messing up, they do it with such flair.

Should Qin Miao be worried about joining such a quirky Ferrari team?

Not necessarily.

After all, strictly speaking, Ferrari is still Bi’s team core, with Vassel only having moved into Maranello.

A winter break is not enough for Vassel...

No, ever since Vassel offered Qin Miao the surprisingly generous contract to join, Vassel has already become Saint Vassel in Qin Miao’s heart!

A winter break is not enough for Saint Vassel to comprehensively restructure and adjust Ferrari’s internal personnel and administrative processes.

Even if Saint Vassel wants to reform and optimize the current Ferrari team internally, it will be a gradual process.

The Ferrari of the next season can truly be considered a team built by Saint Vassel.

As for why Qin Miao is willing to go to Ferrari, apart from the extremely lucrative terms Ferrari offered, Saint Vassel plays a part too.

It’s not solely Saint Vassel who facilitated this contract, but also because of Saint Vassel’s capabilities.

After all, Saint Vassel truly elevated Alfa Romeo to an unexpected level in 2021.

At least Alfa Romeo’s sudden rise proved that Saint Vassel possesses the strength and abilities.

Qin Miao is also willing to believe that someone who offers him such a substantial contract is a truly competent team leader.

Of course, all this is just a side note.

The midfield takes a short break, and we enter Q3.

In the first lap of Q3, Qin Miao used the set of soft tires that had already done three laps in Q2.

Such worn tires are almost useless to other drivers, perhaps only used in emergencies during races when there are no tires left, but for Qin Miao, they can still be used for a flying lap in qualifying.

In fact, Qin Miao didn’t disappoint with these tires, finishing the first flying lap with a time of 1:28.665.

Took the lead straight away.

Understandably, since it’s Q3, Qin Miao unlocked all restrictions on his car and gave it his all to achieve the lap time.

A performance like this wouldn’t surprise anyone.

Soon, the time reached the last lap of Q3.

For caution, Qin Miao didn’t wait until the very last moment of the Q3 time countdown to run his final lap.

But instead crossed the finish line with over 50 seconds left in the Q3 clock to start his last flying lap.

Before this, Perez had completed his flying lap earlier than Qin Miao.

Perhaps Verstappen’s retirement made Perez see this as an opportunity, coupled with the pressure from Qin Miao and Hamilton.

After all, Old Man’s first flying lap in Q3 was also 1:28.697.

Not much slower than Qin Miao.

So Perez’s small universe exploded, with his final flying lap in Q3 clocking an astounding 1:28.077.

Almost breaking into the 27-second range.

This nearly 0.6-second gap made Qin Miao fully aware of how powerful Red Bull’s cars are this season.

Qin Miao knows that with his abilities, starting fifteenth, Verstappen can easily manage a small Perez with tire conservation during the race.

But a two-time champion has aspirations, why settle for just a race win when you can aim for a pole to win?

Wouldn’t it be better to claim all the honors available?

So Qin Miao’s driving style was quite aggressive in this lap.

Many of Qin Miao’s lines in the corners were particularly extreme, a style he hadn’t tried in practice or in Q1 or Q2 of qualifying.

Of course, this style carries its risks, but Qin Miao was not worried.

With a current fourth position as a safety net, and Jeddah not being a particularly difficult circuit for overtaking, Qin Miao drove more freely.

Even if he makes a mistake and this lap gets voided, Qin Miao has the confidence to regain his position later in the race.

Sometimes, the more you worry, the more likely you are to make mistakes.