Chapter 1396 - 525: Full-Power Rampage with the W14

Chapter 1396: Chapter 525: Full-Power Rampage with the W14

Actually, under normal circumstances, Qin Miao usually revs his engine up to around 9000 rpm at the start, and it’s not uncommon for the soft tires to maintain around 10,000 rpm at the start.

However, today’s race is quite special. On one hand, the temperature in the desert drops rapidly at night, and on the other hand, Qin Miao is using medium tires, which, even when at their working temperature, don’t have as strong grip as the soft tires.

If the engine speed is too high, there’s a possibility of wheel slip at the start.

Therefore, reducing engine speed at the start phase is beneficial for Qin Miao’s start.

If an F1 Grand Prix is likened to walking on a tightrope, then the tightrope walked during the starting phase is the thinnest one of the entire process.

Not only is starting very difficult, but controlling the position of one’s car after the start is equally challenging.

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As the five red lights overhead went out, Qin Miao instantly released the clutch button he had been holding onto.

The car engine gradually began to roar.

Qin Miao also felt the familiar sense of acceleration pressing him back.

At the same time, Qin Miao looked helplessly at Perez, who was slightly slower off the start than him but changed lanes towards the inside immediately after his start.

Unfortunately, due to the direction his car was facing, Qin Miao was blocked by Perez from proceeding forward.

Although the distance between Qin Miao and Perez was still significant after the start, Perez’s starting speed was slow, and the acceleration ability of the Honda engine couldn’t match that of the Mercedes engine.

The end result was that when Perez squeezed towards the inside line, he didn’t pass Hamilton in second place, but instead blocked Qin Miao’s acceleration line.

Although Qin Miao didn’t know whether to consider this an accidental advantage on Perez’s part, it was truly irritating.

When everyone reached the braking point at T1, they all needed to take the outside line to corner.

Hamilton’s starting speed in today’s race could only be described as average, but because of comparisons among peers, Perez’s start was neither as fast as Qin Miao’s nor as fast as Hamilton’s, so Hamilton, starting second and on the inside line, gained a decisive advantage before the T1 corner, blocking Perez’s inside line.

After passing T1 and entering the corner first, Hamilton moved into first.

While Qin Miao was still in third.

This was already yet another time where Qin Miao’s starting advantage was lost due to cars blocking him in front.

But one can’t say Qin Miao didn’t try, as most times his starts weren’t because he didn’t want to overtake, but because his overtaking lines always got blocked.

After T2, with less pressure from other drivers around, Qin Miao regretfully shook his head.

It’s the same again, he’s even gotten somewhat used to it.

But at least in today’s race start, Qin Miao, like usual, didn’t lose any position.

Brother Tou’s reaction speed at the start was surprisingly fast for a 42-year-old man, but facing a young person not yet 24, his reaction speed was ultimately not as quick.

Plus, both Mercedes and Aston Martin use the same engine, and Mercedes’ W14 is specifically optimized for straight-line acceleration and top speed, so Brother Tou starting slower than Qin Miao is quite normal.

After the start was completed, nothing unexpected happened in Qin Miao’s area in front of him, but Qin Miao was somewhat vexed.

Because after moving into first place, Hamilton didn’t quickly widen the gap with Perez, partly because Hamilton was using hard tires.

The average lap speed of the hard tires is 0.63 seconds slower than the mediums.

Before Perez’s soft tires began slowing down due to excessive wear, Hamilton couldn’t shake off Perez.

Meanwhile, Red Bull’s DRS efficiency is higher than that of the Mercedes cars.

This means that if Hamilton doesn’t manage to push Perez beyond the DRS zone of one second within three laps, given the characteristics of the Jeddah Circuit, Hamilton’s lead in the race could soon be over.

And indeed, that was the case.

In the third lap, despite Hamilton giving it his all, he still couldn’t push Perez out of the DRS zone.

Even though Hamilton could significantly stretch the time gap on straights, during the second and third timing sections with more turns, Perez could always rely on the car’s cornering performance to catch up.

And Qin Miao, following behind Perez, found it somewhat frustrating.

Despite Qin Miao’s lap speed being faster than Perez’s, the difference wasn’t much.

After getting a bit closer, he’d be shaken off again in the corners.

After all, the turbulence from the car ahead has a significant impact on the car behind in corners, and W14, in particular, isn’t particularly adept at cornering. With the turbulence from the Red Bull car in front, before DRS was activated, Qin Miao couldn’t apply sufficient pressure on Perez.

After DRS was activated in the fourth lap, Perez closed the time gap with Hamilton to 0.3 seconds in the second timing section’s DRS zone.

Then, directly overtook Hamilton from the outside in the third timing section’s DRS zone.

Despite Old Man’s preparation, it was well known internally at Red Bull that the DRS efficiency of their cars improved this season.

But watching the Red Bull car outside rush past him like a mad dog, Hamilton cursed on the team radio: "What the fk? He just shot past me like a rocket, man."

Hamilton’s race engineer heard Hamilton’s complaint and was quite powerless himself: "Copy, now focus on tire management."