Chapter 1399 - 526: Consecutive Championships

Chapter 1399: Chapter 526: Consecutive Championships

Before the race began, Red Bull’s strategy team already knew that Verstappen couldn’t win today’s race unless Qin Miao retired.

At this moment, Red Bull’s idea to have Perez block Hamilton was clearly to prevent Hamilton from taking second.

They wanted Perez to help Verstappen disrupt Hamilton’s race rhythm.

This was to ensure Verstappen maintained the points gap with Qin Miao without it widening further.

And then trouble ensued with this blocking strategy.

In the 18th lap, Perez had just changed his tires and left the team’s pit area when Stroll’s car malfunctioned.

Aston Martin detected severe MGU-H degradation in Stroll’s car.

It was no longer able to continue driving.

The team instructed Stroll to park the car at a Matthew entrance.

As expected, a safety car appeared on the track.

Perez had just pitted the lap before, and the safety car appeared the next lap.

This was truly a series of unfortunate events.

Consequently, Perez’s original position of third dropped to eighth, right in front of Zhou Guanyu.

Qin Miao intended to run a long stint on the track, but with the sudden appearance of the safety car, he had to pit.

If Qin Miao missed this safety car, today’s race advantage of his tire durability wouldn’t be realized.

The frustrating part is that even with his exceptional tire management skills, Qin Miao’s soft tires could last only 25 laps at Jeddah Circuit, and maybe stretch to 30 laps in a low-fuel setting.

But now Qin Miao’s car was still carrying heavy fuel, so switching to soft tires wouldn’t allow him to finish the race.

If Qin Miao managed to complete the race, the FIA and Pirelli, who’ve consistently protested against Qin Miao’s extraordinary tire preservation, might go insane.

The initial concept of F1 tire design is for them to be consumed on the track, but not too quickly, forcing teams to pit for tire changes and add variability to the race.

But the way Qin Miao uses them, other teams might want him banned.

Additionally, Qin Miao couldn’t manage to complete the race after switching to soft tires at this pit stop.

With Qin Miao using medium tires now, there’s no need to think; he must switch to hard tires during this pit stop.

Although he’s a bit slower, completing the race is no issue, and Qin Miao can ensure his lap times in the latter parts of the race remain impressive.

The later the race goes, the greater Qin Miao’s advantage.

But it’s not without risks.

Originally, with his phenomenal tire management, Verstappen had no expectations for this race against Qin Miao, but after Qin Miao pitted in the 18th lap for hard tires, Verstappen got some unrealistic ideas.

If Qin Miao switched to soft tires at their planned pit window, even with DRS every lap, Verstappen might not catch Qin Miao.

But now, Verstappen at least had a chance to catch up to Qin Miao.

Qin Miao’s advantage in tire differentiation was gone.

Meanwhile, Qin Miao became somewhat pressured due to the sudden safety car.

After all, a safety car compresses the distances between cars.

The advantage he had might vanish directly.

But as Qin Miao left the pit lane, feeling worried, Frankie spoke up: "Stroll parked his car at the Matthew entrance; we anticipate the safety car to be on track for no more than two laps."

This wasn’t exactly good news.

Two laps would be enough to compress the positions of the top ten drivers together.

However, Frankie eventually shared some good news with Qin Miao: "Perez is now in seventh, already out of contention for the win in today’s race.

Verstappen exited the pit lane in fourth, behind Alonso and Hamilton. Alonso and Hamilton are likely to defend against Verstappen for quite some time. We have plenty of tire reserves, so please push forward before Verstappen catches up!"

Qin Miao impulsively asked: "Can I not push, but instead stay on the track to provide Hamilton with DRS?"

This strategy needed no explanation; it was Qin Miao’s classic approach, focusing on annoyance.

Using the convenience of providing DRS to the trailing car as a defensive measure against the car behind it.

Commonly referred to as the DRS train.

The team was aware of Qin Miao’s phenomenal skills in "Hitting the Bull from a Distance" strategy, and recognized him as the paddock’s number one train conductor. But the team didn’t adopt Qin Miao’s idea.

Frankie explained: "Based on strategy group calculations, Hamilton’s tires might not hold for that long. During the latter part of the race, even if you provide DRS, his medium tires might not withstand Verstappen’s attacks due to excessive degradation, so we recommend starting to push with full force now, without conserving tires."

After hearing this, Qin Miao didn’t think any further,

since Frankie did make a valid point.

And on the track, Qin Miao switched to an offensive strategy.

From the 30th lap onwards, Qin Miao started improving his lap times every lap, holding the fastest lap at that moment.