Chapter 1492 - 544: A Thrilling Yet Safe Conclusion

Chapter 1492: Chapter 544: A Thrilling Yet Safe Conclusion

As time passed, the race reached the 60th lap, Perez chose to pit and change tires on this lap, but he switched to full wet tires.

Anyway, from Red Bull’s perspective, Perez’s race today is already ruined, with no chance of scoring points.

Now, by testing the speed of full wet tires on the track, if the speed is decent, they can also call Verstappen into the pit early for a tire change, at least they won’t miss the pitting opportunity.

If the speed isn’t good, there’s nothing much to lose anyway.

It’s just that the results might look ugly.

As time went on, the rain on the track started increasing.

Almost all drivers experienced sliding on the track, but everyone managed to control their potentially out-of-control cars.

However, there was an exception on the track, and nobody expected this person to have a collision situation.

At the swimming pool corner, Qin Miao briefly lost control when the car bounced off after touching the curb a bit too much.

When the car landed, it briefly went out of control, about to crash into the wall.

But Qin Miao stepped on the accelerator, immediately counter-steered, and when the tires regained grip, he continued to steer back, saving the car. However, the wall outside T15 was too close to the track.

Despite controlling the car initially and attempting to steer left to save it, the car still hit the track wall under inertia.

This can be said to be Qin Miao’s first serious mistake on the track this season.

Yet, many people still remember Qin Miao’s heroic performance in the previous rain race.

So, many fans started discussing the duality of Qin Miao after this race.

This crash, while serious, wasn’t overly so. It damaged the entire endplate and a large piece of the right side of Qin Miao’s front wing.

The good news is, the front wing absorbed most of the impact, and coupled with Qin Miao decelerating throughout, even though it subsequently hit Qin Miao’s right tire, the Mercedes golden front suspension performed well and the car’s front suspension wasn’t damaged.

Due to the wet track, the remaining inertia shifted to the rear wheels after the front wing and right front suspension hit the wall.

Ultimately, the rear wheels hit the barrier, dissipating all the car’s inertia.

After a slight bounce on the track, the car drove forward again, seemingly unharmed.

Qin Miao instinctively completed a series of corrective maneuvers immediately upon realizing his car was out of control.

This was purely out of Qin Miao’s instinct.

And this crash could be considered narrowly avoided.

Due to the wet ground, although Qin Miao would normally break the right front suspension in a retirement-inducing crash, the slippery track divided the impact into three separate incidents, which gradually dissipated the inertia.

It was just within the suspension’s limit.

A normal person would be stunned for a while after a crash.

Because the sudden impact would briefly leave the driver’s mind in a chaotic state.

Qin Miao was similar, but the difference was that sometimes he relied not on his brain but his bodily instincts during a race.

Especially in dull races, he could zone out while driving, but crucially, his speed wasn’t slow.

After a crash, Qin Miao’s mind quickly regained clarity, and he immediately asked on the team radio, "How much speed have I lost? Can the car still run? Tell me the situation."

Frankie answered Qin Miao right after the crash: "It’s unclear how much speed you’ve lost now, but from telemetry data, the car seems fine overall, you can continue driving on the track. We’ll keep an eye on the data and inform you immediately if there’s any issue."

Before Qin Miao could say anything, the team strategy group intervened on the team radio, adding: "Due to the rain, the aerodynamic package’s impact on car speed is minimal. Qin Miao, continue on the track without pitting. We didn’t see any debris from the front wing on the broadcast screen, so we won’t be issued a damage flag. Keep driving on the track and try to create a gap for a front wing swap compared to the Ferrari car. If there’s a yellow flag or safety car, we still need to pit for a front wing change."

Qin Miao’s previously anxious mood eased after hearing the team’s words.

But the commentators at Five-Star Sports were shocked by the scene.

"Oh, watch out, Qin Miao!"

"Why did Qin Miao slip up here?"

"The swimming pool corner is indeed tricky in the rain, Qin Miao may have misjudged the position due to water on the track."

...

Meanwhile, the broadcast director didn’t show the live feed but played a slow-motion replay of Qin Miao’s recent lap.

After all, the swimming pool corner is a classic one on the Monte Carlo track, where many drivers often make mistakes, and it’s where most drivers’ tires are closest to the wall. So, FOM installed a high-speed camera here.