Chapter 1502 - 549: Daughter’s Visit

Chapter 1502: Chapter 549: Daughter’s Visit

As for Bottas who was eliminated.

Qin Miao didn’t know what happened to him, but Qin Miao knew that Bottas was eliminated because Zhou Guanyu overtook him at the last moment.

Of course, Bottas also gave Zhou Guanyu a tow in the last flying lap before Zhou Guanyu advanced to Q2.

It can be said that the two drivers of the Alfa Romeo team likely have the best team dynamics among all the drivers in the paddock.

At the same time, Alfa Romeo’s car proved a fact on the track, which is that their car is indeed as balanced as the two drivers mentioned in interviews with the media.

At least according to Zhou Guanyu’s speed, this indeed is a car without any notable weaknesses.

Q2, Qin Miao’s first flying lap result entered 1 minute 12 seconds, with a final time of 1:12.799.

This result directly allowed entry into Q3 without any risk, so Qin Miao ended Q2 early.

Meanwhile, several unexpected events occurred on the Q2 track.

Perez pressed on the wet area of the track at T5 before the flying lap in his out lap.

Actually, it’s no big deal; a dry tire on a wet patch would at most cool down the tire, and it would warm back up after running for a short while.

But Perez’s T5 is a sharp roundabout, with a large angle.

Thus, when Perez pressed on the water patch, the car temporarily lost control for a moment.

Although Perez’s car wasn’t fast during the out lap, he still went off track onto the grass, and due to the grass, the car’s tire traction greatly diminished, forcing Perez into the gravel.

Due to this being the last flying lap of Q2, Red Bull didn’t leave much time for Perez, and his Q1 result wasn’t as good as Qin Miao’s, which couldn’t ensure entry to Q3. Also, he needed to return from the gravel to the track, wasting time.

So when Perez returned to the track, his time remaining to start the flying lap was very tight.

This forced Perez to increase his speed to attempt the last flying lap, so on the remaining track before the line, Perez was pushing fully, finally crossing the line with only 3 seconds to spare before the Q2 countdown ended to start his second flying lap.

However, because of going off track earlier, neither the tire temperature nor the car’s battery or tire wear were at optimal condition.

Even though Perez did refresh his fastest lap time in this lap, the final result wasn’t enough for him to advance to Q3.

Perez was ultimately eliminated in Q2.

[Perez (danger)]

[Perez, hold on!]

[Perez’s great shift countdown starts]

[Perez has been truly amusing in these recent races]

...

Perez being eliminated in Q2 and Leclerc being eliminated at T3 are fundamentally different.

Leclerc was eliminated because the team was foolish, whereas Perez’s elimination was entirely his own fault.

After crossing the finish line, the live broadcaster cleverly fixed the broadcast camera on the Red Bull team command area, where Horner and Marco’s expressions remained calm.

But what they truly think inside is unknown.

The drivers eliminated in Q2 were: Perez, Hockenheim, Zhou Guanyu, De Vries, and Tsunoda.

After a short break, Q3 began.

The Q3 stage had fewer surprises on track.

Drivers who securely entered Q3 today, regardless of personal state or car speed, were in the best form currently.

After the first flying lap, Qin Miao arrived at second place, with Verstappen naturally in first.

Qin Miao’s speed on this lap was indeed impressive, also exploiting much of the car’s performance, but the RB19 is too powerful, leaving Qin Miao no room to excel.

Next, after a short break, the final flying lap of Q3 began.

However, Old Man made a mistake at the last turn, losing 0.2 seconds.

Qin Miao remained consistent as always, but the W14 was somewhat uncomfortable, so ultimately, he could only settle for second.

Finally, the final standings of today’s qualifying race are as follows:

1: Verstappen 1:12.272

2: Qin Miao

3: Sainz

4: Hamilton

5: Norris

6: Gasly

7: Stroll

8: O’Kang

9: Alonso

10: Piastri

The top two driver rankings are predictable, as both drivers fully maximized their car’s performance.

This was also the official prediction for their rankings before the race began, so nobody was surprised.

Meanwhile, Sainz in third was obviously in great form today.

In qualifying, he could refresh his lap time every circle, which is one of the advantages of racing at home.

Having an advantage in mentality and being highly familiar with the local race track, after all, they grew up here.

Meanwhile, due to the 0.2-second delay, Old Man could only settle for fourth.

If the mistake hadn’t occurred, Hamilton might have been slightly ahead of Qin Miao in this qualifying race, but more likely just behind him, ultimately better than his current rank.

Gasly behind looks like he’s in sixth, but during Q3, he blocked Verstappen and Sainz on the track while they were running flying laps.