Chapter 1555 - 568: Torpedo Spotted Starboard

Chapter 1555: Chapter 568: Torpedo Spotted Starboard

Moreover, Verstappen’s snake-like moves at this moment aren’t against the rules, since he wasn’t doing it at the braking point.

When asked by reporters, Verstappen directly stated: At the time, I found my tire temperature was too low, and could only warm them up by zigzagging.

Was Pan’s response problematic? No issues whatsoever.

If Verstappen hadn’t zigzagged while defending against Qin Miao on the track.

Qin Miao might have been able to use Verstappen’s slipstream and DRS to overtake him before the braking point at T4.

But now, even though Qin Miao tried to follow closely behind Verstappen and zigzagged with him, this only allowed Qin Miao to slightly overtake Verstappen before the braking point at T4.

He approximately overtook two-thirds of Verstappen from the outside line, positioning W14’s right rear wheel ahead of RB19’s left front wheel.

Overall, Qin Miao still had the advantage in this position.

Yet even as Qin Miao was now in an advantageous position, he couldn’t shake off a sense of unease, as if he had handed a knife to his opponent.

And asked the opponent if they had any interest in taking him out.

At this moment, all Qin Miao could do was pray internally that Verstappen would behave, while trying to control his car for a faster exit on the outside.

And trying to avoid colliding with Verstappen on the track as much as possible.

However, sometimes, some things are unavoidable even if you want to evade them.

Just like Zhuge Liang, who couldn’t foresee Wei Yan suddenly intruding despite carefully arranging the seven-star lamps.

Thus, as Qin Miao was overtaking Verstappen from the outside and about to complete the pass using a wider exit line, he suddenly felt a jolt in his car’s right rear wheel and a lightness in the steering wheel on the far outside of the track.

In an instant, Qin Miao’s thoughts became scrambled, triggered by the scene unfolding before him.

First thing Qin Miao realized was that it was Verstappen who had rammed him like a torpedo.

Since if it had been a mistake, it likely wouldn’t have resulted in the initial jolt, just an abrupt lightness in the steering.

Simultaneously, Qin Miao strained to counter-steer in the direction of the car’s instability, hoping to get the car straightened out before it crashed into the gravel buffer on the left side of the track.

Having been rammed by Verstappen, it was inevitable that he’d end up in the gravel buffer on the left side of the track.

What Qin Miao needed to do now was to avoid entering the gravel buffer at an angle, because doing so would likely trap him.

If he entered straight instead, with a bit of throttle, he might still get back onto the track.

Despite being filled with rage, Qin Miao remained composed and expertly maneuvered his car to extricate himself from the impending danger.

Fortunately, T4 is a hairpin turn, meaning both Qin Miao and Verstappen had just come out of the T4 bend, so their speeds were relatively low at this time.

After being forced into the gravel buffer, Qin Miao managed to regain control after skidding a short distance as if drifting, thanks to dropping gears and putting in a bit of throttle to ensure the rear wheels kept pushing the car forward, preventing it from getting stuck.

After accomplishing all these standard rescue maneuvers, Qin Miao returned to the track.

However, back on the track, Qin Miao found himself in second place, and the gap with Verstappen had now widened to 5 seconds.

Returning to the track, Qin Miao let out a sigh of relief; just one wrong move earlier, he could have been forced to retire.

After a lingering sense of dread, Qin Miao didn’t forget the instigator of this mess and vented in the team radio communications:

"If Verstappen’s family taught him to drive like this from childhood, then I understand why elder Verstappen achieved nothing in F1 and needed his son to get results."

"He rammed me off the track like a madman. If he can’t race properly, he should just go home and look after his kid."

"Given his driving style, I think bumper cars at a theme park suit him better."

"**********!***!"

Though Qin Miao’s rant was lengthy, he managed to focus on driving while spewing out words.

After finishing his rant, he even drove through T7.

And remember, T7 is a high-speed corner where drivers endure lateral G-forces up to 3G.

But despite that situation, Qin Miao articulated word-for-word perfectly through the high-speed bend.

Ending with a tirade of expletives broadcast that were censored out.

Judging by how it was beeped from start to finish, those final curses must have been especially filthy.

Frankie, trying to comfort Qin Miao, felt a bit shocked.

Big brother, ranting while navigating fast corners, aren’t you afraid of gasping for air?

"Calm down, Qin Miao, the race isn’t over." Despite feeling frustrated as well, Frankie did his best to contain his emotions and console Qin Miao.