How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 464 - 210: Dramatic Turns

After making the decision, the team began calculating the timing for releasing both drivers during the qualifying session.

In Q3, Qin Miao first gave Hamilton a tow, then returned to the garage for a new set of soft tires to make a flying lap with his teammate’s tow.

However, before the qualifying session started, no one expected to see so many unexpected events on the track today.

No need for towing in Q1.

Stroll kicked off Q1 with a bang for everyone, crashing into the right front suspension of his car against the wall at T15, resulting in a red flag.

However, Stroll’s crash happened quite early, just as Qin Miao was being released.

It’s a bit unfortunate for Qin Miao’s new set of soft tires. Although the tires had only been on one lap, using them in qualifying would definitely not provide the grip of brand-new ones.

After waiting for fifteen minutes in the pit, the red flag was lifted, and Qin Miao was sent out again by the team.

However, due to Stroll’s crash, the session time was significantly reduced, so most teams released their drivers immediately for safety reasons.

But Mercedes remained unperturbed, and when other drivers reached T7, Qin Miao and Hamilton only then got on track.

After all, it was Q1, and neither Qin Miao nor the team planned to go all-out.

So Qin Miao used the set of soft tires that had already run a lap.

As mentioned earlier, these tires, though slower, were still usable, and using them wouldn’t risk Qin Miao failing to advance to Q2.

But misfortune struck again. As Q1’s first flying lap neared completion, with the finish line almost in sight and less than 500 meters away,

Qin Miao’s time in the first sector was green, the second sector was purple, and there were no major mistakes in the third sector, about to cross the line with a secured good time to enter Q2.

The track saw another red flag. The camera cut to Giovinazzi, who crashed in the exact same spot as Stroll, with damage nearly identical in angle and position.

In a street race, a crash always results in a red flag, regardless of whether the track is wider than Monaco.

Qin Miao was quite happy after crossing the line, but upon hearing on the radio: "Qin Miao, sorry to say, but due to the red flag in the second sector, this lap’s time is invalid," he began cursing inside his helmet.

The most crucial thing is that Qin Miao’s soft tires didn’t get a recorded time, and they were now wasted.

Although they could still be used on track, after two outlaps and a flying lap, Qin Miao couldn’t guarantee 100% to advance to Q2 with these soft tires.

Therefore, Qin Miao didn’t hesitate too much and went out on a second set of soft tires during Q1.

Actually, Qin Miao’s situation was better than other drivers, because of his tire management skills. After three practice sessions, Qin Miao usually had one or two extra sets of soft tires left.

The team didn’t deliberately save tires for Qin Miao; it’s just that where others needed four sets to gather data, Qin Miao often completed the task with just three sets.

The nickname ’tire management master’ in the paddock was gradually shifting from Perez to Qin Miao.

Since there was an extra set, the team naturally didn’t use it right away, opting instead to keep one set in reserve just in case.

Some might say, didn’t Toto let Qin Miao do more laps with a new set of soft tires in Q3 in the past?

But keep in mind, that was qualifying Q3, and Qin Miao didn’t just have one extra set; he had a full two sets of tire reserves.

There were so many tires that it was almost impossible to use them all up in the race, which is why Toto let Qin Miao use them up on track.

So now, Qin Miao still had plenty of tire reserves, unlike other drivers, some of whom hadn’t set valid times even after using their second set of soft tires.

In conclusion, despite a brief yellow flag during the first sector of Q1’s latter half, the race wasn’t interrupted by another red flag, and Qin Miao, with new soft tires, finished the last two flying laps in Q1 in a familiar fourth place, right behind his friend Leclerc’s 10th place.

"Hey, Qin Miao performed pretty well in Q1 today." Seeing Qin Miao in the top five rankings of Q1 was rare, Fei couldn’t help but praise.

Bing nodded as well: "Mainly because during the two red flag periods in Q2, Qin Miao’s first set of soft tires lost grip, so he switched to a second set of soft tires for the last flying lap in Q1, resulting in such a good time."

Zhou Haoran said: "I feel like Qin Miao was hiding something in this lap. It’s possible that Mercedes can’t beat Red Bull on this track, but not being able to beat Ferrari in Q1 isn’t normal."

...

Back in the team’s pit, the car was refueled, tires changed, and new engine oil was added.

Once these tasks were mostly completed, Q2 began.

At the start, Qin Miao, following his usual habit, went out on a new set of soft tires for his first flying lap in Q2.