How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 475 - 213: The Terrifying Verstappen

After an extreme maneuver, Qin Miao gained at least another 0.1 seconds for himself.

Strictly speaking, as long as the current team can ensure their tire change time is within 2.1 seconds, Qin Miao is confident he can guarantee that he will most likely be positioned ahead of Verstappen when he goes out.

At this moment, Qin Miao’s pit stop is also very crucial, so the director switched the camera to Qin Miao’s location.

So we see Qin Miao steadily park his car in the designated pit position.

The Reyes team immediately sprang into action, with two jack technicians raising Qin Miao’s car, while four engineers responsible for the air guns secured the four bolts on Qin Miao’s car tires with the air gun heads.

As Qin Miao’s car was lifted off the ground, the four bolts were dismantled accordingly.

At the same time, the worn-out soft tires were removed and four new medium tires were brought up.

The air gun aimed at the bolt positions tightened them.

The front and rear jacks simultaneously lowered.

Feeling the car descend, Qin Miao lightly pressed the accelerator pedal, and the car smoothly started. Notably, he didn’t let his rear wheels spin idly during the start.

Although this could effectively increase the rear tire temperature and provide stronger grip on the circuit, Qin Miao was uncertain about how long he would have to defend against Verstappen, so minimizing operations that would significantly wear down the tires was advisable.

"Good, tire change 2.1 seconds." Fei announced the speed of Qin Miao’s tire change as he came out.

Bing started to get a bit nervous again: "Qin Miao, can he position himself ahead of Verstappen when he comes out?"

If following Brother Ran’s usual approach, he would definitely say something like it’s unlikely, no overtaking possible now.

However, as a fan of Qin Miao, he chose to remain silent at this moment, hoping for a good result.

And ultimately, Qin Miao did not let all his supporters down.

When he came out, he was right ahead of Verstappen.

At this moment, Verstappen had just exited T1 and started to accelerate, when Qin Miao suddenly took the inside line.

To be honest, upon seeing Qin Miao in front of him, Verstappen felt a brief moment of annoyance, thinking, "How is it you again?"

Previously it was just a feeling, but now Verstappen genuinely feels that Qin Miao is somewhat annoying on the track.

When he’s behind you, his presence is particularly strong, always pressuring you with a vibe as if he’s ready to go down with you.

When he’s in front of you, Qin Miao’s defensive skills are truly terrifying, airtight, making your pressure ineffective, and the key is, while defending, he has a lot of dirty tricks to throw at your face.

At this moment, Verstappen was really hoping his teammate could be of some help, not asking for much, just help me withstand some of the pressure from Qin Miao.

Once Qin Miao came out, the rankings on the field were as follows. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

1: Vettel

2: Qin Miao

3: Verstappen

4: Perez

5: Hamilton

Indeed, at this moment Vettel still hadn’t pitted.

It’s somewhat regrettable that Vettel is 4.8 seconds ahead of Qin Miao, unable to provide Qin Miao with DRS and slipstream; otherwise, Qin Miao’s defense against Verstappen would be even easier.

But Vettel is eventually going to pit for a tire change, so his current position is temporary, making Qin Miao technically the leader at this moment.

Moreover, Qin Miao needs to focus, not on Vettel, but on the Verstappen behind him.

Even though his tires are newer than Verstappen’s and have better grip.

Qin Miao’s set of tires hasn’t reached the optimal temperature yet.

Comparatively, Qin Miao still had a certain disadvantage against Verstappen.

So this lap is critically important.

Naturally, Verstappen also knew this is the best time to overtake Qin Miao, and his ERS, which had been prepared for a long time, was fully unleashed.

After surpassing Qin Miao this lap, many subsequent problems will be solved, but failing to surpass Qin Miao this lap would mean enduring the dreadful scenario of Qin Miao defending fiercely.

Thus, Qin Miao noticed Verstappen’s speed suddenly increase.

Although not making a move in T2, once out of the DRS zone after T2, Verstappen took advantage of Qin Miao’s slipstream and DRS.

Qin Miao immediately started weaving.

Seeing this, Verstappen didn’t do anything extra, just quietly continued at normal racing pace on the racing line.

Before halfway through the DRS zone, Verstappen completed the move from the outside.

Seeing this, Qin Miao lost the desire to resist, unable to compete with the absolute speed of Red Bull under the DRS.

Moreover, Qin Miao’s tires had not reached appropriate working temperature, so he had no means to counter Verstappen’s overtaking.

What Qin Miao could do was hope Verstappen hadn’t completely surpassed him entering T3, allowing him the opportunity to brake late and force Verstappen to yield.

Unfortunately, with Red Bull’s DRS efficiency being too high, Verstappen completed the overtake before the braking point into T3.

Qin Miao could only return to the normal racing line before the braking point into T3, then obediently follow behind Verstappen, waiting for his tire temperature to rise.

Notably, once back behind Verstappen, the skill lock was lifted.

Only then did Qin Miao realize the skill needs to be used while always following the car ahead to be effective.