How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 476 - 213: The Terrifying Verstappen

But there’s no need to worry too much, because Qin Miao knows that his tires are faster than those of Verstappen ahead, so Qin Miao can keep up with Verstappen.

Moreover, the skill cooldown is also coming to an end, and Baku is not Monaco, so Qin Miao still has a chance to regain his position, possibly even without using his skill.

However, after Qin Miao lost his position, the three commentators and Qin Miao’s fans still felt it was a pity.

At the end of the eighteenth lap, Vettel finally decided to pit.

But this news didn’t have much impact on Qin Miao and the other top drivers.

Apart from Vettel, Qin Miao had a great rhythm after the exit of T16 on this lap, sticking 0.5 seconds behind Verstappen, ready to start his first attack of the race on Verstappen.

After Verstappen sensed Qin Miao’s intentions, he also began to weave on the track.

But at this moment, Qin Miao dared not be as relaxed as Verstappen was when he overtook Qin Miao.

Qin Miao’s engine output was somewhat lacking, and Verstappen had also switched engines for this race, so Qin Miao had no advantage over Verstappen on the straights, and even had some disadvantage.

To overtake him, he could only rely on DRS and slipstream effect.

Qin Miao’s advantage was in tire grip which was stronger than Verstappen’s, but the Baku circuit’s second timing sector, where tire grip could be advantageous, unfortunately doesn’t have any overtaking points.

So Qin Miao followed Verstappen for two laps, charging his battery, and only after the eighteenth lap, when the charge was full, started discharging rapidly to chase Verstappen ahead, which resulted in the current situation.

Moreover, Qin Miao’s battery was already critical, and if he couldn’t catch Verstappen’s slipstream, the hard-won opportunity would slip away from his hands.

So the audience saw Qin Miao steadily following closely behind Verstappen, drawing lines on the track together according to his rhythm.

Honestly, with their synchronization in moves, these two could really go pilot a mecha in the Pacific Rim.

As they approached the DRS zone, Qin Miao opened his car’s DRS as soon as he passed the DRS detection point.

Once the DRS was activated, Qin Miao’s relative speed had an advantage over Verstappen, and that big gulp of slipstream also closed the distance between Qin Miao and Verstappen to 0.3 seconds.

At this moment, Qin Miao felt it was enough to overtake Verstappen using just the DRS.

So he didn’t follow Verstappen’s weaving anymore, ready to overtake from the outside line with speed advantage.

And indeed, Qin Miao’s relative speed at this time was indeed sufficient.

But Verstappen suddenly opened his car’s ERS at this moment.

Even though Verstappen’s ERS was used in the previous laps to keep Qin Miao from getting too close, he kept his ERS charge above 20%.

He gave Qin Miao a sudden cold shock.

Seeing his approach rate of at least 7 km/h starting to drop, Qin Miao quickly realized that Verstappen might have some tricks up his sleeve.

Not daring to make assumptions, Qin Miao honestly returned behind Verstappen to catch another slipstream.

But because of the delay just now, the DRS zone was already halfway by the time Qin Miao caught up with Verstappen.

Seeing Qin Miao’s relative speed fast enough to be unstoppable, Verstappen could only defend the inside line fiercely while constantly checking the rearview mirror to confirm Qin Miao’s car position.

Honestly, before this season started, Verstappen never imagined that after six Grand Prix races, although Hamilton fought fiercely with him, it was Qin Miao who caused him the most trouble.

Actually, before the season started, when Verstappen heard that Mercedes’ second driver had changed from Bottas to a newcomer with no F1 racing experience, he was quite pleased.

Even though Verstappen was surprised by Qin Miao’s dominance in F2, everyone knew that F2 and F1 are two different dimensions of racing; you might control thunder in F2, but in F1, you’re likely just another mid-level driver.

Even if you’re really talented, you’d need some time to adjust to racing in F1, and at least in the first few races, you wouldn’t pose any threat to Verstappen and Red Bull.

After all, didn’t Perez also perform poorly in his first few races after joining Red Bull?

But the result? Qin Miao almost defended Verstappen in his very first F1 Grand Prix.

Finally, after crossing the finish line and setting the fastest lap time, Qin Miao drew alongside Verstappen on the outside line and had a slight lead before the T1 braking point.

But being on the outside line, as everyone knows, Qin Miao’s overtaking distance against Verstappen wasn’t much of an advantage.

Meanwhile, Perez behind Qin Miao was also left behind a bit because Qin Miao’s teammate Hamilton had also started attacking Perez.

The director had a delightful dilemma for a moment, with Qin Miao attacking Verstappen in front and Hamilton attacking Perez from behind.

T1, Verstappen’s signature late braking blocked Qin Miao’s best entry line.

Although this corner wasn’t ideal, Qin Miao still opted for a crossover line, as there truly was no way past with Verstappen’s late braking blocking him.