Qin Miao clearly felt that the right rear wheel of his car was hit, and something flew off the rear wheel, but the tires of the car did not suffer much damage.
If there happens to be a helicopter above the two racing cars at this time, you can see that the collision was mainly due to the simultaneous line changes of Qin Miao and Verstappen.
Verstappen didn't react in time, and the car's left front nose end plate was directly scraped off Qin Miao's right rear wheel.
The good news is that the fragments of the left front end plate of Verstappen's car were blown out of the track by the airflow, and there is a high probability that the safety car will not be dispatched.
Moreover, the damage to Verstappen's front wing was not serious, and the driving feel of the car did not change much. There was only a slight loss of downforce and some balance issues.
But none of these problems will affect the speed of the car, and these negative effects can be offset by simply changing the driver's operating habits.
Since the fight between the two in the last lap, the on-site director has locked the camera on the two, so the first time the two collided was seen by the audience and commentators who were watching the live broadcast of the game.
"Ah! Qin Miao and Verstappen collided!"
"There are pieces flying out!"
The three commentators were very nervous after discovering the collision. After all, the collision involved Qin Miao. Although the commentators cannot have too strong subjective will when commentating on the game, it is not easy to find a talented driver in China. The three commentators I really hold it in my hand for fear of dropping it, and hold it in my mouth for fear of it melting.
No matter what their subjective wishes are, they will always favor Qin Miao subconsciously.
So after discovering that there was a car accident on the track, they immediately became worried about Qin Miao's racing condition.
Qin Miao, who was afraid of withdrawing from the last game, retired again in this game.
Fortunately, what they were worried about did not happen.
Qin Miao and Verstappen's cars were still driving normally.
When Qin Miao looked back, he found that the left front end panel of Verstappen's car was missing, leaving only a lonely front nose.
Although racers can keep pressing the accelerator no matter how dangerous it is for a 0.1 second advantage, there is now a clear collision between Qin Miao and Verstappen.
After this happened, no matter how unwilling Verstappen was, he could only relax the accelerator a little, widening the distance between himself and Qin Miao to prevent a second collision.
The race team started paying attention immediately after the collision between the two cars.
However, as the race progressed, the race committee found that the two cars that collided did not suffer from extensive body instability, so they concluded that there was only a slight scratch between the two cars. Although there were debris flying out, Accidents are controllable.
"Okay, okay, Qin Miao's car didn't have any problems. It's just that Verstappen's front end plate was broken. It didn't have much impact on Qin Miao."
The three commentators breathed a sigh of relief.
【Scared me】
[Pan Zi, can you really drive? 】
[Pan Zi is definitely in a hurry]
【This is Pan Zi】
…
Domestic fans saw this collision and unanimously placed all the blame on Verstappen.
In fact, strictly speaking, both parties were responsible for this collision. Domestic car fans were a little too protective.
But no matter what, Qin Miao's defensive task in this circle has been completed.
However, when Qin Miao came to the 40th lap, the team brought bad news to Qin Miao: "Qin Miao, the tire wear is somewhat beyond our expectations, and the tire pressure value of our right rear wheel is somewhat Abnormal, but fortunately the situation is not serious, we will continue to observe it, and if anything happens we will notify you as soon as possible."
When Qin Miao heard this, he was a little proud of his successful defense against Verstappen and suddenly stopped laughing.
If there is really something wrong with the tires, the worst case may be a puncture on the track and the driver may retire from the race, or the worst case may be having to stop again to replace the tires with new ones.
Although Qin Miao has new soft tire reserves, no one can guarantee that Qin Miao can catch up to his original position in the next 26 laps.
But after feeling it carefully, Qin Miao didn't feel that there was anything wrong with his tires. Qin Miao subconsciously thought that there was something wrong with the sensors of his car because of the collision.
However, there is no way to determine where the problem lies in a short period of time, and regardless of the condition of the tires, French’s reminder just now means that if Qin Miao continues to defend Verstappen, Qin Miao’s tires will most likely not be able to withstand it. The next time you consume it, you may end up with a flat tire.
This means that at the next overtaking point, Qin Miao can no longer make too fierce defensive moves and has to directly let Verstappen pass.
To be honest, it's quite interesting to compete with Verstappen on the track, but it's a pity that the tires don't allow it.
It is unrealistic to change tactics at this time. Although Leclerc behind him is 14 seconds away from Verstappen, he is at least 15 seconds away from himself.
However, it takes at least 23 seconds to change a tire at the pit stop. When the time comes, you will definitely fall behind Leclerc.
There will be countless variables at that time, so instead of continuing to fight with Verstappen for his own temporary pleasure, it is better to honestly guarantee that he will definitely finish in third place.
Moreover, Qin Miao had already completed his task in two laps. He helped Hamilton gain three seconds.
The distance between Qin Miao and Hamilton is now 5.197 seconds, and after Verstappen overtakes Qin Miao on the next lap, Verstappen is at least 5.9 seconds away from Hamilton.
For Mercedes and Hamilton, this is absolutely great news.
…
On the 40th lap of the starting straight, Qin Miao once again faced Verstappen's attack. Although Qin Miao still made defensive moves, they were not large, that is, he took the defensive line to the inside, and there was nothing else. More action.
Verstappen did not absorb the wake to the extreme this time, and passed Qin Miao from the outside smoothly.
Apparently the crash had given him a wake-up call.
Qin Miao returned to his familiar third place.
At the same time, the racing committee issued a notice that the collision between Qin Miao and Verstappen would be investigated.
After receiving the news, Toto made a phone call directly.
However, this call was not made to the FIA, but to Mercedes' staff who were on standby at the FIA.
These people are dedicated to putting pressure on the competition and fighting for the interests of the Mercedes drivers.
For example, the controversial collision between Qin Miao and Verstappen on the track was the best time to dispatch these people.
…
Looking back after being overtaken by Verstappen, Leclerc in fourth could not bring any pressure to Qin Miao. The only thing Qin Miao needs to worry about and pay attention to now is whether his right rear wheel is really leaking or something like that. of.
However, as Qin Miao ran two more laps, the team responded: "The car is fine, continue to protect your tires."
At the same time, the race meeting also gave the results of the investigation after two laps. After the investigation, it was a normal track accident and there would be no penalties for the two drivers on the field.
As the battle between Qin Miao and Verstappen ended, the on-site director also showed the camera to Hamilton and Verstappen.
At this time, Verstappen was 5.5 seconds behind Hamilton.
The tire conditions of the two cars are actually different. Hamilton's medium tire ran 4 fewer laps than Verstappen's medium tire.
If he keeps running at this pace, Verstappen will definitely be gradually pulled away in the end.
Coupled with Qin Miao's obstruction in those two laps, it can be regarded as directly blocking all Verstappen's hopes of winning the championship in this game.
On the 43rd lap, Mercedes' strategy came. They directly asked Hamilton to pit with 23 laps to go before the end of the race, and put on a set of medium tires with a durability of 93%.
Many people were confused by Mercedes' operation. What are you doing?
According to a normal person's thinking model, Hamilton's car is better than Red Bull's now, and the tires are newer than Red Bull's. Logically speaking, what Mercedes needs to do is let Hamilton continue to run at his own pace on the track, although the tires will be better in the last few laps. It's a struggle, but this running style is absolutely stable. If it continues at this pace, the championship will most likely fall to Hamilton in the end.
But Mercedes' strategy team thought more. Red Bull had nothing to lose. Verstappen could no longer count on the championship position after experiencing Qin Miao's wall of sighs.
If you run normally, it will be like what I said above, and the best result will only be second place.
Therefore, Mercedes' strategy team predicted the Red Bull strategy team's prediction. They believed that Red Bull would pit within the fastest two laps. After all, Verstappen also had old tires in reserve.
As for what if Verstappen doesn't pit after Mercedes pits?
It’s not easy to use a set of medium tires that have only run two laps to chase a set of medium tires that have run fourteen laps. The gap between the two sets of tires will become wider and wider.
Moreover, Mercedes' strategy team will believe in Hamilton's long-distance rhythm as much as it believes in Qin Miao's defensive ability.
…
But in fact Red Bull didn’t think much of it.
Because Qin Miao on the Mercedes side put too much pressure on Verstappen, Verstappen had a feeling that even if he put on new tires and passed behind Qin Miao, Qin Miao would catch him and give him two Big mouth...
When Red Bull's strategy team discovered that Hamilton had pitted, they were confused for a moment, and then they looked at each other at a loss.
Why, how could you do this?
Why did you stop in early?
It shouldn't be.
No, why? What are you doing this for?
There was a brief confusion in the Red Bull strategy team, but they soon adjusted back and began to study the possibility of Verstappen pitting to change tires at this time, following Hamilton's pace.
Then they discovered that if Verstappen pitted to change tires, he would inevitably have to face Qin Miao.
With Qin Miao almost mastering Verstappen's defense, Red Bull's strategy team was unable to determine how much time Verstappen would lose behind Qin Miao's car.
Although Qin Miao let Verstappen pass on the next lap after the collision with Verstappen, no one can guarantee that Qin Miao let Verstappen go because Verstappen's position at the time was Hamilton was no longer a threat, either because Qin Miao's own tires could not withstand such a fierce defensive action, or because Qin Miao felt guilty after the collision with Verstappen.
No one could have imagined that Qin Miao would become one of the decisive figures in the final championship this season from the moment he entered Mercedes and defended Verstappen twice in Bahrain.
After thinking together, the Red Bull strategy team finally decided not to let Verstappen stop for tire changes and to maintain his own pace throughout the entire next race.
There is no way. If we don't stop for tire change, the result of the game will still be in suspense. Even if Verstappen's defensive actions are resolute enough, it is not impossible for him to guard Hamilton until the end of the game.
But if it follows Mercedes' pace, then Red Bull really has no chance of winning.
Because Verstappen not only needs to face the gap between himself and Hamilton again, but also needs to face Mercedes' second driver Qin Miao again.
Soon, after Hamilton came out after changing the tires, the situation on the scene became that Verstappen was leading the pack. Qin Miao was running his own pace 4 seconds behind Verstappen. Hamilton behind him was 13 seconds behind Qin Miao. , and quickly pursued Qin Miao and Verstappen at a speed of 0.8 seconds per lap.
But this number is not accurate, because as time goes by, Verstappen's tires will gradually begin to degrade, and Hamilton's set of medium tires that only ran two laps will have no pressure at all for the rest of the race. of.
Therefore, Hamilton's pursuit speed will only get faster and faster. The suspense now is how many laps it will take for Hamilton to catch up with Verstappen in front.
On the 45th lap, Qin Miao received a notification from the team that the tires were in good condition and the tires had a certain margin, so he could speed up a little.
However, Qin Miao did not speed up and maintained his own pace of pregnancy.
On the 50th lap, Hamilton eliminated the 13-second gap between himself and Qin Miao. It took a total of seven laps, and the speed was not unpleasant.
But Qin Miao did not wait for Hamilton to overtake him on the straightaway this time. Qin Miao knew that even if he blocked Hamilton, he would not gain anything, and even if he gave way to the car like a slow car, he would not lose anything.
So Qin Miao took the initiative to let Hamilton pass in the DRS zone between T9 and T10 like a slow train.
It was considered as a favor to the other party.
What Qin Miao didn't know was that Hamilton said thank you in awkward Chinese after seeing Qin Miao give up the car to him.
After Hamilton passed Qin Miao, there were still 16 laps to go before the end of the race and 7 seconds away from Verstappen.
To be honest, after seeing this, everyone knows that Hamilton can definitely catch Verstappen before the end of the race.
The suspense now becomes whether Verstappen can defend Hamilton's attack after Hamilton enters the DRS area behind him.
It is worth mentioning that after Hamilton passed Qin Miao, he was unable to throw Qin Miao away. On the contrary, Qin Miao relied on DRS, ERS and wake to barely keep up with Hamilton's pace. (End of chapter)
