How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 995 388: Hamilton Will Always Be My Big Brother (Part 2)

However, just when everyone thought that the Mercedes tow truck strategy had failed this time, an unexpected scene unfolded on the racetrack.Hamilton directly missed the braking point ahead of Qin Miao.

Qin Miao had already started to decelerate at the braking point, while Hamilton was still running forward.

It was evident that Hamilton directly missed the braking point.

The sudden surprise caught Qin Miao off guard, but muscle memory ensured he didn't miss the braking point at T1.

No time for Qin Miao to be shocked; after the brake, like his almost perfect flying lap in Q2, he turned right into the corner, without his driving rhythm being disrupted by Hamilton's strange move.

And then a scene that touched everyone appeared: after braking late, Hamilton directly veered left, charging into the buffer zone on the left of the track, while Qin Miao steered right onto the track.

At that moment, the two Mercedes cars split to the left and right, parting their parallel lines.

And this wasn't the end, because to avoid blocking Qin Miao from entering the corner, Hamilton braked very late and turned late, causing his right front wing to crash directly into the guardrail when he turned left towards the buffer zone.

The good news was that when the right front wing made contact, Hamilton's speed had slowed considerably.

So the front wing just got some cracks, and the outer end plate was knocked off, but there was no greater damage.

Don't assume that the front wing of an F1 car is like a consumable during a race, shattering into pieces with a slight touch.

In reality, this thing is quite tough, as it's entirely carbon fiber structured.

The reason it shatters into pieces on collision is mainly due to the immense kinetic energy of the F1 car itself, and because the broadcast footage uses telephoto lenses, viewers don't perceive the speed as strongly.

But in reality, the energy generated in every collision is extremely terrifying.

"Hamilton! He let Qin Miao through in a way none of us expected at the crucial moment!" Bing, upon seeing this, felt as if he had been on a roller coaster, experiencing significant emotional ups and downs.

Upon seeing this, Toto even felt a sense of helplessness; I specifically asked you to help with the tow, but you didn't need to go to such extremes.

Moreover, if the collision just now had damaged the front wing, it would cost $600,000.

Though there are front wing spare parts, with the introduction of the budget cap, the Mercedes team's budget this season is quite tight.

There was a moment when Toto Wolff even began to doubt whether asking Hamilton to help Qin Miao with the tow was the right decision.

But the next performance of Qin Miao demonstrated to Toto that it was all worth it.

When Qin Miao saw Hamilton plunge into the buffer zone on the left of the track, he couldn't see him anymore, though he was momentarily stunned; he quickly regained his composure, smoothly passing T1.

Old Man, whether the result of my flying lap meets my expectations or not, with you willing to do this for a brother to draft, you'll always be my big brother!

Hamilton, having stabilized in the buffer zone, didn't immediately turn around or spin on the spot to get his car back on the track, but waited on the track for a while, soon hearing Hamilton's voice over the team radio: "Don't let me down."

Upon hearing Hamilton's words, Toto directly took over the track engineer's role, saying to Hamilton over the team radio: "I believe he won't, and he never has let us down."

Eyes return to Qin Miao.

At this point, Qin Miao's heart didn't have excessive emotional fluctuations due to Hamilton going to such lengths for him.

Qin Miao knew that for every upcoming corner, he had to perform to the same extremes as the fastest flying lap in Q2.

This is not only for himself, but also for the team, and moreover for Hamilton's almost collision-seeking late brake to let the car through.

Full throttle all the way uphill, and during the climb, Qin Miao took the shortest line on the track, full throttle through T2, skimming the left-side billboard at T3 to decelerate and brake into the corner.

Qin Miao's corner entry remained as precise as ever, like the most elite surgeon performing a surgery.

Because he took so much of the apex in the corner, Qin Miao rubbed off a bit of the green Rolex foam advertisement billboard at T4, using the curbstone downhill to enter the second timed sector.

Because there's a drainage ditch at the apex of T5, Qin Miao didn't take the corner aggressively, else he might actually hit the wall. But he was still in an extreme position, using the inward slope of the track to apply more mechanical grip to the car, exiting the corner, with the gap between Qin Miao's right front wheel and the outer guardrail probably just a centimeter.

Came smoothly to T6; this corner wasn't too challenging for F1 cars in the past because the wheelbase was generally shorter, making the corner entry more agile.

But the cars of the 2022 season are very long, and taking this corner really tests the drivers' skill and entry angle.

But after all, Qin Miao is Qin Miao, still smooth through this corner.

But considering the continuity to T7, Qin Miao didn't take the curbstone here; after exiting the corner, the car was right in the center of the track.

Qin Miao didn't take much of the curb at T8 either because it's too high; taking too much of it might cause the car to fly off, plus this is a downhill.