How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 965 378: Counterattack

The Red Bull team was slightly relieved that their strategy had curbed Qin Miao's attack, but they suddenly noticed something was off.What's Qin Miao's most noticeable feature on the track?

Tire management!

So now, how many laps are left until the end of the race?

15 laps, and this number of laps...

Knowing that Qin Miao started the race phase with medium tires, with 15 laps to go until the end, the question is: Will Qin Miao switch to soft tires or hard tires during this pit stop?

This is basically a giveaway question, Qin Miao will definitely switch to soft tires because using hard tires at this point would not only lack speed but would be a waste.

And with Qin Miao's tire management ability, soft tires are enough for him to complete the next 15 laps.

And indeed, after Qin Miao entered the pit lane, the Mercedes team fitted him with a set of soft tires.

Furthermore, after the other drivers' tires degraded, Qin Miao's speed remained, resulting in a gap of over 11 seconds between him and Hamilton.

And due to the appearance of the safety car, when Qin Miao came out of the pit lane, he was still ahead of Hamilton.

After Perez came out of the pit lane, since the Red Bull team changed tires one second faster than Mercedes, Perez was positioned 2 seconds ahead of Qin Miao.

For some reason, the Mercedes team's tire change speed this season is much slower than last season, with the average tire change time having soared from 2.7 seconds to 3.2 seconds.

Unable to find a reason, the Mercedes team could only attribute the problem to the increased size of the tires.

Perez switched to a set of medium tires, which were also used tires.

Although Perez is known as a tire management master, this set of medium tires was used during the practice phase, and Perez never planned to save this set of tires at that time.

So at this moment, through the car's rear-view mirror, watching Qin Miao appear behind him, Perez was literally sweating profusely.

After all, Qin Miao is using a brand-new set of soft tires now.

Meanwhile, there's another piece of good news for Qin Miao, as Ferrari hasn't called their two drivers back to the pit lane.

In other words, if the pack is compressed, and Qin Miao easily overtakes Perez in front of him, he still has a significant chance to fight for a podium position in this race.

Seeing the current situation on the track, the commentators from Five-Star Sports were rubbing their hands with excitement: "Qin Miao! Qin Miao's opportunity is here!"

"I originally thought Qin Miao's race was over, but unexpectedly, fate gave an opportunity. I hope Qin Miao can seize it well."

It's worth mentioning that there were more debris on the track than anticipated, given Norris's car had skidded far after the collision.

And the Miami Grand Prix track is similar to a street circuit, with limited access points and surrounded by guardrails, making cleanup both troublesome and time-consuming.

As a result, the safety car stayed from lap 41 to lap 47.

Seeing this number, Qin Miao was delighted.

The team had told him that the current set of tires on the car was enough for him to push hard for about 10 laps.

And now? Just 10 laps left in the race, and he doesn't even need to warm up his tires as they've already reached optimal working temperatures after 6 laps.

At this moment, Qin Miao also unhesitatingly put his skills to use, targeting Perez in front of him.

Upon looking closely, Perez's pressure level had reached 60%.

From this, it's not hard to judge that Perez was indeed a bit tense.

Can he not be nervous? Right behind him is a top-tier genius racer in both offensive and defensive capabilities.

At this moment, Perez even recalls when he was vigorously defended by Qin Miao for 15 laps.

So Perez knows, no matter what, he can't let Qin Miao overtake him in this race.

Because he knows, after being overtaken by Qin Miao, he probably won't have the chance or capability to overtake back in this race.

This is why Perez's pressure was so high at this moment.

"Let's see what you are made of."

Before the restart, in the final tire warming phase, Toto, who usually doesn't communicate with drivers during the race, unusually spoke to Qin Miao over the team radio.

Coincidentally, everyone in the Mercedes team was also hoping to witness an extraordinary performance from Qin Miao on the track.

"Then watch closely, don't blink," Qin Miao said confidently with a smile.

This team radio was also broadcasted.

"Here it comes, Qin Miao's showtime. Despite the absolute performance difference between Qin Miao and Perez's cars, we all believe in Qin Miao. After all, he is the only F1 world champion from our country. Now, let's see if Qin Miao can give us a brilliant performance on the track!"

Soon, the pack arrived at T17.

Verstappen, who had been in the lead ever since overtaking Leclerc, suddenly accelerated.

And just as Verstappen accelerated away, Qin Miao and Perez had just reached the apex of T17.

Then, as Qin Miao was preparing to put more intensity on Perez to increase his pressure level, Perez's rear tire spun briefly as he accelerated out of the corner.

And after the brief spin of the rear tire, Perez's car's pressure instantly rose from [60%] to [70%].