Chapter 1136: Chapter 431: You Forced My Hand
To be honest, Qin Miao felt quite helpless.
Last season, watching Hamilton face these comments and pressures, he was calm and collected, showcasing the composure of a seven-time champion.
After seeing his teammate’s state, Qin Miao thought that with his current 95-point mindset, he shouldn’t have too much difficulty dealing with this malice from the fans.
No one expected that when experiencing this environment where everyone was voicing condemnation against Qin Miao, unreservedly displaying their naked malice and insults.
Qin Miao’s mentality was somewhat affected.
Barber, who was Qin Miao’s psychological analyst and assistant, used to be able to detect anything amiss with Qin Miao promptly.
But after a year and a half, Barber’s personal impression of Qin Miao has become fixed.
After all, Qin Miao has faced many big occasions, and it’s not like he hasn’t encountered situations with enormous pressure, but he has endured them, and the greater the pressure, the better Qin Miao’s performance.
Therefore, Barber instinctively thought that even facing the current pressure, Qin Miao would continue to race as usual, leveraging the car’s full performance once again to defeat his teammate Hamilton.
Friday, practice sessions one and two.
During the first practice session, Verstappen’s car stopped on the track due to gearbox issues, causing a red flag.
Just when Mercedes and Ferrari hoped Verstappen’s gearbox would break down completely, forcing him to replace it and take a grid penalty, Red Bull stated: Verstappen’s gearbox issue could be fixed and did not require a new gearbox.
In an instant, Ferrari and Mercedes were deflated.
Apart from that, nothing particularly noteworthy happened during practice sessions one and two.
The only thing slightly worth mentioning is that during practice sessions one and two, both Alfa Romeo cars were plagued by mechanical problems, staying in the team garage for extended periods.
As a result, the two Alfa Romeo cars only ran for a total of twenty minutes on the track in practice sessions one and two.
Quickly, it became Saturday’s third practice session.
During the third practice session, Leclerc, Qin Miao, and Verstappen dominated the leaderboard.
However, both Qin Miao and Leclerc knew that Red Bull was definitely holding back during the practice sessions.
Verstappen ranking third in the third practice session was not because he could only rank third, but because he chose to rank third.
The actual speed of the Red Bull car would be revealed during the qualifying session.
During the qualifying session.
Qin Miao’s first flying lap in Q1 yielded a good result, temporarily placing him third, securing a stable entry into Q2, and not needing to run again.
The real surprise was Zhou Guanyu, who advanced as fourteenth in Q1, beating Sainz’s time by 0.17 seconds, with Sainz narrowly avoiding being overtaken by Bottas, who was just 0.05 seconds behind him.
But for Ferrari, thankfully everything was safe and sound.
In Q2, Qin Miao and Verstappen both secured stable entry into Q3 after completing their first flying lap.
Neither of them went out again.
At this time, Qin Miao still had two sets of medium tires and four sets of soft tires left in reserve.
Two of the medium sets were saved for the race, and Qin Miao had three sets of soft tires available for Q3.
If only two sets of soft tires were used during the qualifying session, Qin Miao would have an extra set for the race, compared to the usual Grand Prix race setup, to handle any unexpected situations on the track.
Though Zhou Guanyu ultimately stopped at Q2, he still managed to finish at a decent position ahead of his idol Alonso, ending Q2 at 13th place.
Of course, now domestic audiences are more forgiving of Zhou Guanyu.
Everyone knows that Zhou Guanyu stopped at Q2 not because his skills were only at that level, but because Alfa Romeo’s car could only allow Zhou Guanyu to reach that position.
It’s even possible that Alfa Romeo’s car speed would only permit Zhou Guanyu to reach 14th, and Zhou Guanyu used his skills to overcome his idol Alonso, pushing Alfa Romeo to 13th.
Next, Verstappen, Leclerc, and Qin Miao each took turns refreshing their fastest laps on the track.
Not long after, Hamilton’s speed also picked up, even with his first flying lap in Q1 being faster than Qin Miao.
By the end of the first round of flying laps in Q3, the time difference between the four drivers was within 0.17 seconds.
Upon seeing this time difference, everyone at FIA breathed a sigh of relief and even started looking forward to it, as the pace from the qualifying sessions suggested this race might be a fierce battle among several top drivers.
Unlike the last race at Spa, where Red Bull simply dominated Ferrari and Mercedes.
Undoubtedly, when the time comes, this season’s F1 should experience a significant boost in both reputation and viewership.
However, right at the last lap of Q3, when the two Mercedes drivers were ready to showcase the team’s upgrades reflected in the qualifying speed, a yellow flag appeared on the track.
Perez, before finishing his last flying lap in Q3, spun off the track at Turn 13.
At this moment on the track, apart from Perez, Qin Miao and Hamilton were the only drivers fighting for pole position who hadn’t gone into the pits for a tire change.
