Chapter 1140: Chapter 432: Mercedes Team’s Surprise for the Two Drivers
Qin Miao was a bit helpless, are you guys bored?
The race is about to start, and you’re messing with my mindset?
However, Qin Miao didn’t pay them any attention, just sat on the tool cart that Reyes and the others pushed over, holding a bottle of energy drink provided by the team, but Qin Miao only took a sip from time to time to keep his mouth and throat moist.
After getting tired of sitting, he got off and chatted with Hamilton, which wasn’t too boring during this process.
Soon, the pre-race preparations were completed, and Qin Miao was all geared up and climbed into his car.
Car self-check, engine start, radio test, drinking system, DRS function.
After a series of checks were completed, Qin Miao gave a thumbs up to Reyes beside him, then shook hands with each team mechanic who came to maintain his car on the track; all pre-race preparations were done.
Soon, the formation lap began.
After the formation lap ended, Qin Miao parked his car in his position.
The drivers behind him also gradually got in place, and the Dutch Grand Prix was about to begin.
Before today’s race, in that period, Qin Miao actually had a talk with Hamilton.
Because Hamilton was starting on medium tires for this race, while Qin Miao was on soft tires. If Qin Miao had a better start rhythm, Hamilton promised Qin Miao that he wouldn’t defend against Qin Miao before the T1 braking point.
But if Qin Miao’s start wasn’t particularly fast, Hamilton wouldn’t let Qin Miao pass.
This was a compromise between the two to avoid damaging and unprofitable battles between teammates at the start.
The team didn’t even know about it; the two talked about it by the side of the track after the national anthem segment.
Soon, as the last driver parked their car in the starting position, the five red lights lit up one by one.
The five red lights went out, and the race began!
Qin Miao’s start speed was as good as ever.
So good that many people, regardless of whether they were fans of Qin Miao, would stare at Qin Miao’s car number 66 to see how many cars he could overtake at the start.
Because at the start, all other drivers have potential for mistakes, or may be mediocre, but as long as you watch Qin Miao’s start, he will never disappoint you; his starting speed has always been the best and the most stable in the paddock.
Although sometimes he may not be able to overtake the driver in front of him, he always performs well.
In fact, because Qin Miao’s start is quite good, many neutral fans have become fans of Qin Miao, because at the starting phase, as long as you watch Qin Miao, he will always give you a fresh and bright feeling.
The more you watch, the more you like him naturally.
It’s all about slowly developing feelings over time.
And this time Qin Miao’s start was obviously faster than Hamilton, who was in front of him; according to post-race statistics, Qin Miao’s starting reaction time was 0.1 seconds.
Qin Miao’s starting speed this time can be said to be the fastest among the 20 drivers in the paddock.
Some even discussed after the race whether Qin Miao’s starting speed was too fast, constituting a preemptive false start.
But this discussion was ultimately swept away by fans inside and outside the paddock.
Qin Miao’s start speed was so fast; on one hand, it was because he was in a pretty good condition for this race, and on the other hand, it was because Qin Miao took the system-provided agent pre-race, enhancing his reaction speed, which was already fast to begin with, making it even faster.
During the starting phase, Hamilton and Qin Miao didn’t contest positions, and after Hamilton realized Qin Miao’s start speed was significantly faster than his, he proactively widened the gap between their cars, giving the inner line of T1 to Qin Miao.
Naturally, Qin Miao wouldn’t pass on Hamilton’s kindness and overtook him, inserting into the inner line of the track.
At this point, Leclerc and Sainz were readying to enter T1, one after the other.
Then Qin Miao braked late and inserted into the inner line of T1 before Leclerc could close off the path.
Leclerc had been watching his rear-view mirrors, keeping an eye on the cars coming from behind.
He actually wanted to keep an eye on Verstappen too, but as a friend, Leclerc knew just how fast Qin Miao’s starting speed could be.
However, Qin Miao’s speed was so fast that Leclerc simply couldn’t react, allowing Qin Miao to enter the inner line.
But at this moment, Leclerc was ahead of Qin Miao and had the right to the racing line, and besides, friendship is friendship, but this is a race; Leclerc couldn’t let Qin Miao easily threaten his leading position.
So Leclerc directly squeezed towards the inner line, sealing off all the entry lines for Qin Miao’s cornering.
Seeing this, in his heart, Qin Miao cursed Leclerc for not being a true brother, unwilling to let a brother through.
But he still slightly eased off the throttle obediently, returning the track to Leclerc before he completed closing the door.
Then, because of Qin Miao’s slight throttle release, a chain reaction occurred on the track.
Qin Miao’s corner exit speed was obviously not as fast as Sainz’s, so after exiting the corner, Sainz overtook on the outside line.
Additionally, since the subsequent T2 was a left turn, naturally, Qin Miao could not hold his position on the outside line.
Ultimately, after the race started, Qin Miao only moved up one spot to fourth place.
Although Qin Miao’s teammate Hamilton’s start speed wasn’t as fast as Qin Miao’s, the seven-time champion’s start speed was still decent, at least not losing more positions.
