Chapter 348: Chapter 172: Locking Down Leclerc
After receiving this message, Qin Miao naturally knew that his tires were absolutely adequate, and so he drove a bit more aggressively.
However, just as he realized Perez couldn’t catch up with him, in the ninth lap, Qin Miao also powerlessly discovered that the gap between him and Verstappen ahead had widened to over one second, and this gap was continuing to grow.
At this time, Verstappen had already come up behind Hamilton and was ready to start attacking him.
Qin Miao could only watch.
He silently prayed in his heart for something unexpected to happen when these two entangled, preferably a double retirement, which would give him his first race victory...
In the tenth lap, Perez behind Qin Miao was overtaken by Leclerc at the T2 position, coming two seconds behind Qin Miao.
Given the speed Leclerc was capable of in the fifth position, it seemed that Leclerc’s overall speed was faster than Qin Miao’s. So, when the team found out Leclerc had passed Perez, they quickly reminded Qin Miao over the TR: "Qin Miao, Leclerc behind you is 0.3 seconds faster per lap."
Although reminding a driver during a race that there is a faster driver behind can easily affect the driver’s mentality, sometimes drivers on the track without cars in front or behind can fall into a state focused solely on racing, where their speed might even be faster, but they might also ignore cars coming from behind.
Even though Qin Miao was in a position where there were no cars in front or behind and he just needed to focus on his lap times, the team reminded him as a precaution.
After receiving the team’s reminder, Qin Miao naturally noticed the red Ferrari behind him.
"Roger."
Three more laps later, in the thirteenth lap, his friend Leclerc was 1.1 seconds behind Qin Miao.
With the slipstream effect from Qin Miao, Leclerc was now closing in at a rate of 0.4 seconds per lap.
Although Qin Miao hadn’t started defending yet, he was already intentionally charging his car’s battery.
In the fifteenth lap, Leclerc finally caught up to 0.5 seconds behind Qin Miao, ready to launch an attack.
At this point, Frankie’s voice came over the team’s TR: "Qin Miao, the rain will start to lessen in about three laps."
Although no more was said, both Qin Miao and the team’s engineers knew that Qin Miao’s Rain Combat Ability was average. Adding the fact that in Bahrain, Qin’s average speed driving the Mercedes W12 was at least 0.3 seconds faster per lap than Leclerc.
So both the team and Qin Miao knew that as long as the track dried, Qin Miao wouldn’t have to worry about being caught by Leclerc.
And over at Ferrari, Leclerc was full of fighting spirit.
Despite having a good personal relationship with Qin Miao, this was ultimately the track where it’s a battle, a matter of life and death.
Moreover, Qin Miao’s former team, Ferrari, to some extent, had grievances with Qin Miao. Many within Ferrari wanted to see Qin Miao beaten on the track by Leclerc as this could reclaim some face for Ferrari’s shortsightedness.
In the fifteenth lap at the T18 exit, Qin Miao’s exit was seamless, without any issues. After exiting, he opened his ERS, discharging without concern for cost.
Meanwhile, Leclerc, who also had an excellent exit, was now 0.35 seconds behind Qin Miao. Utilizing the slipstream and Ferrari’s engine power advantage along with the same ERS discharge, Leclerc was quickly closing the gap to Qin Miao.
This marked Leclerc’s first attack on Qin Miao in this race.
"Here he comes, can Qin Miao defend against Leclerc’s attack this time?"
As the two cars reached the middle of the main straight, Leclerc was already 0.2 seconds behind Qin Miao, with enough speed to pull out.
Leclerc pulled out on the inside line, immediately hitting the wet, dirty section of the track, throwing up a spray of water, his speed decreasing, but he was still relatively faster than Qin Miao.
Though Leclerc, just like when Verstappen overtook Qin Miao earlier, had a speed advantage, Leclerc’s advantage wasn’t as significant as Verstappen’s had been.
Qin Miao didn’t block Leclerc’s pull-out immediately but only moved to the inside after T1 to compress Leclerc’s overtaking space.
Leclerc had no choice but to turn left to avoid Qin Miao, who also left Leclerc some room, not forcing him off the track.
Before the brake point at T2, Leclerc’s front end only reached the position of Qin Miao’s monocoque, not overtaken, with Qin Miao’s only advantage being his hold on the inside line.
It was clear that Leclerc was planning to fight Qin Miao with late braking.
Qin Miao anticipated this, so he didn’t rush to the outside to prepare for the corner entry, instead squeezing Leclerc towards the inside, adjusting his brake distribution towards the rear, and only braking during his return to the right side of the track after Leclerc braked.
Although Leclerc overtook Qin Miao with a late braking maneuver, due to Qin Miao’s squeeze, Leclerc’s cornering angle was awkward, and entering late brake meant he would have to take a wide arc to rejoin the track.