How did I become an F1 driver?

第574章 558：正赛开始（6K，加更13/14）

After a short break, qualifying came to the first flying lap of Q3.

Qin Miao was still running the bottom lap. After the first flying lap, Qin Miao ranked fifth and Hamilton fourth.

This is Qin Miao's normal performance, and Qin Miao's fans didn't find it surprising.

Just when all the fans were waiting for the start of Q3, another accident happened on the track.

When passing T7, Piastri slipped onto the wall and his buttocks swung forward and hit the guardrail on the side of the track.

This collision damaged the rear wing of Piastri's car and caused a flat tire on the right rear wheel. The car stopped directly on the track, which naturally triggered a red flag on the track.

Originally this was just an ordinary track accident.

But the key point is that in the original q3 stage of qualifying, the rain on the track has been kept within a gentle and acceptable range. Although there will be a heavy rain next, it will not affect q3 of qualifying. However, this collision caused q3 of qualifying to be suspended.

When Piastri's car was cleared from the track and the race was restarted, it happened to encounter a cumulonimbus cloud that would have intensified the rain.

Therefore, no matter how hard the subsequent drivers tried, they would not be able to break their own records.

Because the rain on the track is really heavy, and as time goes by, the rain will get heavier.

As a result, Verstappen even left work early and gave up the qualifying race.

As for the reason, Verstappen won first place in Q3 of this qualifying race, and he knew that other drivers could not break his record...

Qin Miao and Hamilton tried a flying lap on the track and found that the rain on the track was too heavy. They had no way of breaking their own records in such bad weather conditions.

Therefore, the two drivers directly gave up Q3 of today's qualifying race.

Three minutes before the race was stopped, he took the car back to the team's P room and went off work.

In the final stage of qualifying, except for a few drivers at the bottom of the ranking who were still trying to refresh their own results on the track, most of the drivers chose to return to the team's P room.

The final qualifying session ended, and the drivers' final rankings in the qualifying stage are as follows:
1: Max Verstappen 1:25.858
2: Hulkenberg

3: Alonso
4: Hamilton

5: Qin Miao

6: O'Connell

7: Norris
8: Sainz
9: Piastri
10: Albon
However, the qualifying ranking does not represent the starting order for tomorrow's race.

Because in the qualifying stage, many drivers blocked the drivers behind them during the exit lap or return lap, and therefore many drivers had 3-position grid penalties.

Qin Miao didn't pay much attention to other people, but there was good news for Qin Miao and Hamilton, that is, Hulkenberg in front of them was also penalized.

Compared with other drivers who were penalized, the Hulk did not block the drivers behind him on the track. Haas did a good job in reminding the drivers.

The real reason Hulkenberg was penalized was that he exceeded the speed limit on the track during the red flag period, and was also penalized three starting positions.

Hulkenberg, who started from second place, was penalized three places, which happened to be Qin Miao's position. Therefore, Qin Miao moved up to fourth place in today's race from fifth place.

Hamilton was even happier, as his starting position moved up from fourth to third.

Qin Miao, who was feeling a little depressed because he couldn't break his own record in the last lap, felt much better after hearing the news.

Because Qin Miao can start from the second row in the race tomorrow. Although he starts on the dirty side, it is still more advantageous than the third row.

This is the only psychological comfort when everything went wrong during this Grand Prix weekend.

Saturday's qualifying session ended, and Qin Miao had nothing much to say in the post-race interview. This qualifying session showed more about your luck than your strength. The car-parking habits of Qin Miao, Hamilton and the Mercedes team meant that it was almost impossible for the two to get a good qualifying result in weather conditions like today.

Time quickly came to Sunday, the day when the main competition began.

Unlike the dense clouds on Friday and Saturday, the weather in Montreal, Canada improved after Sunday. According to the forecast of the fleet's meteorological department, it is unlikely to rain all day today.

It was as if the rain that had been holding back in Canada for so long finally fell all at once on Friday and Saturday.

But the lack of rain is not good news for F1 drivers.

Because the Canadian Grand Prix does not have F2 and F3 warm-up races. After all, it is not a European race, and the transportation capacity of the F2 and F3 teams is limited.

Therefore, there is only one Porsche Carrera Cup race as a warm-up before the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Porsche car was not able to do a good job of cleaning up the debris and dust left on the track after yesterday's rain.

And because of the rain, the tire rubber left over from the practice and qualifying sessions on the track was almost washed away by the rain, so when Qin Miao and his team started on the dirty side during the race, the track's grip would not be ideal.

So in the preparation period before the race, Qin Miao specifically asked Franky and others to clean the dust around their starting positions.

Although you cannot sweep the surrounding ground with a broom, you can use a hair dryer to blow the ground near Qin Miao's racing car.

The less dust the better.

After completing the pre-match preparations, time quickly came to the main competition stage.

As all the team staff on the track withdraw, the race is about to begin.

Qin Miao recalled the tactics arranged by the team for today's race and the points that needed attention, and began to wait for the warm-up lap to begin.

It is worth mentioning that at the beginning of the warm-up lap, Qin Miao and Alonso both deliberately took the outside line, wanting to take advantage of this time to clean up the dirty side of the track.

During this process, Qin Miao suddenly slowed down, and then stepped on the accelerator hard. When Qin Miao wanted to see how deep his accelerator was, the rear wheels of the car slipped.

Qin Miao's ability to control the car is also impressive. He released the accelerator the moment the rear wheel slipped.

Continue to start your own warm-up lap.

Soon, all the drivers parked their cars in the starting positions, and the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix was about to begin.

Like most drivers, Qin Miao started on medium tires in today's race, although Qin Miao really wanted to change to soft tires and gain a few more places at the start.

For well-known reasons, Qin Miao has experienced the same situation many times this season and last season: he reacted quickly and had a good rhythm after the start, but such an excellent start could not be converted into a ranking.

Therefore, many car fans joked online that Qin Miao was a weak starter.

Although Qin Miao would just smile slightly when hearing the fans' teasing and didn't take it to heart, he still felt a little uncomfortable with the nickname of a weakling at the beginning.

So during the competition, Qin Miao subconsciously wanted to get rid of this title.

But not this Grand Prix weekend.

On the one hand, it was because Qin Miao started on the dirty side of the track, and on the other hand, it was because Qin Miao started on the outside of the track.

The accumulation of the double disadvantages not only increased the difficulty for Qin Miao to start, but also increased the difficulty for Qin Miao to overtake in T1.

So after the team's analysis and Qin Miao's comprehensive consideration, he finally chose to play it safe and start with neutral tires.

But soon Qin Miao regretted his choice...

By the time Zhou Guanyu, who was in last place, had parked his car at the starting position and the medical pursuit car was ready, five red lights began to light up one by one.

After all five red lights are lit and turned off, the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix officially begins.

Verstappen, Alonso, Hamilton and Qin Miao stepped on the accelerator and started accelerating almost within the limit of their reaction time.

Qin Miao looked at Hamilton in front of his left with some surprise.

Qin Miao's start in today's race was as good as usual, but because he was on the dirty side of the track, Qin Miao's starting speed was not even as fast as Hamilton, who started from the left front and was equally good.

Although Qin Miao was still slowly approaching Alonso in front of him, the distance between the starting position and T1 of the Villeneuve Circuit was very short, and such a short distance was not enough for Qin Miao to take advantage of the acceleration of the W14.

So Qin Miao immediately focused his attention on Hamilton in front of him on the left, wanting to get some benefits from his teammate.

It’s a pity that the old man’s starting speed in today’s race was faster than Qin Miao’s.

Therefore, Qin Miao still failed to improve his ranking in today's race by starting.

Tsk.

"Damn it, why is it like this again?" Qin Miao cursed indignantly.

In the end, after Qin Miao started in fourth place and before entering T1, Qin Miao was still fourth.

The only difference is that the name of the driver in front of Qin Miao changed from Alonso to Hamilton.

That's right, the old man relied on his excellent start and the advantages of a clean track and the inside line of the track to overtake Alonso before T1.

When passing T2, Qin Miao actually tried to take advantage of the fact that Alonso was blocked by Hamilton in front of him and could not take advantage of his car's grip in the center of the corner to try to overtake the leader on the outside.

But the boss is an old hand after all. After discovering Qin Miao's movements, he squeezed Qin Miao to the outside when he came out of the T2 turn.

Although he did not directly squeeze Qin Miao out of the track, Tou Ge relied on his short distance out of the inside corner and the Aston Martin's stronger grip at the center of the corner to get ahead of Qin Miao after the corner.

Alonso, who had the advantage of track position, began to squeeze Qin Miao on the outside of the track.

Under Alonso's constant pressure, Qin Miao finally eased off the accelerator and returned the position to Alonso, and then retreated behind Alonso.

Although Aston Martin's performance has recovered this season, there is still a certain gap compared to Mercedes' W14.

Don't worry, just play with him.

At the same time, Qin Miao took the time to glance at his rearview mirror.

Hulkenberg, who originally started behind him, had now become Ocon. Qin Miao was not surprised by this, which was why he only glanced at the rearview mirror after the start and Qin Miao's attack attempt failed.

It was obvious that the two men who started behind Qin Miao could not pose any threat to Qin Miao.

There is Ocon behind him and Hulkenberg behind him on the left. If the two of them can overtake Qin Miao at the start, Qin Miao can write his own name backwards.

After arriving here, Qin Miao mainly followed Alonso for the next period of time and waited for the DRS to be turned on.

Although the Villeneuve Circuit is not particularly adaptable to the W14, it has to be said that the second and third stages of the track are quite suitable for the W14 to display its characteristics.

Especially the two DRS zones in the third timing period.

It seems to be tailor-made for W14. I just like this kind of stop-go track layout.

When the race came to the third lap and the DRS was turned on, Alonso looked at the No. 3 Mercedes car behind him, which was only 0.7 seconds away from him, and a flame of competitiveness ignited in his heart.

Although I am old, my reaction may not be as good as you young people, but defense does not rely much on reaction, it relies more on experience. Look, I will teach you a good lesson.

Don’t think that winning two world championships is great. I have the title of world champion three times!

Then the first DRS zone on lap four.

Qin Miao turned on DRS here, absorbed Alonso's wake, turned on ERS, and directly raced behind Alonso at a speed of 340 kilometers per hour.

The time gap between Qin Miao and Alonso was directly shortened from 0.8 seconds to 0.6 seconds.

Then he followed Alonso for a while, passed the zigzag turns of T13 and T14 and came to the starting straight. The time gap between Qin Miao and Alonso had been shortened to 0.3 seconds by Qin Miao who had turned on ERS.

It is worth mentioning that after Qin Miao started the attack, the director also gave Qin Miao’s racing shots.

And the angle of this camera is exactly the same as that for shooting the Wall of Champions.

From the broadcast footage, we can see that when Qin Miao came out of T14, his right rear wheel even collided with the championship wall, causing a cluster of spark-like flashes.

But it had no effect on Qin Miao's car.

This group of sparks was more of a result of the wheel arch cover rubbing against the championship wall, rather than a hard collision.

It is also because of this perfect exit from the corner. Normally, the W14 will lose speed when passing the zigzag corner, but the time gap between Qin Miao and Alonso after the corner is still 0.3 seconds.

The boss was also shocked when he saw this.

How could this young man have no moral integrity? Why was he so aggressive at the beginning of the race? Is there anyone who drives like this?
Then on the track, although Tou Ge knew that his hope of defending Qin Miao this time was very slim, he still stuck to the left side of the track after exiting the turn, preparing to block the inner line of the track.

But the boss obviously didn't learn his lesson from the terrifying acceleration of Qin Miao's car just now.

Because Qin Miao directly overtook Alonso on the outside of the track.

Although Qin Miao did not completely overtake Alonso because the starting straight was not long, his left rear wheel was still on the side box of Alonso's car.

But he at least had tapped in on the outside of Alonso.

Alonso also finished side by side with Qin Miao after passing T1.

After all, he had the advantage in the interior in T1, so it was normal for him to make up a little bit.

But when it comes to T2, which is almost a 180-degree turn, Qin Miao in the interior has a huge advantage.

Although the leader was still stuck on Qin Miao's outside line after turning, Qin Miao smiled slightly and used the same method to return the favor.

When exiting the corner, just like Alonso forced Qin Miao on the outside of the track to his side at the starting stage, Qin Miao also began to squeeze towards Alonso on the outside of the track, and it looked like Qin Miao was ready to push Alonso off the track.

The boss saw this and said, "Okay, you're awesome." After releasing the accelerator and sliding for a distance, Alonso left Qin Miao and returned the track position to Qin Miao.

"Pretty!"

After seeing Qin Miao complete the overtaking, the commentators of Five Star Sports couldn't help but cheer.

Qin Miao's overtaking in today's race was indeed remarkable, whether it was the exit from the Champions Wall or the positioning between T1 and T2, everything was just right.

It implements Qin Miao's consistent principles of cleanliness and efficiency.

After Qin Miao surpassed Alonso, the time gap between him and Hamilton in front was 2.2 seconds.

Facing the leader, it is not unacceptable to have 2.2 seconds left behind his teammates after overtaking him.

As for Verstappen...

The time gap between this man and Hamilton has widened to 3.8 seconds.

That’s right, I don’t know if Verstappen had eaten something dirty, but he was particularly excited in today’s race, leaving Hamilton behind by almost one second per lap.

Now the time gap with Qin Miao has reached more than 6 seconds.

Qin Miao was stunned when he saw the time difference.

Damn, I was just fighting with Alonso, how come you beat me by 6 seconds? It's only been 4 laps! Alonso only walked the defensive line a few times and you ran so far?

Is your Verstappen's butt on fire or something? Driving so fast!

Verstappen also has something to say.

What car do I drive? What car do you drive?

If I hadn't been left behind by you at the beginning of the race, did you really think it was because you were fast?

I was careless before and didn't dodge. I didn't expect that you would stop the game after two breaks to trick and sneak attack me, an old comrade in his twenties.

Now change your pit stop strategy and widen the gap between you and Qin Miao as soon as possible after the race starts.

I won't drive a health racing car anymore! Qin Miao!

Faced with Verstappen, who was gradually widening the gap between him and himself, Qin Miao really didn't have a good solution. All Qin Miao could do at this time was to take one step at a time.

The primary goal now is to shorten the time gap between himself and Hamilton on the track, and then find an opportunity to overtake him.

But the rate of shortening is very slow. After all, the old man's car has the same performance as Qin Miao's car, and Qin Miao shortens the time gap between himself and Hamilton not by his faster lap speed than the old man, but by his slower tire consumption than the old man.

It is worth mentioning that in the recent races, when Qin Miao was looking at the lap time comparison chart between himself and Hamilton, he found that his lap time was now almost the same as Hamilton's.

In other words, even if he didn't have the ability to protect the tire, his lap time on the track would be the same as Hamilton's.

Maybe in terms of long-distance lap time, my speed is slightly worse than Hamilton's, but in terms of single-lap speed, my speed is on par with Hamilton.

But none of this has anything to do with the current game.

On the 9th lap, Qin Miao's advantage over Hamilton became apparent.

At this time, Qin Miao's single lap speed was 0.3 faster than the old man.

It is also the first DRS zone in the third timing section of this lap.

The old man saw Qin Miao behind him enter within a second and was about to attack him, so he did not defend against the opponent and let Qin Miao go directly before T13.

In fact, with the W14's racing characteristics, it is very easy to defend against another car on the track.

Haven’t you seen Albon driving his FW14, a car with the same characteristics as the W45, at full speed on the track?

The drivers behind him were blocked to the point of being in ecstasy.

Want to overtake?
Even if you fully charge your car's ERS, no team engineer will ask you to reduce the throttle and coast on the track.

Once you really try it, you will find that in the DRS zone, your tail speed with DRS is indeed faster than his FW45, but he accelerates faster than you!
Before the DRS effect is fully demonstrated, you take a look.

Hey? How come I’ve reached the brake point before I even pull the trigger?
Even if you turn on DRS and ERS at the same time, you will find that your acceleration ability can only match Albon's FW45 at best. When your speed is about to exceed that of the FW45 and you reach the braking point, you will not have any thoughts of overstepping your bounds when you look at the Williams car on the inside.

After you react, you will only have one thought in your mind: [Maru is spicy! ]

……

Back to the topic, the reason why the old man let Qin Miao go directly was mainly because the characteristics of Qin Miao's car were the same as Hamilton's. For other drivers, some terrifying tail speeds were just normal tail speeds for Qin Miao. It was still very easy for him to overtake Hamilton once DRS was turned on.

Even if Hamilton took the initiative to defend, based on Hamilton's understanding of Qin Miao and Qin Miao's advantage in tires, the old man knew that he would not be able to defend Qin Miao for too long, and it was only a matter of time before he was overtaken by Qin Miao.

It would be better to just let Qin Miao go and not waste his own and the opponent's time and tires. It could also be considered a favor. On the other hand, Alonso Perez and the two Ferrari drivers were eyeing him covetously from behind.

Although this season's W14 still has a speed advantage over them, it is better to be prepared.

Besides, Qin Miao is going to leave Mercedes next season, so there is no need to fight with Qin Miao at this time.

But after Qin Miao surpassed Hamilton, he became a little at a loss.

Because at this time the time gap between Qin Miao and Verstappen had been widened to 7.7 seconds by Verstappen.

Qin Miao couldn’t understand, how could the Red Bull racing car be so fast?
How much did they hide?

On the 12th lap, the track finally saw a turnaround.

After Hulkenberg, Stroll and de Vries entered the pits to change to white tires, Russell had an accident on the track.

On the 12th lap, when Russell was passing T4, he bit the sausage-shaped curb on the left side of the track too much and his car was directly lifted up by the curb.

(End of this chapter)