CHAPTER 195: CHAPTER 124: THE END (6,000 WORDS, BONUS 4/13)

On the racetrack, after Qin Miao moved up to third place, Frankie from the TR team couldn’t hold back: "Well done, Qin Miao, you’re P3 now. The tire condition is good, keep pushing!"

Qin Miao didn’t answer but prepared to keep pushing forward.

However, it seemed that even fate wanted to see Qin Miao clinch the double victory in the main and sprint races.

Another accident occurred at turn 4 during the ninth lap.

While defending, Jiaoto was spun out by the Indian Red Bull junior driver Enda Ruvawala.

F2 wings are naturally lower than F2 rear diffusers, and it was a downhill position, so Enda Ruvawala spun Jiaoto around.

Jiaoto’s car stalled at the side of the track and was forced to retire.

But according to Qin Miao’s post-race view, Jiaoto wasn’t the unluckiest one because he wasn’t on a points-scoring spot, and continuing the race would only improve track familiarity and understanding of the car.

Getting spun actually meant getting off work early.

The real unlucky one was Zhou Guanyu next to him.

Because Jiaoto’s out-of-control car stopped precisely blocking Zhou Guanyu’s line on the outside.

To avoid a collision, Zhou Guanyu had no choice but to drive his car into the gravel.

Though not stuck in the gravel, by the time Zhou Guanyu came back out, his position fell from 15th to 20th.

This marked the end of Zhou Guanyu’s first F2 race this year.

Indeed, Zhou Guanyu was extremely unlucky; Qin Miao hadn’t seen such bad luck.

His main race was ruined, and after barely gaining two spots in the sprint race, he was pushed into the gravel.

...

Jiaoto’s car stalled on the track, and naturally, the safety car was deployed again.

Qin Miao no longer needed to chase the 1.7-second gap; as the safety car came out, he closed back up behind Dretraz ahead.

Moreover, Qin Miao could save his tires during the safety car period.

After another lap, by the end of the 10th lap, as the safety car’s lights went out, the race was set to restart once again.

Drogovich began to slow down the car pack, forcing those behind him, Dretraz and Qin Miao, to also reduce their speed.

Drogovich knew there were still 18 laps to go until the sprint race ended, and he couldn’t keep Qin Miao behind if he raced as usual, so to preserve his hard-earned podium, Drogovich slowed down the car pack as much as he could.

As they entered turn 7, he intentionally slowed the pack down so much it almost stopped on the track, indicating his strong desire for the win.

This strategy persisted until the exit of turn 8; before accelerating, Drogovich gently scrubbed the tires.

At the halfway point of the exit from turn 8, Drogovich suddenly accelerated, and the race officially resumed.

The second-place Dretraz reacted noticeably slowly, and by the time he realized, Drogovich was a car-length ahead.

As Dretraz finally started accelerating, he suddenly noticed Qin Miao appearing in his right-wing mirror, overtaking him at a visibly fast speed.

At this point, Qin Miao was already on the inside, just before the right turn at turn 9, and with a better start than Dretraz, Qin Miao had the inside advantage at turn 9, potentially overtaking Dretraz in the upcoming turn.

However, Dretraz clearly underestimated Qin Miao’s starting ability, and even before reaching turn 9, Dretraz despairingly found his advantage being slowly consumed by Qin Miao.

Before even reaching turn 9, just 150 meters away, Qin Miao had already completed a clean overtaking maneuver.

In just ten laps, Qin Miao climbed from eighth to second.

It was foreseeable that during the remaining 18 laps of the race, the leading Drogovich was unlikely to fend off Qin Miao’s attacks.

That is to say, Qin Miao was already nearly assured victories in both the main race and the sprint race.

The only remaining suspense was whether Qin Miao’s soft tires would hold up for the entire sprint race after overtaking eight cars.

Meanwhile, after Qin Miao’s maneuver past Dretraz, Red Bull team principal Horner stood up and decided to leave.

Seeing Horner’s actions, Newey and Dr. Marco, who were watching from the side, were stunned.

"Where are you going? The race isn’t over yet."

Horner shook his head: "No, the race is over. I think it’s time to talk to this young Chinese driver’s manager."

Many team principals shared Horner’s idea.

And Qimeng’s work number was easy to find.

Despite Qin Miao’s dislike for attending Ferrari’s internal banquets, he still attended several at Lawson’s request. He mostly hid in a corner eating by himself but exchanged business cards with some folks.

Qin Miao’s business card was prepared by Qimeng, which didn’t have Qin Miao’s phone number but Qimeng’s work number instead.

Naturally, Qimeng’s number was spread around.

Five minutes later, as Qimeng on the grandstand above the pits was buzzing with excitement over Qin Miao’s overtaking, she noticed her phone ringing.