CHAPTER 563: CHAPTER 244: HAMILTON DEFENSE OVERVIEW

Therefore, on the thirty-eighth lap, O’Kang also chose to pit.

Tire change time was 2.3 seconds, a full 1 second faster than Vettel.

And this 1 second meant he effectively maintained his lead position over Vettel.

Once out, O’Kang was positioned just 0.5 seconds ahead of Vettel. Although O’Kang’s tire condition wasn’t as good as Vettel’s, due to spending 1 second less in the pit lane compared to Vettel and Hengelo being a difficult track for overtaking, O’Kang could hold onto his position safely.

As for Qin Miao, an early pit stop directly undercut all the drivers ahead of him.

With O’Kang’s stop, Qin Miao moved up to second place, with Alonso ahead who hadn’t pitted yet, so once Alonso pitted, Qin Miao would naturally move to first, and with clean air, the suspense of this race might be swiftly settled by Qin Miao.

The three commentators from Five-Star Sports were immediately excited upon seeing Vettel and O’Kang coming out of the pit lane behind Qin Miao.

Actually, when Qin Miao’s car was hit, although they hoped Qin Miao’s car wasn’t too seriously damaged, they didn’t really think the podium was relevant to Qin Miao anymore.

But now, after Qin Miao’s pit stop, he’s been slicing through the field with ease.

"Hahaha, another championship!" Bing was even opening champagne in the studio mid-broadcast.

Everyone knew that as soon as Alonso pitted, Qin Miao would have a clear path ahead, akin to a wide-open sky and a vast ocean.

The only potential threat to Qin Miao was Hamilton, who was stuck behind Sainz at the moment.

If Qin Miao continued to lap for a few more turns, even if Hamilton managed to extricate himself from the traffic behind, catching Qin Miao wouldn’t be an easy feat.

However, with the race not yet halfway finished, Bing’s mid-race champagne opening was a bit too optimistic.

Fei advised, "No, no, no, it’s not yet over. The race is still long, just as we didn’t foresee the chaotic start, we don’t know what might happen during the rest of the race. So, I think we shouldn’t celebrate too early."

Zhou Haoran nodded in agreement, "Hamilton’s pursuit ability is famously strong. Even if the team messed up once during this race, there’s still a possibility he catches up to Qin Miao in the later stages.

We also have to remember that Qin Miao’s car has been damaged, so Hamilton catching up to Qin Miao wasn’t exactly an unlikely scenario."

After his colleagues’ reminders, Bing realized the flaw in his words and his infamous nickname "Five-Star Jinx."

If Qin Miao were jinxed because of that, it wouldn’t be good, so he awkwardly laughed and said, "Indeed, the race is far from settled, everything is uncertain. Hamilton is a seven-time champion after all, his skills shouldn’t be underestimated, Qin Miao must be cautious."

...

On the track, Qin Miao didn’t know he narrowly avoided a projection of mysterious oriental power.

He continued to chase Alonso ahead of him rapidly.

Being young, just having been blocked by Alonso made Qin Miao somewhat agitated, so now with Alonso not pitting, he seized the chance with better tires to vent his frustration.

On lap forty, Qin Miao closed in within 1.5 seconds of Alonso.

Before Qin Miao could make more moves, Alonso directly chose to pit.

Qin Miao: ?

Honestly, gearing up to give it your all only for your opponent to retreat was incredibly frustrating, even more so than punching into soft cotton.

Without the team radio, Qin Miao swore inside his helmet to feel a bit better.

On the bright side, Qin Miao started from fourth, dropped to eleventh, and now had clawed back with a strong chance of winning.

This was indeed a highlight of his racing career.

Furthermore, Qin Miao had no cars ahead to hinder him, he could now pull away from the drivers behind without psychological burden.

Alternatively, Qin Miao had another choice, which was to create a train effect for all drivers behind, making them follow him closely.

The first option allows Qin Miao to quickly expand the lead over the drivers behind to more than ten seconds in a short time.

Afterward, Qin Miao could enter a familiar rhythm.

The downside is Hamilton might overtake everyone later and start attacking Qin Miao.

Because of his car damage, Hamilton might wrestle back the champion position from Qin Miao.

The latter choice of blocking is simpler.

Keep all cars stuck in place, creating DRS and turbulence for those behind.

Overtaking becomes geometrically harder for Hamilton and Qin Miao narrows the gaps for further undercut attempts by Hamilton.

Honestly, Qin Miao regret not having that talk with Toto because without it, he could comfortably play dumb and block.