Chapter 312: Chapter 160: Second Driver
"It’s at this moment! It’s when everyone thought Qin Miao might not perform well in his first qualifying session, triple purple! Qin Miao has continued his dominance from F2 to F1, proving to all who doubted him that he is still that unrivaled super genius!"
"We were just saying, when will Qin Miao adapt to the F1 race pace and bring his terrifying dominance from F2 to the F1 track. Now, after seeing Qin Miao’s result, I want to say, it’s now!"
It is worth mentioning that while the three commentators were excited about Qin Miao’s brilliant performance, Hamilton also completed his final flying lap, but his result was only 1:29.385, placing him behind Qin Miao.
"Qin Miao! He really, like we joked earlier, defeated his teammate."
"Mind you, his teammate is not just anybody; he is the seven-time champion Hamilton! Qin Miao, in his first F1 appearance, surpassed his teammate in his first F1 qualifying contest! It’s just unbelievable."
[Huh?]
[I really like this phrase from CSGO players: Huh?]
[Five-star jinx]
[Hamilton: I told you, why does the steering wheel keep spilling milk during my flying laps? Turns out it was you guys jinxing me]
[My steering wheel is controlled by a mysterious force from the East]
[Five-star jinx classic moment +1]
[Is mysticism really this effective? I’m going to find Guan Zeyuan and Huang Xudong to jinx Qin Miao for the main race...]
[Qin Miao! My superman!]
[Geez, is he really a genius?]
...
After seeing this result from Qin Miao, not only did the three commentators feel surprised, but even the online skeptics of Qin Miao were astonished.
And those who criticized Qin Miao also lost their voice because even if you replace him with Bottas, he might not be able to defeat Hamilton like Qin Miao did.
However, following Hamilton’s finish, Verstappen’s flying lap also began.
This lap, he was even faster than both Qin Miao and Hamilton, setting a purple sector 1 at 28.349, another purple sector 2 at 38.229, and yet another purple sector 3 at 22.419.
Final time of 1:28.997, breaking the 1:29 barrier, took away what should have been Qin Miao’s pole position.
With Verstappen crossing the line, the pole position battle in the qualifying came to a conclusion.
However, the highlights of this qualifying did not end there.
First-year driver Qin Miao has completely stolen all the thunder from pole position winner Verstappen in this race.
After Verstappen crossed the line, the director immediately switched the camera to Mercedes’ control room, focusing on Toto’s side profile.
This lap from Qin Miao indeed cleared his earlier overshadowed part of the qualifying, but it was a bit too vigorous, inadvertently sweeping his teammate Hamilton behind him as well.
Now, the audience is very curious about what expression Toto would have after seeing this scene.
But under the camera, Toto didn’t make any emotional gestures, he kept his headset on while just crossing his arms on the chair, unemotionally arranging the next tasks.
In reality, this moment for Toto was mixed with joy and concern.
Initially, he thought it would take Qin Miao at least three races or so to adapt to the F1 race pace, but never expected Qin Miao to surprise him so soon.
But after the surprise, only worries remained, because Toto’s intention was actually to find a young and talented driver to fill the gap after the ’old man’ leaves the team.
Qin Miao basically fulfilled all of Toto’s fantasies for the next Mercedes No.1 driver.
He has the talent, has the strength, and even behind him is a completely undeveloped Chinese market.
But according to Toto’s foresight, it would take at least a year for Qin Miao to materialize his talent in F1, he didn’t mind Qin Miao honing in Mercedes for a year.
But now, Qin Miao seemed to have turned on some anomaly, seamlessly transitioning with F2 combat power, and now already faintly shows a trend to threaten Hamilton’s position.
Originally, Red Bull this season was already very aggressive, while Mercedes, due to the floor being cut, led to a certain decline in vehicle performance, Toto does not want any internal strife among the drivers when facing external threats, so a talk with Qin Miao after the race is inevitable.
...
At this moment, the stopwatch for the qualifying had stopped, the final Q3 qualifying standings are as follows:
1: Verstappen.
2: Qin Miao.
3: Hamilton.
4: Leclerc.
5: Gasly.
6: Ricardo.
7: Norris.
8: Sainz.
9: Alonso.
10: Stroll.
After the qualifying, the atmosphere inside the Mercedes team was still somewhat solemn because last season, the team won the driver’s championship and constructors’ championship. In this year’s first race, they lost their pole position, only securing second and third.
Although the performance of new driver Qin Miao was unexpectedly good, this joy couldn’t dispel the worry in the hearts of the Mercedes team members.
Noticing the subtle atmosphere, Frankie only said to Qin Miao on his TR: "Well done, we are in second place, starting from the front row tomorrow."
Then Qin Miao drove his car back to the pit lane.
Unlike F2, the top three drivers in an F1 qualifying have a small celebration and display session, as well as the opportunity for interviews.
The pole-sitting driver can also receive a small Pirelli tire.