Chapter 1443 - 543: Sprint Race_2
The preparations before the sprint race are identical to those before the regular race.
After completing all pre-race preparations, warm-up, and inspections, Qin Miao made his way to the track.
He got into his car, performed a self-check of the racing system, ensured all functions were intact, and then began waiting for the sprint race to start.
Of course, although the team agreed not to push too hard in today’s race.
But on the eve of the race, Qin Miao still simulated several scenarios in his mind regarding his position post-start and possible incidents on the track.
After all, as a driver, nobody minds earning a few extra points on the track.
Granted, the team stated the priority is ensuring the car’s safety.
In this sprint race, Qin Miao’s starting position was on the right side of the track, lacking the advantage of the inside line. However, looking at Perez on his left, Qin Miao felt confident his reaction speed at the start would be faster than Perez’s, making climbing up to fourth not a big issue after the race starts.
Soon, the warm-up lap began, and Qin Miao started heating up his set of medium tires.
After all the cars completed a warm-up lap, everyone positioned their cars back at their original starting positions.
Five red lights illuminated and then extinguished.
The race commenced.
Qin Miao’s start was as excellent as ever, completing a side-by-side with Perez before reaching T1.
He clearly pulled away from Sainz and Alonso behind him.
Qin Miao even felt his position was stable, but Perez’s next move made him somewhat frustrated.
Strictly speaking, Perez was the reckless one.
He had to consider positions for tomorrow’s regular race, especially because there’s still a substantial chance this year to win his third world championship in his career.
And data from the first three races this season has already proved that Perez’s speed doesn’t match that of his teammate Verstappen, so Perez’s task this season is basically to help Red Bull score points and, if possible, interfere with other teams’ drivers on the track.
At this moment, Qin Miao had inadvertently confronted Perez head-on.
Although Red Bull team had said the same thing pre-race to both Perez and Verstappen, there was an underlying premise that if they encountered Qin Miao on the track and managed to cause interference or impact on him, it would be ideal.
Hence, Perez focused all his attention on Qin Miao.
At the T1 braking point, Perez braked late over Qin Miao’s car on the outside, directly blocking Qin Miao on the outside from entering the corner.
This is the downside of a street race.
If this were a normal Grand Prix track, the outside would at least have some shoulder, some tracks even have a concrete area outside, allowing Qin Miao, even seeing Perez’s defensive move, to head to the outside buffer area, sustaining minimal positional loss even if pushed out of track.
But Perez’s late brake on the inside disrupted Qin Miao’s corner entry rhythm.
Perez directly left no space for Qin Miao to enter the corner.
Following Perez from behind, Qin Miao could only helplessly wait for Perez to enter the corner before following his rhythm into the turn.
This move directly disrupted Qin Miao’s original rhythm, losing the chance to use his excellent start to surpass Perez, and even dropping a position, allowing Sainz to take advantage.
So be it, this guy on track will certainly defend like Perez with all his might.
Next, if he wants to score more points in the sprint race, he’ll have to face two drivers with extremely strong defensive will against him.
Qin Miao even felt that Perez’s defensive ability improved significantly from last season, but his single-lap speed hasn’t changed much, is that intentional practice?
Is it solely to target him?
Qin Miao couldn’t be sure, but now his main goal shifted from overtaking Perez to surpassing the Sainz in front.
However, just as Qin Miao planned to go all out after DRS activated, a yellow flag appeared on the track.
Yuki Tsunoda from Lynk & Co Team collided with Piastri at the start phase, damaging the front wing and compromising overall car grip, though Tsunoda didn’t initially realize.
Lack of downforce caused Tsunoda’s car to understeer in the high-speed T13 entry, leading to contact with the right guardrail, and the right rear tire burst on-site.
Then the tire took its course, remaining on the track.
The virtual safety car initially triggered turned into a full safety car due to the tire remaining on the track.
Following this collision, Tsunoda retired from the race.
The Lynk & Co camp was gloomy since today marked a potential chance for Lynk & Co Team to earn their first point since the formation, after all, Tsunoda started ninth, needing only to move one spot up for points.
But alas, Tsunoda retired.
But that’s F1, and from broadcast footage, Tsunoda’s car’s right rear suspension was entirely damaged, continuing on track could potentially cause a suspension explosion. A suspension might only damage during regular service, but a sudden suspension failure during high speed, leading to out-of-control crash, that’s a hefty price.
Though Geely provided a sufficient budget for the Lynk & Co F1 team, they had to comply with FIA’s budget cap, wasting money is not the option.
On lap six, the race restarted.
This time, it’s a rolling restart.
Leclerc began accelerating before the Matthew entry on the main straight.
And Qin Miao almost simultaneously hit the accelerator along with Leclerc.
Though DRS wasn’t activated by the race officials, Mercedes’ advantage in straight-line speed was unveiled this season.
With Qin Miao having some insight into Leclerc’s personal preferences, Qin Miao’s reaction speed was evidently faster than Sainz in front.
On the main straight, Qin Miao, under Sainz’s draft influence from Perez, overtook from the outer line behind Sainz, and before the T1 braking point, completely surpassed Sainz.
Yes, utilizing the engine’s horsepower and terrifying acceleration, Qin Miao directly strong-armed Sainz from the outside.
Sainz watched Qin Miao quickly surpass him from the outside and exclaimed over the team radio: "This is insane."
The race restart saw Qin Miao back to fifth, with Perez in front.
In fact, this maneuver by Qin Miao, using his reaction speed and the car’s terrifying acceleration capability, could have also attacked Perez at the same time he overtook Sainz.
But recalling the start phase encounter and Perez’s defensive stance, Qin Miao chose not to go for an instant success and maintained a steady hand behind Perez.
Or else Qin Miao very likely would revert to sixth place.
As the race entered the seventh lap’s main straight, DRS was activated.
Qin Miao had been trailing Perez.
Due to track characteristics, although Qin Miao would be slightly distanced during the second timed sector’s multi-turn region by Perez, during the first and third timed sectors, he could always catch back up.
On the seventh lap’s main straight, the gap between Qin Miao and Perez ahead was only 0.6 seconds.
Normally, on the track, such a 0.6-second gap allows the rear car to enter the front car’s DRS zone but not pose a substantial threat, because the gap is too large.
But on the Baku track, this rule doesn’t quite apply.
Because Baku’s main straight is excessively long.
And Qin Miao’s car is tuned for higher straight-line speed setup.
Moreover, with DRS now activated.
Drafting behind Perez, approaching the DRS zone, Qin Miao managed to shrink the gap to 0.3 seconds, with his car’s top speed reaching 327 km/h.
As DRS opened, Qin Miao’s car speed escalated, rocketing to a tail speed of 340 km/h akin to nitro boost.