How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

If you want to overtake Qin Miao on the track, you can’t afford to miss any detail.

Honestly, Red Bull has summarized all the little tricks and details needed to chase Qin Miao, enough to fill an entire notebook of regular size.

Next, the previously dull atmosphere at the arena was completely swept away, and the live audience was constantly following the broadcast footage, keeping their eyes on Qin Miao and Verstappen on the track.

In the broadcast footage, the time gap between the two was visibly decreasing at a rapid pace.

Essentially, every lap Verstappen was getting closer to Qin Miao, reducing the time gap by at least 0.7 seconds each lap.

Finally, just as Verstappen’s track engineer said, after 4 laps, on the 45th lap, Verstappen entered the DRS zone behind Qin Miao at T17 of the third sector after exiting the corner from the braking point.

"Qin Miao, Verstappen has entered your DRS zone. Let’s see your performance." Although Qin Miao might have been keeping an eye on Verstappen behind him, Frankie still reminded Qin Miao immediately, and of course, didn’t forget to encourage him.

"Got it."

Seeing the Red Bull car catching up to him in just four laps, Qin Miao clenched his teeth and suddenly felt a headache. Damn, won’t I be able to defend against this bastard?

Thus, when Qin Miao answered, he wasn’t as confident as before.

Verstappen, having caught up behind Qin Miao, didn’t rush; he didn’t exert too much pressure on the track immediately.

Instead, he followed behind Qin Miao at a 0.5-second distance for two laps.

Indeed, although Verstappen had a terrifying single-lap speed advantage of 0.7 seconds, today in this race, he seemed to have changed. After catching up behind Qin Miao, besides occasionally showing up on the inside lane at some braking points to give Qin Miao a little pressure, he made no excessive offensive moves.

The quieter Verstappen was behind him, the more anxious Qin Miao became.

This was severely inconsistent with Qin Miao’s understanding of Verstappen. Verstappen’s personality isn’t like that.

Sometimes, the unknown is the most terrifying.

Because you don’t know what the changed Verstappen behind you is planning to do.

Amidst his anxiety, constantly focusing on Verstappen’s movements, Qin Miao reached the 47th lap.

Now there are only 10 laps left in the race.

Verstappen finally made a move on Qin Miao.

His method was even quite subtle.

At the T11 braking point of the second sector, he shortened the time gap between them to 0.3 seconds.

This actually wasn’t much of a problem, as in the laps trailing Qin Miao, Verstappen had maintained the time gap at T11 at around 0.3 seconds.

At this moment, although still focused on Verstappen, Qin Miao didn’t think Verstappen would make a move at this point.

However, in the previous two laps, upon entering the series of corners at T12 and T13, the time gap between Verstappen and Qin Miao would gradually widen to 0.5 seconds.

This was normal, as the car’s turbulent airflow indeed affects the grip of the trailing car in these series of corners.

But in this lap, even after entering the subsequent series of corners, the time gap between Verstappen and Qin Miao remained at 0.3 seconds.

This time, Qin Miao really felt that Verstappen seemed set on making a move, so Qin Miao strengthened his defenses. However, when considering things from Verstappen’s perspective, Qin Miao thought the most likely place for a move would be the DRS zone in the third sector.

Thus, Qin Miao didn’t take it too seriously.

Additionally, these series of corners in the second sector are especially easy to defend.

Even if you make a mistake, the following car can’t pose a substantial threat to you due to the track’s width.

But the speed through these corners dictates whether you can widen the gap enough in the upcoming DRS zone.

Therefore, most drivers take these seriously, focusing all their attention on the line, since given the current season’s car length and width the trailing driver can’t overtake you in these corners. You don’t need to worry about the actions of the trailing car, and Qin Miao followed suit.

Thus, when Qin Miao navigated through these series of corners, he overlooked the Verstappen behind him.

Once he exited T15, completing the multi-corner section, Qin Miao finally had the chance to glance at his rearview mirror.

Then Qin Miao saw Verstappen almost sticking to his rear bumper.

Honestly, seeing the Red Bull car in that instant, goosebumps rose all over Qin Miao’s back.

Mother of God! Is this bastard so close to me?

Everyone here is a top-tier driver. The likelihood of a trailing car overtaking the leading car can generally be judged by the last corner before entering the DRS zone.

Seeing the position between him and Verstappen, Qin Miao realized that if he continued exiting the corner at the current race pace, Verstappen was sure to overtake him in the DRS zone.

Although the distance between T15 and T16 was very short, in that time Qin Miao has already thought about how to defend against the Verstappen behind him.

Before the T16 braking point, Qin Miao started intentionally slowing the pace. As mentioned before, the ending few corners of the second sector are actually quite narrow, making overtaking here nearly impossible unless the leading car comes to a stop.

Thus, once Qin Miao slowed the pace, Verstappen could only follow suit.

Otherwise, he’d crash into Qin Miao.

Verstappen was even mentally prepared for Qin Miao to slow the pace upon realizing his intent to attack.

Thus, when Verstappen saw Qin Miao’s car suddenly slowing down, he just smiled faintly at the corner of his mouth, but his mind and body were all tensed, waiting to see Qin Miao’s move on the track, ready to seize the opportunity.

Then Qin Miao made a mistake at T16’s right-angle braking point, producing a puff of white smoke from the front right wheel upon braking into the corner.

Though brief, it was clear that the rhythm of exiting the corner had thrown Qin Miao off.

This also delayed his exit from the corner.

Qin Miao’s rhythm being off was normally good news for Verstappen about to exit onto the straight, but just when Qin Miao faltered, he blocked all acceleration space for Verstappen.

Even if Verstappen didn’t slow down, he’s certain he’d crash into Qin Miao’s car.

Therefore, although Qin Miao sacrificed some durability of his car’s right front wheel for this defense, seeing the plume of white smoke expelled from Qin Miao’s right front wheel, Verstappen’s years of racing experience subconsciously made him brake a bit deeper.

None of this surprised Verstappen, as he was already mentally prepared for any defensive actions from Qin Miao.

Thus, when exiting the corner, the time gap between Verstappen and Qin Miao was again extended to 0.5 seconds, thanks to Qin Miao’s near wire-walking defensive braking.

Although it seemed Qin Miao could still fend off Verstappen, Qin Miao helplessly sighed.

Because Qin Miao knew, he couldn’t hold it anymore.

The reality was indeed so; Verstappen didn’t even give Qin Miao any chance to struggle. Before the DRS was even opened, Verstappen used Qin Miao’s slipstream to reduce the time gap to 0.3 seconds.

The speed was fast partly due to Verstappen having Qin Miao’s slipstream, and partly due to 90% battery power before exiting the corner.

Honda’s engine is no longer GP2 level now, though it still lacks the durability compared to Mercedes’ engine, it doesn’t lose much to Mercedes in terms of horsepower.

Thus, upon entering the DRS zone, the time gap between Verstappen and Qin Miao began to shrink quickly, eventually during the DRS mid-section, both exceeded 335 km/h rear speed.

Qin Miao reached 336 km/h, while Verstappen reached 346 km/h.

At this point, Qin Miao’s acceleration started to noticeably slow, while Verstappen’s speed was still increasing.

Seeing this scene, Qin Miao sighed and didn’t attempt any defensive actions, because from his experience, he immediately knew.

Under such fast DRS rear speed from Verstappen, any defensive action Qin Miao attempted would be futile, only unnecessarily wasting his tire reserve.

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Thus, Verstappen completed the side-by-side with Qin Miao in the inside lane, and before T17’s braking point, completely overtook Qin Miao.

Moreover, with the cooperation of light fuel and DRS and ERS, and the slipstream from Qin Miao’s car, Verstappen reached a rear speed of 351 km/h.

Breaking the Miami Circuit’s race rear speed record outright.