Chapter 1454 - 549: Miami Main Race
This season, Alfa Romeo’s car is very suitable for this track, and both cars made it into Q3.
However, Bottas ran out of soft tire reserves, so he didn’t even attempt a lap in Q3. Thus, he has no time recorded for Q3.
As for ninth placed Verstappen...
Pan was a bit unlucky.
During the first flying lap in Q3, Verstappen made a mistake, went off the track, and had his first flying lap time canceled by FIA.
Normally, for a driver of Verstappen’s caliber, such a mistake wouldn’t affect him much; he’d just steady himself and run the second flying lap.
But it was unfortunate that during the second flying lap, just as Verstappen completed his warm-up lap and hadn’t begun his run, a red flag came out because of Leclerc’s mistake, and Verstappen couldn’t complete his last flying lap.
Thus, he has no recorded time for Q3.
Still, Verstappen’s time in Q2 was faster than Bottas’s, so despite neither having a recorded Q3 time, Verstappen remained ahead of Bottas.
Zhou Guanyu ran just one flying lap on the track intending to emulate Bottas’s strategy, but because of that single lap, not only did he get into Q3, but he also clinched eighth place for the starting grid.
Of course, besides Verstappen, Qin Miao and Hamilton didn’t improve their times either.
Thus, they ended up with this starting position.
However, given the performance of the Mercedes car and the Miami Circuit’s characteristic of having mostly straights, overtaking with the W14 here isn’t too difficult. In fact, the total length of the DRS zone on the Miami Circuit is longer than last week’s Baku Circuit.
So starting in fifth, while unfortunate, isn’t as bad as it might seem.
After the race ended, Qin Miao got out of the car a bit frustrated.
Looking at Hamilton beside him with a similarly disgruntled face, Qin Miao helplessly said, "I feel like I’ve been cursed lately; in the past few races I’ve had no chance to fully showcase my abilities."
Compared to Qin Miao’s frustration, Hamilton seemed calmer: "These are just typical things on the F1 track; you’ll get used to it. Besides, aren’t you starting ahead of me?
Also, what’s a curse?"
Qin Miao paused, "Um... it’s kind of like a curse in our country, but it’s just a term we use."
"Speaking of curses, does China have anything like... Daoist skills?" Old Man asked curiously: "In that case, you could find the time to get a lucky talisman, right?"
Qin Miao shrugged, "With four races in five weeks recently, I can’t find the time.
Moreover, I’m a staunch materialist; I don’t believe in these things."
At this point, Qin Miao paused, and the practical instinct inherent in Chinese culture kicked in, shifting the conversation: "But a little belief won’t hurt; once these busy back-to-back races end, I might go back home and visit a temple that’s considered effective."
Old Man: ...
After pausing for a while, Hamilton shook his head and smiled, "Never mind, no matter what, good luck for tomorrow’s race."
Qin Miao reached out to shake hands with Hamilton, "You too."
...
After chatting idly with Qin Miao for a while, the two went off to weigh themselves at the signal from the team staff.
Eventually, the post-race inspections didn’t uncover any issues, and both Mercedes drivers’ race times remained valid.
The starting positions for tomorrow’s race have been confirmed.
After finishing all tasks in the paddock and returning to the hotel, Qin Miao discovered that Qimeng was still asleep in bed.
Since coming to the US with Qin Miao, she began a spree of retaliation through entertainment.
It was clear she had felt suffocated staying at home.
Cola? Drink!
𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
Game? Play!
Staying up late hurts the body? Then stay up all night!
All the fun I missed in these 10 months, I’m going to catch up on!
In short, feeling stifled had driven her to let loose completely.
Though Qin Miao knew Qimeng’s habits weren’t good, he dared not advise her.
Moreover, Qimeng was in great physical shape—an obstetrician said her recovery could return to normal within just two weeks.
The reason for the full month of rest was strong family insistence.
In summary, Qimeng doesn’t need Qin Miao to worry about her now.
Seeing that she was still asleep, Qin Miao didn’t call her to get up. Upon returning to the hotel, he headed straight to wash up.
Then he ordered some takeout for Qimeng.
Even when staying up all night, one shouldn’t skip meals.
Once he’d finished washing up, Qin Miao typically reviewed his race footage from the qualifying stage, then examined the analysis reports submitted by the team’s strategy group, which often contained eye-opening suggestions.
But the frustrating part was that in today’s race, Qin Miao didn’t pull off a flying lap to his own satisfaction.
Without reaching the limits, naturally, the strategy group’s analysis reports didn’t hold much reference value.
So Qin Miao didn’t check them and decided to play a couple of games before going to sleep.
Just as Qin Miao lay down on the bed, Qimeng woke up.