How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Next, as the battle between Verstappen and Hamilton intensified, Qin Miao was able to gradually widen the time gap between himself and the two drivers behind.

The contest for second place between Hamilton and Verstappen became the main highlight of today’s race.

After getting caught up in the duel with Hamilton, Verstappen internally gave up any hope of contending for the championship of this leg of the race.

By lap 50, the time gap between Qin Miao and Verstappen, who had finally overtaken Hamilton to move up to second, had reached 7 seconds.

Many excited Mercedes fans, seeing the significant speed advantage of Qin Miao, immediately hung up the banner of double champion at the sidelines and waved it wildly.

They even prematurely opened the champagne.

However, sometimes this world is so fantastical, if you open champagne early, you will inevitably face divine retribution from the god of champagne.

On lap 52, just as everyone thought the race would continue as such, focusing on Hamilton and Verstappen’s duel, an unexpected event occurred on the track.

Norris, due to loss of power in his car, parked it at the exit of T10, and helplessly retired from the race.

And coincidentally, today was also Norris’ 23rd birthday.

McLaren, whose completion rate this season was only slightly lower than Mercedes, also saw their first double retirement of the 2022 season in this season’s second-to-last Grand Prix.

All you can say is, sometimes the F1 circuit is so strange that it often strikes misfortune or other unexpected occurrences upon drivers on days with special significance for them, be it a Grand Prix or any moment.

Today’s occurrence was with Norris, and in previous years in Monaco it happened to Leclerc, often leaving many drivers and their fans deeply troubled.

But, this is F1; it’s also the charm of this sport.

Normally, the virtual safety car period is not a good time to pit, because although pitting under these conditions is faster than the normal race pace, the time saved is not much.

But at this moment, Verstappen saw a chance given by God, a chance to challenge Qin Miao and Hamilton.

So, right after Norris caused the virtual safety car, Verstappen immediately expressed in his team’s TR his desire to pit during the virtual safety car period.

Even though Red Bull’s strategy team didn’t think it was a good decision, because after the virtual safety car ended, the time gap between Verstappen and a front-runner, Hamilton, would reach 14 seconds, which basically meant Verstappen had completely lost the chance to finish second.

Moreover, at this moment, Verstappen no longer had new soft tires, only a set of old soft tires used for a qualifying lap that could be used.

And even if Verstappen had new soft tires to use, he couldn’t possibly catch up to and surpass Hamilton and then chase after Qin Miao in front of Hamilton within the remaining 19 laps.

There’s an ancient Chinese saying: fearlessness in one who has nothing to lose.

Although compared to other drivers in the paddock, Verstappen will by no means be considered one who has nothing to lose, but compared to Qin Miao, who is about to claim his second world championship, Verstappen is definitely the one who has nothing to lose.

So, after a brief discussion, Verstappen and Red Bull quickly reached a consensus, as they no longer had anything to lose.

Rather than dying a slow death on the track, it’s better to seize this unique opportunity and take a gamble, just in case a safety car appears.

"Huh? Verstappen actually pitted at this time?" Fei questioned seeing Verstappen’s action on track, "Is it too late to pit at this point?"

Bing chuckled and said, "Now Qin Miao leads on track; no matter what, after today’s race, Qin Miao will definitely defend his second world championship."

Verstappen also has Hamilton’s blockade ahead, making it difficult to win the title, so rather than wait to die behind Hamilton, it indeed makes more sense to seize this rare opportunity to pit and change tires."

"Unless a safety car appears, otherwise Verstappen’s tire change will just be a temporary relief, and cannot alter the final outcome of this race," Zhou Haoran confidently stated.

The other two commentators listened and found it very reasonable, nodding in agreement with Zhou Haoran’s thoughts.

...

While the commentators at Five-Star Sports were having a lively conversation in the studio, Matthew, responsible for clearing Norris’ car on the track, was busy and a bit overwhelmed owing to the situation with Norris’ car.

Although Norris’ stopping point wasn’t on the track, the exit at T10 is a rather unique spot on the Interlagos circuit because that area cannot accommodate a crane; the track in that region is too narrow for a crane to enter.

So if there’s a minor accident on the track, Matthew pushes the car into the track’s buffer zone to wait for the race to end before handing it over to the team. In the case of a major accident, a crane is moved from the opposite side of the track.

But when Norris got out of the car, although he turned off the engine, it was unclear if the car’s gearbox was broken. Matthew struggled for a long time but couldn’t push Norris’ car.