How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

So Qin Miao prepares to recharge for another lap.

At this moment, both Mercedes drivers received the same message: "After this lap is over, there will be one more lap and then the race will end."

Neither of them responded, but both perked up again.

Although Qin Miao already had a plan and a clear strategy in mind, Qin Miao couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

Because Qin Miao knows that given Suzuka Circuit’s characteristics, the places where he can attack Hamilton are probably only T1 and T11.

In other words, he now has only two chances left, and whether he can win the race depends on whether he can seize these two opportunities.

But as soon as he thought of this, Qin Miao steeled himself; at this critical moment, he can’t leave any retreat for himself, he must take action decisively.

Qin Miao is afraid that if he leaves himself a retreat at the T11 braking point, he might be hesitant during the T1 attack.

He must summon the courage to burn his bridges.

Therefore, Qin Miao decided to cancel the attack plan at T11 and gamble all his ERS energy at the T1 spot during the final lap.

If successful, the Japanese Grand Prix victory is mine.

If not, well done, Hamilton!

Soon, Qin Miao completed another lap behind Hamilton, and there’s now just one lap remaining until the race ends.

The time gap between Qin Miao and Hamilton remained at 0.5 seconds, this time it’s not Hamilton exerting control but Qin Miao.

What makes Qin Miao feel some doubt is that Hamilton’s pressure level is still at [54%], without a significant increase.

It seems that the older generation driver’s mindset is stable, and given Hamilton’s pressure level now, Qin Miao knew he couldn’t count on this skill being effective.

So Qin Miao simply ignored this skill, opened the ERS at the exit of T17 during the final lap, although he didn’t completely unleash the car’s electric energy at this point.

The same old problem, both cars have identical performance, so their acceleration is naturally similar, but T18 isn’t suitable for overtaking. If Qin Miao unleashes all his energy here, he might face understeer issues due to tire grip, not to mention being blocked by Hamilton.

After racing for so long, although both Mercedes drivers are still far ahead of Verstappen, the grip of their tires is a mess, and their lap speeds are 3 seconds slower than Verstappen’s behind them.

They’re simply squandering the time advantage they built up from the two pit stops of the driver behind.

So, after exiting the corner with Hamilton, Qin Miao adjusted the ERS release mode to full release, trying to use all the ERS energy on a long straight for a start.

"Qin Miao, he’s out of the corner, this is the last good overtaking spot in this race! Does Qin Miao have a chance?" As they reached the last corner, Five-Star Sports’ commentators forgotten about the fatigue of nearly 4 hours in the broadcasting studio, focusing intently on their screens.

"Qin Miao’s exit speed is fast, he’s catching up to Hamilton!"

"Qin Miao is preparing to take the outside line, still trying to rely on a wider... no, Qin Miao is faking, he’s tricked Hamilton! He’s feigned on the outside line against Hamilton, now Qin Miao is diving into the inside!" Fei’s speech rate was fast.

On the track, with sufficient speed and acceleration advantages, Qin Miao indeed has chances to overtake Hamilton, whether he takes the inside or outside line.

But Qin Miao knows well that the next two corners are right turns; if he goes outside and fails to overtake Hamilton, he’ll be passive in the upcoming T2, also taking the outside line.

The reason Hamilton was tricked was mainly because Qin Miao attacked the outside last time, causing Hamilton to be flustered. Hamilton knew if not for the gap being too big, that attack by Qin Miao might have succeeded.

This time, Qin Miao’s rate of catching Hamilton is clearly higher than last time, so Hamilton wouldn’t let Qin Miao attack on the outside, as the risk is too significant.

Hamilton naturally wanted to interfere with Qin Miao’s attack on the outside and squeeze Qin Miao’s corner entry line.

And now, he’s fallen into Qin Miao’s trap.

After being tricked by Qin Miao, Hamilton’s mind instantly sounded alarm bells, but his defense plan immediately came to mind.

Old Man doesn’t continue to drive on the normal line after Qin Miao got on his inside. Since it’s not yet the braking point of T1, Hamilton directly compresses Qin Miao’s space on the inside.

This move by Hamilton serves to create psychological pressure for Qin Miao, making him focus on the distance between the cars to avoid collisions, making it harder for Qin Miao to find the braking point, while also reducing Qin Miao’s corner entry angle at T1.

Now everyone’s tires are poor, if Qin wants to brake before T1 without losing control, Qin has to brake early, otherwise, he will certainly go off.