How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 472 - 212: Overtake

Qin Miao was naturally aware of this, so after replying to say he had received the message, he calmed down and began running his own pace.

During this period, the three commentators began to chat.

Bing, with a voice full of satisfaction, said, "Red Bull is having a hard time now because, with Qin Miao around, they can’t use many of their tactics."

Fei nodded and added, "Yes, if Qin Miao were still in his original position, Perez would be partnering with Verstappen to pose a threat to Hamilton. This is the scenario Marco most wants to see and the main reason Mark recruited Perez to Red Bull.

If Perez were to pit before Hamilton and Verstappen kept applying pressure on Hamilton, Mercedes would be in trouble.

But the situation is very different now; Qin Miao started off gaining two positions, blocking many of Red Bull’s tactics."

Zhou Haoran commented, "Given Qin Miao’s defensive capability and speed, if he pits early, he might directly overturn Verstappen; then it would be like Bahrain, defending against Verstappen for several laps, making Red Bull anxious."

Fei said, "I don’t deny that Qin Miao’s defense is among the best I’ve seen, but I feel Qin Miao won’t find it so easy to fend off Verstappen’s attack on this track. Baku is much easier for overtaking than Monaco and Bahrain."

Bing had a different opinion, "I actually believe Qin Miao will surprise us; ever since he joined F1, his performance has always been unexpected."

Zhou Haoran nodded in agreement, "That’s true, I also think Qin Miao can give Red Bull a headache for a while."

...

On the track, Qin Miao was unaware of the commentators’ strong expectations for his performance. He was simply running his own pace as usual.

By the eighth lap, Qin Miao had reached the DRS zone behind Leclerc in T8.

Coming out of T15 in the eighth lap, Qin Miao had closed in within 0.8 seconds of Leclerc.

Leclerc looked at his friend behind him as the gap quickly shrank, feeling a bit conflicted inside.

To put it simply: worried about his brother struggling, yet concerned he might surpass him.

Back when Qin Miao was still in F2, Leclerc would occasionally spare time to watch Qin Miao’s races, since they were both drivers working in the same paddock and were part of the same team. Watching Qin Miao’s race was quite convenient for Leclerc. However, as Qin Miao’s performance in F2 became increasingly extraordinary, while Leclerc felt happy for his friend, he also started sensing a bit of unease.

Leclerc always felt that Qin Miao could later become a serious problem for him, perhaps even the biggest rival.

With Qin Miao’s dominating performance in F2, there was a chance his number one driver position at Ferrari might become unstable once Qin joined Ferrari.

After having this thought and suspicion, Leclerc didn’t pay attention to Qin Miao’s performance in F2 anymore. After all, watching a shark wreak havoc in a fish pond might be interesting for one or two races, but over time, it loses its appeal.

Yet fate played its hand, and no one expected that Qin Miao, coming out of Ferrari’s youth training, wouldn’t end up working alongside him at Ferrari but was instead forced by Ferrari to switch to Mercedes, where he displayed an extremely terrifying talent.

A fleeting complex thought passed through his mind as he watched the Mercedes number 66 car gradually closing in on him, reigniting Leclerc’s fighting spirit.

Familiar as they were, but did this rookie truly think he could ride high above him just because he had a good car?

Let ’father’ teach this rebellious child what top-tier defense means.

Then, on the eighth lap’s straight, Qin Miao activated his ERS, DRS, and rich fuel mode, unleashing full power and drew even with Leclerc just before the T1 braking zone on the ninth lap.

Leclerc opted for late braking, while Qin Miao took a cross-line approach, overtaking Leclerc post-corner with Mercedes’ superior engine power over Ferrari’s.

Leclerc: Your Mercedes is good, you’re impressive.

"Well done!" Frankie’s voice timely sounded over the TR: "Next up is Verstappen; he is 1.9 seconds ahead of you."

"Received." Qin Miao’s tone also carried some lightened emotion, beginning to ponder on how he would impressively show off in front of Leclerc post-race.

Of course, this was just a fleeting thought for Qin Miao; he refocused his main attention on pursuing Verstappen ahead of him.

In the tenth lap, the pit window opened, and drivers began pitting.

However, Qin Miao’s current soft tire condition was still good, maintaining a faster pace than the intermediate tires, so he stayed out.

Among those behind Qin Miao, Leclerc also opted to pit.

Initially, Qin Miao intended for Leclerc to stay behind him a bit longer to benefit from the DRS, allowing him to hold up Perez behind. Unexpectedly, Ferrari wouldn’t let Qin Miao get any advantage and directly called Leclerc into the pit.

This left Qin Miao to face the pressure from Perez directly, yet Qin Miao remained unfazed.

Naturally, Qin Miao still asked about Perez’s tire wear condition and lap times over the TR.

The results were pleasing; as long as Qin Miao didn’t make any mistakes, with his current speed, he’s only 0.08 seconds slower than Perez, meaning Perez wouldn’t be able to catch up to Qin Miao anytime soon.