How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 506 - 224: End of the Triple Header (6K, Still Owe 1/2 Updates)

The second race at the Red Bull Ring introduced some variations compared to the first race, where the top starting drivers mostly maintained their positions.

Right at the start of the race, the safety car was out in the first lap, and Russell, starting from eighth, fell four positions.

The Williams car is relatively poor, so it’s understandable he lost so many positions.

After the race restarted, Norris, who was in superb form during qualifying, started battling with Perez, and Hamilton was ready to squeeze his way in upon seeing this.

However, due to insufficient space, his attempt backfired, and he ended up losing quite a bit of speed. After all, it was just a restart, and they hadn’t pulled apart, so seeing Hamilton’s mistake, Qin Miao took advantage and moved up to fourth.

In the same lap, as Perez, who was still contesting with Norris, entered T5 side by side, Norris, on the inside line, squeezed him off the track, sending him into the gravel beyond the track perimeter.

Albon, watching the race at home, was suddenly reminded of when he too was pushed off the track in the same place while he was still at Red Bull.

He and Perez were both the second drivers for Red Bull, driving Red Bull cars.

Perhaps this is the sacrifice the Red Bull Ring demands to bless Mercedes, which is to sacrifice the second driver of the Red Bull team to exalt their number one driver.

Of course, you could also see it as a sort of tradition...

Perez, initially third, after going off track and returning, fell to sixth; by the time he got back up to speed, regaining his rhythm, he was down to tenth.

Such is the ebb and flow of life.

On lap twelve, Qin Miao overtook Norris in the DRS zone on the main straight.

But Hamilton behind Qin Miao spent quite some time stuck behind Norris, and Qin Miao proved his prowess. The team couldn’t simply cultivate Qin Miao as a second driver, leaving all the dirty work to him.

So after overtaking Norris, Qin Miao sped up to chase Verstappen ahead, while Hamilton struggled behind Norris.

It wasn’t until lap 20 that he managed to pass Norris.

By this time, Verstappen had already pulled an 8-second gap on Hamilton and a 6-second gap on Qin Miao.

This gap might not be a big deal for other teams, but between Red Bull and Mercedes, it’s tantamount to a chasm.

By lap thirty-seven, the gap between Qin Miao and Verstappen had grown to 14 seconds. Such a vast timing difference seemed hopeless, so Qin Miao and Mercedes had already given up on catching Verstappen.

This guy is insanely fast at the Red Bull Ring, utterly uncatchable.

Thus, Qin Miao began protecting his tires and the car’s engine.

He drove quite conservatively.

However, by lap forty-three, Hamilton caught up to Qin Miao and began a direct attack on his teammate.

Qin Miao didn’t say anything on the team’s radio, nor did Frankie initiate any communication with Qin Miao; everyone was well aware of what was about to come.

Toto initially wanted to intervene, but the drivers both in front and behind Qin Miao and Hamilton were some distance away.

Furthermore, with the race turning dull, Toto decided not to stop them after some contemplation. After all, sponsors needed exposure, and a battle between the two Mercedes drivers would be a feast of brand exposure for them.

Moreover, Toto wanted to see which of them, Qin Miao or Hamilton, was indeed better at racing.

Qin Miao defended from lap 43 to lap 55.

He held off Hamilton for twelve laps.

Their battle left the trailing Norris eager to try.

Yet Qin Miao lived up to his fans’ nickname, "Defensive Master", for while defending against Hamilton, he also blocked Norris’s best overtaking route against Hamilton.

To put it simply, while fending off Hamilton, Qin Miao also helped his teammate Hamilton defend against Norris behind him.

Thus, the two raced for twelve laps with Norris finding countless opportunities to overtake Hamilton, but none succeeded.

Their battle maneuvers were quite restrained, with no overly aggressive moves.

When facing corners, where overtaking was barely feasible, Hamilton didn’t force his way in, nor did Qin Miao shut the door on Hamilton or push him off track.

It was more about exchanging blows, a spar left unfinished.

However, Qin Miao merely excelled in defense, reputedly the best in the paddock, but he remained human and couldn’t escape human limitations. Thus, after enduring so much pressure from Hamilton over so many laps,

Qin Miao inevitably made errors, and eventually, Hamilton overtook him.

Hamilton, long in preparation, surged with a full ERS and DRS, finally braking late at the inside line at the T1 entry on the main straight, bringing this duel to a perfect conclusion.

Ultimately, after Hamilton overtook Qin Miao, the top five positions didn’t change again, with Mercedes, similar to the previous race, returning in second and third, while Verstappen still claimed victory.

During the podium ceremony, the trio revisited the events of the previous weekend, except this time, the Red Bull representative receiving the team’s trophy was changed from Marco to Verstappen’s track engineer.