Chapter 1051: Chapter 404: Ferrari: Basic Operations

By the time the race reached lap 22, Sainz opted to pit for a tire change because his speed was no longer faster than Leclerc’s.

However, due to the identical performance of the two cars, Leclerc was stuck 0.5 seconds behind Sainz.

If they continued racing like this, the time gap between Leclerc and Qin Miao might be reduced to within the DRS zone before the first pit window.

But this week, Sainz’s performance was indeed good, and Ferrari didn’t want to put too much pressure on him.

Nor did they want to issue a team order for him to give up his position to Leclerc.

So they simply called Sainz into the pits.

Sometimes Ferrari is just so stubborn; they could have easily ordered Sainz to give up the position, as handing over a spot to a faster teammate is a very normal thing.

Yet Ferrari chose another path instead.

After switching to hard tires in the pits, Sainz naturally fell to fourth place.

At this point, there are 30 laps to go, and it seems they want Sainz to finish the race on this set of tires.

On lap 24, Qin Miao already closed into the DRS zone behind Leclerc, but Leclerc did not defend against Qin Miao.

Because by now, Leclerc’s soft tires had started to degrade quickly, while the medium tires on Qin Miao’s car remained quite stable.

Because of this, Leclerc directly chose to pit for a tire change.

Some people might be curious at this point; it was obvious Leclerc could have blocked Qin Miao on the track, helping Sainz create more of a time advantage.

Surely, it’s not too much to ask for Leclerc to help Sainz hold off Qin Miao for two seconds?

At worst, Qin Miao overtakes Leclerc and then Leclerc pits.

Ah, but Ferrari wouldn’t do that, and they just called Leclerc into the pits right away.

As a result, Qin Miao realized while racing: wait? How did I suddenly take the lead?

Looking in the rearview mirror, Hamilton’s lap times were also stable, following closely at 1.4 seconds behind

There was no opportunity to attack, but he also couldn’t shake him off.

Qin Miao didn’t mind; after all, as time went by, Hamilton’s set of soft tires would definitely start to degrade.

But I have to say, returning to this familiar position, Qin Miao felt quite comfortable.

While racing, Qin Miao also inquired through the team radio about the lap speeds of Sainz and Leclerc after pitting.

The speed of Ferrari on hard tires wasn’t slower than Qin Miao’s, with lap times basically matching Qin Miao’s lap speeds.

Qin Miao felt a bit nervous about this, but under the team’s reassurance, he calmed down again.

Anyway, the next stint will involve switching to soft tires; by then my lap speed should be at least 0.5 seconds faster than the two Ferraris on hard tires.

Moreover, my tires will be newer than theirs, so even if they’re faster now, it doesn’t matter. With Silverstone’s long straights, I’ll always find opportunities to overtake. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

On lap 33, Hamilton, already trailing Qin Miao by 2.4 seconds, chose to pit.

Like Qin Miao, Hamilton also used a set of soft tires for a long 33-lap stint, maintaining excellent overall lap times.

Even though there were 18 laps to go, Hamilton didn’t have Qin Miao’s courage to switch to soft tires and instead went with hard tires after pitting.

Even though Hamilton’s set of hard tires may not have much of an advantage over the two Ferraris in front, at least from now until the end of the race, Hamilton won’t have tire anxiety. He only needs to watch his tire temperature and start releasing his full pace for long-distance racing.

However, to the discomfort of Mercedes fans, Hamilton, having pitted, would have originally trailed Sainz by 1.5 seconds. Once Hamilton raised his tire temperatures, he could attack the two Ferraris ahead.

But during the tire change, Hamilton’s tire crew gave him a harder time, resulting in a 4.6-second tire change that put him 3.4 seconds behind Sainz upon exit.

With this time gap, Hamilton is basically out of contention for a podium at his home Grand Prix.

Unless Mercedes decides to play tricks on Qin Miao, causing a prolonged 30-second tire change, so Hamilton can climb the podium at his home Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, Perez, who had pitted for repairs due to car damage earlier in the race, had now moved up to sixth place thanks to a long stint.

Which puts him right behind Norris.

It must be said, the Red Bull car remains powerful, and Perez’s tire management is also formidable.

Of course, currently, Perez’s position looks good, having moved up to sixth, but he is still 20 seconds behind Hamilton in front of Norris.

If there’s no safety car, even after overtaking Norris, the best Perez can get is probably fifth place.

Meanwhile, Qin Miao is performing beyond expectations, maintaining speed comparable to the two Ferrari drivers on hard tires, and sometimes even slightly faster.

It’s hard to believe that Qin Miao is running on a set of medium tires that have already lasted 33 laps.

By lap 37, Qin Miao’s tires started struggling, with every lap about 0.2 seconds slower than the Ferrari behind.