How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

Chapter 1178 - 445: All the Friends Have Arrived

Logically, Qin Miao made such a major error, Verstappen should seize this opportunity.Yet this rare mistake by Qin Miao was not taken advantage of by Verstappen, who is considered Qin Miao’s biggest rival this season.

Because in Verstappen’s last flying lap, the first two sectors were setting purple times, making pole position a possibility.

But during the final timed sector, the Red Bull team informed Verstappen that the car was low on fuel, and to avoid being disqualified for the entire qualifying session results by the FIA during car inspection, the team could only ask Verstappen to slow down and return to the pits.

Actually, Red Bull doesn’t typically make such rookie mistakes; it was mainly due to the team only fueling Verstappen’s car for five laps during the qualifying session.

Today’s track temperature was lower than expected, causing the soft tires to only lose about 0.1 seconds per lap on their second flying lap.

Thus, all drivers in Q3 only used one set of soft tires.

And because of this, Verstappen drove an extra cooling lap on the track.

Before the FIA introduced fuel regulations, many teams would add extreme amounts of fuel just enough for a warm-up lap and a flying lap.

Meaning the fuel just allowed the car to exit the pits, run a warm-up, and a flying lap, running out immediately after crossing the finish line.

During that era, cars often stalled on track due to a lack of fuel after qualifying or a race.

Those drivers would usually hitch a ride back to the pits with colleagues they had a good relationship with.

Ultimately, the FIA imposed regulations concerning minimum fuel weight in the tank for safety considerations after qualifying and the race.

This put an end to such scenarios.

Though Qin Miao once had a breakdown in 2021 and ended up hitching a ride with teammate Hamilton.

That joyride of Qin Miao’s might be the last one in F1 history, given the impracticality of hitching another driver’s ride with the car installed with herringbone spoilers.

No place to sit.

The reason Qin Miao could hitch a ride with his teammate was that the W11 had a side wing that resembled a bench.

In summary, Verstappen only managed ninth because of a clear pole position opportunity wasted due to the team’s oversight.

Faced with this situation, Verstappen naturally lost his cool over the team radio.

And no matter how much he curses on team radio, it won’t ease Verstappen’s resentment.

Especially since, despite Qin Miao’s car being slower, he still manages to lead in team point standings with outstanding tire preservation.

Now Qin Miao’s car has been upgraded, and damn Hamilton’s speed is also up.

The Mercedes resurgence is just a matter of time now.

At such a critical point in the championship contest, the team throws such a wrench!

On the Marina Bay track, such a difficult place to overtake!

Honestly, with the car being the cause, Verstappen’s mindset is slightly crushed.

However, besides the frustration of Verstappen, the audience also rarely sees errors from the Red Bull team on the track.

At least Red Bull’s mistake shows the viewers they aren’t a robotic team — everyone makes mistakes.

Finally, qualifying ended with the drivers’ start positions for tomorrow’s race listed as follows:

1: Leclerc

2: Hamilton

3: Qin Miao

4: Perez

5: Sainz

6: Alonso

7: Norris

8: Gasly

9: Verstappen

10: Magelsen

After this race, Hamilton defeated his teammate in qualifying for the first time this season, marking his first time in the top three during qualifying this season.

It’s hard to believe this is the seven-time champion who competed for the world title with Qin Miao and Verstappen last season.

But now, Hamilton’s performance drastically improved, indicating it wasn’t a meltdown from narrowly missing out on the eighth title.

Instead, Mercedes’ W13 designs didn’t suit Hamilton, and now with the W13B, his speed markedly returned to competitive levels seen in early 2021.

A multitude of Hamilton fans, witnessing this, rushed online to fiercely criticize the Mercedes team.

Though Mercedes now indeed provided Hamilton with a competitive car, why didn’t they do so sooner?

Didn’t Hamilton repeatedly speak up about car issues, car issues, and they continued focusing on their obsession with catching Qin Miao for the world championship? Don’t they care for the glory of an eighth title? The emperor hasn’t abdicated yet!

Mercedes team’s PR saw the overwhelming online criticism and were utterly dumbfounded.

Dude, we’re on the same side!

Back to the track.

During the post-race interview stage, Verstappen, still dissatisfied, naturally lashed out at the Red Bull team again.

This mistake was entirely avoidable, and the error was indeed elementary.

Crucially, overtaking on the Singapore track is roughly as challenging as the Monaco Grand Prix — Verstappen’s most frustrating race this season was exactly the Monaco Grand Prix.