Chapter 344: Chapter 171: The Imola Grand Prix Begins
Driving all the way to his starting grid, Qin Miao was lifted up by the team’s technicians with a jack, and the four tires were wrapped with warming blankets.
After waiting on the track for about ten minutes, Qin Miao took the opportunity to enhance his car with some buffs, and not long after, it was almost time for the race to start.
The team staff withdrew from the track one minute before the warm-up lap was about to begin.
It is worth mentioning that, as the team staff left with the car’s warming blankets and equipment, the section of the track under the rear tires of the car in the starting grid was dry, distinctly different from the surrounding ground.
If you touched it with your hand, you would still feel scorching heat.
Almost every car had such marks where it was parked; this was actually intentional by the team to heat the area so that when the car starts from here, there is stronger tire grip.
Today, it just seems more obvious due to the rain, but this operation happens in normal dry races as well.
These staff lined up on both sides of the track with their equipment, and as the Rolex timer hit 3 PM local time in Imola, two green lights lit up, and the warm-up lap officially began.
Following Hamilton as he drove out of the starting grid, Qin Miao’s heart rate began to increase involuntarily.
Honestly, when Qin Miao started from the second position in Bahrain, he was nervous then too, but it was more excitement than nerves. Now, Qin Miao was genuinely nervous, worried about not performing well or encountering an accident on the track.
The main reason for Qin Miao’s nervousness was obviously because of the rain today.
He followed Hamilton throughout the warm-up lap to the position of the starting straight, and before the start, Qin Miao had done his best to heat up his tires. But given the rain on the track, Qin Miao’s tires barely reached working temperature.
Qin Miao’s car then slowly stopped at the starting grid.
After Qin Miao had parked, not all the cars in the grid had stopped in their respective starting positions. During this waiting time for other vehicles to enter their scheduled positions, Frankie reminded Qin Miao over the TR: "It’s raining today, and even though we’re using intermediates, the temperature drop of the intermediates has been a bit beyond our expectations, so be cautious at the start and try to avoid accidents."
Qin Miao’s car also had an interface to see the working temperature of his four tires, but it required adjustment to view. However, Qin Miao was a bit nervous at this moment, with a tense expression, so even though he heard Frankie’s words, and was somewhat worried about the tire temperature not meeting expectations, he did not spare the attention to take a glance. Instead, he was fixated on the five red lights above.
Twenty seconds later, the medical car came to a stop, and the green flag waved.
The originally dark five red lights began to light up one by one.
When the first red light lit up, Qin Miao, like all the drivers, pressed down his accelerator, maintaining the engine RPM, and his finger was already on the clutch button, preemptively at the pre-engaged position.
Due to the rain on the track this time, Qin Miao only pressed down one-fifth of the throttle, keeping the engine RPM at just 7400. Any higher, and the starting traction wouldn’t suffice.
Soon, all five red lights lit up, and at that moment, Qin Miao’s heart rate spiked to 160, his eyes locked onto the five red lights above him.
"Five red lights go out!"
Qin Miao suddenly pressed the clutch button on the steering wheel, and instantly the engine’s power was delivered through the clutch to Qin Miao’s two rear wheels.
Qin Miao made a smooth start, as did his teammate.
Hamilton and Qin Miao both had decent starts, but as the saying goes, everything fears comparison.
Compared with Qin Miao and Hamilton ahead, the two Red Bulls behind the two Mercedes were significantly faster.
After the start, Qin Miao noticed that the gap between him and Hamilton hadn’t widened or closed, which meant his start was decent, and there was no wheelspin at the rear.
But after the start, as Qin Miao gradually deepened the throttle, he saw through the rear-view mirror the two Red Bulls rapidly closing in on him and Hamilton.
In fact, Verstappen on his side was astonishingly fast; starting from fourth, he had already pulled side-by-side with his teammate Perez over a short two hundred-meter distance, with a clear intent to start attacking both him and Hamilton.
At this moment, there was basically no extra time for Qin Miao to weigh pros and cons. Upon noticing the rapid approach of the two Red Bulls, Qin Miao moved slightly towards Hamilton’s position, compressing the space initially enough for one car between him and Hamilton to less than what one car could pass through.
And during this time, Hamilton noticed that both he and Qin Miao didn’t have ideal starts, while the Red Bulls had excellent ones, so he directly held his position on the inside line. When he saw Qin Miao approaching, he did not evade, but actually moved a bit more towards Qin Miao. It seemed to leave some space on his left side, but if Perez behind Hamilton wanted to overtake from the left, Perez’s left two wheels would definitely end up on the grass.