Chapter 1413 - 531: A Less Than Smooth Opening

Chapter 1413: Chapter 531: A Less Than Smooth Opening

Hmm, that makes sense now.

It’s not uncommon for teammates to help each other with slipstreaming, but it’s not often seen.

Actually, when you ask a teammate to help you slipstream, you’re owing them a favor.

No matter if this teammate is the number two driver of your team, responsible for supporting you in various ways, it’s the same.

And favors are really precious; most importantly, they need to be repaid.

So not only did Leclerc ruin his qualifying today due to Ferrari’s traditional inaccurate weather forecast, he also wasted one of Sainz’s favors.

Favors don’t come with a seven-day return policy; once used, they’re used, and if you don’t perform well, that’s your own problem.

Qin Miao sympathetically patted Leclerc on the shoulder but still asked, puzzled, "You should be used to it by now. This is Ferrari, the traditional Italian flag in green, white, and red with special powers."

Leclerc glanced at Qin Miao: "I’m already really upset right now. What you should do is stop pestering me and scram, so you don’t annoy me."

Qin Miao shrugged: "Alright then, good luck."

Speaking of luck, Leclerc suddenly had a flash of brilliance: "I’ve been too unlucky lately, let’s pass some bad luck to you!"

After saying that, he gave Qin Miao a few strong pats on the back.

Qin Miao hastily countered with a slap to knock Leclerc’s hand away: "Come on, keep your bad luck to yourself; don’t pass it to me!"

After joking with Qin Miao, Leclerc’s mood improved a bit, and he didn’t mind Qin Miao’s complaint. He waved his hand and left.

Meanwhile, Qin Miao, as if he had encountered something dirty, harshly patted the area Leclerc had just touched and decided that the first thing he’d do after the qualifying ended wouldn’t be going back to the team base to review, but to take a shower. If possible, he’d jump over a fire basin.

With Leclerc’s bad luck this season, if he really transferred some bad luck to me, that wouldn’t be fun.

After finishing all this, Qin Miao then reinstalled his steering wheel back onto his race car before heading with his helmet to complete the post-race weigh-in.

Today also marked the first time this season that Qin Miao went to the public interview area for post-race interviews after the qualifying.

Regarding today’s last lap mistake in the qualifying, Qin Miao wasn’t too upset.

Facing the reporters’ questions, Qin Miao explained that he encountered crosswinds during the final flying lap, at that time the tires were at their grip limit, and the sudden wind caused the tires to lose control, resulting in today’s situation.

Regardless, starting fourth is an acceptable result for Qin Miao and the Mercedes team.

Better than Perez of the Red Bull team, right?

Saturday ended as Qin Miao’s interview concluded.

In the evening, Qin Miao settled down, did nothing, and didn’t think about the child he was expecting to be born this month.

He focused solely on preparing for the last race before the spring break.

But before sleeping on Saturday night, Qin Miao still prayed to all the local spirits and deities he could think of, wishing one simple thing every Saturday night of a grand prix weekend — no rain during the race tomorrow.

Qin Miao didn’t care if the spirits from back home could influence things in Australia, but as a Chinese, the belief is that regardless of whether it works or not, it’s always good to pray first.

And when Sunday arrived, indeed, it didn’t rain.

Upon waking up and seeing the weather outside, Qin Miao silently marveled: Luck is really good.

Although it’s still possible to rain on Sunday, as Albert Park Circuit is by the seaside, anyone living by the sea knows that the weather can change unexpectedly, and it can rain anytime.

But at least according to the team’s meteorological report, the chance of rain during the race phase is minimal.

Therefore, Qin Miao can proceed with his pre-planned pit stop strategy on the track.

Today’s race spans a total of 58 laps, and Qin Miao’s pit stop strategy is one-stop switching from red to yellow tires.

In normal circumstances, with Qin Miao’s tire management skills, a red-yellow one-stop strategy might be a bit challenging to complete the race.

However, on a track primarily focused on stops, if Qin Miao wants to defeat Verstappen, he can only rely on tire advantages.

Otherwise, given Red Bull’s absolute speed this season, Qin Miao might have to settle for the second position early in the Australian Grand Prix.

Mercedes is well aware of Qin Miao, so they had no objections to the pit stop strategy, but the strategy group started calculating crazy tactics for Qin Miao on how to drive to minimize tire wear.

When Qin Miao arrived at the racetrack, Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit was truly packed.

After all, another Australian driver is coming to the paddock this season, and with the Australian fans still sulking over Ricardo’s departure from McLaren, they naturally have high expectations for this new driver. Consequently, tickets for the Australian Grand Prix’s race phase were sold out early.

Once Qin Miao reached the paddock, he began the tense and exciting pre-race preparations.

Having completed all the pre-race preparations, Qin Miao planned to wait for the race to begin at the team base.