Chapter 1424 - 536: Twists and Turns

Chapter 1424: Chapter 536: Twists and Turns

Of course, the reason is easy to guess; it’s the reason just mentioned: the FIA doesn’t want to see the safety car leading the race to the finish.

Because it’s already lap 55, and if Matthew takes a little longer than expected to clear debris from the track, the safety car might end up leading the race to the finish.

So the officials had no choice but to deploy the red flag.

The officials only consider regulations, but the red flag is practically a bolt from the blue for Qin Miao and Mercedes.

Because the red flag means that all drivers can enter the pits to change their tires.

As a result, Qin Miao’s huge tire advantage over Verstappen is effectively nullified by this red flag.

In contrast, Red Bull’s strategy team, who had been busy calculating the track situation all along, was absolutely ecstatic upon seeing the red flag.

Meanwhile, the Mercedes strategy team, who had a relaxed expression because they calculated Qin Miao was practically unbeatable, suddenly couldn’t keep their smile on their faces.

Qin Miao vented in the team radio: "WTF? What is the FIA doing? Why the red flag? Does a routine track incident need a red flag? Just clear the track and restart the race!"

Frankie was equally angry because he shares a "prosper together, suffer together" relationship with Qin Miao.

But as the driver’s track engineer, he can’t transfer his emotions to the driver during the race; anyone else can be uncalm at this time, but he can’t be uncalm.

So Frankie still said, "We still have two sets of brand-new soft tires available; we can’t change anything even if we protest now, so let’s bring the car back."

"FK!!" But Qin Miao still cursed before cutting off his team radio.

No way, this red flag is indeed somewhat unreasonable.

Furthermore, this red flag effectively cut off all chances for Qin Miao to contend for the podium at today’s race.

There’s no choice; the red flag is already out, so Qin Miao can only drive his car back to the pit area following the safety car.

Compared to Qin Miao venting his dissatisfaction in the team radio after seeing the red flag, Verstappen instead breathed a sigh of relief—Pan had never been this thankful from the bottom of his heart for the officials showing a red flag.

Then the drivers parked their cars in the pit area once more.

After parking his car, Qin Miao looked at the rear of the Red Bull car in front of him and really felt like jumping out and smashing the Red Bull car’s rear suspension.

But in the end, Qin Miao did nothing. He just angrily got off the car after taking off his steering wheel and said to Frankie, who came over to explain a few things, "We must demand an explanation from the FIA. The timing of this red flag is completely unreasonable."

"Qin Miao, although I would love to do what you said, you know, even if we apply, it might not be resolved; and even if we succeed in protesting, it will be after the Australian Grand Prix. At most, the ridiculous FIA will issue a statement apologizing but won’t change the final result of today’s race, nor will they cancel this red flag."

Not to mention that those people might not even let our protest pass."

After calming Qin Miao, Frankie handed a drink to Qin Miao and said, "Now, have a drink to soothe your adrenaline rush. Think about it; today’s race isn’t over yet; we still have a chance to catch up to Verstappen, right? Your start has always been stable; plus, Albert Park’s starting position is advantageous for second place. As long as you seize the opportunity at the start, we still have a chance to win."

Qin Miao is not someone who can’t listen; the emotional upheaval just now was because he’d worked hard the whole race, and just when he was about to successfully overtake Verstappen, the officials suddenly issued a red flag, nullifying all his previous efforts—anyone would struggle to accept that.

He took a deep breath, drank two sips of water, and although Qin Miao still felt aggrieved, he started to think about Frankie’s suggestion.

"I’ll think about it; hopefully, there won’t be any surprises after this restart," Qin Miao said while rubbing his face.

After that, Qin Miao specifically went to the second grid position to look at the guardrail, trying to find something obvious to use as a reference for parking during the restart.

However, in the end, Qin Miao didn’t find anything suitable as a reference.

He simply gave up and prepared to use the normal parking lane lines as a reference.

Facing this red flag, not only are Qin Miao and the Mercedes team feeling aggrieved, but the commentators at Five-Star Sports, who were ready to witness Qin Miao’s brilliance on the track, suddenly saw the red flag on the track, and they too found it unacceptable.

But constrained by their commentator roles, they couldn’t just curse directly at the moment, though if watching the race without working, the three commentators probably would have started cursing.

Right now, they’re only expressing doubts about the FIA deploying the red flag.

But online fans have no such reservations.

[qnmdFIA!]

[FIA! Aminos, heard that? Aminos!]

[Damn FIA]

[Ridiculous FIA, when will you die!]