CHAPTER 525: CHAPTER 228: DEFYING AUTHORITY

Since he started running his flying lap relatively early, all the drivers who came out for qualifying later had overtaken Qin Miao by the time he was on his cool-down lap.

During the cool-down lap, Qin Miao kept using his peripheral vision to observe the change in ranking displayed on his car’s steering wheel.

Although he was currently in first place, Hamilton hadn’t completed his final lap yet, and as a seven-time champion, he could take back the top spot at any moment.

It’s worth mentioning that when Russell and Norris were running their flying laps on the track, the atmosphere among the spectators was truly electrifying.

Wherever the two raced, cheers from the audience would erupt there.

It was as if they had brought a sound system with them while racing.

Soon, Hamilton reached the last three corners of the third sector.

Just when everyone thought Hamilton was about to bring back a green-purple-purple, during the exit of Turn 17, Hamilton’s car’s rear wheels lost grip for a very brief moment.

As the car exited the corner, it showed a clear tail slide, indicating insufficient grip of the rear wheels.

The spectators naturally gasped in surprise at this sight.

Although Hamilton quickly stabilized his car, this mistake directly ruined his last flying lap in Q3.

When Hamilton crossed the line, he couldn’t refresh his fastest lap, let alone catch up to Qin Miao.

As for the Red Bulls behind the two Mercedes cars, Verstappen also had a small mistake similar to Hamilton, but unlike Hamilton, Verstappen’s mistake was in the second sector.

Both failed to refresh their fastest times on the final flying lap of Q3.

By then, the clock had already stopped on the field.

This meant...

"Qin Miao! First! You got first! Your first pole position of your career!" As Hamilton and Verstappen crossed the line one after another, Frankie’s somewhat excited, even incoherent voice appeared in Qin Miao’s radio.

In fact, this qualifying run wasn’t for pole position; it only determined the starting order for the sprint qualifying tomorrow, and the first place in the sprint qualifying is actually the pole position.

However, Qin Miao didn’t really care about these details at this moment. After hearing Frankie’s voice, Qin Miao let out a sigh of relief, finally, he didn’t mess up.

Once he exhaled, Qin Miao belatedly realized that even if it wasn’t pole position, this was still his first qualifying first place of his career.

Instantly, a huge sense of achievement and exhilaration overwhelmed him.

After all, this was Silverstone in the UK, and being able to take first place in the qualifying at the home of the Brits was like showing off in front of someone you’re not fond of.

"Hooooo~Yes!" Qin Miao shouted excitedly in the TR.

Meanwhile, Hamilton not getting first place brought a great sense of frustration to the British spectators on-site.

For a moment, the stands quieted down.

In stark contrast to the reception Russell and Norris got during qualifying, where cheers followed them wherever they went.

Now, wherever Qin Miao went, there was a hushed silence.

However, everyone on-site was a loyal fan of Hamilton, so after accepting the reality that Hamilton didn’t get the pole position, even though there were no cheers as Hamilton returned, there was still applause wherever he went from the audience on-site.

This was encouragement for Hamilton and motivation for him.