CHAPTER 554: CHAPTER 241: HELLISH START

The drivers of the second group surged forward instantly, with O’Kang even appearing directly in second place.

The race organizers promptly displayed a yellow flag after the collision, which then escalated to a safety car. Merande hadn’t even completed a lap on the track when the safety car was upgraded to a red flag.

At this point, T1 of the track was littered with carbon fiber debris. Any driver passing through T1 who ran over the debris with their tires would be embroiled in another incident.

Considering the situation, deploying the red flag wasn’t an issue.

Interestingly, this race, like the previous one at Silverstone, also saw the red flag come out before the first lap was completed.

The red flag provided other drivers a chance to catch their breath. Nearly all drivers who sustained car damage needed their teams to evaluate whether repairs were possible or if they needed to retire from the race.

Qin Miao was among them.

After being hit, Qin Miao felt somewhat frustrated.

His frustration wasn’t entirely because the collision completely thwarted his mission from the "Logistics Department’s Godfather" system.

He was annoyed because he lost many positions after being hit, and the Hengelo circuit isn’t conducive to overtaking. Now with rain coming down from the skies... yet Hamilton’s position remained unchanged. It’s likely that his lead in the championship standings will be bidding farewell in this race.

Of course, having his teammate reclaim the lead in the standings is better than Verstappen taking it.

When Qin Miao returned to the pit area, he realized he had dropped directly by seven positions, landing in eleventh.

Ahead of him was his long-time rival Mick Schumacher, and behind him was Gasly of Red Bull.

He was quite unlucky; starting fifth and now down to twelfth, losing seven positions as well...

Ouch!

Calculating like this, he seems unlucky too.

As for Leclerc, who collided with him, after returning to the pit, he retired from the race.

Ferrari’s decision was simple. Seeing the car, they felt that the damage to Leclerc’s car was too severe, with the chassis broken and the rear suspension appearing loose. It wasn’t feasible to repair on site.

So rather than wasting the lifespan of the engine and car parts, retiring from the race was a straightforward decision.

Simultaneously, Stroll, the instigator of the second accident, also chose to retire. The reason was the same as Leclerc’s, although his four suspensions were intact, the side collided with Leclerc’s, and the side’s wing broke entirely, with a significant dent in the chassis, making it unrepairable.

Furthermore, the unfortunate Norris also retired. After two collisions, Norris’s car had no hope of salvage. Even managing to drive it back to the pit was pushing the limits.

Additionally, Verstappen, although he managed to continue driving, suffered severe damage. The right-side wing that collided, like Leclerc’s, was entirely knocked off, leaving only a framework similar to what Qin Miao sat on standing alone.

This was also an injury typically calling for a straightforward retirement, but Red Bull did not choose to retire Verstappen.

After all, Red Bull aimed to contest the championship with Mercedes this season.

Due to Qin Miao’s presence, Red Bull had already given up on the team championship, but there was still a chance for Verstappen to contend for the driver championship. After all, Verstappen’s points weren’t yet entirely left behind by Hamilton and Qin Miao.

And this year, Mercedes just happened to have Qin Miao, a rebel who constantly seemed bent on overthrowing, replacing Hamilton.

Such a golden opportunity was too hard to miss, so even though Verstappen’s car seemed beyond repair at first glance, Red Bull did not give up. During the red flag period, the Red Bull team didn’t even care about Perez, hastily gathering around Verstappen’s car to start emergency repairs.

Using adhesive tape, glue, carbon fiber panels—whatever was effective, their aim was to restore Verstappen’s car competitiveness as much as possible.

Though winning the race against Hamilton was already out of the question for Verstappen in this race, the Red Bull car remained fundamentally strong. Despite being damaged and losing a side wing, its speed remained promising. With some quick repairs, gaining points wasn’t beyond reach.

Red Bull adhered to the principle of gaining as many points as possible, minimizing Hamilton’s lead.

The only consolation for Red Bull was that a group of people were also surrounding Qin Miao’s car, frantically repairing it.

For Qin Miao, the issue was how Reyes and their evaluation would view his car’s condition. Once that evaluation was complete, during the red flag, to what extent could his car’s original downforce be restored?

Of course, from another perspective, the red flag also brought a bit of good news.

Because Qin Miao had just contacted the team’s meteorology department by radio, and they indicated that the rain would gradually diminish in half an hour, possibly even stopping.

And the rain stopping would coincide shortly after the red flag period, roughly the time for drivers to complete one or two laps on the track. Hence, Qin Miao could look forward to switching to intermediate tires for the race restart.