CHAPTER 566: CHAPTER 245: HENGELO CONCLUDES (6K, EXTRA 3/16)

This was the limit Qin Miao could achieve while ensuring his position wouldn’t be overtaken by O’Kang behind him.

Knowing he still had a chance to get on the podium, Hamilton naturally felt more confident and began to attack Sainz in front of him with full power.

On the sixty-seventh lap, Hamilton relied on stronger car performance and tire grip at the T14 turn-in and exit to closely stick to the slipstream of Sainz, exiting the turn just 0.2 seconds behind him.

Even though Sainz could catch the slipstream and DRS from the slow car Ricardo in front of him when exiting the turn, Hamilton was too close at his T14 exit, with a significant tire advantage.

Even when Hamilton went for a dive on the inside line, Sainz changed to the inside line trying to squeeze Hamilton’s space for the dive.

However, Sainz clearly didn’t possess the strong defensive ability and awareness of Qin Miao and Alonso.

The timing of the dive was a bit slow, rendering his attempt futile.

Hamilton finally succeeded in completing the dive on the inside line.

Before they reached the braking point, Hamilton was already side by side with Sainz.

Ultimately, at the T1 of the sixty-seventh lap, Hamilton successfully overtook Sainz with a late brake on the inside line.

Although Sainz, after being overtaken, wanted to take the crossover line to reclaim his position, it was a futile effort as Hamilton’s tire condition was far superior.

Moreover, Hamilton was on medium tires, while Sainz’s old hard tires offered no chance to counterattack.

After overtaking Sainz, there were three laps remaining, and Hamilton was still 3.4 seconds behind Vettel ahead.

Despite Qin Miao’s pressure, the battle between Hamilton and Sainz had widened their gap from the front Vettel.

Nevertheless, Hamilton still had the possibility of overtaking Vettel in front to earn a podium.

Knowing Hamilton had completed the overtake on Sainz, Qin Miao also knew he could no longer provide DRS to O’Kang and Vettel behind. If a DRS train formed, Hamilton’s overtaking would become very difficult.

That’s right!

As Qin Miao became more familiar with O’Kang’s attack patterns and rhythm, he dared to defend within O’Kang’s DRS zone.

O’Kang and Vettel behind him had no solution to this as Qin Miao’s defense covered both of them simultaneously, preventing either from moving position and forcing them to follow Qin Miao’s rhythm.

Crucially, although all were running hard tires for half the race, Qin Miao pitted even earlier, yet his tire condition was noticeably better than theirs.

As Qin Miao quickly pulled away from the cars behind within one lap, O’Kang understood that Qin Miao’s speed drop wasn’t due to car problems but rather to help Hamilton by holding back the others.

To be honest, Qin Miao’s approach didn’t violate FIA race regulations, but it somewhat tarnished his reputation among fans.

However, Qin Miao clearly didn’t mind, as he knew perfectly where his foundation lay.

Furthermore, Qin Miao understood that he couldn’t please everyone, better to be himself during the race for his own peace of mind at least.

It felt somewhat akin to a steadfast heart in cultivation novels.

In the F1 arena, only strength matters; as long as you win, whatever you do is considered right.

Just like Huang Bo once said in an interview, once you succeed, everyone looks like a good person.

In the last three laps of the race, Hamilton soon reached Vettel’s DRS zone behind after a lap.

But by this point, Vettel, no longer pressured by the front O’Kang, started to adopt a defensive line learned from Alonso.

In the last two laps, exactly like Alonso’s defense against Hamilton, Vettel also managed to hold off Hamilton.

Finally, Qin Miao flew through the T14 of the seventieth lap.

When Qin Miao passed the final corner of the track, he could see the waving checkered flag and the Mercedes staff waving and cheering from behind the pit wall.

After seeing this, Qin Miao glanced in his rearview mirror and didn’t spot O’Kang’s car, with the gap shown on the steering wheel display at about 2 seconds.

Thus, Qin Miao, starting fourth, finally brought home the victory after countless chaos and surprises on the Hengelo track.

Honestly, after slipping to eleventh place at the start, Qin Miao thought this race was over for him, with little chance of progressing further.

The best outcome seemed to be a top-five finish.

But unexpectedly, after pitting, other drivers cooperated by not pitting simultaneously to counter his strategy.

Instead, Hamilton faced obstacles on his path, and in the end, even with Qin Miao’s help, Hamilton regrettably did not secure a podium position.

Of course, this regret won’t be shared by most Mercedes fans and domestic fans, as Qin Miao won the race, marking his first career consecutive win!