How Did I Become an F1 Driver?

So despite Qin Miao being forced by Drogovich to give up overtaking, and even being pushed off the track.

In Qin Miao's TR, there was still a cordial greeting from him, basically going through Drogovich's family tree one by one, showcasing the cultural depths of our great Chinese civilization.

Because Qin Miao used English, he didn't use any foul language throughout.

Frankie in the TR thought that something was wrong with his TR upon hearing Qin Miao's sarcastic tone.

The person on the other end of the radio was nothing like the proud Qin Miao he knew, but rather like a frustrated child about to lose his beloved toy.

This frustration indeed stemmed from being unable to surpass Drogovich, but more so because the rain on the track started to get heavier, and Qin Miao was getting anxious.

Finally, at the end of lap seventeen.

The rain poured down heavier.

Qin Miao and Drogovich both entered the pit at the team's command to change tires at the same time.

The tire change crews for both drivers did not make mistakes, and when they exited the pit, their positions remained unchanged. In fact, Qin Miao was even closer to Drogovich thanks to his extreme braking before entering the pit lane.

Right after exiting the pit, Qin Miao seized the opportunity and stuck tightly behind Drogovich.

Even though the spray from Drogovich's car wet Qin Miao's visor lens, he relied on his familiarity with the track and peripheral references to gauge his position.

He followed behind to T7.

After this corner, it's the high-speed T8 and T9 corners.

As long as the exit from T7 was smooth, Qin Miao could use the relative speed and slipstream from the car ahead to overtake in the next two corners.

But to Qin Miao's surprise, while exiting T6, Drogovich, who had defended flawlessly for nearly four laps, lost rear-wheel grip.

A quick counter-steer saved the car.

Seeing this, Qin Miao smiled slightly: Huh, young and reckless, leaving the pit with cold tires, it's a wonder if you don't skid.

Though Drogovich saved the car, he lost a lot of speed, allowing Qin Miao to catch up.

Qin Miao took advantage of this opportunity to go wheel-to-wheel with Drogovich into T7.

Qin Miao was on the outside line during the corner and had a slight advantage in terms of car position. If Drogovich defended as he did before and didn't leave enough space, squeezing Qin Miao out, he'd surely be penalized by the FIA.

Thus, Qin Miao knew this time he had the overtake secure, and couldn't help but feel relieved.

Just as Qin Miao let his guard down slightly, he suddenly felt the steering wheel lighten. The wheel, which needed a great force to stabilize, lost all feedback.

Along with this was the abrupt disappearance of G-force in the car.

Almost instantly, Qin Miao realized what had happened, as his car's rear wheels lost grip.

He quickly counter-steered and lightly accelerated to save the car.

But because of the water on the ground, once the rear tires lost grip, the front tires lost grip too, skipping the pendulum turn altogether, causing the car to skid off the track.

Like Drogovich, Qin Miao's tires hadn't reached optimal working temperature.

Luckily, at this point, Qin Miao wasn't going fast, and since it was a skid, he merely slid into the gravel.

Before the car fully stopped in the gravel, Qin Miao hurriedly lightly pressed the accelerator, trying to get out before the car completely sunk into it.

The race had only completed eighteen laps, and he still had a chance to fight for a podium.

But no matter how hard Qin Miao tried, when he pressed the accelerator, the car stayed motionless, completely stuck in the gravel.

Realizing what had happened, Qin Miao's heart sank: "It's over, I've lost the championship..."

Before Qin Miao could make any further moves, yellow flags started waving by the track, and Frankie's calm voice came through the TR: 'Are you okay? Any injuries?'

At this moment, Qin Miao felt strange inside, filled with regret over making a rookie mistake, but also felt a sudden relief from the pressure, feeling extremely complicated.

In response to Frankie's question, Qin Miao said, "I'm okay..."

Despite wanting to suppress the inner feeling of lost championship and regret, Qin Miao couldn't help it, pounding his steering wheel and cursing, "Damn it..."

His fist ended up hitting the Ferrari prancing horse logo on the steering wheel.

...

Zhou Guanyu witnessed the entire battle between Qin Miao and Drogovich, understanding that Qin Miao's loss of grip and off-track incident weren't Drogovich's fault, but rather Qin Miao's own overly hasty acceleration, and failing to save the car immediately when his rear wheels lost grip at first. When Qin Miao reacted later, it was too late—the grip on both tires had been lost.