They didn’t find it too surprising.
As for the two rcedes drivers, their performance in the qualifying stage wasn’t great either.
Although Qin Miao refreshed his fastest lap ti in both flying laps, after completing both laps, his fastest ti was actually a full 1.4 seconds slower than Verstappen!
This could be attributed to Qin Miao still using an old engine, while Verstappen switched to a new internal combustion engine, and the Red Bull car obviously adapting better to the Spa circuit layout compared to the rcedes.
Nonetheless, the 1.4-second gap in qualifying still made Qin Miao’s eyebrows twitch wildly upon hearing it on the team TR.
Hamilton’s situation was even more exaggerated, with a terrifying 1.8-second gap behind Verstappen.
All the rcedes executives were dumbfounded when they saw this ti difference.
The final results for Q3 qualifying were as follows:
1: Verstappen
2: Sainz
3: Perez
4: Qin Miao
5: Leclerc
6: O’Kang
7: Alonso
8: Hamilton
9: Norris
10: Zhou Guanyu
After the race ended, everyone was surprised: after a sumr break, the gap between the three teams that was originally within 0.5 seconds had beco significantly bigger after this race.
No, it should be said that Red Bull’s progress during the sumr break was unbelievably fast.
A 1.4-second ti gap!
This is qualifying, for heaven’s sake.
"Could it be too big?" Qin Miao couldn’t help but ask on the team TR after qualifying ended.
"Well, we believe it might not be our problem, our current lap speed is actually about what we expected."
Qin Miao: ...
After the race, both Five-Star Sports and Sky Sports or the fan community were all shocked by this huge ti gap.
Soon, the discussion results ca out.
During the entire sumr break, virtually no major changes happened inside the paddock, aside from team upgrades, only the FIA’s TD039 technical directive.
So there’s no need to overthink it. The reason why rcedes and Ferrari were suddenly left behind by Red Bull on the track is due to this TD039.
Of course, it’s also possible that Red Bull’s own upgrades during the sumr break had a significant effect.
So after qualifying ended, Qin Miao and most of the developnt departnt heads were called to a eting to discuss why the car’s performance suddenly differed so much from Red Bull.
anwhile, because many drivers changed new parts, the starting positions in tomorrow’s race differ from qualifying results.
The correct starting positions for the race tomorrow are:
1: Sainz
2: Perez
3: Qin Miao
4: Alonso
5: Hamilton
6: Zhou Guanyu
7: Albon
8: Ricardo
9: Gasly
10: Stroll
This might be Zhou Guanyu’s best starting position since entering F1.
But still, the issue remains; Alfa Roo’s car isn’t good this season, combined with the fact that overtaking is easier this season compared to last.
Therefore Zhou Guanyu might not be able to hold onto his position and will likely be overtaken one by one during the race.
However, Qin Miao rely thought briefly about Zhou Guanyu’s issue; post-qualifying, Qin Miao’s attention was still more focused on Red Bull.
The gap is too big; how such a terrifying ti gap was achieved is still unknown.
Qin Miao and Hamilton, after returning to the team ho, didn’t do anything else.
In the conference room of the team ho, they repeatedly studied on the projector why the Red Bull car is so fast while the rcedes is so slow.
But ultimately, Qin Miao and Hamilton couldn’t figure out any conclusion.
Moreover, the ti given to the rcedes team to study this wasn’t much, as the race starts soon the next day.
Sunday, Spa circuit in Belgium.
Today, the weather is exceptionally good, with bright sunshine and clear skies, and the teorological report predicts a less than 30% chance of rain during the race.
Drivers and team engineers who rested for a month are eager, waiting for the chance to showcase their skills on the track.
However, in the paddock, so people had predicted the final result of this race well in advance.
On track, Qin Miao and Hamilton huddled together discussing the current car problems.
Both were puzzled why the car’s speed was much slower compared to Red Bull.
But by the ti each driver’s track engineers called them back to their cars, neither of them had figured anything out.
"We are equally surprised by the gap between our car and the Red Bull car. We’ll investigate and resolve the specific issue later, but staying focused and winning today’s race is my primary goal." As if aware of Qin Miao and Hamilton’s absent-mindedness.
Just after sitting in their cars, Qin Miao heard Toto’s voice through the team’s TR.
"Okay boss, but all I can do is do my best in this race. As for position, I’ll see if I can strive for third, anything beyond that is not guaranteed." Qin Miao replied.
Knowing he couldn’t force Qin Miao at this mont, Toto said on the team TR, "Just do what you can, we trust you."
After saying this, he cut the communication with Qin Miao and went to calm Hamilton.
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