There's no choice but to swallow this silent loss.
At this point, some people might be wondering, since Qin Miao just briefly slowed the car while being in second, why is it said that Verstappen lost out?
This brings us to F1's heated tires. These tires only have sufficient grip when operating at the right temperature.
The FIA rules dictate that the F1 start only commences once all cars are in their starting grid positions.
There is at least a 30-second gap from when the pole position driver stops in their grid position to when the last driver does.
This 30-second timeframe is enough for the tires to cool significantly.
The team instructed Qin Miao and Hamilton to slow down to ensure they stopped in their grid positions later than Verstappen, giving their tires better grip than Verstappen's.
