Qin Miao actually considered trying to defend against Verstappen a bit more to see if he could snatch second place from him.
However, given the condition of his tires, the advantage Red Bull's Honda engine had in a straight line, and the characteristics of the Bahrain circuit, Qin Miao eventually gave up on this unrealistic idea.
After all, no matter how you put it, Verstappen's skill was stronger than his. Plus, with twelve laps left in the race, Qin Miao's tire wear was already beyond his pre-race estimations due to twice defending against Verstappen. After some consideration, Qin Miao decided not to continue suppressing Verstappen.
After completing his task of defending for three laps, Qin Miao let Verstappen pass through the DRS zone between T10 and T11, much like he had let Hamilton pass earlier.
With that, the battle for the podium positions in this opening F1 race came to an end.
