Not immediately pulling away from the drivers behind is also a way to protect his tires.
Although unwilling to admit it, Qin Miao knew that with 11 laps left in the race, using a set of old medium tires would not allow him to outrun Verstappen's soft tires.
To defend against Verstappen, he could only rely on his teammate and the DRS train.
Hamilton, although not as crafty as Qin Miao, felt a sense of security seeing the aggressive Verstappen behind him, knowing Qin Miao was in front.
Verstappen chose the main straight line for his first attack.
With soft tires, Verstappen's speed was noticeably faster exiting T12 than Hamilton and Qin Miao, thanks to the grip offered by the soft tires.
However, Verstappen did not immediately go all out to overtake Hamilton. Instead, he slipped into the slipstream outside Hamilton and pulled out only after reaching the limit.
