Such a perfect pit window, the drivers behind Qin Miao obviously weren't going to miss it either.
So most of the drivers chose to pit for fresh tyres under the yellow flag.
As for Verstappen…
He actually missed the optimal pit timing, but a yellow flag is not a safety car. After doing one lap on track, Verstappen boxed on the next lap, and he still came out in P1.
It's just that the gap that had been close to 4 seconds between him and Qin Miao was cut down to 1.8 seconds.
After the yellow flag ended, nothing much happened on track.
Instead, off-track factors became the biggest highlight of the mid-to-late stages of this race.
The FIA absolutely lost it on this circuit, handing out penalties like they were free.
Of course, saying the penalties are "free" isn't wrong, because for the FIA, issuing penalties really doesn't cost them anything; on the contrary, after they issue a penalty, the drivers have to pay them.
Corruption method +1
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