After Hamilton lost his target ahead, Qin Miao was now 20 seconds behind Perez, with Magelsen 12 seconds behind him.
Positioned in the middle, Qin Miao was literally in no man's land.
Since there was no pressure, he couldn't catch up, and his position wasn't threatened, Qin Miao decided to cruise.
On lap 31, Verstappen opened his second pit stop window earlier than Ferrari and Mercedes had expected.
Mercedes' strategy group immediately suspected that they were preparing for a three-stop strategy.
After all, choosing to pit on lap 31 was a bit too early, given there were 26 laps left before the race ended.
Judging from the soft tire's pit window, they could only last about 14-15 laps, while the medium tires last 20-22 laps.
The final laps would see the tires reach a cliff point where grip drops rapidly.
So, there's a high possibility that Red Bull would opt for a three-stop strategy, considering not everyone has Qin Miao's extreme tire-saving skills.
