But the advantage he'd built up earlier was still there, so Qin Miao wasn't in a hurry to pit. He planned to wait until Leclerc came out of the pits and closed to within two seconds behind him before considering pitting, to squeeze a bit more life out of his softs.
However, just as Qin Miao was gritting his teeth and hanging on, something suddenly happened on track.
O'Kang, who had passed the ailing Verstappen on lap 37 and quickly pulled more than a second clear of him, suddenly lost power on lap 39.
And then he was overtaken in turn by Verstappen, Mick and Magelsen behind him.
What's more, O'Kang didn't just coast into the pits on momentum, but stopped directly on the track.
And the spot where O'Kang parked was the very definition of "middle of nowhere."
It was a long way from the Matthew entrance, basically a spot that guaranteed a Safety Car.
