Soon, the time approached for the race to begin.

All team staff exited the track, and as the lights illuminated, the warm-up lap for the 2022 season Belgian Grand Prix was about to commence.

In the starting phase, both Qin Miao and Sainz, ahead of him, used soft tires.

This week, Pirelli provided three mid-hardness tire compounds, C2-C4, for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Based on the tire durability tested by Qin Miao during the qualifying stage, his set of soft tires could endure for at least 20 laps in this race.

Although the redesigned chassis did not enhance the race car’s speed, it significantly aided in tire heating. After the practice session, Hamilton mentioned in the team meeting that tire management had become easier than ever.

Therefore, during the main race, the strategy group in charge of pit stop strategies for Mercedes faced a delightful dilemma.

If Qin Miao followed a red-yellow one-stop pit strategy, his tires wouldn’t be fully used during today’s race.

After the race, Qin Miao might still manage an extra 5 or 6 laps with the medium tires.

Hamilton, on the other hand, wouldn’t need to implement a two-stop strategy; a yellow-white one-stop could complete the race. But if he insists on a two-stop strategy, Hamilton could use the tires without worrying about depletion.

Except for yesterday’s exceptional pace from Red Bull during qualifying, Mercedes viewed their speed as perfectly ideal and optimistic for today’s race.

Quickly, the warm-up lap concluded, and all drivers returned to their starting positions.

Qin Miao stopped at the first spot in the second row, with teammate Hamilton right behind him.

Taking a deep breath, Qin Miao began to wait for the five red lights to illuminate.

Soon, the five red lights illuminated, extinguished, and the race began.

"The five red lights are out; the 2022 season Belgian Grand Prix’s main race officially begins!"

"Qin Miao! Great start rhythm, ready to overtake Perez!"

"Perez didn’t start well, trying to squeeze Qin Miao’s space! But Qin Miao’s rhythm is excellent, directly overtaking from the outside! Hamilton and Alonso are fast too, seizing the chance to surpass Perez."

"Qin Miao! Right after the start, he’s in second place. Is there a chance to attack Sainz?"

"Yes! That’s right, stick close to Sainz, wait for an opportunity!"

"Oh? There’s a collision, Hamilton and Alonso collided! Hamilton’s car flew into the air!" The three commentators from Five-Star Sports were focused on Qin Miao’s car performance and thus knew precisely where Qin Miao was.

Naturally, they recognized the Mercedes involved in the accident wasn’t driven by Qin Miao.

The track incident mainly stemmed from Hamilton braking late on the outside line at T5, getting ahead of Alonso.

However, Spa’s T5 combined with T6 and T7 are compound turns.

Following the right turn at T5, there’s an immediate left turn at T6.

To have a better angle and speed entering T6, Hamilton squeezed towards the outside line, aiming for a wider entry line.

Yet, Alonso hadn’t been completely overtaken by Hamilton’s late braking and was still parallel to Hamilton.

Alonso did leave some room for Hamilton, and before the collision, Alonso’s right front wheel nearly touched the outer curb’s green paint at T5.

Nonetheless, due to insufficient space during the exit, Alonso collided with Hamilton.

A classic situation where a car’s right front wheel hits the previous car’s left rear wheel.

Hamilton’s car took off from the ground during the incident.

Hamilton’s car seemed to reach a height of about 1.7 meters.

Though both drivers are of world champion caliber, their car control might not be magical but is certainly skilled.

Despite the accident between the two, both Alonso the launcher and Hamilton the pilot stabilized their cars quickly, preventing loss of control.

Following the incident, both drivers lost many positions, and Hamilton’s car showed evident leaking from the rear, soon fogging up Alonso’s following record camera lens.

In this race, Hamilton’s already limited championship chances fell to zero after the collision.

One lap later, Hamilton’s car suffered engine troubles due to the hard landing, forcing him to retire by the trackside.

The event prompted the deployment of the virtual safety car.

The production crew then gave Hamilton a shot, appearing filled with a sense of a hero’s twilight.

During the virtual safety car period, numerous drivers opted for a pit stop and tire change, including Leclerc.

Leclerc’s car had a visor strip stuck in the ventilation duct.

The lodged strip dramatically reduced Leclerc’s brake duct airflow, causing excessive temperatures. To avoid a brake disc explosion, Leclerc had to enter the pit to clear the brake duct while changing tires.