China's first F1 driver Zhou Guanyu. Courtesy of the Alfa Romeo team
Shanghai, April 2 (China News Service) -- In the more than four months since he officially became China's first F1 driver, Zhou Guanyu has ended the new F1 season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In the first game against Bahrain, it finished tenth and won 1 point, and in the second game, Saudi Arabia ranked eleventh.
For this achievement, Zhou Guanyu said in an interview online that he gave himself an overall score of 8, "As far as the current two stations are concerned, I am still relatively satisfied with my completion in all aspects, and it is difficult to control mistakes as a rookie, and I have done it." ”
Since last winter, Zhou Guanyu and teammate Bottas have worked hard to put the problems encountered in the test and the team feedback, including communicating their driving style with the engineers, all of which is hoping to have a good start this year. In the end, it lived up to expectations, and Zhou Guanyu crossed the finish line in tenth place to complete the goal of getting his first point in F1 before the race, and Bottas finished sixth.
If Zhou Guanyu in Bahrain showed his strength, then the Saudi station shows that he and the team need to further run in.
At the Saudi station, Zhou Guanyu overtook Alben and cut his heart and was punished. During the penalty period, the team violated the regulations and touched the vehicle, resulting in a subsequent penalty. Zhou Guanyu revealed: "At that time, the team's radio was on the wrong channel, causing them to not know the information that I was charged 5 seconds in the pit stop. What I could do after the game was to give the staff who made the mistake a little encouragement and let him not get too frustrated. ”
In addition, for the problems that occurred in the initial stage of the two main races, Zhou Guanyu said that he and the team are stepping up communication, "After the Saudi station, we communicated with the engineers of Ferrari engines, and when we arrived in Australia, I believe that some problems will be solved." ”
In fact, when Alpha Romeo officially announced zhou Guanyu as the team's F1 driver last year, some foreign netizens expressed their confusion. Some questioned his ability to play, and some even made personal attacks on him.
In the face of these doubts, Zhou Guanyu has been silent, but holding a momentum, "When I first signed the team to become an F1 driver, there were a lot of false rumors and comments, I have not responded, and I have never been defeated by the pressure in this regard, I hope to use time to use results to prove that I am worthy of this F1 seat, competitive sports need to speak with results, I will continue to work hard to continuously improve myself." ”
Zhou Guanyu, China's first F1 driver, drives the car. Courtesy of the Alfa Romeo team
For future goals, Zhou Guanyu believes that to continue to maintain the current competitiveness, more points is the most important thing. "I will keep the original intention, the goal of the game will not be adjusted, it is still qualifying to enter Q2, impact Q3, the main game is successfully completed, and the points are impacted." I don't set goals so easily that I can accomplish them, nor do I set a goal that is particularly far away from me. ”
For "freshman" Zhou Guanyu, in the next long course, there are still 21 tracks to try and break through. On April 10, Zhou Guanyu will usher in his third F1 race in Melbourne, Australia, he said: "This is my first time to go to melbourne track competition, many Chinese fans on the Internet said that they will come to see the race, I am looking forward to becoming an F1 driver, the first time I can feel the support from Chinese fans on the spot." (End)