At 11pm today, the first practice session of the third leg of the F1 Grand Prix in Australia will begin. Thanks to the addition of Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu of the Alfa Romeo team, this year's F1 has received more attention.
For the rookie driver who performed well in the first two stops, Melbourne's Albert Park Circuit is a new experience. This is a track that Zhou Guanyu has never driven, and he only trains to familiarize himself with the track through simulators.
The entire track is laid around the lake surface of Albert Park, and along the way it is picturesque and loved by the drivers, and is known as the "most beautiful track in the world". At the same time, the track is adjacent to melbourne's CBD area, and the freedom to watch the game near the park is high, and the audience experience is very good.
From 1996 to 2019, there have been 22 F1 season openers at Albert Park Circuit. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, F1 Australia was suspended for two years and didn't resume until this year.
Like the previous stop at Jeddah, the Albert Park Circuit has been re-upgraded to widen corners, increase speed and overtake more than ever before.
Compared to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Zhou Guanyu only has three practice sessions today and tomorrow to familiarize himself with this completely unfamiliar track. He particularly stressed the importance of today's first practice match, "It will be crucial to adapt to the new layout and build confidence when practicing, but I will not worry too much." As with every race weekend, all I have to do is do my best to push the car to the limit. ”
However, Zhou Guanyu himself was more excited and anticipated before the race, "Australia is one of the special races on the F1 calendar – I remember the special feeling when I watch the F1 opener here every year." I'm so excited to be here that I can't wait to learn a track I've never run before. ”
Due to Melbourne's large Chinese community and large number of Chinese students, Zhou Guanyu's popularity here is very high, and he himself has said that the australian competition is basically equivalent to playing at home.
"The Chinese atmosphere here is very strong, there are many Chinese, the signs are bilingual in Chinese and English, and Chinese food can be seen everywhere, which makes me feel very kind and feel like home." Zhou Guanyu has drunk the Internet red milk tea he has longed for after arriving in Melbourne, "I only drank one cup, and then I am ready for the weekend game." It would be wonderful to be able to get good results here. ”
For the third F1 race of his career, Zhou Guanyu has a higher goal, "We had a strong performance in the first two races, but we also saw how crucial it was to play in the game to get points. I believe that we can come up with the higher level of performance we expect and launch an impact on the higher positions. ”
Of course, in addition to adapting to the unfamiliar track, Zhou Guanyu wants to refresh his best performance in F1, and what he has to solve is the problem of starting the regular race that has appeared in the first two stops.
Zhou Guanyu said that this week the team has upgraded the anti-stall system and introduced new cue lights to help drivers predict in advance.
And he also believes that he needs to further improve his starting skills, "when driving an F2 car, you can start with a few gears, and there is no problem with the low speed." The car in F1 feels like it's going to go into a stall-proof setup as soon as it's low, so I think it's going to take time to understand that, including hearing with your ears when this speed is a limit, and getting a more stable grasp of the clutch's toughness each time. ”
Source: Thoughtful Shanghai