The F1 Grand Prix of the season, which ended the summer break, came to the Spa circuit in Belgium this weekend. In qualifying that ended late last night, although Red Bull Racing's Vestappa was ranked first, he had to accept a penalty for changing the power unit, and it was Ferrari driver Sainz who got the pole position tonight.
Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu also had to accept a penalty for changing the power unit before the race, but he still ran a very good result in qualifying, completing the goal of advancing to Q2 and avoiding the last place to start.
Since Spa is a very easy track to overtake, many teams have chosen to be sent back to the end of the team to start, but also to replace the power unit to allow the car to perform better in the main race. These include Verstappen and Leclerc, who are currently in the top two in the drivers' standings, and Zhou Guanyu of Alfa Romeo.
In qualifying, Zhou Guayu's first flying lap in the Q1 stage was not ideal, and the lap speed was only second to last.
In the last galloping lap of Q1, Zhou Guanyu had to do well, when Bottas, another driver of alfa Romeo Team, used "towing tactics" to drive his car in front of Zhou Guanyu's car, helping him reduce drag and increase speed by pulling the tail.
Such tactics did receive good results, and in the end, Zhou Guanyu improved his single lap performance, rose to 11th place, and successfully entered the Q2 stage of qualifying.
Although Zhou Guanyu, who ranked 13th in the fastest lap in the Q2 stage, failed to advance to the final Q3 stage, his performance at least surpassed haas driver Mick Schumacher, who was also to be sent to the end of the team, and will start in the penultimate second place in the main race.
After the game, Zhou Guanyu especially thanked his teammate Bottas for his help, he revealed that in fact, the team did not arrange for Bottas to pull the wake for him, Bottas took the initiative to help him.
In fact, Bottas also replaced the power unit, but compared to the other six drivers who were sent back to the end of the team, he replaced fewer parts, but was sent back 15 positions to start. So qualifying doesn't make any real sense for Bottas, who will finish in 14th of the 20 cars in the race.
"I knew I was going to start with P14 anyway, so today I'm here to play as a team and let's hit the points together in Sunday's regular game." Bottas said after qualifying.
Zhou Guanyu also looked forward to tonight's main race, "Everything is possible at spa, we will strive for a higher place and try to get back into the points zone." ”
The main stage of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Belgium will take place tonight at 9:00 Beijing time.