Hamilton (centre) and Russell (right) join hands on the podium
On the evening of June 4, Beijing time, the main race of the 2023 F1 Spanish Grand Prix was held at the Catalunya circuit. Red Bull driver Verstappen led the way and won the race without any suspense. Mercedes-Benz Team doubled on the podium at the same time. Alfa Romeo team's Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu performed well, finishing ninth and scoring two valuable points.
2 points, Zhou Guanyu gave himself a birthday gift
"Driver 24 celebrates his 24th birthday." On May 30, the F1 official website sent birthday wishes to Alfa Romeo team Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu through social media. After coming to the Spanish Grand Prix, Zhou Guanyu used 2 race points to give himself the best birthday gift.
Zhou Guanyu interacts with Brazilian star Neymar before the match
At the last Monaco Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo Racing brought a car upgrade kit. However, due to the bad weather conditions and track conditions at this year's Monaco Grand Prix, Zhou Guanyu's performance in Monaco was not satisfactory.
"The upgrade in Monaco didn't work as well because it was a special track." When coming to Spain for an interview with the media, Zhou Guanyu, who had just celebrated his birthday, said that he hoped that he could achieve better results in Spain. "I prefer high-speed tracks to the slow-track technical ones of Monaco. Hopefully, here (Spain) I can find a driving style that suits me and achieve better results than before. ”
Entering the Spanish Grand Prix, Zhou Guanyu once again expressed his desire for results with actions. In the main race, starting from 13th place, he showed a completely different driving style from the previous "Buddhist lineage", and the track performance was full of attack. After just one lap, he moved up to 9th place.
In the following matches, Zhou Guanyu continued to try to attack the opponents of the midstream group. On lap 56, just 10 laps before the race, Zhou Guanyu, then ranked 10th, charged Red Bull Racing's Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, but was fouled off the track by his opponent. After the race, Yuki Tsunoda was sentenced to 5 seconds for forcing Zhou Guanyu, and Zhou Guanyu improved his ranking one place to 9th place, gaining 2 valuable race points.
It is worth noting that Zhou Guanyu's contract with Alfa Romeo will expire at the end of this season. At the same time, the Alfa Romeo team is also likely to switch doors next season and become Audi's "factory team" to enter F1. Therefore, if Zhou Guanyu wants to successfully secure an F1 driver's seat in the future, he needs better season performances and more season points to prove his strength. After all, for all Chinese fans, we have not yet been able to realize our desire to see Chinese drivers race in F1 cars on our doorstep.
Brawl mode, Mei Ben double car back to the podium
After arriving in Spain, from practice to qualifying to the main race, Red Bull driver Verstappen once again showed unbeatable form. He led the way in the main race, winning his fifth title of the season without any suspense, and Red Bull Racing won seven consecutive championships of the season and the 99th title in team history.
However, because most teams in the Spanish Grand Prix have brought a large number of upgrade kits, especially the "Red Bull series" upgrade kit, there is a "Earth Group" team chaotic situation behind Verstappen driving the "Mars rover" in the main race.
The Mercedes-Benz team, which returned to the podium in the main race, is the "biggest winner" of the Spanish Grand Prix. Mei Ben brought a brand new B version of the car to the last race in Monaco. Not only is the side box "Red Bull" "red-bullized", but the new bottom plate and front suspension are all premised on improving the aerodynamics and downforce of the car. So, at the Spanish Grand Prix, which was more suitable for unleashing performance, Meben finally found an opportunity to show all his weapons. Hamilton and Russell finished second and third respectively, which seemed to prove that the team's upgrade to the car was on the right path.
Sainz's face was full of frustration for Ferrari's car
The opposite of the Meben situation is Ferrari. Leclerc's elimination in qualifying Q1 in Spain proved that there are many problems with the "major upgrade" brought by the Italian team. And Leclerc, who did not win at the end of the Spanish Grand Prix, also epitomizes the current Ferrari team's performance struggles: in the main race, the team's decision to let Leclerc replace the electronic control system and gearbox from the pit area seems controversial; Later in the race, Leclerc also had a disagreement with the team's strategy team about pit stops to replace soft or hard tyres...
In addition, the fierce competition of the "Earth Group" in Spain also brought two sets of "victims": after other teams were upgraded one after another, Aston Martin's car no longer seemed to have the previous track advantage, and the race was completely exploded by the Mercedes double car, resulting in the team's Spanish driver Alonso not being able to finish on the podium in his hometown; At the same time, McLaren driver Norris, who easily grabbed the third car spot in qualifying, was knocked off his nose as soon as the main race started and had to pit for maintenance, resulting in him "steady" at the end of the formation throughout the race, and the final result was dismal.
Yangtze Evening News/Purple Cow News reporter Huang Xiyin
Proofreader Faye Wong