Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP
Zhou has ‘no answer’ for recurring F1 anti-stall problems
Zhou Guanyu has “no answer” for the recurring anti-stall problem that struck on the opening lap of his first two Formula 1 races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Luke Smith Matt Kew
Edited: Mar 31, 2022, 12:30 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Alfa Romeo driver Zhou qualified 13th on Saturday in Jeddah, only to drop all the way to the back of the field on the opening lap after anti-stall was triggered on his car following contact with Daniel Ricciardo at Turn 1.
It left Zhou five seconds adrift of the pack in 18th place, and although he would fight his way back up the order, a drive-through penalty after failing to fully serve a five-second time penalty in the pits due to the front jackman touching his car meant the Chinese driver couldn’t score any points.
Zhou faced a similar issue with anti-stall on the opening lap of the race in Bahrain that caused him to fall to the rear of the field before ultimately grabbing a point for P10.
Zhou told Motorsport.com after finishing 11th in Jeddah that Alfa Romeo’s main focus now was to resolve the issue in time for the next race in Australia.
“Daniel had a little bit better start, and we get all squeezed up in Turn 1, and I had to the jump off the track to avoid contact,” Zhou explained.
“We still touched, but nevertheless, the anti-stall kicks in again. So I honestly have no answer or explanation of that.
“Like I said, it's definitely the first priority of issue we have to fix for next race, because in terms of the pace, the race was fast again. We had the opportunity to fight for points but with that issue again, followed up with the drive-through penalty, that ended our opportunities.”
Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo C42
Photo by: Alfa Romeo
Zhou was unsure if there were two separate issues with the clutch and anti-stall on his Alfa Romeo car, but felt confident the anti-stall issue was not helping matters.
“It's related to clutch and that definitely affects everything to deal with the clutch release pace,” Zhou said.
“Let’s see for Australia, but that was the issue that we need to fix.”
Despite the issues at the start and the drive-through penalty, Zhou was still able to finish 11th as Alfa Romeo again proved to be competitive among the midfield cars. But he rued the missed chance to get some more points, largely due to the drive-through penalty.
“Even with the starting issue, without the drive-through, we would be top 10 as well,” Zhou said.
“Obviously there are a lot of positives to take on the weekend. On my side, to manage to get up to speed. In Bahrain we had a few issues, it was fixed here. So it was good.
“But then our biggest issue was still there, so that's the biggest focus points from this race.”
Read Also:
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Bottas: Strong Alfa Romeo F1 form is “best case scenario”
Next article Alonso: Alpine F1 pace better than early season results indicate
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Luke Smith
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
Formula 1
Formula 1
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Formula 1
Formula 1
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
Formula 1
Formula 1
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
More from
Zhou Guanyu
George Russell recalls Zhou Guanyu's terrifying first-lap crash at 2022 British GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya GP
George Russell recalls Zhou Guanyu's terrifying first-lap crash at 2022 British GP
Former Lewis Hamilton manager joins Cadillac in senior F1 role
Formula 1
Formula 1
Former Lewis Hamilton manager joins Cadillac in senior F1 role
Why moving to Cadillac F1 feels like going home for Zhou Guanyu
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya Pre-Season Testing
Why moving to Cadillac F1 feels like going home for Zhou Guanyu
More from
Alfa Romeo
What F1 history tells us about three-way title deciders
Formula 1
Formula 1
Abu Dhabi GP
What F1 history tells us about three-way title deciders
F1 cars from 1950 to 2025: Alfa Romeo 158 vs McLaren MCL39
Formula 1
Formula 1
F1 cars from 1950 to 2025: Alfa Romeo 158 vs McLaren MCL39
F1 reserve drivers: All the back-up racers for 2025
Formula 1
Formula 1
F1 reserve drivers: All the back-up racers for 2025
Latest news
MotoGP cancels Australian GP due to poor weather
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
MotoGP cancels Australian GP due to poor weather
2026 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
2 h
2026 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
There will be even less drag in Cup cars at Talladega on Sunday
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
3 h
There will be even less drag in Cup cars at Talladega on Sunday
Kimi Antonelli delivers Austin surprise pole in tricky Mercedes: "Finally we're seeing the results"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Kimi Antonelli delivers Austin surprise pole in tricky Mercedes: "Finally we're seeing the results"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe