Formula 1 Austrian GP

Zhou: “Risky” tyre choice compromised Austrian race

Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu says a “risky” choice to start the Formula 1 Austrian GP on the hard tyres compromised his race.

Adam Cooper

Edited: Jul 14, 2022, 1:33 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo C42

From 13th on the grid the Chinese driver was the best placed qualifier to start on the hards, joining Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.

However he says that the strategy didn’t work out, and he struggled with excessive degradation.

Zhou’s weekend was already spoiled when his engine cut out as he drove to the grid for the start of Saturday’s sprint.

He was forced to start from the pitlane, but was able to recover to 14th, subsequently gaining a place on the Grand Prix grid from a penalty for Alfa Romeo teammate Valtteri Bottas.

After struggling for pace he eventually finished the main race in 14th. "It wasn't the best weekend,” he admitted when asked about his afternoon by Motorsport.com. “But the race I think was compromised on the hard tyres, we couldn't switch them on. For me there was more degradation on the hard, and not gaining any reward from it.

“So yeah, if I go back, I would go for two sets of mediums, instead of two sets of hards. Because the medium stint at the last 20 or 30 laps, I felt we found the pace again we had yesterday. So it just shows maybe our set-up wasn't the best for the hard for today. So that compromised the race.

“We went for the risky one, going for the hard compound for the start and not having much grip and losing out, and then struggling for top speed when we were in the DRS train, compared to the AlphaTauri.

“They just passed us so easy on the end of the braking, so that's why we were just stuck behind them in a train. A bit frustrating, but I guess that's how it is. But looking at the positives, I think we managed to find some speed in the race."

Zhou was one of several drivers who picked up a five-second penalty and a penalty point for track limits offences.

"To be honest, I know I was off a couple of times,” he said. “But sometimes when they told me, I was actually quite surprised that I got a penalty, because I was behind Yuki, and he was pretty much going off as well.

“I was actually probably slower because too often it was quite clear for me I went off, but I actually went off and lost time and lifted off. With the bigger wheels visibility is much lower than before, so makes it difficult, but it's the same for everyone."

After his Silverstone crash Zhou had made it clear that he was pleased to be going straight into another race weekend, which allowed him to bounce back immediately.

"I think we showed that, just looking at it, overtaking I was able to do, even though the race was a very long one, with not a lot of reward.

“But still I was doing a lot of overtaking and a lot of defending throughout the race, so a lot of action going on. I'm happy to be already back. It's nice to have a little bit of a break now, even though I have few days only!"

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

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Leclerc: Austrian GP victory "needed" after five-race F1 slump

Next article Albon: New Williams F1 package a “good platform to start on”

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Why Jorge Martín was not penalised for jump start in Indonesia

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Indonesian GP

33 min

Why Jorge Martín was not penalised for jump start in Indonesia

Palou pushes IndyCar’s IR-28 chassis to the limit in rugged Sebring test

IndyCar

Indy IndyCar 43 min

Palou pushes IndyCar’s IR-28 chassis to the limit in rugged Sebring test

Why McLaren cannot fix its F1 car handling until 2027

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

1 h

Why McLaren cannot fix its F1 car handling until 2027

Christian Horner clears air on “dream job” Ferrari rumours and sets return terms

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

1 h

Christian Horner clears air on “dream job” Ferrari rumours and sets return terms

Feature

Discover prime content

Why Mercedes' latest 2026 F1 update is no downgrade

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Why Mercedes' latest 2026 F1 update is no downgrade

'Senior moment' or breakdown of trust? The implications of Hamilton's Singapore GP meltdown

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Stuart Codling

'Senior moment' or breakdown of trust? The implications of Hamilton's Singapore GP meltdown

What we learned from the 2026 F1 Singapore GP sprint and qualifying

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

What we learned from the 2026 F1 Singapore GP sprint and qualifying

How Honda plans a return to being an F1 powerhouse

Formula 1

By Ronald Vording

How Honda plans a return to being an F1 powerhouse

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