Formula 1: Zhou Guanyu ‘frustrated’ but Bottas bags Alfa Romeo’s best grid position in 3 years; Leclerc on pole for Ferrari
- Chinese driver gets stuck behind traffic in first round of qualifying and will start 17th on the grid
- But teammate Valtteri Bottas puts in flying final lap to secure 5th spot behind Ferrari and Red Bull cars
Alfa Romeo secured their best grid position in Formula 1 for nearly three years ahead of Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix with Valtteri Bottas finishing fifth in qualifying, but if was a frustrating day for teammate Zhou Guanyu.
Bottas put in a flying lap at the end of the final session to give himself an opportunity to finish on the podium, behind the Ferrari’s of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who make up the front row, and the Red Bull’s of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
In contrast Zhou could only manage 17th place, the first time he has failed to make the second round of qualifying in his rookie season.
On a new circuit where overtaking has proved difficult, China’s first full-time F1 driver found himself stuck in traffic in the final corners on his last lap, just as the track was starting to improve.
“It’s frustrating to miss out on Q2 for the first time,” Zhou said. “Tomorrow will be a challenge, overtaking won’t be the easiest but it’s a track where it’s easy to make mistakes, so we need to be ready for any opportunity.
“We’ll try to move as far forward as possible, we have a good car and we will do our best.”
But after Bottas’ woes in practice, when he crashed into a wall and missed a significant portion of he preparation time, Alfa Romeo team principal Frédéric Vasseur was not about to allow Zhou’s misfortune put a dampener on his day, describing the Finish driver’s performance as a “brilliant result for the whole team”.