Formula 1: Zhou Guanyu’s French Grand Prix ‘definitely not a day to remember’ after car trouble, 5-second penalty
- Alfa Romeo diver’s day finished six laps before the end, but he was still classified as coming 16th
- Zhou was also penalised for clipping the Haas of Mick Schumacher midway through the race
Zhou Guanyu said his first French Grand Prix was “definitely not a day to remember” after a five-second penalty and problems with his power unit left him unable to finish Sunday’s race.
The Alfa Romeo driver stopped six laps before the end, which was enough to see him classified as being 16th in a race won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Victory was the Dutchman’s seventh in 12 races this season, and came after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made a costly mistake and crashed out while leading.
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton finished second for Mercedes in his 300th Grand Prix, with teammate George Russell third to secure their first podium double of the campaign.
In contrast, it was a poor day all round for Alfa Romeo, with Zhou’s teammate Valtteri Bottas coming 14th, after the pair ended up at the back of the pack following a chaotic opening.
“We found ourselves with two cars at the bottom of the field by the end of the first lap and it was always going to be hard to recover into the top 10 from there,” Frédéric Vasseur, the team principal, said. “We had decent pace – Zhou showed it when running in clean air after his stop – but that was not enough to make up ground today.”
Any hopes Zhou may have had of finishing in the points disappeared midway through the race when he was adjudged to have clipped the Haas of Mick Schumacher, earning him a five-second penalty.
