If we compare the results of the Alfa Romeo drivers, it is quite clear that Valtteri Bottas simply crushed his young teammate, Guanyu Zhou, who debuted in Formula 1 in 2022.
However, according to The Race experts, the 49:6 score does not quite match the actual image. On the one hand, it is clear that Bottas is a more experienced and stronger driver, on the other hand, Zhou performed better than can be judged on the basis of the results.
This is partly due to the dynamism of Alfa Romeo’s performance last season: initially the team made a very good impression, but then it started to lose ground and it was only in the last races that it managed to add a little. The Chinese driver only scored points in his debut Bahrain Grand Prix, then in Canada, where he finished 8th, and in Italy, where he was generally lucky when Daniel Ricciardo retired.
Still, Guanyu deserves credit for making almost no major mistakes or hitting any cars during the season – the terrifying accident at Silverstone doesn’t count because it wasn’t his fault, but was caused by the actions of George Russell.
Zhou gradually made progress, although he was just unlucky at times, but the fact is that from Canada he was ahead of Bottas eight times in qualifying. Of course, to consistently perform at Valtteri’s level, he needs to improve next year, and if he succeeds, and at the same time continues to pilot without making any special mistakes, you can expect good results from him.
Zhou is pleased to have been able to lay a solid foundation for further progress this year, placing himself at the end of the season with 7 points out of 10 points.
“I think the score of “seven” is fair, because I was able to achieve more than the statistics show, – quotes the words of the Chinese racer The Race. – I was hampered by reliability issues, especially in the first part of the season when Valtteri was earning points, but after that there were several races where, I think, both cars were able to finish in the top ten.
There were successes and failures, and I made mistakes at the start because I didn’t immediately understand the system that kept the engine from shutting down. But I am happy that we have fulfilled and even exceeded the tasks we set ourselves since I went to the final of the qualifiers.
However, whether Zhou can add in 2023 largely depends on how efficiently and reliably the car is built in Hinwil.
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
