First world championship points: mission failed
Weekend finale mixed with disappointment and strong emotions for the team's drivers Sauber In the Chinese Grand Prixwhich started with the good and encouraging performances of Valtteri Bottas and local idol Zhou Guanyu among various top-10 finishes from Sprint qualifying to the main race, without forgetting the Sprint itself. Sunday afternoon in Shanghai, however, proved to be complex for both riders and the team, especially for the Finn, who didn't even reach the finish line.
The engine betrays Bottas
Fighting for the points, the former Mercedes had to giving up on lap 19 due to a technical problemthus giving up what would have been the first points of this season for the Swiss company: “Today marks a rather disappointing ending to a very promising weekend – he has declared – starting from P10 put me in a good position to fight for points, and the race was going well overall, until I suddenly lost traction and my engine stopped. This is something we will have to investigate thoroughly in the coming days. It's a real shame, as there was still a long way to go and I was fighting with Hülkenberg who managed to score. It's hard to accept, but this is racing and many other opportunities will arise: our pace is improving and as a team we are making small steps forward on many fronts. We were close to P10 all weekend and were able to learn a lot about our car and our updates which will allow us to maximize our potential. I can't wait to race at Miami again, a track I've really enjoyed over the last few years.”.
Guanyu's strong emotions
Out of the points too Zhou Guanyuarrived 14thbut the warmth of the compatriot public towards him particularly moved the 24-year-old from Sauber at the end of a race he had wanted for some time: “This weekend was an incredible experience: for years I dreamed of racing at home and I finally got to do it – commented – seeing the passion and love from everyone in the stands was something I had never felt before. The return tour, in particular, was something that I will never forget, seeing so many people cheering and shouting your name. I made sure to greet every grandstand, every corner with the fans. As much as I treated it like a normal race weekend, the emotion was undeniable and in the end it really got to me, especially when I stopped in Parc Fermé: it was a special momentwho crowned the honor of being the first Chinese driver to race in a Chinese Grand Prix.”
“The race was tough, especially in the first stint where I didn't have much grip and I was sliding everywhere, but we managed to recover well – he continued – It's not finishing the race that makes me happy: it's doing it by fighting to make your way through the opponents, giving everything and leaving nothing behind. Unfortunately, starting from the rear we knew that scoring points would be difficultbut we can focus on some positive aspects, such as our pace and, of course, the great improvement made by the team and by the crew at pit stops, which were mostly clean. In the end, we chose to do a cheeky stint on the softs – we knew we could maintain the position we were in if we didn't stop, so we decided to switch to the softs to see if we could improve further. We made a lot of overtaking, the car felt good and it was good to fight. Given the pressure of this weekend, I am satisfied with the work done. The whole weekend was positive, yesterday afternoon and today a little more difficult but we gave everything.”
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