Zhou Guanyu says he is eager to get back on track this weekend at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to put behind him the disappointment of his retirement from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend whilst on course for a good result.
The Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN driver retired for a third time in four races at the Baku City Circuit, but it’s the performance prior to his retirement that he is focusing on, and something he hopes to build on in his first Canadian Grand Prix.
Zhou says the team have been working hard to solve the reliability woes that have affected him in recent events, and he is eager to break into the top ten this Sunday for the first time since the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
“The benefit of back-to-back races is the opportunity to get on track immediately after a disappointing event and this is the approach I have for the weekend,” said Zhou. “I am focusing on the positives from Baku: my performance in Q1 and the way I was running my race until the DNF are the starting points for Canada and this is what I am going to build on.
“The team has worked hard to understand the issue we had and we come to Montreal to get the result that evaded us last week.
“I have never raced here, so I don’t know this track, but it’s one of the great venues of Formula 1 and I’ve watched it on TV many times: it’s a circuit where races can be real classics and I can’t wait to be in the car on Friday.”
“It’s great to be back in Canada after such a long time” – Valtteri Bottas
Team-mate Valtteri Bottas failed to score points for only the second time last weekend, and he says the team have been looking into the reasons why he was off the pace in Baku compared to the previous races.
The Finn admitted Azerbaijan was a difficult event for Alfa Romeo, but he is eyeing a return to form in the first Canadian Grand Prix since 2019 after the last two events were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s great to be back in Canada after such a long time,” said Bottas. “This is a city that really embraces Formula 1 and it’s always a pleasure to come here and see the way the fans welcome us.
“Last week was a difficult race for us and we have spent the few days since we were in Baku looking back at the data to understand what went wrong. We have taken in-depth steps to make sure we start this weekend with a clean slate and can return to the levels of competitiveness we have enjoyed since the start of the season.
“Montreal is a track we know fairly well, although it is the first time we race here with the new cars, so we can aim to get down to business straight from FP1.”
Valtteri Bottas is looking to return to the points in Canada – Credit: Xavi Bonilla / DPPI