F1 | Saudi Arabian GP | Zhou Guanyu's 'messy' GP due to 'radio communication problem'
Alfa Romeo head of trackside engineering, Xevi Pujolar told MotorLAT that Zhou Guanyu was given a second penalty in Jeddah due to a "radio communication problem"
Alfa Romeo head of trackside engineering, Xevi Pujolar, spoke after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to select press which included MotorLAT. During this press conference, it was revealed that the reason Zhou Guanyu suffered a second penalty was because of a “radio communication problem”. Having started in P12, Zhou would cross the line in P11 – just missing out on consecutive points - after his ‘messy’ Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
A dream F1 debut under the lights at the Bahrain Grand Prix saw Alfa Romeo’s Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu score a point for the team. However, a week later at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Chinese rookie was given a reminder as to how quickly things change in Formula One.
An intense battle with Alex Albon over 15th place, resulted in Zhou Guanyu making the pass but only after having run off track to do so. Unsurprisingly, this led to a 5-second penalty for the Chinese racer. However, this was only the beginning of his troubles as a further penalty was then administered shortly after due to what has now been called a “radio communication problem”.
After Zhou Guanyu left the pits having served his penalty during his first pit stop at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, it was announced by race control shortly after that he would serve a second penalty – albeit a drive-through penalty – as his team had worked on his car before the penalty was served.
Alfa Romeo head of trackside engineering Pujolar announced to the media that it was the team’s decision to double-stack Valtteri Bottas and then Zhou Guanyu that had resulted in the miscommunication.
“We did a double pit stop and we had a radio communication problem there,” Pujolar told MotorLAT and select press. “That’s why the guy touched the car because we do it with two jacks. The main jack went on the first one and the second one with the radio communication problem. The front jack was not aware that it was a five second penalty. That’s why he touched the car.”
Even the slightest touch by a mechanic meant that technically Zhou Gaunyu’s car had been worked on before the penalty was served. This is against regulations and so a further penalty was inevitable.
Unfortunately, Zhou Guanyu’s race never got close to what it should have been after starting in P12.
“From my race, it was messy,” said Zhou to f1.com. “I think the car was fast enough to fight for the points but a bit of [bad luck] with the start and with the drive-through penalty, that really forced us to get to a position where we could not fight for the points anymore.”
Pujolar explained that anti-stall kicking in was the reason for the Chinese rookie’s issues at the first corner on the opening lap.
Having been slow off the line, Zhou Guanyu found himself in a battle with McLaren racer Daniel Ricciardo. As space narrowed, Zhou was left to mount the kerb and made the slightest of contact with Ricciardo as he changed gears – that was all it took for ant-stall to kick in and be swallowed up by the rest of the field as they overtook him.
“For the anti-stall, it is something that we need to go through with Zhou,” said Pujolar. “There’s nothing wrong with the car thing, he has got the feeling that the revs are still OK but it’s actually not OK because it’s too low. We need to see what can we do to mitigate that issue in the future because now it [occurred] twice.”
Pujolar continued: “It’s just maybe his feel with this kind of situation, to hear the engine revs and when it’s stalling. We have to analyse a bit better, in more detail with more time. When he’s touching the car at some point maybe then it’s dropping too low and he didn’t realise.
“Everything is working as expected but for him, it’s just something that he needs to understand, but there are different ways to solve that problem and we’ll have a look at what’s the best way to do it for Melbourne.”
With a 23-race calendar, the Grand Prix weekends come thick and fast which means that a bad weekend can soon be forgotten and rectified. Zhou Guanyu certainly has a strong package beneath him and will be eager to be back on the pace in Melbourne. Also encouraging is the fact that Zhou Guanyu appreciates the learning curve he is on and can pick out some positives.
“But, a positive of the race – the race pace was very strong again, so from my side I think the car was fast enough to fight for the points. I had made a good recovery from P18 and we were looking strong to bring home some points again, but the drive-through put us far at the back and that was it. Zhou explained. Let's hope for a smoother race in Australia; the car feels good, so we can be competitive again.”
