China’s Zhou Guanyu cedes more ground to Formula 2 leader Oscar Piastri after Russian disaster
- A disastrous spin on his way to the starting grid ends Zhou’s sprint race chances
- Finishes sixth in feature race to fall 36 points behind championship leader
Chinese Formula 2 racer Zhou Guanyu endured a horror Russian Grand Prix and now sits 36 points adrift of championship leader, rookie Oscar Piastri of Australia with a potential Formula 1 seat on the line.
Zhou, who began the weekend in Sochi just eight points behind the 20-year-old Melbourne man, added just eight points to his tally courtesy of a sixth place in the feature race on Sunday. He now sits just seven points clear of Prema Racing’s Robert Shwartzman in third.
The UNI-Virtuosi driver slid off the track and stalled his car on his way to the starting grid in the only sprint race of the weekend ensuring he gained no points from the secondary contest.
“At the first braking point, I knew that everything was cold and that there was only one dry line,” Zhou said, “so I hit the brakes, but when I hit them, I locked the whole rear, and I spun the car around.
“We only had one clutch map and that was set to pull away. I just had to grab whatever one that I was able to grab, and it wasn’t the right one, so I stalled the car. It was unfortunate for the whole team.”
Meanwhile, Piastri took the chequered flag for a second straight feature race after his dominant win in Monza earlier this month and picked up the maximum 29 points. However, he too failed to score any championship points in the sprint contest.
“Another feature race win – two in a row! I am very happy with that,” Piastri said. “I’m glad I could hold on, I could keep the gap at one and a half, two seconds. I was pushing the whole way. I’m very happy I could pull that one off after a bit of a disappointing day yesterday.”
There are two rounds of the season remaining: the next one is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, before the season climaxes on United Arab Emirates’ Yas Island. There is now a more than two-month break before the campaign continues in Saudi on December 3.
“This weekend has been a tough one, but we are still there in the Championship,” Zhou said. “A few people are catching up behind us, but that isn’t something to worry about.
“I just have to focus on myself and do the best that I can do. I’m sure that we have the pace to keep fighting for the title.”
The F2 series has been a fertile breeding ground for future Formula 1 racers in the past.
This past year, Mick Schumacher, the son of legendary German driver Michael Schumacher, made the step up to F1 when he joined Haas after claiming the 2020 Formula 2 drivers’ championship.
Previous graduates include Englishman Lando Norris, who almost grabbed a first Formula 1 victory for McLaren last weekend, and Frenchman Charles Leclerc, who is now an established F1 heavyweight at Ferrari.
