In the round-up: Zhou Guanyu is eager to try out Alfa Romeo’s upgrades for this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.
In brief
Zhou eager for Alfa Romeo upgrades
Zhou said “hopefully a very good step forward” will be achieved with the inclusion of the new parts, although recognised Alfa Romeo’s progress up the order also “obviously depends on other teams” bringing upgrades and how effective they are.
The target of the upgrades is to “bring us a little bit more forward, like last year at the beginning of the year” when Alfa Romeo sat as high as fourth in the constructors’ standings with consistent points-scoring. They currently sit sixth in the 2023 standings with four points from the first two races.
“Every upgrade you bring is to bring more downforce, so hopefully that can bring us that step forward,” added Zhou, who is one of seven drivers looking to score his first point of 2023 this weekend.
Piastri predicts “crazy experience” for first home race
McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri will race on home ground in the Australian Grand Prix for the first time this weekend, and is anticipating a lot of attention.
The Melbourne native spent his junior single-seater career racing primarily in Europe, and did not get the chance to race in last year’s grand prix after missing out on an F1 seat despite winning the 2021 Formula 2 title as a rookie.
“It’s my first home race as a driver, which will be an amazing experience regardless of how it goes. Can’t wait to get there,” said Piastri before heading back to his home country.
“I’m looking forward to it. I think even last year, being a reserve driver [with Alpine], it was already a pretty crazy experience. I think I’ve got somewhat of an idea to expect. I’m sure it’ll be another step crazier this year, but I’m looking forward to it. It’s an honour to have a home race. And in my hometown as well, it’s going to be very special.”
Steiner: F1 now has “four very strong teams”
Haas team principal Gunther Steiner believes the team could be fighting for no higher than ninth place in races from now on.
Going into the third round of the championship Haas lies seventh, one point off the bottom of the table in the close midfield fight. “This year we started off with a clear target in mind to better our position in the constructors’ championship from last year,” said Steiner, whose team finished eighth last year.
“As we all found out there are four very strong teams now in Formula 1…
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