Guanyu Zhou caused a huge surprise during the second day of testing in Bahrain by setting the fastest time in the Alfa Romeo. It does not give him a feeling of euphoria, because the Chinese knows better than anyone that the times during the test days are not representative. In addition, Zhou set his fastest time on the C5 tyre, while Max Verstappen, among others, did this on a harder compound.
Verstappen seemed to run off with the fastest time, just like the day before. But with an hour to go, Zhou suddenly appeared. The Chinese drove purple times in sectors two and three and marginally dipped under the time of the Dutchman. His time of 1.31.610 would not be improved in the remainder of the session and so Zhou was suddenly at the top of the times list at the end of the day.
Zhou likes to top the list, but at the same time he also knows that it means very little. “It’s nice to see yourself and the team at the top, but we all know that this is just the test and everyone is trying different settings on these days,” Zhou said on his Alfa Romeo team’s website.
Zhou satisfied with performance C43
Zhou therefore attaches little importance to his position on the time list, but afterwards he is satisfied with the course of the day anyway. “We have been able to drive a lot and we have been able to perform all our tasks. The car felt pretty good and I got more and more confident to push as the day progressed. Today was my last day of testing. I feel ready for the new season and I can’t wait to race again,” says a positive Zhou.
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