Strategy Blunder Frustrates Zhou Bottas in Q2

Bottas progresses to Q2 while Zhou vents frustration over a flawed strategy and miscommunications in Q3.

Valtteri Bottas reached Q2 at Spa and clocked the 14th fastest time. The Stake F1 driver will start from the seventh row on the grid tomorrow and discussed the primary challenge faced by teams and drivers during this qualifying session.

“Difficult conditions that kept changing. There were drops in one place, better spots in another, and we always had to read the conditions. I think we maximized what we could; the laps were good and we are in the pack,” stated Bottas, who still aims for points.

“I always have hope. It will be our only chance to score points before the summer break, so that’s the goal. We performed well yesterday in the dry and understood the settings well, so we hope to be in a good situation tomorrow.”

Guanyu Zhou will start second-last on the grid as Yuki Tsunoda takes the back row, and the Chinese driver did not hesitate to criticize his team’s strategy for the last lap of Q3.

“At first it was okay, then with the second set, we stayed in the pits. We waited, and waited, and waited; everyone else went out and we left at the end. I didn’t have time to warm up the tyres and that was it. We need to understand what happened because my track entry timing was completely off,” Zhou expressed frustration.

Under investigation for impeding Max Verstappen, he again blamed his team: “If you listen to my radio, you’ll see it’s clear. They told me Verstappen was on the same kind of lap as me, but ultimately that wasn’t the case.”

Update 18:40: Zhou has received a three-place grid penalty. This does not alter his position since he was already 19th on the grid, and he will not be placed behind Tsunoda and his 60-place penalty.