F1: Zhou Guanyu ‘frustrated’ on return but says ‘everything is possible’

Zhou Guanyu experienced a “frustrating” return to the track following his horror crash last weekend, with the Chinese rookie to line up 18th for Saturday’s sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Just five days after he was hit early at Silverstone with his car flipping upside down and being flung over a barrier, the 23-year-old Alfa Romeo driver got back behind the wheel at the Red Bull Ring having passed a series of medical checks.

But he did not have much joy in Friday evening’s qualifying session, and will have plenty of work to do.

“It was quite frustrating from my side, with a short track like this,” Zhou said. “The tire was actually working in lap two much better, so my first thing I was improving like six times in lap two.

“The last run we just tried to stick with one lap, so it was a bit risky, even though I improved the lap time a tiny bit, but no grip on the tire.”

Zhou had just one hour-long practice session to try and get the new car dialed in, too, with qualifying held straight after P1.

A second practice session will take place on Saturday, before the 24-lap sprint race to determine the order of Sunday’s grid, with points awarded for the top eight finishers.

“Just having one session to get ready this morning, to make sure everything is ready, is not the easiest thing,” Zhou said. “But everything seems to be working fine. Just lacking a bit of the performance so far today.”