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F1: China’s Zhou Guanyu ‘hurt’ after narrow top-10 miss at Australian Grand Prix; declares ‘I definitely want points next time’

  • The 22-year-old Alfa Romeo driver finishes P11 after pit stop and safety car struggles, as teammate Bottas collects 4 points
  • ‘It gives me a lot of confidence going into the European circuits, where I know the track much more’, says Zhou

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Alfa Romeo’s driver Zhou Guanyu of China in a practice event at the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Photo: Xinhua
Rookie Zhou Guanyu agonisingly missed out on a points finish in his Australian Grand Prix debut in Melbourne on Sunday.
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The 22-year-old Alfa Romeo driver finished P11 for the second consecutive race and will be upset not to add to his point from the Bahrain season-opener but goes into the European legs extremely confident.

Zhou may have squeezed into the top 10 had he not dropped places in the pits before 10th-placed Alex Albon of Williams – who was last at one point in the race – was helped by a fortunately timed safety car.

“Again, missed by one position. It hurts,” the Shanghai native said.

Alfa Romeo’s Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu at the Formula One Australian Grand Prix event at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. Photo: AFP
Alfa Romeo’s Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu at the Formula One Australian Grand Prix event at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. Photo: AFP

“But looking at my opening three races, my worst position has been P11 so I consider that already quite a lot of improvement.

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