Star Zhou, golden oldies, prickly Horner: Chinese GP talking points

Zhou Guanyu was a big hit with his home Shanghai crowd

Max Verstappen won the main race and the sprint in another all-conquering display as the Chinese Grand Prix returned for the first time since 2019.

Here are three talking points from the Shanghai International Circuit at the weekend:

– Zhou sends crowd wild –

China’s first Formula One driver Zhou Guanyu was an enormous draw as he made his home F1 debut.

The Chinese GP was first held in 2004 and there had always been enthusiastic F1 crowds in Shanghai, but the presence of Zhou ramped the excitement levels up to fever pitch.

Tickets for Sunday’s race sold out in minutes when they went on sale, huge grandstands were packed all weekend and Zhou’s image was plastered all over his native Shanghai for weeks leading up to the race.

The tens of thousands clamouring to see a glimpse of their hometown hero bellowed an ear-splitting roar when he made it into the top-10 shootout of sprint qualifying.

“The support of the crowd has been incredible, something I never felt in my life,” said Zhou, who finished 14th for Sauber in Sunday’s race and was in tears afterwards as the crowd rose to acclaim him.

“I drove my heart out today, unfortunately not enough for the points, but we go again next time,” said an emotional Zhou.

“I am just so happy to see the whole crowd. No words. A mixture of emotions and a day to remember. Hopefully in the future more drivers from my country will be stepping in here.”

– Life in the old dogs yet –

The two oldest drivers on the grid showed why they are justified in carrying on into their mid-40s with some vintage displays in China.

Lewis Hamilton, 39, and Fernando Alonso, 42, have nine world titles between them and showed why when they tiptoed their way to second and third on the grid in a treacherous sprint qualifying session.

Hamilton then led in his Mercedes for seven laps before being reeled in by Verstappen and weaved his way from 18th on the grid to ninth in the grand prix in an underperforming car.

“Taking the lead reminded me of what I love so much about this sport,” said Hamilton, who will switch to Ferrari next season.

Wily old fox Alonso put his Aston Martin in P3 for the main race, and then sped past the Red Bull of Sergio Perez at the start before eventually finishing seventh and taking the point for the fastest lap.

There were no apologies from Alonso for upstaging many of his younger rivals.

“We can’t say sorry for being too fast in qualifying,” said Alonso, who has extended his Aston Martin contract until the end of 2026, when he will be 45.

“So let’s take it.”

– Horner slaps down Perez –

While the whiff of scandal surrounding Christian Horner may have blown away for now, the Red Bull boss is never far away from paddock controversy.

Horner this weekend openly slapped down his driver Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez, who is out of contract at the end of 2024, after the Mexican told reporters he expected his future to be decided imminently.

“Sergio, of course, would like to make an announcement tomorrow, undoubtedly, but we as a team aren’t in a particular rush,” chided Horner.

“It is incredible that we are at race five (of the season) and there’s so much talk already about drivers for next year.

“We’re in a fortunate position where many drivers would obviously like to drive for the team,” he added, with Ferrari’s departing Carlos Sainz one of those eyeing the plum seat alongside Max Verstappen.

Perez has started 2024 strongly, with three second places and a third in five races, but Horner warned he needed to keep it up if he wanted to stay with Red Bull.

“We just want to make sure that the level of consistency that ‘Checo’ started the season with is maintained and, in due course, we will evaluate the options.”

dh/pst