In the round-up: Zhou Guanyu says he played the team game to help Alfa Romeo take a point in Mexico.
In letter
Zhou “tried to play the team game” in Mexican GP
Zhou qualified 12th and finished 13th in the Mexican Grand Prix, but his latest non-score may have proven beneficial for Alfa Romeo as team mate Valtteri Bottas scored his first point in 11 races. The rookie revealed he compromised his own race to try to support Bottas, who qualified sixth and finished tenth.
“I tried to play the team game, and I had a good stint in the mid-part with the medium,” said Zhou. “It was going well and then after I tried to give Valtteri some positions with the Alpine, which I was happy to compromise a little bit my race,” he said.
“But it was a bit frustrating in the end because I was so close to being ahead of this DRS train and unfortunately stuck behind and then it was hard to overtake them.”
He explained that Alfa Romeo “tried to use me like slowing the pack down, which makes sense waiting for maybe a Safety Car window” and he thought it was “worth a gamble” when it looked unlikely he would be finishing out of the points- paying positions anyway.
Mexican GP claims audience record
The Mexican Grand Prix promoter claimed it attracted its highest-ever attendance of 395,902 over the three-day event. A total crowd of 145,934 was recorded on Sunday alone.
Ericsson reflects on tricky start to IndyCar career
Marcus Ericsson spoke about the difficulty of moving from Formula 1 to IndyCar as he unveiled his face on the Borg-Warner Trophy, the silverware awarded to the winner of the Indianapolis 500 each year.
After five seasons in F1 with a best finish of eighth, Ericsson switched to IndyCar in 2019 and initially was also light on success. He claimed one podium in his first two seasons, won two races last year, and then was victorious in this year’s Indy 500.
“I wouldn’t say I underestimated IndyCar, but I thought I would be a bit stronger a bit earlier than I was,” he said. “My first two seasons were pretty tough, and the first year was really tough. I guess you could say the second year I thought I was sort of finding my way a little bit, but it was still a bigger challenge than I think I expected.
“But when you think about it, you’re up against guys who have been racing here for 10, 15, up to 20 years, and they know these cars and these tracks. You know naturally it’s going to take a bit of time to get on top of that.”
On his form over the past two seasons, both of which he has come sixth in, he added: “Years three and four here have been really, really strong for me, and I’ve been running up front. And this is a great series; i love it It’s so competitive now with so many good cars and drivers, and you know every time you go out there it’s going to be a fight. I love racing in a series like that.”
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Left
Motor racing links of interest:
Delusional Horner is camouflaging the whole sport of F1 (The Times – subscription required)
‘Lewis Hamilton was robbed. I think we should make that plain at the start of this column. I emphasize this because Christian Horner and Max Verstappen of Red Bull decided to boycott Sky Sports after one of their reporters used this word in relation to the finale of the 2021 season, after a controversial safety car restart in the last moments of the race.’
Hamilton loves watching our races (BBC)
‘F1 is a male-dominated sport, but there are growing calls to change the status quo. One of the women hoping to lead that charge is 19-year-old Abbi Pulling from Spalding, Lincolnshire. She’s been impressing on the track in the W Series, and despite the final races in that tournament being pulled, she told BBC Newsbeat she’s hopeful that she’ll one day see a woman behind the wheel of an F1 car.’
Alpine considering early release for Piastri (Speedcafe)
‘Further details of Oscar Piastri’s ongoing position within the Alpine F1 team are set to be decided in the coming days. The Australian has been notable in his absence from the track since the revelation that he would not drive for the Enstone operation in 2023 and would instead race for McLaren.’
Ganassi No. 10 safe despite NTT departure (Racer)
‘The departure of decade-long sponsor NTT Data to rival McLaren SP will not jeopardize Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 10 Hondas. Racer understands CGR, which has expected the change for some time, has assembled a full roster of sponsors that will be announced in the near future to replace NTT on the entry driven by 2021 series champion Alex Palou.’
How a new F4 era led to the strangest British F4 season finale (Formula Scout)
‘The convergence between British F4 and European series in 2022 made it easier for drivers to include it in double programmes. Alex Dunne did just that, and it meant he won the British title in a very odd way.’
We always endeavor to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
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social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
For the avoidance of doubt my friend and colleague for the past 26 years @tedkravitz has my full support. Face to face dialogue is the only way to sort out issues and disputes in the relentless crucible of the F1 paddock. We all have opinions and different jobs to do, that’s life
— Martin Brundle (@MBrundleF1) November 1, 2022
Difficult to find any other way of describing the @fia departed #MichaelMassi decisions @AbuDhabiMedia 2021 as @LewisHamilton being robbed! Don’t blame @tedkravitz @SkySportsF1
— Tony Jardine (@tony_jardine) November 1, 2022
Congrats Stoffel. What a great reinforcement and mega talent for the team. It will be a pleasure to work with you again. 
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 1, 2022
At the Royal Automobile Club, what what. Mercedes AMG wins the 2022 Dewars trophy for this insane powertrain taken from F1 to a road car. In case you want an AMG ONE hypercar, you’re out of luck. The 275 units have all been sold at £2.4 million each pic.twitter.com/Vp8RRzFoDc
— Mat Oxley (@matoxley) November 1, 2022
f1 teams with world champions in 2023
AlphaTauri
Nyck de Vries – 3
McLaren
Lando Norris 1
red bull
Max Verstappen 3
Sebastian Buemi 2
Williams
Logan Sargeant 1
Aston-Martin
Fernando Alonso 3
Stoffel Vandoorne 1
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton 7th
— Ida (@wood_ida_) November 1, 2022
We’re with @karting at their Reading track today, welcoming 100 girls!
A new and exciting experience into the world of motorsport for a lot of these girls! #GirlsOnTrackUK pic.twitter.com/MxDfyhxPBQ
— FIA Girls on Track UK (@GirlsOnTrackUK) November 1, 2022
Excited to be back out in a Formula Ford this weekend at the #WalterHayesTrophy 
After finishing in the top 15 out of over 100 drivers last year, being back out with @GBRTeam_ will make it my fifth Hayes and every year we go back we do better than the year before, so top 10?
pic.twitter.com /XrjTGAbYJB
— Logan Hannah (@loganhannah92) November 1, 2022
Dos austriacos ilustres.
Herbert von Karajan and Andreas Nikolaus Lauda.
Para Karajan: “There’s no orchestra conductor in the world who would be able to replicate the melody of Ferrari 12-cylinders.” pic.twitter.com/ZCtwlkN7db
— Jose Miguel Vinuesa (@Josemivn) November 1, 2022
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Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday to Narboza22, Rafael, G and Greggriffiths!
On this day in motorsport
The Fittipaldi team disappeared after 1982
- 40 years ago today Emerson Fittipaldi’s Formula 1 team Fittipaldi Automotive closed. Its cars and engines were purchased by ADA Engineering.
