In the round-up: Valtteri Bottas is pleased Alfa Romeo has rehired his team mate for next year.
In brief
Zhou’s lack of mistakes under pressure impresses Bottas
Bottas said it is “good news” that Alfa Romeo have handed Zhou Guanyu a contract for a second season with the team in 2023.Both drivers joined Alfa Romeo this year, Bottas arriving from Mercedes on a multi-year deal and Zhou stepping up from Formula 2. Zhou’s rookie season in Formula 1 has included several retirements due to technical failures a car-destroying crash at Silverstone, but he has also scored three points finishes and cut his deficit to his team mate in qualifying. Zhou’s 2023 deal was announced this week.
“I think it’s good news, because following him alongside as a team mate, I really can say that he deserves the spot in the team and in F1,” said Bottas.
“He’s really mature for his age and experience, and he’s been learning a lot throughout the year and his pace has been increasing in qualifying and races throughout the year and he has done very few mistakes. So I think it’s good news, and I’m sure he keeps evolving and keeps improving in the future.”
When asked what had impressed him most about Zhou, Bottas replied: “How few mistakes he’s done. Because it’s not easy to jump into F1 and for sure, he’s got lots of outside pressure as well being the first Chinese driver and everything, but he’s dealt with everything in a really good way.”
Gasly: Fluid loss impacting focus at Singapore “the biggest challenge”
Cognitive performance decreases when there is less oxygen available for the brain, and when drivers sweat they lose some of the crucial oxygen their body carries. They can lose several kilograms in weight during this weekend’s race.
“We lose up to 2.5kg/litres, because it’s mainly fluids, from our bodies. So the impact it does on our focus and concentration [is significant],” said Gasly.
“There’s the physical demand, but there’s also the challenge of the focus where you’ve got to stay super-alert because driving full speed between the walls, you need to be extremely precise where you put the car. That’s usually when it gets tough, where you’ve got to be still really at the limit of the car, playing with centimetres, having lost quite a few pounds or litres inside your body. So that’s definitely the biggest challenge of the year.”
Mercedes in “a much better place” with car
As Mercedes continue to chase their first grand prix win of 2022, Lewis Hamilton the team is “in a much better place” with their W13 than they were earlier in the season.
“We’ve learnt a huge amount about the car, which is natural for everyone, but it’s definitely a huge help knowing where the working window is, what the working range is,” he said.
“So we’re able to predict pretty much where we’re going, whether it will work in one place compared to another. Also the limitations of the car, we know where those limitations are and have to try and work around them.I think we’re very fortunate, we’re in a much better place than we’ve ever been. So I hope that we’re not far away.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Chadwick says drivers have been briefed on W Series finances (Reuters)
Jamie Chadwick: "It’s been a huge opportunity for all of us and I think there’s a bit of emotion that comes with that and all of us obviously don’t want to see it go."
Juncos Hollinger Racing Returns to Indy Lights with Two-Full Time Entries in 2023 (Juncos Racing)
'Juncos Hollinger Racing announced today the team will return to the Indy Lights championship with two full-time cars for the 2023 season. After 14 years, the Road to Indy championship-winning team will close the doors to its highly successful Indy Pro 2000 team to focus on the development of the Indy Lights programme.'
Danial Frost eyes Indy Lights championship in HMD Motorsports return (HMD Motorsports)
'Returning to the Indy Lights championship, Danial Frost will compete in 2023 with HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing for a second consecutive season. Coming off a season that featured his first career Indy Lights victory, Forst is ready to continue what was started with the team.'
'W Series’ chief executive officer Catherine Bond Muir says she sees “no business case” in supporting female drivers through driver development programmes.'
Team Canada names FFord scholars and GBR partnership (Team Canada)
'Team Canada is pleased to announce that Graham Brunton Racing will be our host team for the Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy race for 2022. The team has had plenty of success in FFord and will provide valuable driver development and motorsport logistics to Team Canada scholars Jake Cowden and Kevin Foster.'
FIA Sport and Mobility member clubs join forces to support Ukraine (FIA)
'In reaction to the humanitarian and refugee crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several FIA Member organisations in both Sport and Mobility - especially in Region I, Europe - have mobilised to provide support and assistance to the Ukrainian people in these difficult times.'
IndyCar star Conor Daly set for NASCAR Cup debut (Racer)
'Veteran IndyCar racer Conor Daly will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut next weekend at the Charlotte roval. Daly will drive for The Money Team Racing in the No. 50 Chevrolet with sponsorship from BitNile.'
Johnson eyeing Indianapolis 500-Charlotte NASCAR double (Speedcafe)
'Jimmie Johnson is 'seriously considering' tackling the Indy 500-Charlotte NASCAR double next year. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion recently announced that he will not compete full-time in IndyCar in 2023, as he had done this year.'
We always endeavour 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:
I AM NOW MASTER CHIEF @Halo pic.twitter.com/Ln8zSxDQwo
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) September 29, 2022
Expectation vs reality…
Our drivers heading to track with their race seats on the Singapore MRT this morning.#WSeries is ready to race in Asia for the first time. Our drivers have fought for a place in motorsport. Let’s get to work. 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/KSvv8uoct9
— W Series (@WSeriesRacing) September 29, 2022
In a Galaxy not so far away… pic.twitter.com/yoTvosU3qT
— Dan – EngineMode11 (@EngineMode11) September 29, 2022
New members to the Team 😜 Feel the burn @MicahRichards 😅 pic.twitter.com/jFhlWP4zbj
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) September 29, 2022
|@alo_oficial will break Kimi Raikkonen's all-time record for most #F1 races in a career – 349 – when he starts Sunday's #SingaporeGP. pic.twitter.com/Jx3HPOE7vj
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) September 29, 2022
https://www.instagram.com/p/CjFlzXRqxoY/?hl=en
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Although he is confirmed to be racing for AlphaTauri next year, Gasly is also heavily linked to joining Alpine for 2023 as Esteban Ocon‘s team mate. But could that cause some drama?
Well Alpine will certainly be a team the Drive to Survive cameras will want to be around next season if Gasly joins the team. The reports are that him and Ocon really can’t stand each other at all. Fireworks on and off the track is what I am expecting. How is Otmar going to manage that relationship?
Leroy
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Tyanne and Jamiejay!
On this day in motorsport

Tristan (@skipgamer)
30th September 2022, 3:31
I remember when they announced the business model for W-series being glorified sponsors “buying” teams. Obviously it hasn’t worked and I really don’t think that’s the way to go about it. If there’s no interest for a womens racing formula then I fail to see how manufacturing it like this benefits anybody.
How has it helped, on the whole, if the idea was to provide motivation to youngsters? Sure you can drive race cars, but nobody will watch, nobody will want to pay you, and you’ll essentially have no future. All of those women would have better luck elsewhere, ala Renee Gracie.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
30th September 2022, 6:28
First thing Martin Brundle said that instead of running a racing series, they could have used that money to run a F3 or F2 team that was all-female, both drivers and engineers. I always thought that would have been a much better way to get more women into the spotlight than running a separate series.
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
30th September 2022, 10:05
In a way I feel that Extreme E has done a better job at showcasing women driver than W series which ask the question if it was the right formula. Extreme E attracts eyeballs with a highly regarded male roster, same eyeballs watching the women battling out and making some impressive drives at times. There is also important transfer of experience between drivers in an aim to win as a team.
While I am not fully convinced about the sustainable message, I think that they are doing great about leveling male and female drivers. Why not have a similar concept with driver swap in a single seater? Ideally as a support serie to F1 with broadcast on free platform. Anyway F1 being behind paywall, they need to have free to air lower categories if they want new people watching the sport… F1 being the prime product and having an attractive one as “bait”.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
30th September 2022, 10:24
That’s simply idiotic.
You cannot give talent an out, or you’ll never figure out who’s good enough to compete.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
30th September 2022, 10:25
That’s simply imbecilic.
You cannot give talent an out, or you’ll never figure out who’s good enough to compete.
S
30th September 2022, 8:23
Renee Gracie, eh?
I don’t think selling raunchy photos and videos of yourself is the ‘sacrifice’ (?) many other females will want to take to achieve their racing dreams.
Jere (@jerejj)
30th September 2022, 7:51
The short answer to COTD, as I already did a longer one in the relevant article:
Drivers need to manage a working relationship at the very least, as they don’t choose their teammates.
Martin (@f1hornet)
30th September 2022, 9:47
I’ll be sad to see the W Series go (if it does). I think it sadly suffered a bit from over-extending itself just at a time of economic uncertainty (i.e. COVID, and now energy prices and a tottering global economy). It reminds me a bit of A1GP, another series I enjoyed, which was sunk in part by the GFC.
I think it also shows how difficult it is to have a commercial, professional racing series. One of the things W Series does well is it rewards drivers for racing in it, rather than effectively charging drivers to race in it. Drivers are there because of their talent, not their wallet.
I know some will say if it’s not profitable, then it proves it shouldn’t exist, but I’m sure the business models of F4, F3, and F2 are only sustainable because of rich drivers paying for seats, patriotic sponsorship of the young hopes of some nations, and F1 teams directly supporting junior drivers as effectively an apprenticeship. Various other forms of racing are also supported by manufacturer teams and gentlemen drivers (e.g. sportscars). The W Series might be able to survive if it adopted the model of other junior series, but it would lose its purpose to an extent.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
30th September 2022, 10:18
Not a chance with their current self-imposed limit on their potential talent pool.
There are simply not enough interested drivers capable of raising these budgets to make this series viable on merit.
Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
30th September 2022, 12:28
@f1hornet I agree with all of this. Personally what killed it for me was moving to short highlights this year; I mean, what’s the point of turning on the telly/catch-up for like six minutes of (disjointed) action? It’s a short enough race as it is. I never understood why they did that, maybe it was a desperate attempt to feed some other revenue stream, but it must have meant far fewer eyeballs just at the time that adopting the F1 programme should have meant far more.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
30th September 2022, 14:56
@keithcollantine Sorry to be a pain. But I didn’t get a birthday shoutout. Neither did Max, I’ve recently (just now) learnt we share a birthday. I’ll get over it, I dunno if Max will though. He can get a bit stroppy at times.