Zhou: “Risky” tyre choice compromised Austrian race

From 13th on the grid the Chinese driver was the best placed qualifier to start on the hards, joining Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.

However he says that the strategy didn’t work out, and he struggled with excessive degradation.

Zhou’s weekend was already spoiled when his engine cut out as he drove to the grid for the start of Saturday’s sprint.

He was forced to start from the pitlane, but was able to recover to 14th, subsequently gaining a place on the Grand Prix grid from a penalty for Alfa Romeo teammate Valtteri Bottas.

After struggling for pace he eventually finished the main race in 14th. "It wasn't the best weekend,” he admitted when asked about his afternoon by Motorsport.com. “But the race I think was compromised on the hard tyres, we couldn't switch them on. For me there was more degradation on the hard, and not gaining any reward from it.

“So yeah, if I go back, I would go for two sets of mediums, instead of two sets of hards. Because the medium stint at the last 20 or 30 laps, I felt we found the pace again we had yesterday. So it just shows maybe our set-up wasn't the best for the hard for today. So that compromised the race.

“We went for the risky one, going for the hard compound for the start and not having much grip and losing out, and then struggling for top speed when we were in the DRS train, compared to the AlphaTauri.

“They just passed us so easy on the end of the braking, so that's why we were just stuck behind them in a train. A bit frustrating, but I guess that's how it is. But looking at the positives, I think we managed to find some speed in the race."

Zhou was one of several drivers who picked up a five-second penalty and a penalty point for track limits offences.

"To be honest, I know I was off a couple of times,” he said. “But sometimes when they told me, I was actually quite surprised that I got a penalty, because I was behind Yuki, and he was pretty much going off as well.

“I was actually probably slower because too often it was quite clear for me I went off, but I actually went off and lost time and lifted off. With the bigger wheels visibility is much lower than before, so makes it difficult, but it's the same for everyone."

After his Silverstone crash Zhou had made it clear that he was pleased to be going straight into another race weekend, which allowed him to bounce back immediately.

"I think we showed that, just looking at it, overtaking I was able to do, even though the race was a very long one, with not a lot of reward.

“But still I was doing a lot of overtaking and a lot of defending throughout the race, so a lot of action going on. I'm happy to be already back. It's nice to have a little bit of a break now, even though I have few days only!"