Bottas sees Zhou is learning a lot: 'He's always asking things'

At Alfa Romeo, they took a gamble this season by recruiting Guanyu Zhou. In addition, Valtteri Bottas joined them from Mercedes, after they opted to sign George Russell. At Alfa Romeo, the Finn is doing extremely well and has even been in contention with Mercedes on several occasions.

Where Bottas has been quick to find his rhythm, Zhou has experienced a bit more trouble in doing so as a rookie. Bottas acknowledges to The Race that as a mentor he has already been able to pass on a lot of knowledge to his Chinese teammate. "It’s just like, if I see him struggling in one area, then I just try to give my feedback. But he’s also really good when there are things that are kind of concerning or he is unsure about, whether it’s about set-up or driving, he always asks."

Alfa Romeo more often in the points this season?

Alfa Romeo's points tally this season stands at 13 points. Zhou managed to grab a point on his debut in 10th place and has fallen just outside the points twice in P11. Bottas has so far driven in the points in all the races he has finished. In Jeddah he retired, but in Bahrain he picked up eight points after a sixth place finish and in Melbourne, four points were waiting for him after his eighth place finish.

If it's up to Bottas, Zhou is going to end up in the points more often next season. His curiosity causes him to ask a lot of questions, but as a result he learns a lot. Because of all those questions, Bottas does not have to transfer his knowledge, but simply answer based on his own experiences. The Finn himself notes that it is a lot easier to give his teammate more experience this way. "I want us to be a really strong pair of team-mates. So that’s why I want to help him because I want both of us scoring points."