There was a scary near-miss midway through the second practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Sauber's Zhou Guanyu almost taking out the Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
The incident took place shortly after the session resumed after a 15 minute red flag sparked by Charles Leclerc spinning out and hitting the barrier at the exit of turn 4.
Once the track went green again, Zhou had a very similar mishap at the same spot, and in the process nearly collided with Perez as he flew off into the run-off. Unlike Leclerc, Zhou avoided the barriers and was able to get going again.
At the time, Zhou made his feelings about the incident crystal clear over the Sauber team radio, blaming Perez for causing the spin in the first place by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“This Red Bull, what the f**k?” the Chinese driver exclaimed, showing a masterful ease with colloquial English expressions in the heat of the moment.
Perez had been on a cool-down lap and was going slowly right when Zhou was trying to put in a flier. He said he had been distracted by the Red Bull and his car had been unsettled by the turbulence and dirty air of its wake.
“Honestly he was not in the right place on my lap," Zhou complained when he spoke to the media in the paddock at the Hungaroring, denying that it had been his driver error that caused the initial spin.
"The corner was there, it’s not like I made a mistake in that corner," he stated. “Just as I was about to go into the lap, I saw the Red Bull ahead, hit the dirty air and that was it.
“It was a big moment, glad I saved it," he continued. "But honestly at that kind of corner it’s better to stay on the left-hand side, because he was on the racing line.”
Perez rejected the criticism and said that he had been aware of Zhou's approach and responded accordingly. “I knew he was coming, so I moved out of the way."
"When I saw him spinning, I had to go to the left quite quickly to avoid him," Perez added. "Luckily I managed to avoid him and he didn’t have any damage, so that was good.”
The issue of who was to blame was by no means clear-cut, with Sky Sports F1 commentators David Croft and Anthony Davidson taking different sides when they discussed it on air.
“There’s the Red Bull of Sergio Perez and he is right in the way. He is absolutely where Zhou Guanyu did not need him to be," Croft declared.
“I’m not saying it was Sergio Perez’s fault, but he was right in the way of where Zhou Guanyu did not want him to be.”
Davidson responded: “To be fair to Perez there, I think he had cat-like reactions to get out of the way of a spinning car."
Perez went on to finish the session fourth fastest. While he ws able to continue after the near-miss, Zhou was slowest of anyone when the chequered flag came out.
"This afternoon my lap time could have been worthy of P10 if I hadn't had that moment in turn 4," Zhou said. "Overall it’s safe to say we have had a couple of positive sessions so far.
"This track definitely suits our car a little bit better, with its medium-speed corners and smooth surface," he added. "There is some work to do overnight, but we are going in the right direction.”
Having finished in a strong tenth place in the hotter FP1, Zhou felt that this weekend could be a real breakthrough for the team which remains the only squad on the grid not ot have scored any points in the first 12 races of 2024.
"I want to be cautious, as it is only Friday, but it does feel like we are in a much better position compared to previous weekends," he judged. "This could allow us to challenge our rivals in qualifying and fight for a top ten finish on Sunday."
Zhou's optimism was bolstered by a good showing from his team mate Valtteri Bottas who finished 11th fastest at the end of FP2.
"It took us a while to get the new parts we are bringing this weekend up and running the way we wanted in FP1, but that’s what practice day is for," said the Finn.
"After some fine-tuning of the set-up in FP2, we managed to find a bit more performance and a positive direction to work on ahead of tomorrow. Overall, I feel like we might be in a better position than in recent events.
"But there is definitely still some work to be done overnight and something more to extract during tomorrow’s final practice session so that we can come prepared for a crucial qualifying.”
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