F1 returns to China after five years this weekend, and drivers prepare for the race at the Shanghai International Circuit with a lot of doubts in their minds. Rumors of track resurfacing have flooded the news, but the ones who will be suiting up to compete, do not know anything for sure. What has this led to? Pandemonium on the F1 Drivers’ WhatsApp group ahead of the Chinese GP.
On the Williams Team Torque segment posted on YouTube, Alex Albon, Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant talk about the Chinese GP. While drivers are excited about returning to Shanghai, the track’s condition has caused some unrest.
“Half the people saying it’s [the track] been resurfaced, and half saying it hasn’t,” said Sargeant. Albon then chimed in to talk about how the drivers feel about this.
“The group chat, the driver’s group chat is going a bit off.”
A track being resurfaced could be a huge deal for drivers who get used to driving under certain conditions. They need to get a feel of the surface before pushing to the limits. This is one of the reasons why drivers walk around the track before a race weekend.
Piastri, however, insists that it “doesn’t matter” whether the resurfacing of the track has happened or not. For him and Sargeant, the Chinese GP is a completely new track, with both having made their F1 debuts in 2023. For Albon, on the other hand, the Shanghai International Circuit holds special memories, which he would love to recreate this Sunday.
Alex Albon’s special Chinese GP memories
Albon made his F1 debut in 2019, the year when the Chinese GP was the last part of the F1 calendar. Driving for Toro Rosso, the Thai-British driver’s weekend went off to a horrible start. He crashed in FP3, and his team had to change several components of his car which demoted him to a pit-lane start.
Regardless, Albon drove one of his best races for Toro Rosso that afternoon. He finished 10th in the Grand Prix, earning a point and impressing the Red Bull higher-ups. It was one of the races that Christian Horner and Helmut Marko referenced while justifying his switch to Red Bull just a few races later.
Now at Williams, Albon will be hoping for a similar performance at the 2024 Chinese GP. His team remains point-less so far this campaign, and a P10 finish once again would do wonders to boost his, and the Grove-based outfit’s confidence.
