Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu has revealed that he scarcely uses his drinks bottle while racing, but may have to this weekend at the French Grand Prix.
The drivers have to stay hydrated while racing, as it gets extremely hot in the car and they lose several kilos due to the high strain put on their bodies throughout a race distance.
They also end up with dry and cotton mouths, so they will often have a drinks bottle for them to sip from during sessions.
The drink is made up of a personalised combination of glucose, mineral and electrolyte rich liquid, which tastes horrible, but keeps the drivers’ fluid levels high.
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The issue with it can often be that drivers need to save on weight, so having it in the car can be costly for lap time, especially so if the bottle is installed but the driver is unable to use it, as was the case with Kimi Raikkonen in Hungary in 2018 when Ferrari forgot to connect it.
Temperatures of 35 Degrees Celsius are forecast at the Circuit Paul Ricard on Friday, while Sunday will be another scorcher at 34 Degrees, with little cloud cover over the circuit.
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Zhou had to race with his bottle in Bahrain and Miami due to the temperatures in those two races, so he imagines he will probably be forced to do the same this weekend.
“Coming to this weekend with the high temperature, for us as a driver, you have to stay hydrated quite a lot,” he said, quoted by Racefans.net.
“Normally, I don’t actually use the drinks system in the car; the only races I used it were Miami and Bahrain.
“So I think I’m going to definitely put it on for this weekend.”
Zhou, who has scored points twice this season, stated his optimism ahead of the weekend, affirming that Alfa Romeo are “stronger” in warmer conditions.
The Swiss side are sixth in the Constructors’ Standings at present, 30 points behind Alpine and McLaren, who are tied on 81 points in the battle for fourth.