Zhou Guanyu will start the Australian Grand Prix from the pit lane as Sauber fitted his C44 with a different front wing specification after struggling in qualifying due to a lack of spare parts.
Chou was the slowest driver at the Albert Park circuit during Saturday's qualifying and immediately asked his team about the damage to his car.
Chou Guanyu will start from the pit lane in Melbourne
He snapped the left side of his front wing on the curb exiting Turn 10 on his last hot lap. Due to the end plate falling off, he was over half a second behind in qualifying for Q2.
“I didn't make any mistakes on my lap, I was just driving like any other lap,” he said of qualifying.
“I arrived at the last sector and suddenly it locked up, I didn't have enough load and when I crossed the finish line I realized that my left side was missing. I don't know if it was.
“I saw the replay and it was due to vibration from the curb in turn 10. It was very frustrating that this happened in the most important session, because I didn't go very wide.
“Of course it's very disappointing, but other than that it was a pretty good lap.”
However, Sauber, the newest team after Williams, was suffering from a shortage of spare parts and the team had to fit a different specification front wing, so Zhou would start the race from the pit lane.
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The FIA confirmed that Sauber had breached parc fermé regulations, stating: “The front wing/nose assembly has been replaced with the approval of the FIA Technical Delegate following a written request from the team concerned. This is in accordance with Article 40.3 of the International Federation” 2024 F1 Sporting Regulations.
“However, as the front wing/nose assembly was different to that originally used and changes were also made to the car's set-up (upon a written request and with the approval of the FIA Technical Delegation), the car number 24 should now be used.'' In accordance with Article 40.9 of the 2024 F1 Sporting Regulations, they must start from the pit lane. ”
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