The 2022 F1 Bahrain season opener brought more spectators from the East to this West Asian country than in previous years.
The reason was simple: today, two F1 Drivers from China would race on the same grid, the hype and impact no less than back when Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian played out their China Derby in the NBA.
Besides, this also made Asia, after Japan, the next region to have two full‑time F1 Drivers. To commemorate this moment and witness a China Derby on an F1 track, it was only natural that Eastern spectators flocked in.
Friday practice and Saturday qualifying were already done. As expected, Chen Xiangbei took pole, beating the two new‑generation juniors Leclerc and Verstappen.
But the rookie driver from China, Zhou Guanyu, had a disappointing qualifying, only managing P15, while his teammate Bottas made Q3 and took sixth on the grid.
