Zhou Guanyu has had a positive season in Formula 1, with him quickly getting up to speed in the Alfa Romeo alongside team-mate Valtteri Bottas, and helping them fight for sixth place in the Constructors’ standings.
Of course, the tables will show that it is Bottas who has won the majority of the points this year for Alfa but Zhou, in the first half of the season, had rotten luck with reliability when the C42 was one of the quicker cars on the grid and, as the campaign has worn on, he’s seen reliability improve but the car has dropped down the pecking order.
Through those challenges and the others a rookie season can bring, though, Zhou has looked consistently quick as he’s got to grips with life in F1 and, when it was announced he had earned another year-long contract with the team for 2023 around the Singapore Grand Prix, no-one was surprised – he absolutely deserved it.
A pretty seamless transition into the pinnacle of motorsport for China’s first-ever F1 driver, then, but how’s he actually found the last few whirlwind months in the paddock? We sat down with him exclusively at the US Grand Prix for a chat…
“At the beginning, it’s definitely tricky because you’re new to everything,” Zhou tells Give Me Sport.
“So everything you do is new and carries pressure. I was quite nervous coming to the paddock but now I feel very comfortable and I enjoy my time here.
“It’s a very intense sport so you have to be concentrating but there’s also the fun part where we’re doing what we love so overall it’s been good.”
Zhou earned points on his F1 debut in Bahrain before narrowly missing out on the top ten in both Saudi Arabia and Australia, with the Alfa proving a very handy car in the opening stages of F1’s new age.
However, the trials and tribulations of the sport were not far away for him, with the Miami Grand Prix sparking off a run of three DNFs in four races, whilst more points in Canada were followed up by a big shunt on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JUNE 19: Zhou Guanyu of China driving the (24) Alfa Romeo F1 C42 Ferrari on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 19, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Through that period, though, it never felt as though Zhou was under pressure as, before the retirements, he had been driving well, though he was still eager to show what he could do via finishes in the top ten.
“I didn’t expect to score points on my debut in Bahrain and then continue to have good form even though we had DNFs, but the result doesn’t matter as much.
“For the team, the most important thing is that they see your progress, they see that you are capable of doing what they set for you or you’re doing even better.
“It was frustrating because I couldn’t get championship points back, but I was able just to learn and show them gradual progress.
“The first DNF felt quite normal for me. In Miami I was fighting for the points but that’s the first one [so it can happen] but then in the next three races we had another two DNFs so that hurt because you want to show yourself and prove yourself, maybe not as much to the team but to the wider world and outside the paddock for the people who don’t know too much about you
AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 21: Zhou Guanyu of China driving the (24) Alfa Romeo F1 C42 Ferrari on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of The Americas on October 21, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jared C Tilton/Getty Images)
“You want to show them you are capable and coming back with the strong finishing points but then that wasn’t happening so that was frustrating but yeah, I knew my time would come so then I kept pushing.”
Indeed, he clearly did end up showing what he could do because few could deny he deserved another year with the team, and the signing of the contract in Singapore felt like the natural icing on the cake of what was his rookie campaign.
Zhou admits that, a fair few weeks prior, he felt as though he was on course for an extension:
“Halfway through the summer I really felt like the chance would be quite high [of getting a contract renewal,] even though you’re still waiting for confirmation because nothing is confirmed in this sport until it’s written down on paper.
“It was good to have it all done and get it announced in Singapore.
“[It was nice] that people expect you to renew the contract because it means they respect what you’re doing on track – you’ve shown that you’re capable of doing things and you have speed and then everybody thinks that seat should be mine for next year. ”
It’s another one year deal for Zhou, then, and at this stage of his career, he’s more than content with that duration:
“It’s quite normal for me because firstly, as a rookie, when you’re here you always have a single year. I don’t think it’s good for either of us to have like a long-term deal straightaway because you don’t know how you will perform in F1.
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – JULY 30: Zhou Guanyu of China and Alfa Romeo F1 walks in the Paddock prior to final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on July 30, 2022 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
“It keeps the pressure on so I have to keep pushing, getting the best out of myself and keep searching for more every weekend – it’s nice in that way because you really have to be focused.
“Next year will be another level up from this year’s target and I have to just keep getting better and better. I’m happy to deal with that, every driver has to deal with that in the first few years, and then you get yourself settled with longer contracts.”
As mentioned, Alfa’s slight drop from being a team up towards the front at the start of the year to being on the periphery of the top 10 has somewhat limited Zhou’s points tally but, despite that, the team overall has made some sterling progress from 2021 .
It’s clear they have a sound handle on the new regulations introduced for this season, and a recent upgrade introduced over the Japanese and US Grand Prix weekends appears to have given them a little more pace, with Bottas securing a point in Mexico last time out whilst P6 rivals Aston Martin were left scoreless.
That overall progress year-on-year is what the team needs to look at, and Zhou has been pleased with the work done in 2022:
“I’m quite happy with the way the team has been really built up because in the first test we did in Barcelona, it was very tough. We couldn’t really run the car flat with so much porpoising but then in Bahrain we were fighting with Merc – especially Valtteri because I didn’t have enough experience to be that quick straightaway.
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 29: Zhou Guanyu of China driving the (24) Alfa Romeo F1 C42 Ferrari on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 29, 2022 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images )
“That was a bit of a shame because I’m getting a lot better now but then the other teams have improved a lot in performance. Second half of the season, people are being a lot more efficient and quicker, delivering new parts which we’ve been missing a bit but overall, I’m quite surprised at how we’ve been able to switch around from last year to this year.
“We had an amazing start, that’s where all the points were coming from, and that’s keeping us still fighting for P6. I think sixth was the best we were hoping for at the beginning of the year so now we’re trying to fight Aston Martin.
“Next year we aim to keep the same position, if not better. It’s definitely going to be hard because now people are understanding the new cars more, so everybody starts to be more competitive and we have to take no time off and keep going forward. But we’re focusing on next year’s car so hopefully that will pay off.”
Before we let Zhou go, there’s just time to look ahead to next year and what it might entail, especially around a potential home Grand Prix for him in China.
The Chinese GP hasn’t been hosted since 2019 but is on the calendar for 2023, though there are huge doubts about it being held given the country’s continued pursual of zero-covid.
MONTE-CARLO, MONACO – MAY 28: Zhou Guanyu of China driving the (24) Alfa Romeo F1 C42 Ferrari during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on May 28, 2022 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)
He might have to wait that bit longer for a home race, then, but it’s undoubtedly something he hopes to experience one day:
“It’s something I really want to do. I’d love to be driving at home in front of all the fans. It would be my next highlight since becoming the first Chinese F1 driver. All the drivers love to have their home race and especially the fans back there after three years off they are begging to be back. It’ll be a crazy weekend and the atmosphere will be amazing if it happens.”
Even if we don’t head to China next year, Zhou hopes that his presence in the F1 paddock will inspire other young Chinese boys and girls to try and break into motorsport:
“There’s a lot of people following, watching me racing from the very beginning, so it’s good to see that spread of Formula 1. It’s not been our sport from the beginning but the audience is building up, like in the US.
“That’s great to see, you want to bring more people to watch the race so hopefully, with more younger generations they know they can be racing drivers. When they see the race live they understand more about the sport – you can watch on TV but one time seeing it live is when you really feel the passion.
“Hopefully we’ll have more people able to be stepping into Formula 1. It’s very hard for my country just because we don’t have many motorsport teams or factories so we have to do everything ourselves. It’s a tough journey to get here.”
MONZA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 11: Zhou Guanyu of China and Alfa Romeo F1 looks on from the drivers parade prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 11, 2022 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Zhou has certainly battled to be in F1 and has proven he belongs with a solid rookie season for Alfa Romeo.
Wherever we race in 2023, you can guarantee he’ll be pushing to build further on what has been a good start to life in the paddock.
You can keep up to date with all the latest F1 news, rumors and results right here at Give Me Sport.
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