Zhou all set to make history

Zhou Guanyu is all set to make history as he is inches close to becoming the first Formula One drive from China. He had his first official outing on Thursday, on the final laps of his long journey to put his country on the F1 map.

After sitting out the opening day of pre-season testing in Barcelona, Zhou completed 71 laps in his Alfa Romeo on the second day.

At 22, Zhou will take that step on March 20 in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Zhou spoke to AFP about the difficulties facing Chinese drivers who want to reach Formula One, he said that it was more of a dream than a target.

“It was always a dream more than a target because it was too far away,” said Zhou. “In China, you can be a good Chinese driver, but if you can’t compete or beat European drivers, then you aren’t going to make your way to Formula 1.”

Previously, the HRT team planned to make Ma Qing Hua one of their drivers in 2013, but the idea was shelved folded before the season.

“It’s super difficult for us to firstly move outside, to Europe…as a very little kid,” said Zhou.

He shared that he started racing in go-karts when he was only eight years old and this was from where his glorious journey began.

“At eight years old, I started racing, in go-karts,” he said. “I spent three or four years of home racing. Then when you’ve won basically all the categories back home, the only way forward is to move to Europe.”

At 12, he moved to Sheffield in the north of England to join a karting team and still speaks English with a hint of a Yorkshire accent.

“Europe or the United Kingdom is more like the home of motorsports,” he said.

In 2019 Zhou joined in the young drivers’ pipeline of the French manufacturer Renault (now Alpine).

China is a major growth market for F1 but any sport trying to crack the world’s second-biggest economy needs a local star.

The man he is replacing, Antonio Giovinazzi, implied on social media that the decision to promote Zhou was financially motivated.

“F1 is emotion, talent, cars, risk, speed. But when money rules, it can be ruthless,” the Italian tweeted in November.

Zhou, however, believes that he has been promoted because of the talent he has showcased.

“It doesn’t really make a lot of difference which country you come from,” said Zhou, who was third in the Formula 2 championship last year. “What I had to do is finish in the top three.

“To be a Formula One driver, you have to do well, show your potential in every category.”

He also accredited his luck for his success.

“The seats are so limited. So you really have to have the right timing to be in Formula 1, is not that easy,” he said.

‘Get some points’

Zhou said Formula One had been doing very well without him and his presence in the sport will have an impact.

“F1 is already growing in recent years without me,” he said. “But by entering, of course, that was a huge step up for it.”

He acknowledged his promotion had played well back home, where he has devoted fans.

“Some fans, I know pretty much their names, their social names. They’ve been following me in F3 or F4 days, so that’s like six, seven years ago,” he said.

“Of course, there’s a massive amount of new fans involved since I signed an F1 contract. I think there will be a lot of people viewing the races back home this season.”

While the Grand Prix in his native Shanghai has again been cancelled this year, Formula One has extended the contract to 2025.

Zhou, who as a little boy attended the first Chinese Grand Prix in 2004, looks forward to driving in his home race.

“The atmosphere will be amazing,” he said. “I’ve never really been racing at home, I’ve been racing Europe all the time.”

Last season, Alfa Romeo picked up only three points but has added Valtteri Bottas, who scored 226 as he finished third for Mercedes, as well as Zhou.

“My target for the season will be to get some points,” said Zhou. “That’ll be great. Also to do well in qualifying. But that’s all dependent on how we do as a team.”