Guanyu-Zhou
1. Who is Guanyu Zhou?
Guanyu Zhou is Chinese, born May 30, 1999 in Shanghai. He currently plays in Formula 1 with Alfa Romeo Racing.
2. Guanyu Zhou Junior Course
Guanyu Zhou began his single-seater career in Italian and German Formula 4 in 2015 for Prema Powerteam. By achieving 9 podiums in the Italian series, he impressed and finished 2nd in the championship. In Germany, he also scored two new podiums.
The following season, the driver moved up the ranks and entered the European Formula 3 championship with Motopark. At the same time, Guanyu Zhou also played in the Toyota Racing Series where he finished 6th. He will have won a race and tasted champagne four times.
From 2017 to 2019, he continued in Formula 3 and finished 8th in his first two campaigns. For his third season in F3, he accumulated 2 victories, 3 pole positions and 6 podiums, which allowed him to move up to Formula 2, in the antechamber of Formula 1.
Spotted by Renault, the Shanghai native entered the Renault Sport Academy in 2019, and brilliantly finished as the championship's best rookie with a final 7th place.
Guanyu Zhou finished 3rd in Formula 2 in 2021. © Florent Gooden / DPPI
3. Guanyu Zhou’s F1 journey
A protégé of the Renault Sport Academy since 2019, Guanyu Zhou is familiarizing himself with the world of Formula 1. First by being appointed development driver then by being promoted to test driver in 2020.
The Chinese has even become an option (unlikely, of course) to replace Daniel Ricciardo at Alpine F1 Team in 2021, before the French team finally sets its sights on Fernando Alonso. In Austria, he even took part in his first free practice session with Alpine in Austria.
The Chinese driver is announced in Formula 1 in November 2021 to replace the Italian Antonio Giovinazzi within Alfa Romeo Racing, alongside Valtteri Bottas. After this formalization, Guanyu Zhou becomes the first Chinese driver in the history of Formula 1 to start a Grand Prix.
Guanyu Zhou with Alfa Romeo in F1 in 2022. © Antonin Vincent / DPPI
The Chinese's rookie season is satisfactory. Diligent, friendly, he scored his first points from the opening of the season. Then, the driver's first campaign in the premier category remained correct, although largely dominated by his teammate, multiple vice-world champion. Bottas scores more than 8 times as many points, but is a mentor and reference for Zhou. The Chinese showed that he needed two years to adapt to a new category and be competitive, he will have the chance to continue to prove himself at Alfa Romeo for the 2023 financial year.
4. AUTOhebdo's opinion on Guanyu Zhou
Guanyu Zhou had a dream: to become the first Chinese driver to start a Formula 1 Grand Prix (Before him, Ma Quin Hua had participated in a free practice session). It is now done. If he managed to sign in F1 with Alfa Romeo, it is of course largely thanks to his finances and his Chinese nationality, which opens up enormous market prospects for the manufacturer he represents, in this case Alfa Romeo.
The Chinese was not the driver who most deserved to move into F1 in the antechamber of F2, but to say that he did not have good results would be false. Even if it takes him a little longer than the others to adapt to new championships (3 years in F3, 3 years in F2), Guanyu Zhou always ends up getting up to speed. This first season marked by new regulations allowed the driver to make his first marks, despite a car that lacked reliability. In 2023, we will have to accumulate more successes on the track.
Guanyu Zhou. © Antonin Vincent / DPPI
5. Learn more about Guanyu Zhou
associated researches
Drivers of his generation
