Paddock Magazine sat down for an exclusive interview with Formula One’s first-ever Chinese driver, Guanyu Zhou. The 23-year-old driver made his F1 debut in 2022 after finishing third in last year’s Formula 2 campaign.
Click here to subscribe to our print edition!
You proved everyone wrong who had doubts over your qualities before joining F1. How could you summarize the F1 journey so far?
Well, it’s been reasonably good. I met the goals the team, and I set before the season. I feel like I was able to show my abilities straight away from race one. On the other hand, I had plenty of DNF’s due to reliability issues at the beginning of the season – which was not pleasant. If I remember well, there were three occasions when I could have scored points if we had better reliability.
All in all, it’s a good starting point. I need to keep scoring points, and let’s see what the future holds. I love the challenge of proving myself, and I must keep working toward my target.
Is there a significant difference between Formula 2 and the pinnacle of motorsports, Formula 1?
The main difference is the amount of pressure on your shoulders. Around ten times more people follow Formula 1, so there are many more expectations from the fans. All your actions and movements are monitored and can highlight the slightest mistake. Regarding the driving part – we have power steering in F1, which is entirely different from F2. Car behaviour is significantly different, especially in high-speed corners. You need to feel one with the car to be competitive.
Racing against my childhood hero, Fernando Alonso – it’s a truly unbelievable experience.
Guanyu Zhou
Driver, Alfa Romeo F1 Team
When did you realize that you wanted to be a racing driver?
I’ve always liked cars, and I have played with cars since my childhood. I was fortunate enough to follow the first ever F1 race in China trackside, and that was the moment when I fell in love with Formula 1. We went there, and I said, „that’s what I want to do”. A few years later, I started karting. It did become my passion, and it was clear that I wanted to become a professional racing driver. I love the high-level competition, and looking for an extra hundredth or thousandth of a second is cool.
You chose 24 as your permanent race number because of Kobe Bryant. Are you interested in other sports as well?
Yeah, I’m…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Paddock Magazine…