Guanyu Zhou will be joining the Formula One grid in 2022. Interestingly, it won’t be the first time the Chinese driver has been behind the wheel of an F1 car, as he got to drive Fernando Alonso’s car in FP1 in Austria.

The future Alfa Romeo driver finished the session in fourteenth place, just three places behind Esteban Ocon. Zhou revealed how Alonso helped him to be a better driver.

Guanyu Zhou talks about how Fernando Alonso helped him improve

Zhou is a big supporter of the 2-time world champion and has opened up about how the Alpine driver helped him in previous years.

As quoted by Motorsport.com, “It was one of those days that I will remember for my entire racing career.That drive was so different from going out in an F1 car and testing it out for a few days. It was incredible being on the track with other drivers, your idols, and world champions. It’s very special to see them pass you on the pit return lap.”

“You don’t have a driver’s coach at this time because everybody knows what to do in the first practice session, but Fernando has helped me a lot. No one has been this helpful to me in the last three or four years.”

“We did the track walk together and he was giving me all the details during that time. He was giving me information about the ground and the bumps, we were watching the onboard footage together at the team meeting and he was telling me everything.”

“I was happy with my performance – there was a lot of pressure on him, but everything went very well in terms of pace,” Zhou concluded. (Translated from Turkish via Google)

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A new lineup for Alfa Romeo in 2022

The Chinese driver will be driving alongside Valtteri Bottas at the Swiss-based team next year. The team scored just 13 points in 2021 which saw them finish the season in ninth place in the constructors’ championship.

However, with the talent of Zhou and the experience of Bottas, Alfa Romeo has hopes to make an impact on the grid in 2022. What are your predictions for the Swiss-based team? Let us know in the comments below.

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