Can Guanyu Zhou Cope With the Pressures of Being China’s First F1 Driver?

Guanyu Zhou has joined Alfa Romeo this season. The Chinese driver is the first from his country to have a full-time seat in an F1 team. This makes the driver carry China’s F1 burden of hope for being the “only” man in the sport.

Guanyu hails from Shanghai, China, and has been picked up by Alfa Romeo this season. Zhou replaced outgoing Antonio Giovinazzi. Alfa Romeo has not confirmed the duration of his stay at the Italian team. However, it is believed that the Chinese driver is on a one-year contract with the team.

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Talking about himself and his country, the 22-year-old has conveyed, “There was so much talk about me and in my country; they really want to see me in Formula 1. And I’m the only hope for China for the next five to ten years, so I really wanted to do it.

“There was a lot of pressure last year because it really had to happen, my chances of promotion to Formula 1 would be much smaller if I did not make it now. Of course you have the pressure of Formula 1, there is no bigger stage. People all over the world will see me and they are watching what I do during the races,” stated the new Alfa Romeo driver.

How Alfa Romeo can benefit from Guanyu Zhou?

Alfa Romeo goes in the 2022 season with two new drivers in their lineup. Valtteri Bottas replaced retirement-bound Kimi Raikkonen and Zhou replaced Giovinazzi. While Bottas is a veteran in the sport, his Chinese teammate is a newcomer to F1.

The Hinwil-based team has finished in P9 last season with just 13 points in their bag. Although 2021 was a rather disappointing season for the Italian team, now they look forward to coming back stronger.

With Guanyu in their team, Alfa Romeo can use his experience and expertise from F2 and F3 Asian championships. Apart from racing, Zhou has the potential to bring in huge sponsorship deals from China. Being the only driver to represent one of the wealthiest nations, Alfa Romeo can certainly make the most out of him financially.

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Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur didn’t quite rule out the possibility of signing the Chinese driver because of his strong financial link back in China. Leaving all these financial aspects aside, it’ll really be interesting to see how Zhou manages to cope with the pressure of being the only driver from China to be in F1.