April 04, 2022 19:13 PM
Zhou Guanyu, China’s first F1 driver.Photo courtesy of Alfa Romeo Team
[Xinhua News Agency, 4th]In the more than 4 months since he officially became China’s first F1 driver, Zhou Guanyu has ended the new F1 season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In the first battle with Bahrain, he finally ranked tenth and gained 1 point. In the second world war, Saudi Arabia ranked eleventh.
Regarding this result, Zhou Guanyu said in an online interview that he gave himself an overall score of 8, “As far as the current two stations are concerned, I am quite satisfied with my completion in all aspects. It is difficult to control mistakes as a rookie. also did it.”
Since last winter, Zhou Guanyu and teammate Bottas have worked hard to give feedback to the team on the problems encountered in the test, including communicating their driving style with engineers. All these efforts are to hope that this year will have a good start. In the end, it lived up to expectations. Zhou Guanyu crossed the finish line in tenth place, completing the goal of getting F1’s first points before the race. Bottas won sixth place.
If Zhou Guanyu showed his strength at the Bahrain station, then the Saudi station showed that he and the team need to be further run-in.
At the Saudi station, Zhou Guanyu cut a corner following surpassing Albon and was punished. During the penalty time for the pit stop, the team violated the regulations and touched the vehicle, resulting in a subsequent penalty. Zhou Guanyu revealed: “At that time, the team’s radio was on a wrong channel, so they didn’t know the 5-second penalty for my pit stop. What I might do following the game was to give the staff who made the mistake a little encouragement so that he wouldn’t be too frustrated. “
In addition, Zhou Guanyu said that he and the team are intensifying communication regarding the problems at the start of the two races, “After the Saudi race, we communicated with Ferrari’s engine engineers, and at the Australian race, I believe some problems will be resolved. .”
In fact, when Alfa Romeo officially announced Zhou Guanyu as the team’s F1 driver last year, some foreign netizens expressed their confusion. Some questioned his ability to play, and some even attacked him personally.
In the face of these doubts, Zhou Guanyu has remained silent all the time, but he is still full of energy, “When I first signed a contract with the team to become an F1 driver, there were many false rumors and comments, I have never responded, and will never be accepted. The pressure in this area is overwhelmed, and I hope to use time and results to prove that I am worthy of this F1 seat. Competitive sports need to use results to speak, and I will continue to work hard to continuously improve myself.”
Regarding future goals, Zhou Guanyu believes that to continue to maintain the current competitiveness, getting more points is the most important thing. “I will maintain my original intention, and I will not adjust the goal of the game. I will still enter Q2 in qualifying, hit Q3, and finish the race successfully and hit the points. I will not set the goal to be easy to complete, nor will I set it. A very distant target.”
For “freshman” Zhou Guanyu, there are still 21 tracks to try and pass in the next long race. On April 10, Zhou Guanyu will welcome his third F1 race in Melbourne, Australia. He said: “This is my first time to go to Melbourne to race on the track. Many Chinese fans online said they would come to watch the race. After becoming an F1 driver, I am looking forward to the first time I can feel the support from Chinese fans on the spot.