Guanyu Zhou talks about his nerves ahead of his F1 debut, his teammate Valtteri Bottas and the dreadful crash at Silverstone.
Guanyu Zhou is the only rookie in the 2022 F1 grid. He is also the first and only Chinese driver in the history of the sport.
Zhou finished third in the 2021 F2 championship and joined Alfa Romeo ahead of the 2022 season. He paired up with former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas.
He started off strong, claiming points in his F1 debut. Zhou claimed 1 point after he finished P10 in the 2022 Bahrain GP.
The Chinese driver has claimed he was quite nervous ahead of his F1 debut. But his experienced teammate Bottas helped him calm down ahead of the main race for which he appreciates the Finn.
Zhou claimed, “It is a huge honour to have Valteri as a teammate. We met during the post-season test in Abu Dhabi. And he has been very supportive in my journey. especially in Bahrain when I was nervous.”
He added that the entire Alfa Romeo team helped him get this far. Zhou adds, “I have this really big family, the Alfa Romeo team, Everyone has the same passion and wants to get better. They are supportive and gave a huge warm welcome.”
This made everyone claim Alfa Romeo to be the best team to work with. To which Zhou joked, “If I get to fly private!” Claiming that the $1 million a season earner does not fly private despite racing in the big leagues.
Also Read: Guanyu Zhou shuts racist haters after exceptional Alfa Romeo debut season
Guanyu Zhou talks about the horrific Silverstone Crash
Guanyu Zhou had a memorable start to his F1 career. But in only his 10th race, he suffered on of the most horrific crashes witnessed in F1 in the last decade.
George Russell attempted a move around Zhou’s car and clipped his Alfa Romeo. This flipped Zhou’s car and sent him flying to the barricade at high speeds.
Zhou’s car bounced over the tyre barrier and hit the catch fencing. He was conscious and was stretchered off and flown to a nearby medical facility.
Zhou claimed he was still conscious but he doesn’t remember anything from that moment. He tried to protect himself by drawing himself closer.
He says, “The last few seconds weren’t nice especially. The car wasn’t stopping and it was hitting huge. I just hoped everything would be okay!”
Zhou had to switch off his car while he was upside-down. The engine was still running after the crash and he feared the fuel could leak and cause a fire while he was trapped in the car.
Also Read: Zhou Guanyu’s family witness a horrific crash while attending their first F1 race
