Guanyu Zhou will begin his rookie season with Alfa Romeo in 2022 and hopes to imprint the F1 culture in China through his work.
Guanyu Zhou could not deliver his best performance during the first days of the pre-season testing in Barcelona.
Zhou and his teammate Valtteri Bottas could only complete the second-fewest laps during the testing. However, Zhou expects that the official tests in Bahrain will be more productive with the team.
The 22-year-old is the first Chinese driver in F1 and he wants to make his name in a sport that is the pinnacle of motor racing. He said, “I want to be successful. It is important to be the first in certain areas.”
Explaining it further, Zhou named the Chinese NBA player Yao Ming. He said that when Ming performed very well in the NBA, he became very popular in China. Similar to Ming, Zhou wants to imprint the F1 culture in China through his work.
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Guanyu Zhou pumped up for the new season
Zhou’s Friday morning run in Barcelona was disrupted by five red flags, two of which were caused by him. However, he still feels fully charged up for his first season with Alfa Romeo in which he will take a seat alongside the former Mercedes driver.
The Chinese driver agrees with the fact that the new regulations create an opportunity for all teams to start from scratch and improve.
He said, “Everyone at Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN has been incredibly helpful since I joined. Seeing all the hard work, the commitment and motivation from everyone, in Hinwil and at the track, fills me with pride and excitement.”
“I can’t wait to be on the grid with this car and work with my team to bring home the results we are targeting together.”
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Zhou replaced by an experienced driver for testing
The Swiss team decided to replace their rookie with a more experienced driver, Robert Kubica. Zhou was restricted to only two half-days of running in Barcelona instead of three days of pre-season testing.
Test driver, Kubica is aiming to provide as much help as he can to make the car better as the margin of improvement at this stage is much higher.
He acknowledged the hard work that the team has done in the development of the C42 and hopes that the team can achieve success with it.
He said, “The start of a new season is always a time when expectations, hopes and plans come together. This year, the stakes are even higher as we are taking a bit of a jump into the unknown with the new regulations.”
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