Guanyu Zhou made his debut in F1 in the 2022 season after landing a seat at Alfa Romeo. He created history by becoming the first-ever Chinese driver to race in the sport full-time, but in spite of this feat, he was subject to a lot of criticism.
Zhou made his debut in F2 back in 2019 and was considered to be a hugely promising talent with the likes of Fernando Alonso noticing his potential. He impressed plenty of people during his three years in the series, but his promotion to F1 was still doubted. This is mainly because of the Shanghai-born driver’s P3 finish in the 2021 F2 Championship.
Our 2022 Rookie of the Year is @alfaromeoorlen F1 driver, @zhouguanyu24 💪
The rookie scored points on his F1 debut, and, despite several unfortunate technical retirements, he helped Alfa Romeo secure P6 in the championship ahead of Aston Martin 👏#AutosportAwards #Autosport pic.twitter.com/jGD9r6z6ld
— Autosport (@autosport) December 4, 2022
Zhou was good in 2021, but there was a driver who was much better. That driver was Oscar Piastri, who dominated the F2 Championship but still failed to find a seat in F1. Fans felt that the young Aussie deserved a seat more than Zhou, but the latter’s financial backing helped him secure a place at Alfa Romeo. These rumors angered Zhou, who slammed his haters for not following most of his junior career.
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Guanyu Zhou feels fans judged him for being Chinese
When Zhou made his entry into F1, he described how much online abuse he had to face. Many people accused him of being a pay driver, something which he denied on multiple occasions. However, now that he has spent a full year in F1, he feels that people have changed their opinion of him.
“I was really happy to just get rid of these pressures,” Zhou said. “And wild speaking in the background. And everybody changed their opinion of me.”
He went on to take a dig at the F1 fans who did not follow his junior career and only judge him based on what the media thought about him. He feels that his being Chinese played a huge part in this, which is disappointing.
I join Lewis and the motorsport community in standing against any form of racism, discrimination and prejudice.
— 周冠宇 | Zhou Guanyu 🇨🇳 (@ZhouGuanyu24) June 28, 2022
“People don’t know me,” Zhou said. “And they don’t know anything about me. They don’t watch F2. They don’t watch other series. They’re just looking at your nationality or something, which is a bit unfair in a way, but that’s how it is in the world.”
Zhou finished his first F1 season in P18 with six points to his name, and will continue with Alfa Romeo for the 2023 season.
