Guanyu Zhou reveals Kobe Bryant as his inspiration behind choosing number 24 for his F1 car as he takes a seat behind the wheel of Alfa Romeo.
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Guanyu Zhou is the first-ever full-time Chinese F1 driver as he climbs in Alfa Romeo C40 in the 2022 season. It is known that all drivers in F1 when they start their career in motorsport are required to select a number for their car.
This number stays with them for as long as they choose to stay in the sport. Exceptions are there for the World Champions, who can use the number one instead of their usual number.
In the FIA’s entry list it was revealed that he had chosen number 24. Zhou explained that he chose the number 24 because of his immense admiration of Kobe Bryant.
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Kobe Bryant mega-inspiration in Formula 1
The basketball legend enjoyed a stupendous career in his 20-years with LA Lakers until he met an unfortunate fate. He and his 13-year-old daughter lost their lives in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles in January 2020.
A couple of other F1 drivers have paid the legend tribute in their own way. In the 2020 F1 season, Daniel Ricciardo wore a customised Kobe Bryant helmet in Barcelona and Lewis Hamilton said that Kobe was “one of our greats” in the sport.
Furthermore, Zhou called him an inspiration and said, “Kobe Bryant was a great inspiration for me when I was more interested in basketball than in motorsport.”
“What made the most impression on me was his work ethic. Although he was considered the best player of his era, he worked tirelessly on himself.”
“He got up at four in the morning, started exercising, then took his kids to school and continued exercising. In addition, 24 is four times six, and six is a lucky number in my home country,” he further added.
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