Entering November, not only will major automakers start their final sprint at the end of 2021, but the high-profile formula 1 championship in the world's top event is also nearing completion.
While Red Bull's Verstappen and Mercedes-Benz's Hamilton are still struggling to compete for the drivers' championship of the year, today's domestic fans are focused on a team that is completely out of the title race – Alfa Romeo.
How can Alfa Romeo, who is second from the bottom of the team rankings, gain the attention of fans across the country and even the world?
Not because it had any particularly brilliant performances in the second half of the season, but because they finally announced the ownership of the last F1 driver's seat of the 2022 season, and this lucky one is Guanyu Zhou Guanyu.
The source @F1 World Championships
This is a historic moment for Chinese motorsport! This means that the first Chinese F1 driver was officially born!
To this end, CHINA AUTOMOBILE AND MOTORCYCLE ALSO SENT A CONGRATULATORY LETTER TO ZHOU GUANYU!
As one of the highest level events in the world, the Formula 1 Championship is the dream of almost all track racers, and the cost and effort to realize this dream is staggering.
First of all, to drive an F1 car, you must first get an admission ticket, which is the highest level of super licence of the FIA (Fia).
According to the latest FIA rules, drivers who want to earn a Super Driver's License must be at least 18 years old, hold a FIA Class A racing license and a civilian driver's license, achieve at least 80% completion in two one-seat Formula Seasons, and earn 40 points in each of the three FIA-recognized races.
In other words, if you want to get a super driver's license, you have to participate in many, many races first.
Participating in many, many events means having a lot of financial support. After all, motorsport is very expensive, not only the price and cost of the car itself are high, but the drivers themselves need to invest a lot of money in participation and training.
For F1 teams, choosing which driver to hire often needs to focus on the sponsorship financial support that this driver can bring.
If the family conditions are excellent, it may be able to support all the race expenses of a driver; if there is no such strength, it will only rely on sponsors.
For an F1-oriented driver, racing experience, points and his own accumulation of commercial value in motorsport begin as early as childhood.
The Shanghai-born Chinese driver began racing at the age of 8 and went to more professional racing in the UK at the age of 13 to develop his racing career.
Subsequently, Zhou Guanyu officially began to participate in Formula events, first in the lower F4 Championships several times to the podium and won the best rookie honor, and only 4 years after moving to Europe to enter the FIA European F3 Championship.
Zhou Guanyu easily won the Asian F3 Championship championship in the 2021 season.
In the end, Zhou Guanyu was promoted to the F2 Championship in 2019.
As a member of the Renault youth drivers, Zhou Guanyu has achieved surprisingly good results in the 2021 season, winning three races so far, which can be called a dark horse in F2. And these excellent performances also allowed him to obtain the qualification to apply for the FIA super driver's license.
The Chinese driver, who is currently ranked second in the F2 Championship drivers' standings, has attracted the attention of fans at home and abroad and is regarded as one of the strongest contenders for the Alfa Romeo racing team seat in the 2022 season.
And this achievement is really not simple.
Of course, some friends may ask: Isn't it right? Shouldn't the first Chinese F1 driver be Ma Qinghua?
Yes, Ma Qinghua, known as "Little Brother Ma", is indeed the first Chinese driver to participate in the F1 Grand Prix weekend.
He officially joined HRT Racing's F1 driver development programme in 2012 and has made several appearances driving HRT racing in the 2012 season.
However, Ma Qinghua did not participate in the full F1 race, and his previous appearances were all tasks for test drivers during Friday's practice session.
Once Zhou Guanyu signed with Alfa Romeo Racing Team, he will be able to officially win the last driver's seat in the F1 2022 season and represent Alfa Romeo in the 2022 F1 Championship, becoming the first Chinese driver to truly represent the team in a full F1 race.
For Alfa Romeo, having Zhou Guanyu join their F1 team is full of benefits.
First of all, as the Chinese driver who is currently closest to F1 and a rising star in F2 events, Zhou Guanyu not only has enough excellent driving strength, but also comes with huge commercial sponsorship.
Previously, there were rumors that Zhou Guanyu's team could bring up to 30 million euros in sponsorship fees to Alfa Romeo.
In the top events that cost a lot of money, drivers are not only responsible for driving races, but also need to pull sponsorship as much as possible, participate in commercial activities, and provide financial support for the development and operation of the team.
Therefore, F1 has always had the tradition of drivers "buying seats" through huge sponsorships, after all, no one will refuse a large amount of money.
But this sponsorship rumor has also made many people question whether Zhou Guanyu is "buying a seat" rather than entering F1 by strength.
But in the professor's opinion, if Zhou Guanyu's dark horse performance in this year's F2 event and the result of easily winning the annual championship in F3 event do not show his strength, then this group of people who question Zhou Guanyu are pure lemon monsters.
In addition, the inclusion of Zhou Guanyu in the F1 team will also contribute to the promotion and promotion of Alfa Romeo in the domestic car market.
It should be known that Since alfa Romeo returned to the Chinese market, his market performance has been mediocre; although he has earned some attention and sales increases through amazing offers in the early years, he has not been sustainable.
With fewer product choices and insufficient brand awareness and influence, Alfa Romeo seems to have a hard time finding a way out of the predicament at home.
Although Alfa Romeo has a strong racing gene and a century-old brand history is also very commendable, these cultural advantages are difficult to resonate with Chinese consumers who are just beginning to contact Alfa Romeo.
Participating in F1 motorsport was a great opportunity to show off its strengths, but it has always been mediocre, and even the results that have embarrassed this once-king team are really difficult to come up with.
And once they sign with Zhou Guanyu, the title of "the first Chinese driver to officially participate in the F1 Grand Prix" will help Alfa Romeo gain a lot of attention at home.
Some people may have questions about the influence of F1 events in the Chinese market, believing that most domestic consumers do not pay attention to the performance of car manufacturers in the event, but pay more attention to information such as practicality, cost performance and retention rate.
But F1 events have a unique advantage, and the drivers involved in the race are not only athletes, but also stars. Hamilton, Verstappen, Vettel, Raikkonen M. These top drivers all have a fairly large fan base in the country.
Many people know the power of Mercedes-Benz AMG because of the "Seven Crowns" Hamilton, and some people know the strength of Mercedes-Benz AMG because Raikkonen loves to eat Dream Dragon Ice Cream, and domestic consumers can also know that there is a design full of characteristics on the market because of Zhou Guanyu, and the sporty tuning style is also different from other Italian car brands.
As a Chinese driver, Zhou Guanyu himself has his own attention bonus.
The team he plays for can not only be stained with the light of "Chinese F1 drivers" in the publicity, but also launch a co-branded version of the model by the way, and perhaps attract some hardcore fans to buy.
As a result, the problem of Alfa Romeo's lack of visibility in China will be solved to a certain extent, which will also help to improve market performance.
However, if a car brand wants to succeed in the Chinese market, it is absolutely impossible to rely on image promotion alone.
Alpha Romeo's embarrassment in the domestic market is not only caused by insufficient visibility, but also affected by factors such as fewer sales outlets, consumers have certain concerns about after-sales service, the retention rate is not ideal, and the reputation of "small problems" on the Internet.
Therefore, the professor believes that the addition of Zhou Guanyu may allow Alpha Romeo to get more exposure opportunities in China and let more people know the brand; but if you want to achieve real and stable improvement in market performance, you must rely on the upgrading of your own product strength and the further improvement of the pre-sales and after-sales network!
However, whether Zhou Guanyu can save Alfa Romeo in the civilian market, the news that he has joined the Alfa Romeo F1 team is worth our excitement.
Because in the past, Chinese drivers could already cause a cheer even if they just drove an old F1 car around the track.
And now, Zhou Guanyu, a young player, has first let the five-star red flag rise on the highest podium of the FIA international event again and again, and in the future, he can compete with a number of top drivers, and even hope to make the five-star red flag appear on the podium of the world's top Formula event!
(The picture in the article is from the internet)