On the afternoon of November 16, 2021, many world media reported that the Alfa Romeo Team officially announced the signing of China's Zhou Guanyu.
This means that Zhou Guanyu, 22, has become China's first F1 driver.
Most non-sports enthusiasts probably don't understand how much gold this "signing" has. Today, Sister W will give you a simple science popularization:
There are currently only 10 F1 teams in the world, and each team can only have 2 drivers.
That said, there are now only 20 official F1 racers in the world.
It is no exaggeration to say that this is a profession that is even more scarce than astronauts, and it is also an area that many predecessors have not been able to set foot in since the founding of New China.
In the past few years, there have been many outstanding Chinese drivers such as Cheng Congfu and Ma Qinghua, who have launched an attack on this racing "top hall", but have not been able to join as desired.
Today, Zhou Guanyu's successful addition has not only created history, but also filled the gap in Chinese sports in motorsport.
After the official news was announced, it was connected to the racing enthusiast Han Han, who described Zhou Guanyu on the phone:
"A lot of non-racing friends don't understand the significance of him (Zhou Guanyu) becoming China's first F1 racer, and I describe it to my friends like this—
This is equivalent to Liu Xiang for athletics and Yao Ming for basketball. ”
Taking this opportunity, Sister W also wants to talk to you about what this Shanghai guy can successfully join F1 and what it means for China.
If you want to understand the significance of Zhou Guanyu joining F1, you must first understand F1.
F1, whose full name is the "FIA Formula One World Championship", is the highest-grade annual series of track racing competitions held by the Fidelity International Motor Sport.
Some people put F1 events together with the Olympic Games and the World Cup and call them the "three major sporting events in the world".
In fact, such an analogy is not surprising, because whether it is the requirements for the players or the degree of gold, F1 and the other two competitions are all superior.
Every F1 racer we see now has been signed after formula one level one.
Judging from the official F1 event ratings data released in February this year, the number of viewers of each game in 2020 reached 87.4 million, and the cumulative number of viewers in the whole year reached 1.5 billion, which is a very popular sports event in the world.
Before Zhou Guanyu, the faces of Chinese never appeared on this high-standard stage.
Zhou Guanyu, born in 1999, just turned 22 this year, according to him, being able to get involved with racing is all about catching ducks on the shelves.
His father, Zhou Wenfang, had the biggest dream of becoming a racing driver, and he was bitter that he missed the best time, and finally could only put his wish on his son.
In 2005, Zhou Guanyu watched F1 in Shanghai
When he was 7 years old, his father took Zhou Guanyu to play go-karts, and the boy's nature made Zhou Guanyu eager to try it.
But when he really touched the steering wheel, he was a little afraid.
"My dad drove me in a two-seater go-kart because I was afraid I had my eyes closed the whole time and it felt like I was riding a roller coaster."
Soon, his father ran a lap with the little Zhou Guanyu, and this short but rapid experience made him feel very bad, and he just got out of the car and shouted to go home.
Zhou Guanyu's parents stood outside the railing with a smile, laughing and encouraging him:
"Oh, it's all coming, do you want to try it yourself, drive it slower and try it."
Zhou Guanyu had no choice but to carefully climb into the car under the eager gaze of his parents, ready to start the first and last go-kart journey in his life.
But when he actually sat in the kart and controlled the small steering wheel in front of him, he found the scenery speeding backwards around him, the encouragement of his parents, the noise made after the tires rubbed... They all disappeared, and the throttle under his feet soared in an adrenaline-pumping way, giving his body its most faithful feedback.
At the end of a lap, fear turns to excitement, which is the first experience of future F1 racers.
After falling in love with this game, every weekend, Zhou Guanyu would pestering his family to come to the karting yard, practicing for several laps, rain or shine.
Soon the manager of the shop noticed the boy, he liked to watch Zhou Guanyu drive a go-kart, and he had hardly ever met a child who drove faster than him, even faster than many adults.
After observing for a while, the manager found Zhou Guanyu and gave him a suggestion:
If you want to take this road, you can buy a go-kart of your own, and he can take Zhou Guanyu to practice on a higher-level track outdoors.
With the support of his parents, Zhou Guanyu owned his first kart at the age of 8 and was determined to start his racing career.
After that, he began to receive professional training, and at the age of 10, he had already won all eight sub-stations of the national championship, and his talent was undoubted, of course, hard work was indispensable.
However, racing is a niche sport in China after all, and it takes more effort than ordinary people to take this road.
Although his parents supported his choice, he did not have the ability to impart any racing experience to him, and everything depended on Zhou Guanyu to grope on his own.
Little Zhou Guanyu practiced while going to school, and he soon realized that if he wanted to realize his dream and become a real racing driver, he could no longer be satisfied with the status quo, so he had plans to study abroad, and his parents agreed.
In 2010, 11-year-old Zhou Guanyu bid farewell to his hometown and came to Sheffield, a historic city in South Yorkshire, England.
The city of only 600,000 people is a racing driver's paradise and the starting point of Zhou Guanyu's dream.
Of course, during this period, Zhou Guanyu also encountered many tests, such as not adapting to the local climate, language barriers, etc., which became a problem on his way to study.
But Zhou Guanyu always has a clear goal, that is, to become a real racing driver, to step onto a bigger stage, and let the five-star red flag fly on the world stage."
For this day, he left his hometown and went to the ocean, and was willing to do his best for it.
On July 2, 2021, Zhou Guanyu participated in the F1 practice competition for the first time Image source @ Xinhua News Agency
In 2013, Zhou Guanyu stepped into the Uk for the first time.
His opponent at that time was the favorite to win the championship, the current McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris, but the new country, the different skin color, could not stop Zhou Guanyu's determination to win.
After the start of the competition, Zhou Guanyu broke through and won two challenges, including the Super 1 National Rotax Max Junior and the Rotax Max Euro Challenge.
The success of this game also allowed Zhou Guanyu to gain the favor of Ferrari, and then he successfully joined the Ferrari youth training system.
Image source Weibo @ driver Zhou Guanyu
This year, he was only 15 years old and officially began his career as an equation.
In 2015, Zhou Guanyu won the annual runner-up of the Italian F4 Championship and was able to enter the European F3 Championship.
In 2018, Zhou Guanyu began to participate in F3 competitions, and has been on the podium for 6 times and won 2 championships.
In 2019, Zhou Guanyu came to Renault and successfully promoted to F2, which also laid the foundation for him to join F1 later.
In 2020, Zhou Guanyu won the F2 championship for the first time, and this year he has been on the podium for 4 times, standing under the five-star red flag and holding high the trophy, proving his strength with actions.
Zhou Guanyu, who has raised the trophy under the national flag many times, has come from Weibo @ driver Zhou Guanyu
The reason why people say that F1 racers are rarer than astronauts is because if you want to successfully promote, talent, hard work, luck, and financial resources are indispensable.
You know, every year the number of places in the F1 team is limited, and you will not be able to fill this vacancy until the seniors retire.
At the same time, as the most expensive sporting event, you must bring enough commercial value before the team will consider recruiting new members.
There is no doubt that these requirements zhou Guanyu are in line with, he has a talent that is different from ordinary people, and he also has the strength to stand the test, and also has commercial value.
In the end, zhou Guanyu successfully obtained the ticket to the largest and highest stage with undisputed comprehensive strength, becoming the first official F1 driver in Chinese history, and also filling the gap in the Chinese market.
When this historic official announcement was announced, countless Chinese car fans were excited.
Image source Weibo
This means that in next year's F1 car, we will see a Chinese driver who will take the blessings of Chinese fans all the way to higher places.
Welcome to forward this article to the circle of friends, so that more people know about this excellent Chinese boy.
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