On the 16th Beijing time, the F1 Alpha Romeo team officially announced that Zhou Guanyu joined, who became the first person in China's F1. In the 2022 season, Zhou Guanyu will replace Italian driver Giovinaz and partner Bottas to chase the deer in the paddock.
On the same day, Giovinaz made a controversial statement on social media, which was believed to be attributing his "unemployment" to the financial support behind Zhou Guanyu, which made team leader Vassell unhappy.
Giovinaz tweeted, "F1 is a contest of talent, racing (performance), courage and speed, but when money determines everything, it is callous. ”
The remarks clearly annoyed team leader Vassell. In a foreign racing show, Vassell publicly responded to Giovinaz, "I don't quite agree with this attitude. ”
"I don't think he should dwell on this. At least at this stage, we should focus on the season that is not yet over. "I saw his comments, and honestly I don't like that attitude. The team has given him the opportunity to drive F1 for three years, something that countless drivers have dreamed of. At the end of the season, he will start a new challenge and may return to F1 in the future, but the F1 circle is very small and should always be professional. ”
Giovinaz officially joined Alfa Romeo in 2019, and his best result was fifth in Brazil that year. So far this season, he has scored 1 point for the team in Monaco and will move to the Formula E World Championship next year.
The reason why Giovinaz made relevant remarks may be because before and after Zhou Guanyu joined Alfa Romeo, many foreign media have reported that Chinese drivers are "bringing capital into the group" and will bring about 30 million euros of sponsorship fees to the team.
Although the news has not been officially confirmed, many domestic industry media analysts believe that this kind of "bringing capital into the group" situation is a common way of operation in F1, especially in the middle and lower reaches of the fleet, it is not uncommon.
A similar situation is Nikita Mazeping, who currently plays for Haas, whose father, Dmitry, is a Russian chemical oligarch and has always had a keen interest in investing in F1 small and medium-sized teams.
In fact, the industry has never shyly believed that F1 is an extremely expensive racing project, and absorbing funds and opening up the market is an important means for every team, especially small and medium-sized teams, to operate and play games.
But before using the "stepping stone", the strength of the drivers is still a hard indicator, and they can sign not championship drivers, but at least potential stocks. For example, Ma Zeping, as well as Mick Schumacher, the son of "Car King" Schumacher, and of course, Zhou Guanyu.
As of now, the top two in F2 have not yet scored any points this season. This situation is very likely to happen in Zhou Guanyu's first F1 season, so it is undoubtedly the most appropriate to play steadily and learn from the experienced Bottas.
"Bottas is a very good, very fast driver, he has stood on the podium of the championship many times, which is a very difficult thing. Partnering him in the new season, I can learn a lot from him. Zhou Guanyu said.
Show his talent early, and play steadily in F2, gradually improving until his dream comes true into F1, Zhou Guanyu's story has just begun.
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