China's first F1 regular driver Zhou Guanyu.
In the past two weeks, Zhou Guanyu has finished third in the F2 Championship of the year, and then participated in the post-season tests of F1 teams in Abu Dhabi, and this non-stop rhythm has actually run through his entire season...
Until the 21st, Zhou Guanyu, who had recently returned to the Uk, finally had the opportunity to be interviewed by the domestic media. Although the road ahead is full of thorns and unknowns, the 22-year-old said he was ready for all the difficulties in order to dream.
Zhou Guanyu drove Alfa Romeo to participate in the test.
Insist on training and do not return to China during the Spring Festival
"There are no holidays this year, go back to the UK to make some adjustments, and in mid-January, you have to prepare for the new season with the team, which requires a lot of running-in and communication, such as training in simulators, participating in winter tests, etc. The mission is very full, and there is no plan to return to China (for the Spring Festival)..."
Zhou Guanyu's tone is as calm as ever, he has learned a lot since he left his hometown at the age of 16, "After more experience, you will become mature, this road will not be smooth sailing, it can be said that I am improving every year, it is all the efforts accumulated in the past few years that I have today." ”
Zhou Guanyu has reason to be proud of his day – in November he signed a contract with Alfa Romeo, becoming the first full-fledged F1 driver in Chinese history to compete in the F1 Grand Prix next year.
"I didn't think I'd be so close to F1 three years ago, and even a year ago, I still felt so close and so far away from F1, and if you told me in January 2021 that I would be in F1 this year, I wouldn't have imagined..."
The Alfa Romeo team is very recognized by Zhou Guanyu.
Everything is arranged by the convoy
After Zhou Guanyu became an official F1 driver, his first task was to conduct post-season tests in Abu Dhabi.
In tuesday's youth driver test, Zhou Guanyu drove the Alfa Romeo ORLEN team to compete with stint world champion Verstappen. Despite frequent accidents throughout the day, he steadily completed a total of 119 laps of test miles and made the fifth fastest lap in the overall results list.
This performance made Alfa Romeo's executives quite satisfied, and Zhou Guanyu's replay test was also full of gains.
"The first day of testing was mostly about getting you into an F1 car, when you were driving an old model from a few years ago. The next day was a tyre test, mainly for next year's new season, from C1 to C5 different softness to test..."
Zhou Guanyu's goal division of the work is very clear, and what is more gratifying is that he and his partner the famous driver Bottas seem to have some tacit understanding, "He only tested for one day, but the communication between us is very good, completely open conversation, especially our feelings about the test are almost the same, and the feedback information is consistent." ”
According to Zhou Guanyu, after the team is concentrated in mid-January, he and Bottas will have more run-ins and strive to make a satisfactory debut in bahrain in the 2022 season opening.
Counting up, to March 20, Bahrain stood full count only less than 3 months, Zhou Guanyu admitted that he scored a second, some media asked him how to balance his career and life, Zhou Guanyu said, "The current career is the most important, everything is subject to the team's arrangement, there is no more ideas about other things." ”
There is no time to think about the commercial landscape
Zhou Guanyu did not have the heart to think about other things other than work, and even did not have such a passion for "making money".
After becoming the first official F1 driver in China, in addition to the huge number of fans, this young man also attracted the attention of many brands. It is reported that many domestic merchants have come to the door, hoping to reach a cooperation with Zhou Guanyu - it is foreseeable that his commercial value will reach the highest point as the new season approaches, so how does Zhou Guanyu respond?
"There will be 23 stops in the new season, I have to put all my energy into the game, there is no extra time, if I am allowed to go back to my country (to participate in commercial activities), to come and go for 3 weeks, it is too much for me to lose."
A few simple words, for us to outline a portrait of a young man who has poured all his life for his dreams, such a Zhou Guanyu is undoubtedly worthy of the attention of all fans and peers.
Of course, Zhou Guanyu, like other young people, also longs for a colorful life, he usually likes basketball, football and badminton and many other sports, and likes to listen to hip-hop music in his leisure time, but in the journey of chasing dreams, personal life and other hobbies make way for racing, and he himself laughed and said: "It has been a long time since I have a game with my friends." ”
Zhou Guanyu's idol is Kobe.
The Power of Number 24
In the new season, Zhou Guanyu chose the No. 24 car number, which he said before was to pay tribute to his idol Kobe, and when Zhou Guanyu gave us some unknown stories about the "No. 24".
"My previous career has always been related to 3, running different levels of race selection has a 3, my personal favorite is the 33, along the way, I think the number 3 can bring me some kind of strength, but this number in F1 belongs to Verstappen, can not choose the number 33, my personal will has always been 24 number."
"You may not remember the number 24 when I won the F1 esports opener."
It is conceivable that in the next few months, Zhou Guanyu will go all out, he will compete with his old acquaintances Ma Zeping and Kakuda on the big stage of F1, and will also meet his own role models, such as Hamilton, Alonso and other champion drivers - this is an honor, but also the ultimate test.
It's hard to predict what kind of posture Zhou Guanyu will look like at the moment, but one thing is certain, this young man from Shanghai, China, will make himself the best he can, as he himself said, "Every weekend in F1 makes me look forward to it immensely." ”