Text/Luo Chang
On November 16, 2021, at the age of 22, Zhou Guanyu became the official driver of the Formula One (F1) Alfa Romeo Team, the first Chinese driver to participate in the main race in the more than 70 years since the establishment of the Formula One World Championship, setting an important milestone for Chinese motorsport and opening a new era in the history of racing.
For a time, the Chinese racing circle was happy and celebrated, and reports about Zhou Guanyu always mentioned that his family had invested at least 100 million yuan in him, and some people called him the "Wang Sicong" of the racing industry. However, can a hundred million make a person's dream a reality?
Wan Heping, vice president of the International Motor Sports Federation (FIA), said that becoming an F1 driver tests the "integrity" of a person's physical fitness, intelligence, personality and other aspects, perhaps this is a relatively calm and objective answer.
Zhou Guanyu's initial association with racing cars was not much different.
In 2007, 8-year-old Zhou Guanyu sat in the cockpit of a kart for the first time in a racing club in Shanghai accompanied by his father, and the unprecedented speed stimulated his young brain to secrete a large amount of dopamine, and the strong sense of excitement made Zhou Guanyu include racing in his interest.
(Zhou Guanyu in childhood)
This is similar to the current many children like basketball, piano, painting, is the same process, but many children do not have long sex, so learn for half a year, so learn for a year to stop, half a bucket of water swinging, why not.
This point, Zhou Guanyu is different, he insisted for 14 years, all the way to the top of the pyramid.
William Yeats said: Education is not filled with a bucket of water, but a fire.
This fire is the "internal driving force.".
The term intrinsic drive began in 1918 and was first coined by the American psychologist Woodworth, who interpreted intrinsic drive as the source of motivation to provoke behavior.
Racing is a competitive sport, and it is not because Zhou Guanyu can get preferential treatment because he has no worries about food and clothing.
It is not surprising that driving maneuvers are repeatedly practiced in the sun and rain, and physical training is repeatedly carried out in a cycle, and various bumps and strains are commonplace. When injured, Zhou Guanyu will cry out in pain and cry, but he will never flinch and give up, preferring to take the injury to the race - his internal drive is activated by the sport of motorsport.
Soon, his efforts were rewarded by Mu Xi's others.
In 2009, Zhou Guanyu won the national karting championship NCJ-A group (8-12 years old), and in 2010, at the age of 11, he won all eight championships in the NCJ-B group (12-16 years old) of the national karting championship.
This continuous sense of accomplishment is like an infinite force, pushing Zhou Guanyu forward.
During a holiday, Zhou Guanyu went to the United Kingdom, trained with the British team, participated in several local races, but only won about 15th place, and suddenly pulled the teenager who had reached the top in The country off the altar.
But Zhou Guanyu was not frustrated by this, once the internal drive was generated, it would not be easily "poured out" by setbacks, but would be more determined, so Zhou Guanyu decided: to go abroad, to compete in a higher level of environment.
In 2011, at the age of 12, Zhou Guanyu went to Sheffield, England, to study and joined the local go-karting school. Among the blonde European riders, zhou Guanyu, who has black hair and yellow skin, is so out of place, but he quickly overcomes differences in language, culture, diet and other aspects, and also gains due respect through strength.
In three years, he won the All-American Championship, the All England Championship and the European Championships in the 14-17 year overall title.
At the age of 15, Zhou Guanyu officially signed for Ferrari, becoming the first professional driver in Asia to sign a contract with the youth training system of the top F1 manufacturers' teams.
In 2018, Zhou Guanyu won the first leg of the F3 European Championship in Pau, becoming the first Chinese driver to win a single-seater event in this category.
In 2019, Zhou Guanyu joined the Renault Athletic Academy (now Alpine Academy) and became a development driver for the team. This decision was once incomprehensible to many people, after all, compared to a giant like Ferrari, Renault had not exported any new stars at that time. And Zhou Guanyu's answer is: what suits you is the best. Two years later, Zhou Guanyu proved with his achievements that this choice was wise.
"The path he took was very standardized and systematic, and the only goal was to get into F1." Industry insiders commented on Zhou Guanyu's dream-chasing road.
It is mentioned in the "Discussion on the Relocation of the Capital and the Establishment of the Domain" that "those who do not seek the world are not enough to seek a moment; those who do not seek the overall situation are not enough to seek a domain", which is actually planning power.
If stimulating the internal drive is the starting point for evoking dreams, having planning power can make the trajectory of realizing dreams clearly visible. Planning power is a relatively unpopular word, not only refers to the formulation of plans or step by step, but includes the ability to think, decision-making, adaptability and coordination ability and so on.
Looking back at Zhou Guanyu's growth process, from go-karts to F4, F3, F2 to realize his dreams, he always gets the corresponding results at key points in time, step by step, and finally comes to fruition, which is not something that can be done by a single ability or luck, but must have the comprehensive ability to overview the overall situation and master the rhythm.
With or without planning power, life is very different.
In an interview, Zhou Guanyu said: "Entering F1, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. F1 is the highest level of racing in the world today, with only about 20 official drivers per year, and the threshold is beyond doubt.
Since the beginning of this century, generations of Chinese drivers such as Cheng Congfu, Ma Qinghua, Dong Hebin, Zhang Zhendong and other generations of Chinese drivers have gone forward for this dream, and finally Zhou Guanyu took over the key baton and carved the names of Chinese drivers into the territory of F1.
Why was Zhou Guanyu able to seize this opportunity?
Ma Qinghua said that Zhou Guanyu's characteristic is stability, and he can play well under various conditions.
This trait of Zhou Guanyu is evidenced by a story.
In the 2020 season, Zhou Guanyu participated in the F2 Championship. At the beginning of the season, Zhou Guanyu encountered many racing failures, these accidents led to the points that could have been won were unfortunately slipped out of his hands, for Zhou Guanyu, the pressure on him can be imagined, but he still maintained his competitive state and began to exert his strength in the second half of the season.
Towards the end of the season, Zhou Guanyu ranked eighth, but he was not arrogant and still struggled to chase in the final week, and finally won the good result of ranking sixth in the year.
After coming out of the trough of form, Zhou Guanyu won the F2 Bahrain main event in March 2021, and he was not overwhelmed by the momentary spring breeze.
In an interview with reporters after the game, he calmly said: First of all, to complete a small goal, I will stand one stop to cash in on the plan I made before the season. This win will not change the established plan.
Winning or losing in the arena is a common thing, and fluctuations in mentality are also common people, however, when the level of competition is almost the same, the winner is often the side with a more stable mentality.
Napoleon once said that a man who can control his emotions is greater than a general who can take the next city.
A stable state of mind is like a solid armor, able to resist all kinds of external interference factors, so that you can devote yourself to it and work towards the set goal.
A stable mentality is also like a breeze that can keep people awake at all times, see their strengths and weaknesses, promote their continuous reflection and improvement, and maintain a good state.
If such a person does not succeed, who succeeds?
Although not every child can become Zhou Guanyu, we believe that a child with strong internal drive, planning ability and mental stability will have more opportunities for success and be closer to a better future.
In the growth of his children, compared with a hundred million, these are more valuable and more universal.
Luo Chang
A native of Changsha, Hunan Province, he is an editor and psychotherapist. "I am a working mother who is willing to grow up with my children and bravely admit her shortcomings in front of my children."