Per reporter: Zhu Peng Per editor: Zhang Haini
On March 28, the Saudi Grand Prix of the world's most watched motorsport, the Formula One World Championship (F1), came to an end. Zhou Guanyu, a Chinese driver who made his debut in Bahrain six days ago and attracted a lot of attention, was awarded twice and finally finished 11th.
After the race, Zhou Guanyu said: "The problem is part of the car and its charm. After carefully analyzing the positives, The first official F1 driver in China set his sights on the Melbourne race, which starts on 10 April. Because it is one step away from entering the top ten points zone, the domestic racing circle is also full of expectations for Zhou Guanyu's Melbourne race.
In March this year, the first bahraini grand prix of the F1 Championship 2022 season began. Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu staged consecutive overtakings under unfavorable starting conditions, and finally finished in 10th place, and won points in the first game, once again refreshing the history of Chinese racing. After the game, he said excitedly: "It will be a weekend that I will never forget, and it will also mean a lot to my country. ”
According to reports, in the 72-year history of F1 events, Zhou Guanyu is the 66th newcomer who can score points on his debut. In this sport monopolized by Europeans, as a driver from China, the young Zhou Guanyu made a breakthrough with every step he took.
Behind this breakthrough, it is inevitable that talent and hard work are inseparable, but if you want to become an F1 driver, you can also do without a huge upfront investment. It is the steady stream of real money and silver that ensures that the roaring engine on the field can run at full power.
Want to walk to the door of F1? In addition to talent, it may take 100 million
Subsequently, the eye-catching performance of scoring points on the debut made Zhou Guanyu's public popularity rise rapidly, and also made the domestic racing circle full of expectations for its next performance.
There are 10 teams in F1, each with 2 regular drivers. It may be the sport with the smallest number of athletes in the world, but it may also be the most expensive. According to the well-known foreign car magazine EnglishBuilder estimates, it takes at least $10 million to train an F1 driver.
Practicing is expensive. Ye Fei, a veteran media personality in F1, once said in an interview with the media: "In the world, drivers are currently individually trained. F1 has its own driver promotion system, from F4 to F1, which requires more effort and even financial resources from individuals. Han Han, who is more familiar to the public, has devoted himself to racing practice after becoming famous.
According to Ye Fei's estimate, the cost of the F3 stage is about 15 million yuan per year, and the cost of the F2 stage is about 20 million yuan per year. In the absence of results and lack of commercial sponsorship, the support needed to continue to carry out motorsport is obvious.
Foreign media have reported that during Zhou Guanyu's fledgling F4 Championship in 2015, the car company owned by his father was still a brand sponsor.
Chinese driver Cheng Congfu has also been close to F1. In 2006, Cheng Congfu had the opportunity to play for the Virgin Team, but cheng Congfu, who was unwilling to continue to spend his parents' money due to the lack of sponsors, chose to give up. He has publicly said that in order to learn to drive, he spent 100 million yuan on his family.
Seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has also spoken publicly in an interview about the lack of diversity in F1, saying that the cost of entering F1 often limits people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
15 years of advancement, a different flying life from Han Han
In 2000, eighteen-year-old Han Han bought a Fukang with royalties from his famous work "Triple Door" and converted it into his first racing car, thus beginning his many years of book-based car career.
In the world of racing, every lap a car makes on the track comes at the cost of burning money. The loss of equipment, training grounds, race costs, racing modifications, etc., each of which is a bottomless pit investment. As long as the engine doesn't go out, the money can't stop burning. After Han Han became famous, he invested almost all his income in training, but even if he became a public figure, he also had a time when the economic load pressure was too great.
Unlike Han Han's self-watering dream road that can only touch the racing car after he becomes famous, Zhou Guanyu's flying life has gone luckier and farther.
Zhou Guanyu was born in Shanghai in 1999 to a wealthy family, and his father ran the car business. In 2005, Zhou's father, who was in the car business, took 6-year-old Zhou Guanyu to the live competition of F1 Shanghai. A year ago, the F1 event first settled in Shanghai, opening the F1 era in China.
In 2006, Zhou Guanyu completed his first racing experience at a go-kart club in Shanghai. Every weekend after that, he went to practice go-karting. In the same year, Zhou Guanyu began to receive enlightenment guidance from Ma Qinghua, and was also the closest Chinese driver to F1 before Zhou Guanyu.
Subsequently, the talented Zhou Guanyu began to soar to the top of the domestic karting championship. At the age of 12, in order to seek a breakthrough, the family decided to take Zhou Guanyu to Sheffield, England, to practice while studying.
The family went to Europe to practice cars, from F4 to F1, leaving the public with the bloody story of a 22-year-old talented young man. But for Zhou Guanyu, behind this story is a comprehensive investment of 15 years, energy, money and effort.
After the news of Zhou Guanyu becoming an official F1 driver was announced, Han Han excitedly praised his significance for China's F1 in the live broadcast program, just like Liu Xiang for athletics and Yao Ming for basketball.
Before Zhou Guanyu officially joined F1, the news about his "bringing capital into the group" also attracted attention. It is reported that Zhou Guanyu will join the Alfa Romeo Racing Team with a $30 million sponsorship, which is also an important reason why he can get the official driver's seat in F1. In response, Zhou Guanyu's team and team did not respond, saying only that they would focus on the race.
However, even if it is a group with funds, it is not uncommon in F1. Geniuses such as Michael Schumacher have also brought money into the group. For teams, in addition to excellent competitive ability, commercial value is also an important measure of the team. Because the team itself is extremely expensive, if you can sign a "driver with funds", it will undoubtedly reduce the economic load for the team.
Brand sponsorship is not excessive, and it is necessary to take the international route
F1 is undoubtedly the most expensive sport in the world, not only in the drivers, but also in the team.
Although the first team is staffed with only two regular drivers, it is supported by hundreds of R&D and logistics teams. According to Forbes statistics, the annual investment of the team is more than 100 million US dollars is standard, and the champion teams such as Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull have maintained an annual investment of more than 400 million US dollars all year round, and the overall size of their teams has exceeded 1,000 people.
Zhou Guanyu, who has just started his F1 career, is currently unable to count his income, but on the sidelines, the highly watched Chinese driver has already won sponsorship from several brands. According to the incomplete statistics of the "Daily Economic News" reporter, as of now, Zhou Guanyu has a total of 4 personal brand sponsorships, namely luxury watch brand Hublot, Playseat, a leading game equipment company in the field of racing and flight simulators, Fanatec, a simulated racing hardware brand, and Ammus AMX in China.
The first three foreign brands began to cooperate with Zhou Guanyu before he became an official F1 driver, and Hublot has been sponsoring Zhou Guanyu since 2018. Being able to attract sponsorship from top international brands in the early stage also shows the attractiveness of the potential stock Zhou Guanyu and the Chinese market represented behind it for international big names.
Yang Yibin, general manager of Shanghai Jiushi Sports, said in a previous interview: "Our aim is to prefer shortage to abuse. For drivers, brands that take an international route are more suitable. In the past three years, the Chinese Grand Prix has not been held, and the influence of F1 in China will be lost, so we still hope to better exert Zhou Guanyu's influence in the world and drive brands with international strategies to participate in sponsorship in the future. ”
Zhou Guanyu and Jiushi can undoubtedly use their years of experience in promoting F1 events to better build personal IP. As an international sport, it is undoubtedly a blessing for domestic drivers to have a local event in China. The influence of hometown events will empower athletes to attract more international brand sponsorship, and the outstanding results of athletes themselves will bring more attention to the event.
Previously, the F1 Chinese Grand Prix has confirmed that it will continue to settle in Shanghai until 2025. Although due to the impact of the epidemic, this year's Shanghai F1 event can not be held, but the extension of the holding period is undoubtedly good news for Zhou Guanyu, who has just joined F1. Zhou Guanyu is expected to compete in local competitions later, which will be an excellent opportunity for him to enhance his commercial value and public awareness.
Daily economic news