Three factors support that Zhou Guanyu's driving technology has become world-class How far is he from the first person in Chinese sports?

Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu is about to celebrate his second season in F1, and from the moment he entered the paddock, the controversy and skepticism surrounding him has not stopped. This is actually not difficult to understand, after all, F1 sports this palace race, for the former Chinese drivers are so out of reach, when an oriental face with a bright smile really appears in F1, regardless of those "friends" who have always worn colored glasses, even we ourselves sometimes have no bottom - F1, we are here?

How is Zhou Guanyu's driving skills?

Much of the controversy over Zhou has focused on whether his ability matches F1. For a long time, "paying drivers", "bringing capital into the group" and "Chinese market" have been topics that cannot be avoided in "China Week". But should we still be so unconfident when Mick Schumacher, now the son of the king of cars, was abandoned by F1 and Zhou Guanyu was able to get a contract extension from Alfa Romeo?

Throughout his racing career, Zhou Guanyu has stepped out step by step from F3, F2 and F1, and he has achieved quite good results in every class of racing. His driving skills have been fully honed in these events, you know, in F3 and F2 races, everyone's car specifications are almost the same, and it is up to his own ability to stand out. Compared with a driver like Ma Zeping who can rely on capital to complete the jump, Zhou Guanyu can get to where he is today, 99% of it is due to his own efforts.

In Bahrain in 2022, Zhou Guanyu scored points in his F1 debut, a total of less than 70 drivers in F1's long history to do so, which is also a testament to Zhou's outstanding individual ability. And after the end of the season, Zhou Guanyu also took the honor of F1 Rookie of the Year, how unconfident must he be to believe that this is the FIA's move to curry favor with the Chinese market?

Many new F1 fans may be keen to compare Zhou's skills with championship drivers such as Hamilton and Verstappen, and conclude that their skills are inferior. What we need to know is that F1 drivers have very different driving styles, Zhou Guanyu is characterized by an offensive and defensive balance, comprehensive ability, he is not the kind of driver who can instantly bring out the maximum potential of the car, but he can push the car with the team through his own exploration, and gradually feedback it into the race, which has been repeatedly verified in the last season's race. Alfa Romeo's ability to offer a contract extension with a large number of candidates is also the best proof that Zhou Guanyu's driving skills have steadily reached the world-class level.

Can the new season go one step further?

In his rookie season, Zhou finished 17 of the 22 races, scoring points in three of them, and finished 18th in the drivers' standings with six points, 43 points less than for Bottas. Can Zhou Guanyu go further in the new season?

First of all, we must understand that the performance of F1 drivers is limited by various aspects, especially the speed of the team's vehicles and the tacit degree of coordination, so we cannot say with great certainty that Zhou Guanyu's points will greatly exceed last season, because Alfa Romeo's fighting power in the new season is still unknown.

But what we can fully expect is that the cooperation between Zhou Guanyu and teammate Bottas will definitely be more tacit than last season, and the difference between the two points may be significantly reduced. At the same time, the mutual trust between Zhou Guanyu and the team will be a leap compared to last season, so that Zhou Guanyu's participation in racing research and development and car tuning will also reach a new level, which will deepen his understanding of F1 cars, which will be of great benefit to his future career.

After last season, Zhou admitted that at least two or three of the games he withdrew could have been avoided. This is actually the tuition that young drivers have to pay, and in the new season, a very important indicator to judge whether Zhou Guanyu has made progress on the basis of the previous season is to see whether the number of such mistakes will be further reduced, and when the opportunity arises, whether it can really be converted into points.

How far is he from the first person in Chinese sports?

There are so many sports that "first person" is a difficult criterion to judge, but it is something that sports fans have been passionate about, and we can roughly measure it in several aspects: achievement, market value, influence.

In the long history of sports in New China, only Deng Yaping, Liu Xiang, Yao Ming, Li Na and a few others can assume the title of the first person. Zhou Guanyu undoubtedly has a long way to go if he wants to reach this height, but the advantages he currently holds are incomparable to many people.

2023 is not a big year for sports in the traditional sense, the Olympics, the World Cup (of course, we have nothing to do with it) and other competitions will be in even-numbered years, winter sports have the limitations of the audience, so the most eye-catching is the competitive professional sports. China's three major balls are currently at a relative trough, and only a very small number of players like Zhu Ting can barely support a piece of the world; Women's tennis has plummeted in popularity after Li Na's retirement, and it will take time for rookies like Zheng Qinwen to truly take over, men's tennis has an inherent breakthrough, but there is still a clear gap from the world's first-class, and as for the snooker stars who were once pinned on high hopes, they are currently plagued by scandals and have no time to care.

Zhou's advantage is that his platform is the most money-burning and attractive to young people in the world, and his market value itself is there. Zhou Guanyu himself is young and handsome, fully equipped with the characteristics of "breaking the circle", once his results make a breakthrough, then his popularity will explode. Let's make a bold assumption: if Zhou Guanyu can finish on the podium once in the new season, or win the favor of the big teams after the end of the season, his status in the Chinese sports world will rise to an enviable level. In other words, Zhou Guanyu may not be the first person in Chinese sports at present, but he is steadily on the road to achieving this goal.