Zhou Guanyu's name is destined to have written a strong stroke in Chinese motorsports. As the first Chinese F1 driver in history, he finished 14th in the F1 Grand Prix in Shanghai. Although the results are almost meaningless, they are very meaningful!
You must know that motorsports may be a particularly niche sport in China, and few people know and participate, but the global influence of F1 is too great, and the key is that it has trendy attributes, plus it has been pigeon in China for several years, and the popularity of this time even surpasses that of international basketball events such as the NBA.
Motorsport, a sport that requires huge financial and material support, and the presence of a figure like Zhou Guanyu in China cannot be denied to be inseparable from his family background. It wasn't a civilian movement in the first place.
It is not easy to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in his son to learn racing, and to continue to support Guanyu's parents this week after his son suffered such a serious car accident.
His father, Zhou Wenfang, was not only a successful businessman, but also a forward-thinking father. It has 15 companies, four of which are named after Zhou Guanyu, and according to the latest disclosure, the turnover of Guanyu Automobile Sales Company in 2017 was as high as 3 billion yuan.
Zhou Guanyu was born in Shanghai and grew up in Shanghai, when he was 5 years old, he went to the Shanghai Circuit for the first time and was immediately fascinated by racing, and at the age of 7, accompanied by his father, he got into a two-seater go-kart and began racing training.
To support his racing training, in 2008 his father invested 12 million yuan in Weifang, Shandong Province to build the Guanyu Auto Park and designed a go-kart track specifically for him. However, there is a lack of a deep racing culture in the country, and top-of-the-line racing training facilities are equally scarce.
In contrast, Europe has attracted much more attention than China, both in terms of the racing atmosphere and the general public. In China, it's hard to see any other hot motorsport event other than F1. The reason behind this is simple: our parents were the first generation to start with cars, and in Europe, where the history of racing dates back to the time of their ancestors, this long-term passion and attention has given rise to a more mature racing culture.
So, when Zhou Guanyu was 12 years old, his mother accompanied him to England to learn and train in racing. In the years that followed, he excelled, winning successive championships in the Americas, England and European Championships. He worked his way up the kart class to F4, F3 and F2, and finally stood on the threshold of F1. Due to the uniqueness of motorsport, most athletes, with the exception of a few talented people, need a lot of sponsorship support to make the cut.
At this critical juncture, his wealthy father once again made a big splash of support, spending 30 million euros (about 230 million yuan) to make Zhou Guanyu officially join the Alfa Romeo team in 2021, becoming the first F1 driver in Chinese history.
However, it would be naïve to think that his parents only gave him financial support, when in fact, learning to race requires not only rigorous physical training, but also the inevitable accidents. For example, last year, Zhou Guanyu experienced a serious car accident, but fortunately with the protection of the Halo system, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.
Put yourself in their shoes, how many parents can continue to support in this situation?
If you stand in the perspective of your parents, do you think you can do it? I feel that most of them can't do it! But Zhou Guanyu's parents not only support him, but also watch the game in person every time.
Their courage, educational outlook, and values are really admirable.
Zhou Guanyu and his parents completely subverted many people's traditional impression of wealthy families, especially the rich second generation. Especially the rich second generation can be so inspirational and so hard!
As one of the top 20 drivers in the world, Zhou Guanyu actually can't get top resources, and being able to drive Sauber's car is the result of all his efforts. Even the top drivers like Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc might have the same result if they were to drive the same car. Zhou Guanyu's performance was on par with his team-mate Bottas, who was Hamilton's partner at Mercedes, and Bottas's skills were equally impressive.
We also know that he brought good advertising revenue to the team, which led to a few spots, which no one can deny!
Because his family is extremely wealthy, he can choose to live a rich second generation life of eating, drinking and having fun, but Zhou Guanyu chose to leave his hometown, grow up in Europe and devote himself to motor racing, pursuing his passion, and eventually becoming a top racing driver. Although his achievements may not be the most outstanding, this has little to do with strength.
At the end of the day, although many people come from well-off families and can choose a comfortable life, they choose to work hard for their passion, career and contribution to Chinese automobiles and racing. Their efforts are not easy.
It is not easy to spark a spark, so I especially hope that Zhou Guanyu will have everything smoothly and safely in the future competitions, and create more brilliant results.