April 19-21, 2024, this is the weekend of the F1 Chinese Grand Prix, and it is also a grand event for motorsport fans around the world. After five years, the F1 Grand Prix is back in China, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the F1 Chinese Grand Prix, and the first home race of China's first F1 driver, Zhou Guanyu, has brought unprecedented attention to F1 in China.
Before the start of the F1 Chinese Grand Prix, Zhou Guanyu posted her mother's latest book, "Walking with Love: Zhou Guanyu's F1 Dream Road", which was her number one viewer, via Weibo. Immediately, I placed an order for this new book full of love as soon as possible, and read it as soon as possible. In this issue, let's talk about the feeling after reading this book.
Introduction of Chengpin
The cover of this book is a close-up of Zhou Guanyu's portrait, although the brand logo on the hat has been treated, but as a fan of Zhou Guanyu, you can see at a glance that this is Zhou Guanyu wearing the 2022 F1 team uniform and team baseball cap, 2022 is also the first year of Zhou Guanyu's F1 season. The track is used as the background, blurred, and in addition to the title of the book, the cover is also marked with "Zhou Guanyu's F1 Dream Road" and "China's first F1 driver Zhou Guanyu", so that people can know the general content of the book at a glance.
There are also two star films with the book, one is a paddock photo of Zhou Guanyu in casual clothes, and the other is a photo of Zhou Guanyu and his mother, wearing a racing suit for the 2023 season.
After opening the book, we can see a passage written by Zhou Guanyu to his mother: "Great mother, thank you for teaching and accompanying me since I was a child. Mom, you've worked hard!" At the same time, there was also the familiar signature of Zhou Guanyu.
The book contains more than 130 color photographs, spanning 20 years, Zhou Guanyu began to contact the world of motorsport at the age of 7, and at the age of 12, accompanied by his mother, he resolutely moved to the United Kingdom to pursue his inner racing dream, and eventually became a new generation of F1 drivers.
In the F1 paddock, there are two types of drivers, one is a highly talented driver like Verstappen, and the other is a practical driver like Zhou Guanyu, who is steady and tenacious. From karting, to F4, F3, F2, and finally to F1, Zhou Guanyu has been able to gain a foothold in the Western value system by working hard all the way to "fight monsters and upgrade", during which he has struggled, succeeded, failed, and even faced the death of his teammates several times.
In the 2019 F2 race, Zhou Guanyu has already made his debut, climbed the podium five times, and won the "Best Newcomer of the Year" award from the FIA. In the 2020 Topps company's first-year driver card, Zhou Guanyu, wearing the UNI-Virtuosi team uniform, crossed his hands on his waist, and was very handsome.
In the second round of the 2020 F2 race in Sochi, Russia, Zhou Guanyu started from pole position and finally won the first championship of his F2 career, creating the history of Chinese racing. In the 2021 Topps driver's card, Zhou Guanyu, who is also wearing the UNI-Virtuosi team jersey, crosses his hands and hugs his chest, obviously feeling much more mature. The white ceramic Hublot watch on the wrist, which has also been introduced before, was sponsored as Zhou Guanyu's personal sponsor.
In 2021, he won 2 main race wins, 2 sprint wins, 9 podiums, 1 pole position, and won the third place in F2. On November 16 of the same year, the Alfa Romeo F1 team announced the signing of Zhou Guanyu and the team. Zhou Guanyu is the No. 2 driver in the 2022 F1 World Championship. So far, Zhou Guanyu has become the first F1 driver in Chinese history, and the first driver to officially qualify for the annual F1 race.
The latter story is relatively familiar to everyone. On March 21, 2022, in the opening race of the 2022 F1 Grand Prix, Zhou Guanyu finished 10th and earned the first F1 points of his career. On June 19, in the F1 Canadian Grand Prix, Zhou Guanyu finished in 8th place and scored 4 points. On September 11, in the F1 Italian Grand Prix, Zhou Guanyu finished in 10th place and won 1 point. In this way, Zhou Guanyu completed his F1 rookie season with 6 points and won the Autosport Rookie of the Year. The Alfa Romeo F1 Team finished sixth in the year, which is still very positive.
Compared with Zhou Guanyu's remarkable rookie season performance, the accident that occurred at Silverstone Circuit in England on July 3, 2022 affected the hearts of all fans and Zhou Guanyu's family. Just after the start of the race, the car driven by Zhou Guanyu had a major accident, and after rolling over and sliding for a period of time, the car crashed directly into the barrier. The result was well known, and Zhou Guanyu was well and quickly recovered, continuing to participate in the Austrian Grand Prix a week later. After this incident, everyone knows about the halo system on F1, and once again has to admire the safety of the current F1 car. What I admire even more is Zhou Guanyu's tenacious character, in the accident of life and death, he can quickly come out and continue to compete in the field, which can be called a "paddock miracle".
In the 2023 season, Zhou Guanyu finished 9th in three races, with a total of 6 points. If you just look at the points, it's the same as in the rookie season, and there is no improvement. The good news is that Zhou Guanyu's successful contract extension with the team will allow him to continue racing as an F1 driver in 2024, especially with the return of the Chinese Grand Prix. This is also the book that was produced, just before the start of the 2024 Formula 1 China Championship.
Like many mothers, the author's greatest wish is that he be safe. It seems ordinary, but it is the most real emotion. The 2024 season will also be full of challenges for Zhou. As of press time, Zhou Guanyu and Sauber Racing have not yet gained points, which can be described as a "bad start", and there are different opinions about the 2025 season quota, but everyone's blessings and expectations for Zhou Guanyu remain unchanged.
Other people's "Little Zhou"
Just like Gu Ailing at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Zhou Guanyu at the Shanghai International Circuit in April 2024 has become the focus of attention of the Chinese people. There is no doubt that every step of Zhou Guanyu in the future is to write the history of Chinese racing, and his personal commercial value is also the top in China.
In China, children's education is the most concerned thing for parents. Gu Ailing's story has caused a lot of discussion in the society. In previous articles, we also shared that Gu Ailing's growth process is not only good at skiing and winning gold medals, but also a proper academic bully, who can take care of athletes, students, models and other identities at the same time.
Gu Ailing's mother, Gu Yan graduated from Peking University, and later went to the United States to study, obtained an MBA degree from Stanford, and worked as a ski instructor. Gu Ailing's father is an American, and legend has it that he graduated from Harvard University and is a Google executive. Gu Ailing's grandmother graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, one of China's top universities. Gu Ailing's grandfather and grandfather graduated from Stanford University, and her grandmother Feng Guozhen, a retired cadre of the Ministry of Transport, taught Gu Ailing to speak Chinese, eat Chinese food, and tell her Chinese stories since she was a child.
The family of origin is very important for the education of children. There is an old saying in China that "you can't let your child lose at the starting line", so he began to frantically roll up his own children, hoping that his children would achieve their unfulfilled goals and dreams. There is nothing wrong with such an idea, but the real starting line for children is the family of origin.
In preparation for this topic, I also watched a coming-of-age documentary about Verstappen. Verstappen's parents were both racing drivers, and Verstappen's father was also an F1 driver who had partnered with Schumacher, and although he was not as successful as Schumacher, he was also one of the world's top racing drivers. Such genetics and exposure are incomparable to ordinary amateurs.
Since he was a child, Verstappen's father trained his son with strict requirements, and under countless spurs, suppressions, and stimulation, Verstappen honed his will to be different from ordinary people. Verstappen, who first entered Formula 1, was like a little devil, breaking record after record and continuing to write racing history. Today's Verstappen, in addition to his top-notch driving skills, also has a calm will, able to face all complex racing environments and win races consistently.
Compared with Verstappen, Zhou Guanyu still has a certain gap in talent, and he can become the first person in Chinese F1 car, and the key to his success is inseparable from his own efforts and the support of his family. Sports is not a happy education, it is to cultivate competitiveness, unconventional fighting spirit and leadership, even if there is a strong economic strength as the backing, without a certain talent and acquired efforts, it may not be able to step onto the world-class top stage. Reality tells us that among the more than one billion Chinese, there is only one Gu Ailing and one Zhou Guanyu.
Zhou Guanyu went from karting to F4, F3, F2 to F1, and the money and effort invested during this period are beyond the reach of ordinary families in several lifetimes. Zhou Guanyu succeeded, let us see, let him be a figure in the spotlight. The reality is often harsh, and there are even more talented and financially charged drivers who are eyeing their F1 seats. Zhou Guanyu is lucky, backed by the motherland and Chinese identity, sometimes can add points to his world stage, the influence of the Chinese market and the Chinese circle, for F1 such a purely commercial competitive sports, is also very needed. As the old saying goes, everything is best arranged.
Finally pulled
After reading "Walking with Love: Zhou Guanyu's F1 Dream Road", although the content is very "running account", and there are not too many flowery rhetoric and embellishments, it truly expresses a mother's selfless love for her children. As a father, I know the emotions involved. I very much agree with the author's words at the end of the book: Every child has his own uniqueness and value, and everyone has their own characteristics, so we grow up into all kinds of different people. In the years of accompanying Guanyu and her daughter, we have always respected and accepted their individuality, and we also hope that they will become the person they want to be in this world, no matter what the wind and rain, I will always stand behind them, open my arms at any time, ready to give them a warm hug.
As a parent, you will have expectations for your children, most of them are the same, and support and tolerance are also common. Safety, health, always come first. Just do your best, Zhou Guanyu, come on!