The Paper's reporter Chen Jun
On July 2, Beijing time, in the first free practice of the 2021 F1 Austrian Grand Prix, Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu staged his F1 debut.
Driving Alonso's A521 debuted, he finished 14th on the fastest lap with a time of 1:06.414. From testing for the team to actually entering the practice race of the Grand Prix weekend, China's best driver of the moment has taken another solid step towards his ultimate dream of becoming an official driver of the Formula 1 Grand Prix.
For the first time, the surging news reporter interviewed Zhou Guanyu, who was far away in Europe, and listened to him review this wonderful weekend.
Zhou Guanyu
Compete with your idol drivers
"It was much better than I and everyone expected, and although I didn't use the fastest soft tires according to the team's requirements, I ran with neutral tires, but I also ran a good result." From Zhou Guanyu's voice, you can hear his excitement.
Alpine F1 team for the weekend to consider the race, the soft tire left for Alonso second practice, Zhou Guanyu used the neutral tire mainly to help the team feel the tuning of the car, and collect data and information feedback, but his final result was only less than 0.5 seconds slower than the official Alpine team driver Okang who used the soft tire, ranking more than the four-time world champion Viterel.
From this point of view, Zhou Guanyu, who debuted in the practice competition, made a good start and gave people unlimited imagination - he can break the wrist of those F1 drivers.
Zhou Guanyu himself also enjoyed the weekend, according to him: "Before the run, I was actually very nervous, running a practice race for the first time, and for a long time (8 years) finally another Chinese driver entered the grand prix weekend, many people will pay attention to me, I want to prove myself at this critical time, but the more I want to prove myself, the more I am worried about mistakes." ”
However, as he entered the race, Zhou Guanyu was also completely surrounded by a feeling of happiness: "In the first stage, I was mainly familiar with the car, and in the second stage, I began to push the performance of the car to the limit, at that time I did not have a nervous feeling, I was completely enjoying the process." ”
"It's hard to describe how it feels when you look at the championship drivers who are racing around Hamilton, they're the drivers I've admired since I was a kid, because I chose this path, and now I can compete with them and drive the car of my idol Alonso..."
Zhou Guanyu showed a good performance on the track.
Alonso accompanied him on the track
Nearly 24 hours have passed since the race, and Zhou Guanyu recalls that moment, still full of excitement: "This feeling is really magical, which tells me that if you have a dream, you have to chase." ”
Of course, the significance of this debut practice race for Zhou Guanyu is not just to race lap with the idols, he told the surging news reporter: "This is the first time I have really entered the weekend of the F1 Grand Prix, and all the preparations I have made for the practice race, all the processes involved in it, are exactly the same as an official F1 driver." ”
After deciding to conduct practice matches for the Alpine F1 team, Zhou Guanyu was 100% involved every day, he familiarized himself with the track through the simulator, participated in every preparation meeting of the team, frequently communicated with the engineers on every detail, reviewed various data from the previous Austrian station...
All this means that Zhou Guanyu is really opening this practice race as an F1 driver.
In the interview, Zhou Guanyu also mentioned Alonso, because he was driving Alonso's car, the two had more intersections than in the past, Zhou Guanyu revealed that during the whole preparation process, the two world champions gave themselves a lot of help.
"Alonso, the one who communicated the most, before we met, he texted me to discuss the details, such as the characteristics of the track, the difference between low-speed and high-speed corners."
"The day before the race, on Thursday, he accompanied me on the track again, to understand the situation on the ground and to understand my preparations, and usually an experienced driver like him would not go to the track on his own. He told me that I could ask him any questions on the weekend and I really appreciated Alonso. ”
Zhou Guanyu is currently the closest Chinese driver to F1.
Looking forward to getting more F1 testing opportunities to practice
In the way the world champion works, which point impresses Zhou Guanyu the most? Zhou Guanyu's answer was: "He is very direct, you can feel that as long as he enters the tournament, he is doing his best to be a winner." ”
"For the sake of victory, he wouldn't hide anything. For example, if there is a problem with the car, he will point it out directly, if it is his own problem, he will also say it frankly, I appreciate his personality and way of working, what to say, very real. ”
Zhou Guanyu's debut received positive feedback, and he will continue to collect relevant data for the F1 team on the one hand, and at the same time prepare for the fourth race of F2 at Silverstone two weeks later, in Zhou Guanyu's view, he needs to be tough in both hands.
"Last year's race didn't run to the best because of some factors, and this year's F2 race will definitely have to play at its highest level. Personally, I would like to be able to get more test and practice opportunities, and although there will be an overlap in the race weeks of F1 and F2 (I can't test for F1 when I participate in F2), I still hope that the Alpine F1 team will give me more opportunities. ”
At present, Zhou Guanyu continues to lead the way in F2 and it is foreseeable that by the end of the season, he will stand in the formula circle with a stronger posture.
And for all those who care about Zhou Guanyu, the biggest expectation is to watch him appear in the main competition of the F1 Grand Prix in the near future, which is also the biggest dream of Zhou Guanyu himself.
Earlier, Mia Sharizman, director of Alpine Academy, said: "For China, which has not yet appeared in F1 drivers, Zhou Guanyu personally carries the precious opportunity of 'once in a generation'. "Looking at the Chinese automotive industry with relatively weak talent reserves, except for Zhou Guanyu, I am afraid that no one else can be so close to F1 at the moment."
This is the motivation and pressure, can Zhou Guanyu, a young man who is only 21 years old, withstand it? Zhou Guanyu said that he was ready: "I know that this is my dream, and the dream of all Chinese racing people, I can only redouble my efforts to achieve it, I don't want to leave myself regrets." 」 ”
Editor-in-Charge: Pu Yaolei
Proofreader: Ding Xiao