Guanyu Zhou, F1 driver

Shanghai native Zhou first raced in Europe in 2010 following success in Chinese karting competitions. He went on to move to English city Sheffield two years later, at the age of 12, to give his career the impetus it needed, but the cultural shift was substantial."It was a bit of a shock, coming from a huge city like Shanghai," the current Sauber driver said. "Plus Sheffield is all the way up north ...

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Zhou qualified last at Albert Park on Saturday after he broke the left-hand side of his front wing on the Turn 10 exit kerbs on his final flyer, with the main plane cracking and the endplate eventually breaking off.At the time, Zhou was on course to be a contender for Q2, running at a similar pace to team-mate Valtteri Bottas who advanced.Instead, the Chinese driver qualified 19th and last ...

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Charles Leclerc finished second for Ferrari, with Sergio Perez third in the other RB20 and Carlos Sainz's replacement, Oliver Bearman, taking 10th in the second of the Scuderia's machines.Sauber's Valtteri Bottas ventured out on track first, with plenty of attention already on Bearman – a crowd of cameras and photographers clustered in front of what is now his garage.Bottas posted the initial ...

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Zhou scored just six points in his second season in F1 in 2023, equalling his debut year tally, as the then-named Alfa Romeo team struggled for competitiveness with its C43 amid a close midfield battle.The Hinwil squad finished ninth, down from sixth in 2022 when Zhou's team-mate Valtteri Bottas scored 49 points in addition to the Chinese driver's six, which was the best result for the Swiss team ...

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Zhou joined the team formerly known as Alfa Romeo for 2022 but owing to being the first full-time Chinese driver in F1 history, some speculated that his seat was bought rather than earned.He combated that by scoring points on his debut in Bahrain before earning a one-year contract for 2023. It was eventually announced that he had signed for 2024 on another 12-month deal.While taking up an option ...

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While Bottas continuing with the Swiss outfit was a formality, there had been some question marks over Zhou.However, the Chinese driver has now been signed for a third year with the team, which is expected to revert to the Sauber identity for the next two years, ahead of the full transition to the Audi name in 2026.Current FIA F2 championship leader Theo Pourchaire will also remain in his reserve ...

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Despite Zhou being the first full-time Chinese F1 racer, there has been speculation he does not come with major financial banking to incentivise Alfa Romeo to agree on new terms.Speaking ahead of the summer break, Alfa Romeo F1 managing director Alessandro Alunni Bravi reckoned his squad wanted to retain its line-up of Zhou and Valtteri Bottas - who moved from Mercedes for 2022 on a two-year deal ...

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On lap 61 of 72 anticipated heavy showers hit the Zandvoort track, prompting the entire field to change to intermediates of full wets.But even on rain tyres, drivers struggled to navigate the Turn 1 hairpin, with Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu helplessly aquaplaning off the road and into the Tecpro barriers.That caused an initial Virtual Safety Car, which was soon converted into a red flag after 65 laps ...

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After an uneven rookie season, Zhou was afforded the room to grow at the Hinwil squad for a second year. The Chinese driver has rewarded that faith with more consistent and confident performances across the first half of the 2023 season.Even if Alfa Romeo's disappointing car performance meant it has been tough for Zhou to stand out, he hopes to use the August break to agree terms on a fresh ...

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The Chinese racer managed his best F1 qualifying effort to date on Saturday to start fifth but was swamped by the pack after a sluggish getaway, before running into the back of Daniel Ricciardo's AlphaTauri under braking for Turn 1.Ricciardo then inadvertently punted Esteban Ocon into Pierre Gasly, with both Alpine cars eliminated as a result.Zhou copped front wing damage in the impact and also ...

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F1 2023's extremely tight midfield battle is trademarked by an ebb and flow of teams rushing out parts that can yield several positions, but while several teams have made significant gains, Alfa Romeo has been quietly slipping backwards in recent weeks.
Valtteri Bottas and Zhou qualified 14th and 17th respectively at the Austrian Grand Prix. And while Bottas' race was compromised by front wing ...

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Key was eased out of a similar role at McLaren earlier this year after a shake-up of technical responsibilities.
He was soon hired by his former boss Andreas Seidl, who as CEO of Sauber Motorsport is responsible for preparing the Swiss organisation for the arrival of Audi in 2026.
Key, who had a previous spell at Sauber between 2010 and 2012, will join the Hinwil outfit on September 1.
He ...

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On lap 56 of 66 in a round dominated by Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, Alfa Romeo racer Zhou used DRS to challenge Tsunoda for ninth place around the outside into the Turn 1 right-hander.
But as the corner transitioned into Turn 2, Zhou appeared to jink his machine to the left to then take to the escape road before he rejoined the circuit several car lengths behind Tsunoda.
The FIA stewards ...

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A slow launch from George Russell to trigger contact with the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly sent the Mercedes spinning into Zhou on the approach to the Turn 1 right-hander.
The collision with rookie Zhou was enough to flip his car, which then skated on its roll hoop across the asphalt before digging in through the gravel trap.
The Alfa then became airborne to clear the tyre barrier until it was ...

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After an uneven debut season that hinted at Zhou's underlying promise, the Chinese driver was retained for a second year and immediately got off to a stronger start.
While he was behind Bottas in Bahrain, Zhou qualified and finished ahead of the Finn in a difficult race for Alfa Romeo in Saudi Arabia.
When both drivers struggled with unexpected balance issues in Melbourne, Zhou outqualified ...

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After taking over from team-mate Sergio Perez for the afternoon session, Verstappen instantly lit up the timesheet in the Red Bull RB19 and carved his way to the top spot with a 1m31.650s on the C3 tyres.
The reigning world champion, who also spent the entire opening day of the test driving for Red Bull on Thursday, was duly further ahead on his test programme as some rivals didn't switch focus ...

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Zhou says that he never felt more nervous than he did before his first grand prix start in Bahrain last year, a race in which he scored a point with 10th place.
As the only newcomer on the 2022 grid, he went on to enjoy a solid season, despite being hit by reliability issues that cost him valuable points, and the team took up its option to keep him for this year.
"For sure less," he said ...

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Zhou graduated to F1 last year with Alfa Romeo, forming an all-new line-up at the Swiss-based squad alongside Bottas, who joined from Mercedes.
While Bottas was responsible for 49 of Alfa Romeo’s 55 points in 2022, Zhou drew praise for his performances through his rookie campaign, scoring a best result of eighth place at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Bottas agreed with the ...

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The pair collided at the start of the British Grand Prix after Russell tagged Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri that was caught between them leaving the startline, which saw Zhou's Alfa Romeo then immediately flipped onto its rollhoop and slid at high speed through the gravel trap.
It then smashed over the tyre barrier and came to rest in between that structure and the track debris fencing protecting ...

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Zhou became the first Chinese driver to race in F1 this year, joining Alfa Romeo alongside Valtteri Bottas to form an all-new driver line-up for the Swiss-based team.
Ahead of his F1 debut, Zhou faced criticism and even racist abuse online as trolls claimed he only got the nod for the seat due to his nationality and the associated sponsorship. 
But Zhou hit back on debut in Bahrain ...

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The FIA confirmed following the start of opening practice at the Circuit of The Americas that Red Bull's Perez and Alfa Romeo driver Zhou had taken an additional engine component since the last race in Japan.
In both cases, it is their fifth internal combustion engine of the season, meaning both Perez and Zhou will drop five places on the grid from their qualifying position on Saturday.
It ...

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The pair collided early in the race when Latifi moved across on Zhou, with the contact ending the Alfa Romeo driver's race on the spot.
Latifi picked up a puncture and after making it back to the pits he was forced to retire with suspension damage.
The stewards reviewed the incident during the race and determined that Latifi had not left a car's width and was predominantly responsible for ...

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On lap 7 of a wet-to-dry race, Alfa Romeo driver Zhou attempted to find a way past Latifi in a battle for 18th when he tried to pass the Canadian around the outside of Turn 5.
But Latifi appeared to squeeze Zhou into the wall, with the contact between the pair wrecking the Alfa Romeo's front right corner, forcing the Chinese driver to retire from the race on the spot.
Latifi also hit the ...

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Ahead of this weekend?s Singapore Grand Prix, it was announced that Alfa had taken up its option for Zhou?s continued services into 2023 after he made his F1 debut at the season-opening Bahrain race ? scoring points there and then putting in a string of impressive performances.
The confirmation of Zhou?s rookie deal was widely expected in the paddock given his early F1 career success ...

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The news has been expected for some time, and it's understood that the team officially took up its option on the Chinese driver at the end of last month, with the formal announcement timed to coincide with the sport's return to Asian marker for this weekend's Singapore GP.
Zhou scored points with a 10th place finish on his debut with Alfa Romeo in Bahrain, and followed up with eighth in Canada ...

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