On September 27, Beijing time, Alfa Romeo F1 team ORLEN officially announced that the team and Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu have completed a contract renewal, and the two sides will continue to work together to compete in the 2023 F1 Championship.
23-year-old Zhou Guanyu showed the world Chinese speed with his calm driving style and made important contributions to the development of the team. Currently, the team ranks 6th in the standings.
As the first Chinese driver in history to compete in F1, Zhou Guanyu won points in his debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix, laying the foundation for his entry into the top stage of motorsports with practical actions. Zhou Guanyu's tenacity and professional attitude made the team amazed. He also established a deep cooperative relationship with his teammate Valtri Bottas and proved his efforts and progress with his performance on the field.
Zhou Guanyu's diligence is his most outstanding quality, which has won him praise from colleagues from ORLEN of the Alfa Romeo F1 team. "As a frequent visitor to the team's headquarters, he (Zhou Guanyu) has made important contributions to promoting the development of the simulator project and spared no effort to tap the greatest potential from the team's C42 racing."
2022 season, there is the joy of a historical breakthrough and the thrilling of a crash. In the British Grand Prix, due to a series of crashes in the starting stage, Zhou Guanyu's racing was knocked out of the track by Russell's racing car, and then flipped and slipped out of the tire wall. This thrilling scene made all Chinese car fans feel heartbroken. Fortunately, Zhou Guanyu was not seriously injured and then made a comeback at the Austrian Grand Prix. He once said that he seemed to have experienced everything that F1 drivers would only experience in ten years. With a successful rookie season and valuable experience, Zhou Guanyu will continue to move forward on his F1 track. Frederick Vassel, the leader of the team at
, said that he is looking forward to continuing to work with Zhou Guanyu. Since the first day of the team's test in Abu Dhabi last year, he has been impressed by Zhou Guanyu's work attitude. "He (Zhou Guanyu) is a positive person. We all know that he is very fast. He adapted to F1 in a short time, which is one of our biggest surprises this season. He is a very friendly person. Everyone in the team likes his personality and attitude. He is always modest, will ask questions and learn from engineers and Bottas, and will learn what he has learned to help him in the race. Next season he can learn from the experience of this season. I believe that as the team continues to develop, he will go further."
Zhou Guanyu is very grateful to Alfa Romeo F1 team ORLEN for giving himself the opportunity to become a member of the team again. Fighting in the new season, "Entering F1 has made my dream come true. I will never forget the feeling of participating in the competition for the first time. The team has given me great support and helped me adapt to the high-intensity events of F1 as soon as possible. But my dream is not the end. I have many goals to achieve together with the team. The efforts we have made since the beginning of the year are just the first step towards next season and future goals. There are still many things to learn, and there are also many things to improve. I am full of confidence in our work and look forward to writing a new chapter with the team." Editor-in-chief of
column: Chen Hua
Source: Author: Qin Dongying
