How many “turns” will Zhou Guanyu have to pass in his first season to become China’s first F1 driver
2021-11-18 19:23:11Source: Xi’an News Network
Xi’an News Network News 22-year-old Zhou Guanyu made history and became China’s first Formula One (F1) championship driver. This is undoubtedly an exciting news for the domestic racing industry, but for Zhou Guanyu, the new “start” is definitely not only a smooth journey. As a rookie, he will face many challenges in his debut season next year.
“Run-in” time is very tight
As a recognized super newcomer in the field of racing, Zhou Guanyu has already gotten the opportunity to participate in F1 testing this season and has made an appearance in the practice games in Austria. At that time, he admitted in an interview that F1 is very different from the F2 he is familiar with. In other words, he is not very comfortable with F1 cars and race content. Although he has now decided to participate in the F1 race next season, he does not have much time to be familiar with F1 cars.
Zhou Guanyu, who participated in the F2 event this year, will end the competition this season in early December. From the beginning of December this year to the opening of the new F1 season in March next year, he has only a short period of 4 months to “run in”. It’s also worth mentioning that the general F1 team usually does not prepare for the new season until after Christmas. During the preparation period, there are not many opportunities for drivers to test the performance of the car. For a long time, they can only adapt through the simulator. If you want to really “tune up” the car, you must wait until the official pre-season test period starts. The general test period will be set one week before the start of the race. For F1 veterans, a week is not urgent, but for newcomers like Zhou Guanyu, it seems not so “friendly”.
There are “hidden rules” on the field
Those who are familiar with F1 know that compared to other events, F1 is more about teamwork, and the positioning and roles of the drivers in the team are also very clear. In the era when Schumacher dominated the world, he was Ferrari’s top driver. Although his partner Barrichello also had a strong strength, he often had to “sacrifice” himself to complete Schumacher. For example, he had received an instruction from the team to “give Schumacher” before he was about to cross the finish line. Although this behavior is against sports ethics to a certain extent, it is a “hidden rule” in F1.
In most of the teams, due to the gap between the No. 1 driver and the No. 2 driver in terms of strength, qualifications, experience, etc., the No. 2 driver is the helper of the No. 1 driver and often has to completely obey the team’s arrangements. In the Alfa Romeo team, Bottas is the number one driver and Zhou Guanyu is the number two driver, which means that Zhou Guanyu often wants to be a “green leaf”. If Zhou Guanyu and Bottas had conflicts and disagreements during the race, it might affect their future in the team.
It’s not easy to get good grades
Like the NBA, the F1 arena also has a “rookie wall”. Many drivers will encounter various problems and difficulties in their first season, and many of them will be super drivers in the future. In his first F1 race, Schumacher retired because of a vehicle breakdown without finishing the first lap. Alonso did not score a point in his first F1 season. For Zhou Guanyu, facing the best racing driver in the world, he has no advantage as a rookie. Not only his personal abilities still need to be improved, but his racing performance is not very good. Judging from the results of this season, the Alfa Romeo team ranks down, and it is difficult to make a big difference next season.
Despite the difficulties, Zhou Guanyu himself is still full of confidence. He hopes to score points in the game next season. He knows that he will face tremendous pressure, but he said that he has been under tremendous pressure for many years. Work hard to realize your dreams.
Yan Bin, All-Media Reporter of Xi’an Press
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