37 Facts About Zhou Guanyu

1.

Zhou Guanyu is a Chinese racing driver who currently competes in Formula One for Alfa Romeo.

2.

Zhou Guanyu is the first Chinese driver to compete in Formula One.

3.

Zhou Guanyu competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for UNI-Virtuosi Racing from 2019 to 2021, having finished 3rd in the 2021 campaign.

4.

Zhou Guanyu made his first and only appearance in the Karting World Championship, driving for Ricky Flynn Motorsport alongside Lando Norris and Jehan Daruvala.

5.

Zhou Guanyu joined Prema Powerteam for the 2015 Italian F4 Championship.

6.

Zhou Guanyu competed in selected rounds of the German ADAC F4 Championship, achieving two podium finishes in Spielberg and Spa.

7.

Zhou Guanyu joined team Motopark for the 2016 FIA European F3 Championship.

8.

Zhou Guanyu stayed for a second F3 season by rejoining Prema and improved to 8th in standings with 5 podium finishes.

9.

Zhou Guanyu won his second F3 race in Hockenheim, finishing the season 8th in the standings, with 3 poles, and 2 wins.

10.

In December 2018, Zhou Guanyu joined UNI-Virtuosi Racing along with Luca Ghiotto for the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship.

11.

Zhou Guanyu achieved a maiden feature race podium in Barcelona after a strong qualifying and leading most of the race before dropping to third due to tyre degradation.

12.

Zhou Guanyu subsequently achieved another 3rd in the Monaco sprint race by overtaking Artem Markelov at the start.

13.

At Silverstone, Zhou Guanyu scored his first Formula 2 pole position, becoming the first Chinese driver to do so.

14.

Later, Zhou Guanyu scored third place in the sprint race at Paul Ricard.

15.

Zhou Guanyu finished seventh in the championship and was awarded the Anthoine Hubert Award for being the highest-finishing rookie.

16.

Zhou Guanyu remained at UNI-Virtuosi for the 2020 season, partnering Ferrari Driver Academy member Callum Ilott.

17.

Zhou Guanyu took his second Formula 2 pole position at the opening race at the Red Bull Ring.

18.

Later in the year, Zhou Guanyu won his first Formula 2 race in Sochi, after Aitken and Ghiotto crashed at lap 5 of the sprint race, causing a premature end of the race.

19.

Zhou Guanyu entered his third F2 season staying with UNI-Virtuosi and partnering Felipe Drugovich.

20.

Zhou Guanyu took pole position in the opening round at Bahrain and converted the pole to his first feature race win in F2.

21.

Zhou Guanyu broke his duck by taking his third victory of the season in the feature race in Britain, beating out Ticktum for the victory.

22.

At the following round in Monza Zhou Guanyu was able to end up on the podium twice, losing out to Theo Pourchaire and Piastri in races one and three respectively.

23.

Zhou Guanyu bounced back in the final round at Abu Dhabi, signing off his F2 career by winning the second sprint race and finishing second in the feature race.

24.

Zhou Guanyu finished the season third in the championship, having achieved 4 wins, 1 pole and 9 podiums.

25.

Zhou Guanyu won the championship after achieving 4 wins, 5 poles and 11 podiums in the season.

26.

In 2014, Zhou Guanyu joined the Ferrari Driver Academy while competing in karting.

27.

Zhou Guanyu left the academy at the end of 2018 and joined the Renault Sport Academy the following year ahead of his move into Formula 2.

28.

Zhou Guanyu was promoted to the role of Test Driver in 2020.

29.

Zhou Guanyu remained part of the rebranded Alpine Academy for 2021 and made his Formula One race weekend debut for Alpine F1 Team, driving the A521 during the first practice session of the Austrian Grand Prix.

30.

Zhou Guanyu signed with Alfa Romeo for the 2022 Formula One season, partnering Valtteri Bottas and becoming China's first Formula One race driver.

31.

Zhou Guanyu chose 24 as his permanent racing number to honour his sporting hero Kobe Bryant, who wore the number during his basketball career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

32.

At the Canadian Grand Prix, Zhou Guanyu reached the third qualifying session for the first time and finished the race eighth, scoring points for the second time.

33.

Zhou Guanyu was extracted and taken to the medical centre, and then declared fit after being observed.

34.

Zhou Guanyu later commented that the halo saved his life during the crash.

35.

Zhou Guanyu scored another point by finishing tenth at the Italian Grand Prix, which ended behind the safety car.

36.

Zhou Guanyu finished sixteenth at the rain-shortened Japanese Grand Prix, but a late pit stop for new tyres allowed him to claim the fastest lap for the first time in his career.

37.

Zhou Guanyu ended the season eighteenth in the World Drivers' Championship with 6 points to teammate Bottas' 49.