China will have its first F1 driver in 2022

By sep, 17 November 2021

China's Guanyu Zhou signs with Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN for the 2022 F1 season

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN will be competing in the 2022 F1 season with a fresh new face coming from China - 22-year-old Guanyu Zhou. With multiple race wins in the FIA F2 championship, Zhou will be making his debut in Formula 1 at the season opener in Bahrain which will be taking place at the end of March next year.

Guanyu Zhou will be the first-ever full-time F1 race driver hailing from China, and the signing is considered to be a major pivoting point for the country's future in motorsports. Zhou's experiences and achievements have put him in the sights of F1 teams for quite some time with wins in the Italian F4, Euro F3 and F2, plus more.

According to Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN, "It is a pleasure to welcome Guanyu Zhou to Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN. He is a very talented driver, as his results in F2 have shown, and we are looking forward to helping his talent flourish even more in Formula One. We are proud of our line-up for 2022 and we are confident Zhou will form a very successful partnership with Valtteri. We are also looking forward to welcoming all the new Chinese fans who will join the team: Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN is a historical brand and one that embodies the spirit of Formula One and we will do our utmost to make the experience of our sport a great one in China."

As for Guanyu Zhou himself, the 22-year-old stated "I dreamt from a young age of climbing as high as I can in a sport that I am passionate about, and now the dream has come true. It is a privilege for me to start my Formula 1 Racing career with an iconic team, a team that has introduced so much young talent into Formula 1 in the past. Now the dream is reality. I feel well prepared for the immense challenge of Formula 1, the pinnacle of my sport, alongside a proven, world-class talent in Valtteri Bottas. I wish to thank the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team for this opportunity. Next year the target will be to learn as much as possible and as quickly as possible. To be the first-ever Chinese driver in Formula 1 is a breakthrough for Chinese motorsport history. I know a lot of hopes will be resting on me and, as ever, I will take this as motivation to become better and achieve more.”