Zhou Guanyu (Chinese: 周冠宇; pinyin: Zhōu Guànyǔ, pronounced ; born 30 May 1999) is a Chinese racing driver who currently competes in Formula One for Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber. He is the first, and so far the only, Chinese driver to start a World Championship Formula One race. He competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for UNI-Virtuosi Racing from 2019 to 2021, having finished 3rd in the 2021 campaign.
A former member of the Alpine Academy, he served as the test driver for the Renault F1 Team and the Alpine F1 Team in 2020 and 2021 respectively. Prior to that, he was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2014 to 2018, and served as the development driver for Formula E team DS Techeetah in 2018.
Early career
Karting
Having started karting when he was eight years old in China, Zhou moved to Sheffield in 2012 for a more competitive racing environment. In 2013 racing with the Sheffield-based Strawberry Racing team, he won both the Super 1 National Rotax Max Junior Championship and Rotax Max Euro Challenge. For his final year of karting, Zhou finished 2nd in the Rotax Max Senior Euro Challenge and participated in selected rounds of WSK Champions Cup and the KF2 European Championship. He also made his first and only appearance in the Karting World Championship, driving for Ricky Flynn Motorsport alongside Lando Norris and Jehan Daruvala.
Formula 4
Zhou joined Prema Powerteam for the 2015 Italian F4 Championship. After winning all three races in Round 2 at Monza and consistently finishing on the podium, Zhou ended the season as vice-champion and best rookie. He also competed in selected rounds of the German ADAC F4 Championship, achieving two podium finishes in Spielberg and Spa.
FIA Formula 3 European Championship
2016
Zhou joined team Motopark for the 2016 FIA European F3 Championship. After a successful season opener rounds in Paul Ricard and Hungaroring by finishing in 2 podium positions, Zhou struggled to find pace during the 2nd half of the season, finishing in 13th for his maiden season.
2017
Zhou stayed for a second F3 season by rejoining Prema and improved to 8th in standings with 5 podium finishes. Season highlights included leading race 3 in Spa and holding back Lando Norris in the penultimate round.
2018
After speculation of a possible move to F2, Zhou remained with Prema for a third F3 season. After a maiden career win in Pau, a podium in Hungaroring, and three consecutive podium finishes in Zandvoort, Zhou found him standing in 2nd, just a point behind teammate Marcus Armstrong. Despite a strong qualifying pace in Spa and Silverstone, Zhou suffered 4 consecutive retirements with a series of teammate collisions and tyre punctures. Zhou won his second F3 race in Hockenheim, finishing the season 8th in the standings, with 3 poles, and 2 wins.
FIA Formula 2
2019
In December 2018, Zhou joined UNI-Virtuosi Racing along with Luca Ghiotto for the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship. Zhou 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. He subsequently achieved another 3rd in the Monaco sprint race by overtaking Artem Markelov at the start. At Silverstone, Zhou scored his first Formula 2 pole position, becoming the first Chinese driver to do so. Later, Zhou also scored third place in the sprint race at Paul Ricard. In the feature race at Silverstone, he lost positions to his teammate and race winner Luca Ghiotto and the second-place driver Nicholas Latifi. In Abu Dhabi, he also finished third with the fastest lap in Race 1. He finished seventh in the championship and was subsequently awarded the Anthoine Hubert Award for being the highest-finishing rookie.
2020
Zhou remained at UNI-Virtuosi for the 2020 season, partnering Ferrari Driver Academy member Callum Ilott. Zhou took his second Formula 2 pole position at the opening race at the Red Bull Ring. However, his car suffered electronic problems whilst leading the feature race, causing him to drop to 17th. Later in the year, Zhou 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. Over the season, Zhou achieved 6 podiums and finished sixth in the championship.
2021
Zhou entered his third F2 season staying with UNI-Virtuosi and partnering Felipe Drugovich. He took pole position in the opening round at Bahrain and converted the pole to his first feature race win in F2. The Chinese driver took another victory in the first sprint race in Monaco ahead of his team-mate Drugovich. However, after another podium in Baku, Zhou went four races without scoring points, with a brake failure and a resulting collision with Dan Ticktum in the first lap of the second race in Azerbaijan and a spin in the first sprint race at Silverstone allowing fellow academy member Oscar Piastri to take the lead in the standings. Zhou broke his duck by taking his third victory of the season in the feature race in Britain, beating out Ticktum for the victory. At the following round in Monza Zhou was able to end up on the podium twice, losing out to Théo Pourchaire and Piastri in races one and three respectively. Unfortunately for the Chinese driver, he stalled his car following a spin before the first race in Sochi and only managed to finish the feature race in sixth place, thus losing more ground to leader Piastri, who went into the penultimate round with a 36-point advantage. In Round 7 at Jeddah, he dropped to third in the standings after a spin caused by colliding with Christian Lundgaard in the first sprint race. He 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. He finished the season third in the championship, having achieved 4 wins, 1 pole and 9 podiums.
F3 Asian Championship
During the winter break before the start of the 2021 Formula 2 season, Zhou participated in the 2021 F3 Asian Championship driving for Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema. He won the championship after achieving 4 wins, 5 poles and 11 podiums in the season.
Formula One
In 2014, Zhou joined the Ferrari Driver Academy while competing in karting. He left the academy at the end of 2018 and joined the Renault Sport Academy the following year ahead of his move into Formula 2. He served as a development driver for the Renault F1 Team in 2019 and took part in an R.S.17 testing programme, driving at five different circuits during the year. He was promoted to the role of Test Driver in 2020. He participated in the Virtual Grand Prix Series—an esports competition organised by Formula One in place of races postponed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic—and won the first race held at the Bahrain International Circuit. Once the 2020 season resumed, Zhou took part in three test sessions driving the Renault R.S.18, including the post-season test at Yas Marina Circuit alongside Fernando Alonso. Zhou 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. This made him the second driver from Mainland China to participate in a Grand Prix weekend session after Ma Qinghua.
Alfa Romeo (2022–2023)
2022
Zhou signed with Alfa Romeo for the 2022 Formula One season, partnering Valtteri Bottas and becoming China's first Formula One race driver. In a press release following the announcement, Zhou stated that he was "well prepared for the immense challenge of Formula 1" and that his entry into the series would be "a breakthrough for Chinese motorsport history". He 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. He qualified fifteenth on his debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix, but recovered from a poor start in the race to finish tenth, scoring a point.
Seven races without points followed. A collision with Pierre Gasly eliminated him from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix sprint, which was followed by mechanical retirements at the Miami and Spanish Grands Prix. A hydraulics issue at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix caused his third retirement in four races. At the Canadian Grand Prix, Zhou reached the third qualifying session (Q3) for the first time and finished the race eighth, scoring points for the second time. At the next race, the British Grand Prix, he was involved in a high-speed collision with George Russell on the opening lap that caused Zhou's car to flip upside-down, skid across the track and gravel and bounce over the barriers into the catch fence. He was extracted and taken to the medical centre, and then declared fit after being observed. Zhou later commented that the halo saved his life during the crash.
More mechanical problems followed; he was required to start the Austrian Grand Prix sprint from the pit lane after an engine issue on the formation lap, and another power unit issue caused his retirement from the French Grand Prix. He scored another point by finishing tenth at the Italian Grand Prix, which ended behind the safety car. A collision with Nicholas Latifi ended his race at the Singapore Grand Prix. He 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. Zhou ended the season eighteenth in the World Drivers' Championship with six points to teammate Bottas's 49.
2023
Zhou remained with Alfa Romeo for 2023 alongside Bottas. During the second day of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, he set the fastest lap time of 1:31.610. He qualified thirteenth at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix and finished sixteenth, having made a pit stop for soft tyres on the penultimate lap to claim the fastest lap of the race. Alfa Romeo later explained that this was done to deny rivals Alpine and ninth-placed Pierre Gasly the bonus point. Zhou claimed his first points-scoring finish of the season at the Australian Grand Prix with ninth place, having started seventeenth. This was followed by a mechanical retirement at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He scored points again at the Spanish Grand Prix, starting thirteenth and finishing ninth. He achieved his best Formula One qualifying performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix, setting the fastest Q1 time and then qualifying fifth. He was slow off the start line and was then involved in a first-corner collision for which he received a time penalty; he went on to finish the race sixteenth.
Zhou started fifteenth on the grid at the Dutch Grand Prix but a call to change to intermediate tyres after lap one promoted him as high as second place. He eventually dropped outside the top ten and later crashed out of the race when the rain returned. Zhou qualified nineteenth at the Singapore Grand Prix and was required to start from the pit lane as his car was modified in parc fermé. Despite "unfortunate" safety car timing, he recovered to twelfth after "an epic stint on the medium tyres". Zhou qualified last on the grid at the Qatar Grand Prix, but benefitted from Carlos Sainz Jr.'s failure to start, a collision between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell and other drivers' struggles with the extreme heat to take ninth place in the main race, his third points finish of the season. He reached Q3 in qualifying at the Mexico City Grand Prix, but was unable to hold off the cars behind and was classified fourteenth at the finish. He qualified in last place at the São Paulo Grand Prix and retired from the race with engine issues.
Zhou finished eighteenth in the World Drivers' Championship with six points, an identical result to 2022. Teammate Bottas scored ten points and qualified ahead of Zhou at fifteen of the twenty-two races. Autosport praised Zhou for "holding his own" against Bottas but identified qualifying as an area for improvement, and RaceFans described his performance in 2023 as "professional if unspectacular".
Sauber (2024)
2024
Zhou and Bottas were retained at the team for the 2024 season. Following the end of Sauber's partnership with Alfa Romeo, the team rebranded to Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber to accommodate the sponsorship of Stake.com and Kick. Zhou is due to race in his home city of Shanghai for the first time in April as the Chinese Grand Prix returns to the calendar.
Zhou improved from seventeenth on the grid to eleventh at the finish at the opening race, the Bahrain Grand Prix. He crashed in the final practice session at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the team were unable to repair his car in time to set a qualifying lap; he finished the race last of the running drivers in eighteenth place. He damaged his front wing in qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix and was forced to start the race from the pit lane due to a different specification replacement part being fitted; the team had not brought spares of the current design to Australia. He finished the race fifteenth. This was followed by a gearbox-related retirement at the Japanese Grand Prix after qualifying in last place.
At the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, he finished his first home race in 14th place. After the race, he was given a special parking spot on the grid to celebrate the completion of his first ever home race in front of the Chinese crowd.
Karting record
Karting career summary
Original Wikipedia article last retrieved on 06 May 2024.