Zhou Guanyu, born May 30th 1999, is a Chinese driver competing in Formula One for Sauber (formerly branded as Alfa Romeo). Zhou (pronunciation is similar to “Joe”) is also the first Chinese driver to have a full-time race seat in F1. After moving up through the ranks of karting and the lower formulas he became a test driver for Alpine during the 2021 season while he was still competing in Formula 2. His opportunity to impress came at the Austrian Grand Prix that year when he drove his childhood hero’s (Fernando Alonso’s) car in the first free practice of the weekend. Alonso was generous enough to walk the track with Zhou, showing him the best lines and where to hit the curbs. Afterwards, as Zhou returned to pit lane, Alonso could be seen waiting in the garage with a big grin on his face, giving him the thumbs up. Zhou was ready according to Alonso. Unfortunately, there was no seat available at Alpine for the following year, so Zhou signed with Alfa Romeo, bringing in an estimated €30 million in sponsorship money. In 2022 Zhou had a solid rookie year, scoring points at his debut race in Bahrain and on two other occasions.
Zhou Guanyu was born in Shanghai, China and honors the Chinese tradition of having his last name come first. His given name is actually Guanyu, but he has always gone by “Joe” outside of China because it is easier for westerners to pronounce. As a child Zhou grew up with toy cars. That’s all he ever wanted. He would play with them in the living room and do the commentary as though there were a race going on. He hadn’t really ever considered being a driver until he watched the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix on TV in 2004 and became a fan of Fernando Alonso. The following year, when he was five-years-old, his father took him to the race with his Alonso flag and Zhou immediately knew what he wanted to do with his life. His first trip to a go-kart track, however, came at the age of six but Zhou says he was too frightened to drive. So, his father decided to put him in the backseat of a two-seater and drive the track for a ten minute session. According to Zhou, he didn’t even open his eyes and wanted to go home immediately afterwards, but his father talked him into giving it a try before they left. Zhou loved it. He began competing at the age of eight, eventually moving to Sheffield in Britain at the age of twelve with his mother to race against more competitive drivers, while his father stayed in China to run his businesses and raise his sister. It was a massive transition for Zhou. His English was not very good and he was sometimes run off the track and bullied by the other drivers, but he persevered and eventually won the Antoine Hubert Award for being the highest finishing rookie in the Formula 2 Championship. Zhou spent another two years in Formula 2, finishing third in the championship in 2021 behind Oscar Piastri and Robert Schwartzman, before moving to Formula One.
While Zhou is the first Chinese driver to race an F1 car, he’s not the first to drive one. Ma Qinghua had a contract to drive for the HRT team in 2013 but the team went bankrupt at the end of 2012. Ma did, however, manage to drive in several free-practice sessions, including one at the Chinese Grand Prix in 2013 with the Caterham team. Zhou says he’s received a warm welcome on the Formula One paddock and gets along well with his teammate, Vatteri Bottas. He says they have similar driving styles, which translates into more consistent feedback for the engineers developing the car. But Zhou’s rookie season wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows. At Silverstone he received a rude awakening when George Russell’s car flipped him upside down at about 130 miles per hour on the opening lap. Zhou’s car slid wheels to the sky with only the halo protecting his head while sparks flew off the tarmac. The momentum carried him off the track and through the gravel trap before the car was flipped over the tire barrier and into a fence in front of a crowd of nervous spectators. The car was wedged on its side between the fence and the tire barrier, and Zhou was trapped. Even after such a massive impact he still had the presence of mind to turn off the engine, which was surprisingly still running, to avoid the chance of a fire. After being extracted from the car and checked over by medical personnel, Zhou was declared fit to race and said he was looking forward to the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring the following week. He had come a long way since his first trip to the go-kart track, and with an impressive rookie season under his belt, Zhou is ready to go full send from here on out.