Guanyu Zhou

Guanyu Zhou , born 30 May 1999 in Shanghai, is a Chinese racing driver who currently competes in Formula One for Alfa Romeo. He earned enough super-licence points (to be allowed in F1) by competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship from 2019 to 2021, having finished 3rd in the 2021 campaign.

A former member of the Alpine Academy (picture above), he served as a test driver for the Renault and Alpine F1 Team in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

With healthy backing from Chinese companies, Zhou signed for Alfa Romeo for the 2022 Formula One season, where he would be partnering Valtteri Bottas, becoming China’s first full-time F1 driver.

On his debut at Bahrain, Zhou qualified 15th, recovered from a poor start, then benefited from the retirement of the two Red Bulls to finished tenth scoring a point.

“Well it’s amazing, I’m speechless,” said the rookie. “It was emotional, so intense – not physically (but) mentally – and to be scoring my first Formula One point on my debut is something I would only have dreamed of one year ago or even two weeks ago. It really means so much that all this happened… I always said I deserve to be here (in F1) and today I showed that – it’s a big relief.”