In the 2022 F1 season when the rules are greatly upgraded, Zhou Guanyu, an F1 rookie from China, is writing a new history.
In the early morning of March 20th, Beijing time, the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening match of the 2022 F1 season, ended the qualifying competition at the Sakir Circuit. Zhou Guanyu, China’s first official F1 driver and a contracted driver from Jiushi Sports, successfully advanced to Q2 and completed his first qualifying race with 15th place.
Ferrari occupied the top three qualifying results, Leclerc won the pole position in 1:30.558, Verstappen and Sainz ranked second and third respectively.
Zhou Guanyu drives a racing car. This article picture CFP
At the beginning of Q1, the temperature was 19 degrees Celsius, the track temperature was 26 degrees, and the humidity was 58%. The riders were all on soft tires in this section. In Q1, although Verstappen once occupied the first place, Ferrari quickly achieved faster results, Leclerc and Sainz occupy the top two, Verstappen receded to third.
Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu was slower than his teammate Bottas in all three time periods, and took 10th place with 1:32.786. Although he slipped to 15th, he then refreshed his final lap with 1:32 Seconds 493 occupied the 14th place and successfully advanced to Q2.
After entering Q2, Verstappen was 0.599 seconds faster than the second Leclerc with 1 minute 30 seconds 757, and Perez ranked third. Zhou Guanyu’s lap performance was affected due to the late braking point at turn 9 and the lock of the left front tire. His time of 1:33.543 temporarily ranked 15th, which also became his first career F1 qualifying match. Final ranking.
As the first official F1 driver in China, Zhou Guanyu has always attracted much attention. Previously, he also showed a good competitive state. In the 2021 F2 Championship, Zhou Guanyu won the third place of the year. In 2021, he has won 4 championships and 9 podiums, a remarkable achievement.
In an interview before qualifying, Zhou Guanyu said: “I am familiar with everything and I am ready for the first race weekend. Of course, I still have a lot of things to digest, but in general, I am very satisfied with last weekend. Everything (the test in Bahrain) was satisfactory…”
Zhou Guanyu
And when he successfully finished 15th in qualifying, he also expressed his expectations for the upcoming race: “For many years, I have always dreamed of making an appearance in F1, which will be an eternal life for me. Unforgettable weekend is also of great significance to my country, and I will enjoy this coming moment with my family and all those who have helped me along the way.”
It is worth mentioning that the first F1 season of Zhou Guanyu’s career is also full of freshness for many old drivers, because this is a season with many changes in the rules of the game – since the hybrid era, F1 has The first major rule changes for the 2022 season, including the re-enablement of ground effect, the use of side box technology and 18-inch wheels / low-profile tires, etc.
In addition, in order to play his first F1 season, Zhou Guanyu put on a new helmet. This helmet uses a purple and yellow color scheme. The top is blue and white porcelain with Chinese elements and the car number “24”. There are Shanghai Lujiazui “three-piece suits” on both sides. The silhouette of the city skyline is full of fashion.
The new equipment also indicates that Zhou Guanyu will write a new F1 story with everyone’s expectations, and Zhou Guanyu is also ready to explore unknown heights.
“I’m very much looking forward to it. As long as the integration of people and vehicles can finally be achieved, I think it will definitely be possible to get points, but I’m not sure how long it will take.”