SHANGHAI — Zhou Guanyu’s Chinese language followers hope the nation’s first and solely Method One driver can shrug off a poor run of type and shine on his residence debut to reply the critics who view his passport because the predominant purpose he has a drive.
Sauber’s Zhou, who races in Shanghai this week in China’s first grand prix since 2019, has failed to attain within the season’s first 4 races however native supporters stay optimistic.
Having a Chinese language driver is a boon for F1 and its proprietor Liberty Media who see the world’s second-largest nation as a key market. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has stated previously that China may in the end host two races.
“That Zhou is a Chinese language driver is certainly related to his crew selecting him,” stated Li Qixiang, a F1 fan from Shanghai and chemistry instructor with tickets for Sunday’s race.
“His private efficiency is sort of controversial amongst his followers. His potential is acknowledged however it’s exhausting to say how he actually ranks in contrast with the opposite drivers. If his automotive is nice, he might carry out higher.”
Zhou loved a comparatively profitable junior profession, successful races within the feeder Method 2 sequence in 2021 and towards a aggressive area which included present McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who completed on the rostrum twice as a rookie final 12 months.
The Chinese language driver has certified final over the previous three races.
“Zhou Guanyu’s potential to enhance his qualifying has reached an imminent juncture. I’m actually trying ahead to seeing Zhou get powerful in entrance of his residence followers in Shanghai,” wrote one Chinese language commentator on social media platform Xiaohongshu.
The 24-year-old is out of contract on the finish of the season, with Sauber on account of grow to be the manufacturing facility Audi crew in 2026 and uncertainty in regards to the future lineup.
The German producer has formidable targets and has additionally been linked to race winners like Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who’s in search of a seat for subsequent season when seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton replaces him.
A lot of Zhou’s supporters lay the blame for his lack of success on Swiss-based Sauber, who’ve been midfield battlers for many years on a much smaller finances than producer rivals.
“My expectations are a bit low for Shanghai, to be trustworthy. Zhou Guanyu will solely get one follow session to get used to the monitor … I really feel he won’t even make it into the second a part of qualifying,” wrote one other Chinese language fan on Xiaohongshu.
The Chinese language Grand Prix can be the primary dash race of the season, with only one follow session earlier than dash qualifying on Friday and that 100km race on Saturday earlier than common qualifying.
