ANDin the last days, Alpine He does not stop receiving ‘messages’ everywhere. Especially after the signing of Fernando Alonso by Aston Martin and the denial of Oscar Piastri to be confirmed as a driver for 2023. Even Albon in his renewal with Williams gave them a ‘wink’.
Precisely from Alpine he left, a year ago, Guanyu Zhou. The first Chinese in the history of F1 was trained by the Renault Drivers Academy and guided the Alpine in several tests, but he understood that his future had to be outside the French house. Piastri’s example It helped him decide how to reveal.
The Asian admits that he no longer has any ties with the Gauls. “I have been released completely. Everything has worked very well, because my contract ended at the end of last year and it was up to both of us if we wanted to continue, but then an opportunity arose with Alfa Romeo. So the deal was definitely not to continue with Alpine, because I didn’t see any place where I could have a seat for next year or for this year. And Alfa and Alpine are brands that compete a lot, not only in Formula 1, but in general,” he explains in Racer.
Zhou confesses that he noticed what happened with Piastri, who after winning in F2 in 2021 has spent all of 2022 without competing and as a test driver. “It wasn’t easy getting out of Alpine, but I’m really glad that everything went well because if I had another year I’d be I would be like stuck, the same thing that happens now with Oscar. It was not the best for me. I feel like there was an opportunity here, so I went for it, and I think it was a very good decision,” she says.
scored the first
The eastern competitor surprised many by entering the points zone on his Grand Circus debut. “He didn’t expect to be in the points, but I knew he was stronger in the race than in qualifying. But that race in Bahrain it was very stressful because I was comfortable 8th or 9th and then we had a safety car at the end so I had to stop, dropped to 12th and had to come back. It was tough but when I crossed the finish line 10th it meant a lot. I’ve never been so excitedin my entire career. It was the pressure that I was under since last winter, from the last few rounds of F2 until then. It was amazing,” he recalls.
Pressure
Zhou affirms that he has freed himself mentally and that he is going to do more. “I don’t think anyone can imagine it, because he was facing comment pressure while he was still racing in F2, trying to fight for the title. That made me go down a bit, but it hasn’t stopped me from showing myself in F1 and that’s the most important thing”, he concludes.