Demo laps at his home Grand Prix and a first F2 win: The moments that made Zhou

We sat down with UNI-Virtuosi and Alpine junior Guanyu Zhou to find out the moments that made him. For better or worse, the points in his career so far which have helped to shape him and get him to where he is at the moment.

From roaring around his home country in a Renault Formula 1 car, to standing on the top step of a Formula 2 race, the Chinese driver shares the key points.

1. FIRST FORMULA 2 WIN

“The first moment would have to be my first Formula 2 win in Sochi. We had many chances for this in my first two seasons, but were always coming really close and missing out. It was great to finally get my first victory, it felt special. Not just for me, but for the Chinese fans.

“Listening to the Chinese anthem on the podium and having the Chinese flag above me was something that I had wanted for ages, so that has to be the first moment.”

__2. AN UP AND DOWN WEEKEND IN SPIELBERG __

“The first round of the season in Austria would probably be the second moment. I qualified on pole by around four tenths and that doesn’t happen that often.

“To qualify so far in front, against such a high level of drivers was really cool. But then after that, it was disappointing to have a technical failure. It hurt a lot and is a moment that I will never forget, although it wasn't a good one.”

3. DRIVING AN F1 CAR IN CHINA

“In 2019, I was back home for the 1000th Formula 1 Grand Prix in China. I was doing a demo run around there, doing donuts in the city of Shanghai, which is something that no one ever gets to do there. It was really special.

“Then, before the F1 race on the Sunday, I did another two-lap demonstration run for Renault. Getting to do that in front of the home crowd was very emotional.”