China’s 1st F1 driver Zhou Guanyu on his career so far
Following news that he won’t be competing in Formula 1 next year, Zhou reflects in an exclusive interview.
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Published November 06, 2024
The first Formula 1 (F1) championship race took place at Britain’s Silverstone circuit in 1950. Yet, it took 54 years of international events before arriving in Shanghai in 2004, and 72 years for China to produce an F1 driver: Zhou Guanyu.
In 2022, the Shanghainese talent signed with Alfa Romeo’s Sauber team (rebranded as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber for 2024). Now 25 years old, Guanyu has made history.
He moved to Sheffield to compete internationally in 2012. The then-junior formulae driver was a runner up in the 2015 Italian F4 Championship before even turning 16, and his talent along with lavish investment from Chinese backers crafted Guanyu to be the hot property that China finally had ready for F1 team principal Frédéric Vasseur.
Commercially, Zhou landed his F1 role during a pivotal period in popular culture, with athletes like Lewis Hamilton achieving the style icon status of footballers. A national treasure, Guanyu has worked with Lululemon, McDonald’s, Puma and Chivas, and been a Dior ambassador since 2023. His fanbase is ballooning, too. On Xiaohongshu, #ZhouGuanyu (周冠宇) has 114.6 million views, along with 2.1 billion plays on Douyin, where he has 724,000 followers.
Despite today’s news that the driver will leave the Sauber team at the end of 2024, Zhou has been a first for China in every one of his 65 races. As there are no seats in F1 left for 2025, the star will not be competing, but his fierce ambition foreshadows that this is not the last time Zhou will be seen on the prestigious track. Here, he talks to Jing Daily in an exclusive interview.
Jing Daily: Could you describe your experience at the Shanghai Grand Prix?
Zhou Guanyu: I was always watching the Grand Prix as a kid, so Shanghai was sensational. The whole field was there watching, and screaming. The atmosphere and the energy was very special. I had never felt anything like that. It’s like having Silverstone for the British drivers. But then for the Chinese, it probably means even more than that. So, that was just a very good memory that will last forever.
JD: As an F1 and fashion fan growing up, was fashion always related to the sport for you?
ZG: Fashion was always a hobby of mine. I love designing stuff, or even drawing to express something deeper about myself. Having something that’s not related to driving is nice to let your mind switch off for a bit. But also I love clothes, outfits, and helmet designs.
Designing helmets has had a lot of impact; I really enjoy spending time on design. In the future, it would be great to explore, but that’s still something far away. I’m doing some collaborations with different brands already, which is nice.
JD: The pre-game 'tunnel walk' is F1’s runway show. What goes through your mind when selecting what to wear?
ZG: For the “tunnel walk,” I pick my own outfits. I know a lot of people have a stylist who decides for them, but for me, everything is done by myself. I can pick from the latest collections or collaborations what I enjoy most.
I always want to make sure that all of the fits I put on are available for people to buy or wear, like a normal style in their own life. Fashion is really cool, but if it’s not wearable then I find it a little bit pointless. I like to inspire people in normal life. It only takes me about 10 minutes to pick an outfit – it’s quite straightforward. I don’t spend a lot of time on that.
JD: Is art important to you as well?
ZG: I do art out of my own interest. I put art into designing the helmets. There’s sponsorship, so it is designed together as a team, but you can do special editions for various countries or races that you go to.
I just wake up one day and I will have a feeling about a race. Then I write it down and I do some drawings on my phone and then I send it to the designer. It’s a bit of fashion and art together.
You don’t want to force yourself to do something all the time. It’s similar to writing music – you just experience something, have an idea, then put it out there. I don’t pre-design or overthink things. I literally just wake up and see inspiration, then pull out my phone.
JD: How many hours do you have to sleep at night?
ZG: Actually, I don’t sleep a lot, but at least about eight hours. But sometimes, during the race weekend, you feel a lot of continuous pressure, so it’s not easy. But we get drained after each day because we are so busy. So, it’s not a big issue, sleeping.
JD: Why is fashion so intertwined with F1?
ZG: Firstly, it’s the influence of Lewis [Hamilton]. Secondly, probably myself. When I joined F1, I was into fashion and then you can see a lot more drivers doing the same now. It’s become a normal part of the paddock, which is really good, and similar to other sports.
It used to be very different. We used to be always just dressing up with the team kit, but then myself, and also Lewis, you know, have been making this breakthrough and bringing fashion to the table. Just expressing a little bit about ourselves.
We have different personalities, different hobbies besides the sport, which is nice for the world to see, and also it is helping grow the economic side of the sport as well, which is nice. You have a lot more fashion brands that are thinking about stepping into this sport. So, it’s just great that it opens more doors for motorsports.
JD: What do you define as your biggest fan base?
ZG: For sure, in China. But of course, you know, from the rest of the world there is quite a massive fan base, especially considering what the F1 was like even maybe five years ago. I’m just extremely honored.
JD: What do you think is stopping China from having more F1 drivers?
ZG: There is a difference between having enough F1 drivers and having enough taxi drivers – the culture is completely different. Even driving is a lot more complicated than elsewhere. Everything is calculated by sensors, so you can easily get something wrong. Also, I think the way, how much sacrifice, how much effort, you need to put behind the scene, is very extreme, because the opportunity, or the chances, to get there is so low. I had to move out of Shanghai at a really young age.
Even for European drivers, it’s tough. There are a lot of UK drivers, but there’s only a certain number who can make it to F1. It’s a big challenge, and with so many great, great, let’s say young drivers growing up. For me, of course, I’m just grateful to be the first person. Hopefully, I’m not the only one, just because I want the sports to grow, all the sports to grow in China.
JD: What’s your opinion of Chinese fashion designers?
ZG: The industry has been building up massively in recent years. Obviously everyone is trying to maintain high quality in the same way as global fashion design, but then with their own ideas, and textures that are being added into that high-level manufacturing. I find it quite nice, and I sometimes wear some of the Chinese fashion designers as well.
JD: How do you maintain your drive and determination?
ZG: This for us as a team has been a more tricky season. We were struggling quite a bit with the piston, then we were struggling purely on car performance. So, we couldn't show our potential. Obviously, if you have the results, your career is met with more opportunities.
I’m just remaining focused on trying to do the best with what I have. When I am away from the race track, I always work on improving my weaknesses, to make myself better. You have to continue to believe in yourself, having passion, and putting effort in. It doesn't matter what the situation is, never give up.
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