Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport and while thousands of young boys and girls dedicate their lives to reaching it, only a handful ever make the cut.
It’s arguably becoming even more difficult than ever, with only 20 seats currently on the grid and the financial implications of failure constantly growing, meaning teams are less and less likely to take a chance on a rookie.
You have to be incredibly quick and have plenty of luck to reach F1, but the hard work only continues once you’re in the paddock.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu has been talking about racing in Formula 1 and his journey to get there.
The 24-year-old is looking forward to his first home race on Sunday in Shanghai with the sport returning to China for the first time since 2019.
It’s also the first Sprint weekend of the season which puts even more pressure on the drivers to nail their only practice session on Friday morning.
Zhou has admitted that there was a point in his junior career where he thought reaching Formula 1 and racing against some of the greatest drivers in the world was impossible.
Now, he’s nearly 50 races into his F1 career although he’s under pressure to increase that number beyond this season…
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Zhou Guanyu admits racing in Formula 1 seemed ‘unimaginable’
Zhou is China’s first Formula 1 driver and a documentary is being released this week to coincide with his home debut.
The 24-year-old started life in karts and won multiple championships before switching to single-seaters.
After finishing 2 in the Italian F4 Championship in 2015, he raced in the Formula 3 European Championship for three years before finally jumping up to Formula 2 in 2019.
He spent three seasons at that level as well, eventually coming third in his final campaign alongside winning the F3 Asian Championship.
That was enough for Alfa Romeo – now Sauber – to decide that Zhou was ready to start racing in Formula 1 alongside Valtteri Bottas.
The pair have worked together ever since but Zhou hasn’t had the easiest time in F1 so far.
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Zhou needs to take the next step to retain F1 status
Talking about reaching Formula 1, Zhou said: “The three years in F3 were pretty hard because the car choices were not ideal and led to [some doubts].
“Moving to F1 was unimaginable [at that time] because the competition was so fierce, [and] not just the European drivers.”
Zhou will reach 50 Grand Prix in Miami but has only scored 12 points so far, a tally he knows will need to increase if he wishes to remain racing in Formula 1.
Sauber will officially become Audi in 2026 but they will want their preferred driver line-up in place from next year.
Carlos Sainz is a key target for the team, while there’s a suggestion that Nico Hulkenberg is already being lined up for the other seat.
Zhou is among a handful of drivers who appear to be at serious risk of losing their seats next season.
His 11-place finish in Bahrain was the highlight of his campaign so far, but scoring a point in China would be a dream come true for Zhou.
Zhou needs to prove to the Formula 1 paddock that he deserves to be racing in the sport beyond 2024.
The post ‘Unimaginable’: 24-year-old driver admits he never expected to be racing in Formula 1 appeared first on F1 Oversteer.