With the first driver in China, F1 broadens its horizons.

Zhou Guanyu, who will acquire his first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bahrain this weekend, will allow this competition to expand its horizons by winning Chinese drivers for the first time.

“This is a real opportunity for us, but I think it's a real opportunity for F1,” said Frederick Wasser, Frenchman of Alfa Romeo team, where Gonie Zhou Guanyu, explains AFP.

Prior to this 22-year-old young driver, the other two Chinese were test racers and could not start the Grand Prix race.

Zhou Guanyu was the third in Formula 2 last year and his profile seems to have opened opportunities to jump into Formula 1.

“This will affect China's Formula 1 visibility, increasing media and audience potential,” says Jean-Baptiste Geghan, expert on geopolitics in sports.

“The Freedom Program, which owns trade rights F1, is to increase visibility in the globalization of all industries, especially products, and this is part of it,” he explains.

For Alfa Romeo, Zhou Guanyu's presence indicates that “it will be easier to mediate the brand and give it known in the Chinese market where it does not necessarily exist because it does not represent the same type of luxury as Mercedes or BMW.” This expert points out.

In the pre-season test, Monmelo in late February, Frederick Wasser said that F1's popularity in China is an idea that takes time to consolidate, and that “it's not always easy because of cultural problems, but it's a very important discovery for a huge market.”

Zhou Guanyu knows that his nationality has played an important role in making the leap to the best motorsport competitions.

“F1 has already grown completely in recent years (in China), but it has not yet been, but it will make great progress as soon as it arrives,” explained the driving force of the Asian giant in Barcelona last month.

- “Huge Market” -

His devotion to F1 forced him to sacrifice from an early age, and China allowed him to move to England with his family at the age of 12. “It is very difficult to go to Europe when I was still young (...), and the culture is very different. I have sacrificed a lot to be a better driver.”

At the moment, expectations are limited, Jean-Baptiste Geghan recalls as Zhou Guanyu arrived in the 9th team out of last 10 last season.

“Even if the driver is not good, they have access to the Chinese market, which is an advantage over all commerce and marketing. I think they resorted to it for it,” he stressed.

At another level, “it can be a debate about Chinese sports in the framework of politicization,” he said. “Sports propaganda Xi (President of China Jinping) is not impossible to provide a story that shows that China is everywhere and can do everything,” he said.

However, F1 will have to wait until 2023 to see Zhou Guanyu travels in his country.

The China F1 Grand Prix, which was canceled in 2020 and early 2021 due to the pandemic, was absent on the 2022 calendar for the same reason. It is expected to return in 2023, which expects Zhou Guanyu.

“I want to play in front of them, but the atmosphere is amazing!” While I signed only with Alfa Romeo for one season, but I'm excited about the prospect of competing at home.

Heidi All/Doctor