“And especially when you’re a driver, Formula 1 was my dream since my childhood, so to finally reach that you’re expecting everyone to be sending you positive tweets but 60% or 70% was sending bad messages. It got me quite down on my side, and I was even more surprised when some people were just throwing in racist stuff which is still happening in Formula 1 – like with fans in Austria – and I feel stuff like that isn’t very kind and not what I want to have.
“I was training super-hard since last summer just making sure I could do my talking on track. So I couldn’t wait for the season to get started but on the other hand I was expecting myself to really turn it around mid-season – about now – once I was more settled in.
“But then to do it in Bahrain and continue the progression, I’m very proud of how much I was just able to put myself in a good way. Taking all of these words onboard but in a positive way to get an extra energy and power to prove myself.”
Zhou was beaten to the F2 title by Oscar Piastri, who he shared Alpine young driver status with at the time. Although the Alfa Romeo interest was independent of Piastri’s hopes at Alpine and has seen Zhou leave the set-up completely, it led to comparisons between the two, and what the rookie feels was unfair scrutiny that impacted his title hopes.
“When you have these talks as a contender for the seat – like after Silverstone last year – already people throw bad things at you and you just have to be so careful. You have to make sure everything you do on track is perfect, and it’s very difficult to execute absolutely perfectly every single weekend.
Impressive points finish came on debut in Bahrain
Sauber
“It does affect all the drivers quite a bit, I think that’s normal, but I still took that as extra energy that I wanted to do it even more than before and show them what I’ve got.”
F1 has been working to make itself a more inclusive and diverse sport off the track, but Zhou feels his performances on it have been central to him quietening the abuse he received a year ago. In fact, he feels he has actively changed opinions over the first half of his rookie campaign.
“Everything has stopped and I don’t really see it much anywhere now. Everyone is sending me good messages and a lot of them also apologised to me which is a big surprise. I try not to look at all my comments because it’s not nice these days to look at them normally, but I saw what people sent to me and it’s great to see people who disliked you and changed their mind around.
“Obviously it’s easier to dislike you but it’s more difficult when you turn things around”
“Obviously it’s easier to dislike you but it’s more difficult when you turn things around, so I was happy to see it. And I’m just happy with myself that I’ve been working super-hard, put the effort in, and seeing it pay out really well.”
While Zhou has prior testing experience of the previous generation of F1 car, in some ways his timing was good as he entered the sport as it underwent a technical revolution. But not all the challenges drivers face are relating to the car or the team. Some, as Daniel Ricciardo spoke about in 2021, are far more personal than that.
“Two years I haven’t been back [home to China] which is not the nicest feeling. You finish work and it’s different when you go back to your home, there’s no other place like it.
