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

Zhou Guanyu, who will buy his first Grand Prix in Formula 1 in Bahrain this weekend, will allow this competition to broaden his horizons by gaining Chinese drivers for the first time.

“It's a real opportunity for us, but I think it's a real opportunity for F1,” said Frédéric Vasseur, the Frenchman of the Alfa Romeo team where Zhou Guanyu races. explains to AFP.

Before this 22-year-old young driver, two other Chinese were test drivers and failed to start the Grand Prix race.

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

“This will affect the visibility of Formula 1 in China, increasing media and audience potential,” estimates Jean-Baptiste Guégan, an expert in geopolitics in sports.

“The Liberty program, which owns F1's trade rights, is to increase visibility in the globalization of all branches, especially products, and this is part of it,” he explains.

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

In the Montmeló pre-season test at the end of February, Frédéric Vasseur stated that the popularity of F1 in China is an idea that requires time to consolidate and that “it is not always easy due to cultural issues, but it is a very important opening to a huge market.”

Zhou Guanyu knows that his nationality has played an important role in making the leap to the top motorsports competition.

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

- “Huge Market” -

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

At the moment, expectations are limited, Jean-Baptiste Guégan recalls, since Zhou Guanyu arrived in the 9th team out of 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 have resorted to him for it,” he emphasized.

On another level, “it can be a debate about Chinese sports within the framework of politicization,” he believes. “It is not impossible for Xi's sports propaganda (Chinese President Jinping) 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 driving in his country.

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

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

Heidi All/Doctor