F1 | Alfa Romeo | Vasseur says Bottas and Zhou 'are really collaborating very well'
Alfa Romeo's Frederic Vasseur calls the early signs of the working partnership between F1 veteran Valtteri Bottas and rookie driver Zhou Guanyu (to use the Chinese order of saying the rookie’s name) as ‘positive’.
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN enter 2022 with a brand-new driver partnership. Team Principal Frederic Vasseur, has told the media that the early signs of the working partnership between veteran F1 racer Valtteri Bottas and Chinese racer Zhou Guanyu (to use the Chinese order of saying the rookie’s name) are ‘positive’.
In 2022, Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN take to the F1 grid with a brand-new driver lineup. On one side of the garage is Valtteri Bottas, a seasoned veteran of F1 having recorded and 10 race victories from 178 race starts. Not only this though, Bottas of course partnered Sir Lewis Hamilton to five F1 Constructors Championship wins for Mercedes, as well as being the F1 Drivers' Championship runner-up twice - in 2019 and 2020.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the garage is rookie Zhou Guanyu and F1 should start getting used to saying his name in this traditional Chinese way if they hope to capitalise on the huge potential of a Chinese market.
The signs have been clear early on with F1 already tugging at the heart strings having released a video on the Chinese version of its official social media WeChat account entitled ‘Chasing the Dream: Zhou’s story.’ The audio is a combination of Mandarin and English with Chinese subtitles throughout. For a country with just over 1.4 billion people – that is a huge market of potential.
However, all this potential means very little if the performance is not there on track. Therefore, reason to be cheerful indeed following the remarks of Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN’s team principal Frederic Vasseur to f1.com that the teamwork already shown between Zhou and Bottas is ‘positive’.
The content of the promotional video from F1 showcases Zhou Guanyu’s rise through Formula 2 as he remarked “Having people supporting you is a huge motivation on my side and is great to always have them onboard.” Nevertheless, Zhou’s appointment was still a shock to many at the time it was announced. Vasseur reflected on the team’s decision making in his recent remarks.
“I think it was the right moment for us... to do the [driver] change,” said Vasseur in Spain to the official website of the pinnacle of motorsport. “But for me, it’s not an issue at all to start with a new line-up this season.
“It was very important to have someone with huge experience of F1 and with Valtteri we have [that], and he will be supportive with Zhou. The collaboration is more than good so far between them.
“They are really collaborating very well, it’s important for Zhou, but let’s see... I think we don’t have to put pressure on Zhou’s shoulders, but F1 is a huge step – not only on driving, because I think driving is not far away from F2 – but more about management of everything, including you [the media].
“I’m confident because the approach is a good one: he’s positive, open-minded, let’s see.” Vasseur concluded.
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN return to the track with their C42 this week having encountered a few disruptions in Barcelona’s shakedown. With just under 200 laps, over three days, having been completed, the team will be hoping for mileage in the next few days when the official Pre-Season Test in Bahrain on starts on Thursday.
Despite no Chinese F1 GP in 2022 (the latest one having been in 2019) F1’s President and CEO Stefano Domenicali has previously shared his delight at seeing F1’s deal in Shanghai extended until 2025:
“This is great news for all of our fans in China and we are delighted to announce this agreement that will see us racing in Shanghai until 2025… we look forward to continuing our long-term partnership. While we are all disappointed, we could not include China on the 2022 calendar due to ongoing pandemic conditions, China will be restored to the calendar as soon as conditions allow, and we look forward to being back with the fans as soon as we can.” Domenicali said at the time.
When that day comes and thanks to the early promise – not to mention huge expectation - for Zhou Guanyu, one can only imagine an unprecedented crowd at the next Chinese Grand Prix. Now, Zhou just needs to ensure he is still on the grid when it happens. Thanks to Vasseur’s recent comments there certainly seems reason to be optimistic that he will be!
