Zhou Guanyu says pressure is relieved of his shoulders after he was confirmed at Alfa Romeo for 2023 F1 season where he let his driving do the answers.
It wasn’t the reception Guanyu wanted when he was signed up by Alfa Romeo in 2022, moving from F2 to F1. He was tagged as a ‘pay driver’ especially when title winner Oscar Piastri couldn’t get hold of a race seat and became Alpine reserve.
But his performances over the 2022 F1 season has shut some of those criticisers as Guanyu was awarded a second season with Alfa Romeo in 2023. It wasn’t a surprise despite the ups and downs he has had this year due to various reasons.
In overall context, Guanyu delivered what was asked of him alongside the experience of Valtteri Bottas. And the early announcement has released some pressure off his shoulders where he has one less thing to worry about during grand prix.
“For sure, last season for me while I was doing the F2 championship I was waiting for the confirmation quite late and that’s definitely a lot of pressure so this season looking to get it all done, all signed for my future, to have a clear [view of] what’s coming next and it’s great because from my side it just gets rid of a lot of pressure on my shoulders,” said Guanyu.
“There’s one thing less to think of in the remaining races so from my side it’s more like just to be looking at the race by race, trying to bring the team into the points and for next season of course the object, the target will be higher and also for my side always asking more and more and I want to do better. So nothing has been really decided yet what I want to do and what’s my achieved goal but I think just be keep working.
“This year has been, from my side, it’s been a great season so far. Of course, I had quite a lot of different moments. There’s ups and downs and tough moments, but overall, I think I’m happy just to be able to show what I am capable of so it’s good to have that,” summed up Gunayu.
Expanding on the pressure topic, Guanyu added that he wanted to show the whole world what he is capable of when he arrived in F1 as the naysayers were in big number. “I think the pressure is pretty normal like now,” he said. “Of course going into F1 you have a lot of pressure from your team, from the fans, but from my side, like when I was in F2, I know exactly what I need to do to be able to have the opportunity fighting for a seat here, so once I was in here, I’ll always said that I want to be making sure that I let the whole world to see what I’m capable of to do in terms of it’s going to be hard.
“You have to give up your everything as a rookie, but yeah, it’s nice to… like the team is very happy with the job I’ve done and for my side, of course, quite satisfied with the achievement we were able to achieve together for the first season. And of course, I wanted more but overall, in terms of the pressure side, I think once you scored your first point, and then everything just became a lot more relieved, and they just continue to do what you know the best and everything will just come around,” summed up Guanyu.
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