'Zhou is one of the surprises this season in Formula 1'

Prior to the season, there was some scepticism about Zhou Guanyu: would he be able to handle the level of Formula 1? In the summer break of his first season, it can be said that the Chinese driver has already managed to surprise a few times.

Alfa Romeo has faced reliability issues, causing Zhou and teammate Valtteri Bottas to lose points. Despite the bad luck, technical director Jan Monchaux is on the official Formula 1 website positive about the performance of the Chinese driver. He calls him a surprise of 2022.

Keeps the car in one piece

"He's a great driver," said Monchaux. "He's learning a lot, he is very focused, he's been impressive in the race from the onset, in terms of his overtaking capabilities." And then there's an important point: "He doesn't damage the car. I mean, he was involved in two accidents, but apart from that, he is usually neat and in qualifying he's been consistently progressing.”

Bottas is an experienced driver, which Zhou can draw on. As a result, the Chinese driver knows what areas he still needs to work on, says his technical director. "But Zhou is earlier where we wanted him to be than we originally expected. So, he is a very, very good surprise for us and I think for F1 in general.”