Zhou opens up on why Alonso is his favourite driver

Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu is a fully-fledged member of the Fernando Alonso fan club, having become a fan during his childhood.

Zhou has spoken out about how he finds it very “weird” to be racing against Alonso, having become a fan of the Spaniard when he was a child.

Zhou made his debut in Formula 1 this year, stepping up from Formula 2, where the veteran Alonso is one of his midfield rivals. The Chinese driver, the first from his country to reach Formula 1, has pictures from his childhood attending the race in Shanghai showing him waving the Alonso flag.

The Alfa Romeo driver was even briefly a sort-of teammate of Alonso, with Zhou being part of the Alpine Academy and testing alongside Alonso as the Spaniard prepared for his return to F1 during the 2020 season.

Zhou Guanyu was waving a Fernando Alonso flag at the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix. Now he's racing against the great Spaniard

The @alfaromeoorlen rookie reflects on his remarkable motorsport journey on this week's #F1BeyondTheGrid #F1

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 22, 2022

“I know [Fernando] Alonso and [Daniel] Ricciardo for a long time because we were basically in the same team in the past and I was an Academy driver,” Zhou explained on the Beyond the Grid podcast, as he was asked about whether the field has been welcoming of his arrival into F1 as the only 2022 rookie.

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