In an interview ahead of the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, Zhou Guanyu revealed his dream team driver pairing, which includes Fernando Alonso and one surprising driver.
Formula 1 is coming to China for the first time in five years and also for the first time since Zhou Guanyu made his debut in 2022. Remarkably, Zhou will be the first Chinese driver to race in F1 in front of his home crowd.
Coming to the race weekend at Shanghai International Circuit, much of the attention is naturally on the home hero. The 24-year-old did an exclusive interview with F1.com ahead of the weekend.
One of the questions he was asked was to imagine himself in the role of team principal and to pick his dream team driver duo. The Chinese driver picked his hero and friend, Fernando Alonso (who recently signed with Aston Martin), with one driver, which you might perhaps not expect.
"If I'm running it I'd probably put Fernando there. It might sound a bit boring but I'd probably put Oscar [Piastri] there."
Surprisingly, the 24-year-old didn't pick some other more experienced drivers like triple World Champion Max Verstappen or the seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, but he explained his choice.
"I don't want two world champions in my team, I want one who's a rising star and one who's a world champion. Good [for the] budget as well… You're not paying that much!'
Zhou's choice might also become less surprising when we consider his answer to the questions about who his best friend is inside and outside of the F1 paddock.
"Outside, inside kind of comes together, no? I'd probably say Oscar [Piastri] is one of my best friends in and out. Fernando [Alonso] also is up there; we sometimes have some fun together off-track."
"Of course, these days, it's a bit more difficult. We used to be hanging out a bit but now we're at different teams [and] it's not easy during the season, we have such busy schedules. But these two people are probably the ones I have fun or have good times [with] the most."
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