Zhou Guanyu said it could take at least another 10 years before the next Chinese driver makes it into Formula One, and said the sacrifice and hard work needed behind the scenes always meant very few reached the elite level.
The 24-year-old will make history this weekend when he becomes the first local driver to race at the grand prix in Shanghai, and having already blazed a trail as the country’s only F1 racer, knows what it takes to reach the top.
However, with no Chinese drivers competing in the F2 or F3 feeder series, there appears to be little prospect of Zhou’s compatriots joining him on the F1 grid soon – a fact the Shanghai native puts down to China’s relatively short involvement with top-level international motorsport.
“I think, mainly, the history and culture with motorsport [in China] only started 20 years ago,” Zhou said at the Chinese Grand Prix drivers’ press conference.
“To be able to have more [Chinese] drivers on this grid is going to be very difficult for the next five, 10 years.”
While Zhou is F1’s only ever Chinese racer, there have been several drivers from Japan in the championship over the past 30 years, and Zhou cited that country as an example of a much longer-established history in top-level motorsport, with well-financed corporate programmes that single out talented youngsters and support their careers.
“A perfect example is Honda. They have this ‘Honda Dream Project’ and you have young drivers who get picked up from a very young age, and the culture of motorsport in Japan is very high,” said Zhou.
“But for us [in China], we need to build that, and 20 years is not enough. It takes another probably five, 10 years to build to a similar level, then you can reach out to Europe, hopefully, and put them in the feeder series.
“If they can do well, winning races, finishing top in their championship, they can [find] their way to Formula 1, but I don’t think it’s a very easy job for the next few years for any [Chinese] drivers to be here [in F1].”
Zhou was also asked whether the economic downturn in China might prevent the next generation coming through, given the high cost of starting in the sport.
And while he said he did not want to “get into too much on the politics side”, he pointed out that unlike other sports, motorsports did not normally receive government backing financially.
“I don’t think in China we have enough families, people that have the budget”, Zhou said, but added he hoped there were those interested in getting involved.
“But it takes a lot. It’s easy to be a racing driver as a hobby. But to take this professional journey, only 20 of us drivers to be here, it’s not an easy one. The amount of sacrifice and also the hard work behind the scenes for every individual driver to be there, it’s very complex.”
