Zhou Guanyu?

Upon hearing this name, a hint of a smile appeared on Chen Xiangbei's face. How could he not recognize it?

In reality, Zhou Guanyu started learning karting at the age of 8. His entry-level instructor was none other than Ma Qingye, who held the title of China's first Formula driver.

In 2008, Zhou Guanyu came to the East Sea International Circuit to watch the F1 Grand Prix, became a fan of "Boss" Alonso, and left that famous photo online holding the Renault flag.

After that, Zhou Guanyu went to the United Kingdom for karting and single-seater race training. You could say he is a Chinese driver nurtured under an overseas system.

"I've heard of Zhou Guanyu, he's really impressive to have come this far."

Chen Xiangbei nodded in agreement.

"You've heard of him?"

Ma Qingye's face was filled with confusion. Zhou Guanyu is only ten years old this year and has only clinched third place in a domestic karting competition in terms of professional achievement, so logically, no one would pay attention.

"Yeah, last year at Huasi Sports, I participated in the CKC event and followed some domestic karting drivers, happened to watch Zhou Guanyu's races."

Addressing Ma Qingye's doubts, Chen Xiangbei started to fabricate things.

He did pay attention to Zhou Guanyu's races, but it was a matter from another world.

"Ma, Guanyu's long-distance stability is quite good, but he has shortcomings in terms of single laps and limits. He needs to be more aggressive and assertive, so that in the future he can establish himself better in the F1 Paddock."

Chen Xiangbei is very clear about Zhou Guanyu's professional journey; now he himself has become a pioneer of Chinese Formula racing. Even if the two sides can't relate for the time being, he still hopes to offer some advice and help.

Zhou Guanyu's career saw him weak in single-lap qualifying, with his qualifying results generally at the lower level in the Paddock.

The overall style tends towards being stable, and his performance in long-distance races is very good, but slightly weaker in wheel-to-wheel intense battles.

In a sense, Zhou Guanyu's weaknesses are the common weaknesses of Chen Xiangbei and Chinese Formula drivers.

That is being restricted by the lack of funds and backing, fearing the negative impact brought by car damage and accidents, and being too afraid to clash with opponents for the sake of securing a seat. Over time, becoming more and more hesitant and "soft."

But many times in the Paddock, the assessment of whether a driver is worth keeping is based on the highest level they have shown in the past.

Single-lap ability is an external manifestation of a driver's limits and talent!

Being afraid of crashes and not daring to challenge extremes lead to not being able to produce the "lap of the gods."

Without the "lap of the gods," it's impossible to showcase one's limits, and teams won't nurture mediocre drivers over the long-term.

The conflict between the two leads the career path of Chinese Formula drivers to develop in a dead-end direction.

Odetto, with his decades of rich experience in the Paddock, judged the "psychological obstacle" brought by Chen Xiangbei's past career and continuously encouraged him to be more aggressive and adventurous.

At least in the Renault Formula level, damage is still bearable.

Once you reach the F1 Paddock, technology is already set, and thinking about breakthroughs and adventures, damage really becomes hard to bear.

Affluence like Latife, pedigree like Mick Schumacher, sponsorship like Perez. Under the frequent impact of crash accidents, despite their strong background, they can't bear the pressure from within the Paddock and external public opinion, eventually losing their seats with no car to drive.

When placed on Chinese drivers, the tolerance is even lower.

"Crashes" need to happen early, to experience the feeling of losing control and understand where one's limits are.

The same old saying: F1 Paddock doesn't need mediocre drivers, especially as teams become increasingly funded. They'd rather gamble on newcomers than to use veterans with clear-limit potential.

Chen Xiangbei does not wish for his past self or the current Ma Qingye to pass on the "fear" mentality of old-generation Chinese drivers to the next generation of newcomers.

This world's Zhou Guanyu should be stronger!

"Xiangbei, it seems like you really have followed Guanyu and understand his current driving style."

"I will remind him to pay attention to this point."

Ma Qingye nodded in response.

The suggestions Chen Xiangbei could offer were limited to this. The two briefly chatted, exchanged contacts, and then waved goodbye.

Back in the return car, Odetto spoke up: "Xiangbei, I have an impression of that Chinese driver just now."

"You've seen Ma Qingye?"

Chen Xiangbei was quite surprised. Odetto previously was an F1 team principal, technically Ma Qingye being a low-level driver shouldn't catch his eye.

"Yeah, I watched the A1 National Cup's race, happened to see Ma in that match."

"He doesn't have the talent to drive Formula cars, this path is untenable."

Odetto wasn't familiar with Ma Qingye, and he spoke bluntly.

To this, Chen Xiangbei didn't have much to say. Ma Qingye being only one step away from an F1 team is a fact.

But his lap speed cannot establish him in the F1 Paddock is also a fact.

In 2012, Ma Qingye moved to the final step of entering an F1 team, which involved a young driver test on the Silverstone Circuit and reaching 300KM to obtain the Super Driver's License.

Among the young drivers that year, there was an old acquaintance, Bottas.

From the perspective of Chinese fans, there might be a sense of time-space distortion: it turns out, Zhou Guanyu's elder brother Bottas was actually in the same grade as Ma Qingye, and the two nearly entered the F1 Paddock together.

The test results at Silverstone Circuit, with Bottas driving the Williams FW34, achieved the fastest lap time of 1 minute 31 seconds 436.

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