Zhou still waiting for home race: 'Back on calendar next year'

F1 News

zhou on home race in china
14 April 2023 at 14:53
Last update 14 April 2023 at 16:42
  • GPblog.com

This year's Chinese Grand Prix has been cancelled for the fourth year in a row and is the cause of Formula 1's current break. The race in China was actually supposed to have been this weekend, but due to the corona virus, the race will not take place as in previous years.

Guanyu Zhou is the first ever Chinese driver in Formula 1, but is yet to have a home race. The Grand Prix in China was first held in 2004, but has been cancelled each time since 2020 due to the corona virus, which is also the case this year.

Zhou confident of home race next year

The Chinese Grand Prix has a contract till 2025 with Formula 1 and would therefore, if all goes well, be held again next year. Zhou is confident of driving his first home race in Formula One next year if he continues to perform well. "All I have to do is just do well here and keep a long career in F1," he told Sky Sports. "So I have as many home races as I want to, because it will come back next year."

Zhou already saw cancellation coming

In early December last year, it was announced that the 2023 Chinese Grand Prix would once again be cancelled. Zhou already saw this coming a bit because of the way his country handled the virus. "I'm disappointed but I kind of saw this coming because of the restrictions, we didn't open the border early enough. So when we had the race scheduled for April, I knew everything was too tight."