In Pictures: Zhou Guanyu pays ultimate tribute to teammate Valtteri Bottas with a “special” helmet design

Kick Sauber F1 driver Zhou Guanyu recently paid tribute to his teammate Valtteri Bottas with a 'special' helmet design for the upcoming Australian Grand Prix this weekend.

Guanyu has made a modest start to the season, finishing P11 and P18 in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, respectively. He will look to better his performance in Melbourne.

Ahead of the weekend, he unveiled a unique helmet for the race which showcased the face of his teammate Valtteri Bottas on the back with several other Aussie references. Bottas has embraced the culture of Down Under like no other driver, proudly displaying his mullet and turning up to the races in thongs (slippers) in the paddock.

Zhou Guanyu on his social media platform, posted a few pictures with his new helmet design and even copied the look of the former Mercedes driver while unveiling the design. He wrote:

"THIS IS SPECIAL."

Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Guanyu spoke to F1.com and pointed out that he believed the team needed a cleaner weekend to maximize their 'good race craft.' He said:

“I think we seem to have good race craft as a team, we just need to clean up a little bit the weekend. Love the track, love the place, the fans and the atmosphere is always one of the best of the year, so really happy and enjoyable coming to Melbourne.”

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Zhou Guanyu previews the Australian GP weekend

Zhou Guanyu stated that he was delighted to be back in Melbourne. He also claimed that he had good memories of the track having finished in the points last time around.

Speaking for Sauber's official website, the Chinese driver said:

"It's good to be back in Melbourne this week. I have great memories from racing here in the past two years, and from the whole weekend experience: the Chinese community in this city is quite large, and I could feel their support from the grandstands - it'll be a first taste of what we can expect in Shanghai in just over a month.

"I'm looking forward to being back on track this weekend, picking up things where we left them in Bahrain - and improving from there."

Kick Sauber and Zhou Guanyu are yet to score any points in the 2024 season and would hope to change that fact in Melbourne this weekend where they have gone well historically in the past two years.