"It shows nationality is a reality": F1 driver opens up on facing racism when he joined the sport compared to Oliver Bearman's reception this season

Sauber F1 driver Zhou Guanyu recently talked about facing racial abuse when he joined F1 and compared his start in the sport to Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman's. Bearman would soon race in the top single-seater series from 2025 with Haas.

Zhou Guanyu joined Alfa Romeo in 2022 alongside Valtteri Bottas, who came from Mercedes after five long and successful years. Zhou became the first Chinese driver to officially take part in the championship.

Since joining the F1, however, he has been struggling to get out of the midfield and fight against the top teams and drivers. Alfa Romeo (currently Kick Sauber) also struggled to get out of the lower midfield, posing a challenge for decent points. In the 2024 F1 season so far, the team and its drivers have scored zero points.

Despite not scoring any points, Zhou Guanyu received a massively positive reception at the Chinese GP, where his home crowd cheered jubilantly for him. However, he did not get an equally positive reception from other nationalities when he first entered the sport.

Speaking to The Race, Zhou Guanyu explained how he had to face racial abuse while he was climbing the motorsport ladder. He added that people were unaware of his journey through the racing industry.

The Chinese driver then compared his F2 run to Oliver Bearman's season in the feeder series. He said that nationality bias is a reality in the sport since Bearman, despite being 10th in the standings, is receiving a lot of support and is getting a seat in F1.

“It’s quite clear, in 2021 when I signed a contract with Alfa Romeo there was a lot of racist abuse people were giving [me] because they didn’t follow my career. You come around with third place in F2, winning four races that year - and [now] you see a driver outside the top 10 [in F2] at the moment is getting a seat, and there’s a lot of support for him,” Zhou said.

“It shows [prejudice around] nationality is a reality. That’s difficult to change when you’re Asian, coming from different countries in Asia, but I’m not worried about that,” he added.

When Carlos Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis in 2024, he was replaced by Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman for the Saudi Arabian GP. The British youngster impressed the grid by qualifying P11 and securing P7 in the race. Soon after that, he became a hot property for F1 teams. Eventually, it was confirmed by Haas that Bearman would be joining them in 2025.

---

Oliver Bearman on joining F1 in 2025 with Haas

F2 driver Oliver Bearman would soon join F1 in 2025 with Haas. The American team announced him at the start of July.

In the official statement, Oliver Bearman found it hard to express his feelings after signing for an F1 team. He was delighted to have realized his dream that not a lot of racing drivers get to do. He thanked the team's owner Gene Haas and team principal Ayao Komatsu for signing him.

“It’s hard to put into words just how much this means to me. To say out loud that I will be a Formula 1 driver for Haas F1 Team makes me so immensely proud. To be one of the very few people who get to do the thing what they dreamed of as a child is something truly incredible. To Gene [Haas, team owner], Ayao [Komatsu, Haas Team Principal] and everyone at Haas, thank you for believing in me and for trusting me to represent your team," Oliver Bearman said.

Ever since his Ferrari debut, several F1 fans started supporting and following Bearman's journey in the F1 feeder series. Bearman would continue to complete his F2 run with Prema Racing. The British driver is currently 10th in the F2 leaderboard.