At home Grand Prix

Pure emotion: Zhou bursts into tears

Zhou Guanyu was overcome with emotion at his home race.(Bild: AP)

He could no longer contain himself, on the start-finish straight it was all over him: Zhou Guanyu burst into tears at his home race, the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix.

His race performance had not been a particular cause for extravagant outbursts of emotion in either direction. 14th place was not the sensation he had hoped for or the confirmation of the sprint to ninth place, but it was not the end of the world either. Nor was it that which caused the Sauber driver to drift into such emotional chaos. Rather, the 25-year-old realized that his childhood dream had just come true: finishing a home race in Formula 1. "Thank you to all the fans," he radioed to the pits. And indeed: the fans cheered their local hero so frenetically when he got out that Zhou couldn't help but start crying.

Special action
The fact that he was allowed to park his car on the start-finish straight at all was thanks to a special promotion to mark his home race. For once, someone who didn't make it onto the podium was allowed to celebrate - and Zhou clearly missed out on the points.

Nevertheless, he will probably remember the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix forever.