War of the Formula 1 “Pay Drivers” - Zhou vs Latifi vs Mazepin
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- It's official, Guanyu Zhou will be racing for Alfa Romeo Racing in 2022, alongside Valtteri Bottas. He'll be the first Chinese driver ever to hold a full seat in Formula 1, and is currently sitting 2nd in the Formula 2 Championship.
Problem is, he's the latest driver to be marked as a "Pay Driver". So I thought I'd look into why, and compare him to the two other most recent pay drivers in Formula 1, Latifi & Mazepin.
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#TommoF1 #Zhou #GuanyuZhou
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Yes 1ntern is goated
What about stroll?
As a watch collector I (or we) hate anyone who likes Hublot. It is the worst watch brand. F*ck Hublot. 😂💔
1NTERN!!!! GET IT LAD
Imagine an 1ntern and Tommo collaboration... The amount of wheel knowledge in one video would be incredible.
I think people are only annoyed by the Zhou appointment due to Piastri being passed by. It's clear that Zhou is a good driver and I think he deserves a chance in F1, but Piastri doing a Leclerc Russell and not getting called up is a shocker imo
That and he's Chinese. Let's be real here: people reeeeally don't like China (specifically the Chinese government), and a lot of people somehow equate him with the CCP and are just mad about that more then anything else.
I also think people are annoyed because money is being spoken about with him. But everyone needs to know that majority of the grid also comes with sponsors. Talent doesn’t just get you to F1 these days
For sure, that heightens the sense of injustice, when someone who so blatantly has earned a callup, misses out.
@@TurdInternational the craziest shit I have ever seen about the whole Zhou thing is that some guy tryna say president Xi directly paid 30 mil, which is just mind blowing
@@user-yooo I wouldn't be surprised if the money was coming from the CCP through other companies; it's often how they work. But to be mad about the CCP, and ignore the fact that all the big backers in F1 have probably done (or definitely done) dodgy shit to make their money, is just silly. The coffee industry is bursting at the seams with allegations of child trafficking and slavery, but that never gets brought up when it comes to Latifi and Lavazza. I don't think Zhou is worthy, and I don't like the CCP, but the inconsistency irks me.
It's a credit to Lance that he's not in these conversations anymore.
Should be he’s not good enough.
@@stuartrea5657 oh my god shut up please.
@@stuartrea5657 oh really maybe his daddy should make a better car...cause in F1 it is the car not the driver....just like Lewis is showing us
are we seriously pretending Lance hasn’t been really poor this season
Stroll is bang average. As long as better performing teammates keep getting the sack he should 100% be in these conversations. Massa, Sirotkin, Perez...
turns out, zhou is a super solid rookie
he's trash what are you talking about?
While I think Latifi did enter the sport as a pay driver. IMO he has put In some good performances over this season and isn’t doing too bad. I think he deserves that seat right now tbh
You will talk the same about zhou and mazepin 2 years later 😂. Really. Once people used to talk about stroll then we got latifi then mazepin and zhou. So now to every pay driver , the previous pay driver becomes better
Don't be daft.
I agree, I think Latifi is learning pretty well over the races and from Russell. Even though he isn't as fast, he knows how to get into a good position and keeps out of trouble, when he's in the right place he's more than capable of scoring points (e.g) hungary
Despite latifi, mazepin and zhou being 'pay drivers' they will improve over time
Notice no mention of Stroll anymore
@@sound4117 He outqualified Russell this weekend, and was ahead in the race as well until a bad strategy call! He's certainly learned a lot since he started in F1!
Update: Zhou absolutely destroyed the others
It’s not even close. Zhou is phenomenal
Zhou score points twice now. And he has not crashed yet. The 3 DNF this season was not his fault. I think he is driving a lot better than other drivers in the grid.
Well the whole crash part aged like a glass of milk. But the rest your spot on
I dont Think you Can Call Zhou a “modern” pay driver, because it isnt a family member that pays for his seat, but a sponsor. Kinda like Checo
I get what you mean, but the fundamental issue is the same no? Backing from dad, or backing from dad's mates company, is still backing.
@@TommoMcCluskey yeah, but with Mazepin, Latifi and Stroll it was pretty easy to see that their dads paid huge amounts to get Them, a Seat. Although i get what you mean. Banger vid btw
@@Madselkjs I'd argue that with everyone trying to break into the Chinese market, Zhou has it even easier.
@@MrLinkinparkrules i believe so too, i just Think he aint a “modern” pay driver. By “modern” i mean a driver that has a very Rich family member that pays either by sponsorship, or directly for a seat
So he deserved the seat over Oscar?
I think Val’eri Bo’as will do decent enough next season. It’ll be interesting to see how zhou performs compared to him
bottas will probably clap zhou
@@saivarshan3076 it's obvious bro...not even a question
@@saivarshan3076 i mean...I'd hope so...
@@greybo4034 a mediocre going up against a veteran
I think Zhou will be eaten alive...
I think it's worth considering as well the background of these drivers: Latifi entered late, starting Karting at a positively geriatric 13, while Mazepin won in Russia before moving to international competition at 12 with a bucket of money behind him. Zhou raced in China where there's no real tradition of competition before upping sticks to race in the UK at 13, and whilst he has big sponsor backing now and his family are by no means poor they don't compare to the billionaire backing of Latifi, Stroll, or Mazepin.
The thing is my view was Latifi and Mazepin is improved recently, however Stroll just not improved
@@luuduonghy659 huh lol not sure we watch the same races if you think mazepin has improved
@@luuduonghy659 stroll has not improved yep that's why he got pole at a wet race with 2 great wet race drivers like lewis and max...yeah ofc he is bad ...not everyone can get a podium in their debut season...
Zhou has performed better than expected. Not flashy but reliable. Keep him, Alfa Romeo.
Zhou came second. Toni had his chance, if f1 was a meritocracy piastri wouldve gotten it but its hardly comparable to Mazepin
Maz has had his moments, but his Ls have been huge.
Nick De Vries aswell
Zhou was rookie of the year in his first F2 season. His second season in F2 was marked by mechanical failures and unlucky incidences, he would've been in the title race if he wasn't cursed by bad luck. People that don't watch F2 just look at final placings and rarely consider how unreliable some F2 teams cars are; Zhou's car for his second season was a disaster.
Ye thanks to the engine failure he lost about 30+points just in the first round
Mecachrome need to pull their fingers out. Like, it's 2 million per year. The unreliability ain't good enough.
@@TommoMcCluskey yeah they need to fix that.
@@TommoMcCluskey for the ridiculous amount of money that young drivers have to pay, they deserve something better.
Those failures from 2020 didn't cause zhou to spin his car TWICE all on its own this year did it. Zhou is an incredibley average driver he has Bottas driving style just boring play it safe driver that qualifies good sometimes other times not.
Just my two cents but I think Alpine are playing this smart & setting up Piastri as a successor to Fernando, keeping him within the Alpine team as test and reserve allows them to build future cars around him. Which is an interesting long term prospect 😊
good point, but where does piastri go next season if he wins f2? formula e?
If Alpine where really smart they would have paid Alfa to get Piastri in to F1.
@@addisonlewis8581 maybe piastri would bomb this f2 season to race another year, a few more Indycar seats left aswell
@@addisonlewis8581 LMH and reserve driver
But unless they suddenly have a top car, he'll move on to Mercedes/McLaren/Ferrari in a few years.
You better put Zhou at number one, otherwise your social credit score will go down
I think Nicky will push Alex next year and with 2 years as the Williams second priority I think he'll want to prove himself as a team leader
Nick is still such an unknown entity to me. Gonna be verrry interesting next year.
@@TommoMcCluskey yeah it's always very hard to judge when a driver is in a car that hasn't been able to challenge and has only had one teammate who is a driver everyone knows is top class. He'll be one of the drivers I'm looking at the most next year to see how he goes up against Alex
Hopefully Alex Albon can prove his mettle to Red Bull and dust ole Nickie Latifi.
I think Latifi is better than we give him credit for. He had strong career in F2 and narrowly missed winning the championship in 2019. I'm very interested to see what he does next year with (hopefully) a more competitive car.
@@AD-df5tm he lost by 59 points in 2019 AND 3rd was just 7 points behind him
Well, I guess no discussion on the comparison btw Zhou and Mazepin or Latifi any more. 2022 Bahrain p10 on debut with the most overtakes in the race. He overtook Mick Schumacher twice , though Hass has a more competitive car given the time gap btw K-Mag and Valterri. He proved all the haters wrong.
So hyped to hear Tommo call him 'Joe' for the rest of his career
in chinese the zh sounds similiar to a j sound
GO ON JOSEPH
Joe mama
his nickname on the grid is "Joey"
Who is this "Valerie Boas" who Zhou will be racing alongside? 🤔😂
Lol true
King Latifi, Emperor Zhou, and Lord Mazepin
🤦♂
Don’t forget Sir Lancelot
Comгаde Mazepin you mean.
@@lolaspratt5860 forgot about that one.
One big thing about Zhou, he does have insanely rich parents, but I dont think its much more than daddy norris or daddy verstappen, most of his financial contributions are from sponsors, which does actually take some networking skill. He is still a pay driver, but not as bad, in my opinion, as Latiffi, Stroll or Mazepin.
Honestly even though Latifi is a pay driver he does pretty well considering he’s in a Williams. Yes there are better drivers but they deserve the seats other than Zhou and Mazepin
the best part is he is a part owner of mclaren, and dosen't try to get that seat, he knows his worth and talent
Eh, I’d say zhou will do better than gio, I’d say zhou definitely has the ability to use that Alfa well
@@dumbonaw7762 It's hard to say because Gio also came 2nd in GP2. But there is no doubt Zhou will get his ass handed to him by Bottas.
@@nathanmcdowell7306 as would gio tho
@@nathanmcdowell7306 idk, that one free practice session in Austria looked promising for Zhou. But obviously, we can only wait and see.
zhou has talent, latifi and mazespin dont
I also feel bad for de Vries- one of the unluckiest guys. He wins f2 championship 52 points ahead of latifi and at the time Williams were the only ones who had a seat available. Due to the financial situation, latifi got the seat, and de Vries went to fe to be picked up by merc. Then he wins the championship (which IMO he was one of the drivers of the season, I mean some of the moves he’s made in places such as London were 🔥🔥). Toto tried to get him into Williams but (not reliable sources) apparently they chose albon because he bought the Asian sponsorship and publicity
Then he’s in contention of the seat at Alfa to be put out of contention because Zhou (reliable source) had the Chinese government backing of a big €30 million
also the likes of Piastri I wanted to see but he looks in prospect for 2023 Alpine, which may be better seat wise than Alfa, although we won’t know until the new regs settle down
I'm sure by 2023, Mercedes is eager to find a replacement for Hamilton and a partner for Russell. And that driver could be de Vries.
@@ken2k318 Mercedes won't sign a rookie, they never do that. Don't forget that for nowadays standards Nyck is getting a bit old to start driving F1... It's sad because he's got way more talent than some drivers on the grid
@@diegopuijk9803 I'm not saying they should get a rookie driver. And also de Vries is one of the reserve driver for Mercedes. But they can consider some choices:
1) promote current reserve driver Vandoorne to partner George
2) bring either Gasly or Ocon (since Ocon is still managed by Toto) over as a clear number 2 for George
3) if you want another Hamilton-Rosberg situation, bring in Max.
And btw does competing in Formula E could allow you to earn crucial points for a Super license?
Pastry will be filling in Alonso's shoes when he retires again possibly in 2023
100%, De Vries deserves to be on the grid. Maybe even a winning car considering how he did in FE which is a lot different from F2
Zhou has been solid enough in F2 this season that I think he deserves a chance in F1. I get that people are upset about Piastri not getting the seat this year but I have faith he will get his chance as well. My feeling is that Alpine are keeping him in reserve to replace Alonso.
I mean if Alpine don't give Alonso's seat to Piastri once he retires, then they should just close down their academy as it would be useless
@@beatrizsilveira6978 Don't you think they will prefer Gasly instead? Isn't that amazing when you have 2 french drives drive for Renault/Alpine.
@@emre0411 Even if they prefer it, I don't think they can do that to Piastri, especially if he wins F2
It would look really bad on them
@@beatrizsilveira6978 the challenge for him is Alpine might not have any seat available in the next couple of years or more. I don’t see Fernando necessarily retires after the next season and Ocon already has a long term contract. piastri is very likely to win the title this year then he can’t race in F2 again next year. What is he going to do in the next couple of years?
The first F2 race I saw was late in Zhou's rookie season, and he was well out of the top 10, but picked up fastest lap with... I forget how many laps to go. In the commentary, Alex Jacques mentioned that he wouldn't get the Fastest Lap point, as it was highly unlikely that Zhou would finish in the top 10. Zhou then drove the wheels off that car and finished in P10. It was an excellent first impression. Zhou has the skill, but I think he can lack the aggression. I feel he does deserve a shot, but so does Piastri. I hope Oscar's 'gap year' will not lead to him falling through the cracks.
I'm going all in on 🐐ifi for next season.
Zhou is much better
Here from the future: zhou earned a point in the first race finishing 10th at Bahrain. Not a horrible performance but not fantastic given he only finished so high due to both Red Bulls and an alphatauri not finishing due to mechanical issues. That being said I think Alfa has a solid car this year and I’m excited to see how bottas and zhou stack up against the rest of the field
What is your opinion now?
I think Latifi will actually be nearly on level with Albon next year
gimme some of the crack
He must be. He is in that team for 2 years where as albon is out of the car for the whole year
@@askeladden450 casual
@@tejasshah99 it’s a whole different car so they’ll both be starting at pretty much the same point.
@@sound4117 Well tbf, he did finally outqualify Russell this weekend, and was ahead in the race as well until a bad strategy call by the team. He's certainly come a long way since he started in F1!
in defence of Mazepin jn 2019, which I never thought I'd say, he was the last of the really really obvious 2nd ART drivers, treated like shit where they put all resources into the number 1
Was gonna say the same thing
No wonder Redbull like putting their Juniors through ART
Zhou looks like he is a good driver, Bottas should step it up .Offcourse peak Bottas from 2010s is better but Zhou is racing really good like he cares unlike Bottas .Latifi is just an avarege bad driver, Mazepin just like russia is bad!
well p10 on debut and most overtakes should shut doubters.
Nyck De Vries was in F2 for 3 years, and he is valued as a wasted F1 WC talent so… (never say never)
They only talk about him because he won the championship. Even though the 2019 was at a lower talent level.
At least he won F-E :/
@@philsb9388 Thats why I don’t regard him as a big talent, if he were a George Russel or a Charles Leclerc he would have won the title the first year. Still Zhou is still in the battle for the WC
@@mawile3037 I don’t think that makes him any more desirable to teams
Well ,Zhou scored points in his debut
Lance has paid his dues and left the pay drivers conversation apparently.
i think its because lance has proved himself against his 4 time wc teammate. hes about on par with him in points and has left his old "im rich and your mad about it" personality at the door. Also his dad has stepped away further behind the scenes whether he has the same influence is questionable but thats the reason why i would no longer consider him a pay driver
@@gamesofpain2920 Yes, all that plus the pole in the rain at Istanbul, although he had a touch of luck there, he still got the job done
@@gamesofpain2920 I never really thought Lance was a bad guy or had any type of attitude. I think what his dad bought him was time to develop into a decent driver. In 5 years he has beaten a teammate once in points standings. If he weren’t a pay driver there’s a chance he would’ve lost his seat a year or two ago and we would never see him develop into the driver he is today.
Looking back to Tommo's prediction, luckily he drew the wrong conclusion. Zhou has way more capacity and potential than what Tommo said. Happy to see a decent rookie like him.
For all they're worth, Zhou and Goatifi are still kilometres better than Mazespin.
I am a South African I’ve been watching f1 for so long I just want an f1 race in South Africa that would just make my whole life 😔
How's the track looking? If your government won't fund it, it's up to the track to shore up the cash.
@@GloomGaiGar it’s pretty nice
NGL, when you said Sean Gelael, I expected the "brooooww" in Josh Revell's videos, and it sounded in my head. Above else, great great video, as usual, Mr. Tommo not F1.
To be fair i think Piastri is lined up to replace Alonso when he retires at the end of the 2043 Season. And good on Lance breaking away from being a Pay driver, hopefully Aston Martin do well next season too, Seb deserves it.
F1 is literally all about money. I feel bad for all the talented drivers out there who deserve an F1 seat. I dont care if those pay drivers improve but it’s still unfair
Callum deserved that seat! It seemed like it was going to happen since he was around for virtually every race with Alfa. They did him very dirty!
I am a fan of Zhou but always figured he would get into F1 when Alonso left.
I think Callum is a really good driver but why does he deserve it ?? Doesn’t winning titles mean that you deserve it
@@ethanfaulkner3787 Yeah but he couldn't get a seat this year in f2 and their are many drivers in f1 who didn't win f2 like Lando, Tsunoda, Giovinazzi. The only reason why Haas did not go for Callum is because they need money so that's why they choose everyone's favorite russian Nikita Mazipin
@@ethanfaulkner3787 if that’s true than what is Mazepin, Tsunoda and now Zhou doing there? Oscar Piastri absolutely deserves it as well, don’t get me wrong, but Callum worked with the team the entire year and has a bigger relationship with them than Zhou who’s a Renault driver.
Piastri will probably get that Alonso Seat in a couple years? or 30 knowing how tenacious Alonso is.
@@ethanfaulkner3787 Agree!! He came 2nd sure but then again it was his 2nd year in F2
Zhou is the one pay driver with talent
as a Chinese Canadian, it's a little bummer that the 3 drivers that share 'nationality' with me are labelled "pay drivers" ... but excited to see how they all perform with the new regs
Side note: people say F1 is being "Americanized", but it's quietly being taken over by Canadians
It's tough as a Canadian fan ehh? Good representation of pack filler drivers.
@@raywei8472 Simply because Canadians are more affable to European culture than Americans. Sometimes when walking in Toronto or Montreal you forget you're in North America: Roadman slang and rugby in the 6ix and French language in Montreal.
I think Latifi needs much more credit this year. His team mate is a generational talent slapped up bottas in a car that he could barely fit in. And yet without George's freak p2 in Spa's 'Grand Prix' or what ever it was, they'd be level on points with honestly, Nikki having a more consistent racecraft. And this is coming from a George/Albon fan
im excited for williams next year albon and latifi could consistently deliver points hopefully williams sorts their car out
well, that didn't happen
There have been lots of “pay” drivers before, including some legends.....so people need to quit ragging on those doing it today.
F1 is all about money and corporate bullshit, in case you hadn’t noticed.
Giovinazzi's reaction has been pretty shit. Better and more consistent drivers in recent years have lost their seat whilst he has remained in F1, and honestly he'd probably not be in that seat this season if it wasn't for Ferrari backing. He's benefited from F1 politics too.
This is facts.
Finally! What an average driver, he talks as if he’s the next Schumacher.
maybe you shouldn't judge without considering all the facts. giovi found out he was kicked out of that photo of that car dealership in china. the team consistently fucked up his races for three years. sometimes, when he was asking questions on the radio, they were only telling him to shut up. he had to eat alone in this three-header. honestly, his reaction is more than justified. this is not how you treat a driver, it's absolute clownery.
@@annakalii I agree, and he has every right to get pissy with the team, but not casting aspersions about the incoming driver.
@@Scot1shSqu1rell and which aspersions has he casted?
Pay drivers have always been a huge issue and sort of taboo in the world of Formula 1. Whether we like it or not, it is fundamentally a part of the sport and vital to independent teams. Honestly, even Latifi who is till this point clearly the better of the three, I believe that drivers like Piastri, Pourchaire and Lawson would do a much much better job in his shoes. But just like everything in life, Formula 1 isn't perfect and we just have to accept it as fans.
Nice one,bro. Prost GP failed to get money to keep a float, even this teams have a 'Prost' name on it.😁
Thing is people pick and choice when to use the term paid driver, Each driver brings in money through personal sponsors so how much do they have to bring in to be classed as a paid driver
@@ethanfaulkner3787 it's not how much they bring in, for example Lewis brings in loads of money from sponsors every year, but it's because he's Lewis Hamilton he's getting these sponsors not because of daddy's money. Same with Max and Charles and many other fantastic drivers.
Here’s a difference between them. One will still be in f1, one is a gropestar, and one is the “goat”
I am a Chinese national living in Singapore(Of course otherwise I cannot use TH-cam), and I genuinely feel lucky watching Tommo making his honest opinion on Guanyu Zhou's situation because a lot of comparisons are simply *facts*(There's no George here). Of course I am super excited to see my country's flag on the F1 grid for the first time ever in a full weekend basis and the first time I have seen it after Ma Qinghua driving as reserve driver of HRT in 2013. My honest opinion on this? Yes I am super hyped considering I have been watching him in Euro F3 since 2018 I always think if he got some decent financial backing, he definitely deserves a shot at F1.
I am proud to say I haven't missed a single FP session of F1 since 2020 Austria and most F2 races so I guess I have a decent overview of what is happening to him. Yes sometimes you see him absolutely on it and make a charge to the podium from P6 or P7 but more often he just disappeared after lap 1 considering his atrocious starts usually cost him a few places at the start. He was never good enough to challenge George, Charles(I am a simp of him) but also mOnEY iS a pARt of MoTOrsports.
Opinion on pay drivers? I do not blame or hate them only because they have money, you need a super license first to qualify as a F1 driver.
Opinion on mother China having her own F1 driver? Why not?
just because you forgot stroll im going to give a dislike...
Shout out to all the people who were saying Latifi would be as good as Albon this year. Really hit the nail on the head there guys, bravo.
I mean I don't wanna defend Mazepin but he was at ART in 2019, and ART isn't very good at managing their drivers and giving them equal priority. Still, P18 is awful
im here after almost 3 races in f1 and i think we can all agree zhou is alright. he got a point in his debut race, isnt too far off bottas. and is usually near the top 10 position, its similar to antonio and kimi. nothing close to mick and nikita
Guanyu is not born rich, when he first start racing karting in Europe, he and his mom bought a small Ford E350 van and travel all around Europe to attend races while his dad working his ass off in China to gives him the financial support to continue karting
Bold prediction:
Once Honda leaves at the end of the season, Red Bull will bin off Tsunoda and put Piastri in at Toro Rosso.
That'll be great but alpine won't let him go, alonso isn't staying there forever. Also, yuki could also improve next season. RB seemed to have soften their approach on binning underperforming drivers. They retained checo also
@@TheMschelsea91 Checo is good tho and even gold. Gasley is good but he can't stand the pressure in RB (he seems pretty happy in Alpha Turi).
I hate it when people justify pay drivers to be in f1 just because 1 or 2 solid performances. F1 should be the 20 best drivers in the world who can perform every single race and were the best of the best every year in junior formula like piastri for example. Yet people are contend with a very mediocre latifi because of 1 p8 and because he beat Russell once in 40 qualyfing sessions. This isn't an intend to hate on the guy but piastri is just one example of drivers that are waaaaaayyyy more talented who can't get in because of this pay drivers BS which essentially just makes f2 and other junior fórmulas irrelevant cause in the end of the day the driver with the most money get's in not the one who has won the titles
F1 has never been the 20 best drivers in the world
By your definition, Max Verstappen is a pay driver as well :-)
Never won F3, never won F2 (wasn't even in F2), dad had a lot of money...
3 different types of asians racing next year Saimese aka Thai (alex), Japanese(yuki) and Chinese (zhou)
I though Alex was Thai, as in Thailand
Great job Zhou! Shut your doubters’ mouth with performance
Lance Stroll, Charles Leclerc, and Lando Norris are pay drivers too.
I quite like Zhou and have done for a while. Seeing him smash the F2 feature race at Silverstone really sealed it for me
Finally someone who knows that Zhou has talent
Zhou is consistent, he is not s Piastri or a Russel or a Leclerc but he demonstrated that he deserved that place. On a car on the bottom of the grid he is a consistent driver. He stays in front of Bottas a third of the times, he have nothing to do with mazespin and Verstappen friend.
Latifi is improving and getting more consistent with experience, as will Mazepin. Zhou does appear to have the edge on them, though, if only slightly. He's usually there or thereabouts most of the time, but just not at the level of LeClerc, Russell, Piastri etc. They'll all most likely end up being like Stroll (who is better than all of them), become solid-ish #2's, after they get a bit of experience, that get to keep their seat because they have that safety net.
Don't forget that they're all better drivers than us here in the comments, so any hate is just bitterness that you're not an F1 driver, too. Video games don't count.
I think Tommo should redo this video because now we have a picture of Zhou in f1
I can’t possibly comment on Zhou just yet and I would say Latfi has definitely improved (granted based on a very difficult comparison year or two). But latifi will clearly never be a top tier driver. But not willing to apply the same logic to Zhou until he has had similar experience. Mazepin, well despite my feeling bad for him in Brazil, he is clearly not F1 material.
Guanyu Zhou definitely deserves the F1 drive tho. Yes it’s his third year, but 2020 season he was really unlucky, dont forget that. also this year it’s been hard as there are so many breaks between races. Yes, Piastri deserves the drive, but that doesn’t mean Guanyu doesnt.
And yea, Gio did not do quite enough. Like you said he did not beat kimi, and at 27 he hasnt showed the pace to be in the points, or near, consistently.
Nah leave my boy latifi out of here
Fooking rights, bruh. We Chinese are basically blown away by the fact we get to participate in this sport.
People are happy, F1 is bout to make a shit ton of money. The amount of merch they will sell would just simply be crazy
6:40 an important point to consider here is that 2017 was the first season of FIA F2. Before it came GP2 which, for all intents and purposes, was the same. Latifi made his full season debut in GP2 in 2016 and did a half season in 2015
I'm Chinese-Indonesian so maybe I count? Lol okay, I don't know how big the impact is for "a China first full time F1 driver" but it does sound good in terms of marketing. Guan yu seems decent enough, regardless of the "pay driver" tag, I think we shall see how he perform next year.
And it turned out Zhou is the safest among all of them
Nutella Man Just is The Best 'Pay Driver' without a doubt and would put Albon and give him a rough time
Lando originally: am I a joke to you
Looking at their F2 results only, I would rate Zhou en Latifi equally good. Not the best option out there, however, I can understand why they were called up. Mazepin though, can’t really say the same.
Nah man it should be zhou>latifi>maz it took latifi 4.5 years while it took zhou 3. The only reason why zhou was beaten by mazepon in the 2020 season is coz he was terrorized by car failures and unlucky car incidents
Latifi has kinda started to remind me of Perez: enters f1 labelled a pay driver, then become a pretty decent driver
Josh's favorite series 🤣
Correction: Latifi did 3 seasons of F2 but he also did 1.5 seasons of GP2 (GP2 was F2 before the rebrand). So in all he spent nearly 5 years stuck in the same category.
It looks to me like we can expect something similar to Latifi with Zhou. A stable if somewhat slow driver. To be honest, this is much better then the disaster that is Mazepin. Still I don't think that anyone would argue that Oscar would have been a much more exciting driver to see in a F1 car.
Not a Maz fan whatsoever but he's driving that truck called Haas so who knows what he could do in a better car, but being outperformed considerably by his rookie teammate doesn't bode well for him too. As for Piastri, he'll get the seat once Alonso retires. Won't be that long. His prospect looks brighter at this moment than any junior drivers tbh. Alpine won't let someone like him go easily, but timing is everything here
Who is here after the performance of GOATIFI in abu dhabi gp?
In my wildest dreams I wish,
Lewis win the championship and announce retirement, and Mercedes announce Oscar Piastri as replacement.
Is he better than Mazepin and Latifi? I would say so, yeah. It is enough to get to F1? When you compare him to... Shwartzman, Ilott, Piastri... no, I don't think he should be in F1 instead of those people. But hey, money talks.
I think it's the right call to replace Gio though, he has had time, and is showing no real signs of improvement, he also has nowhere to go, Ferrari is full and have a great lineup, with Zhou, you at least don't know (on an F1 level), what he's made of, there's a chance. I still think he'll fail, but... also, it's kinda sad, there's just 10 teams, only 20 seats, and some of them are just wasted like this.
Mazepin is the worst example of a paid driver. Still hasn't legitimately out qualified schumacher on pace (and probably never will this season). Said things that i've never heard any f1 driver say and became a meme overnight...twice
In line with what a few others have said, Latifi has grown on me this past year. Not the best driver, but has done well.
Christ F1 is toxic at the minute with all the Hamilton fanboys calling for Verstappen to be beheaded, nice to see something different
Imo piastri>>>> zhou
Frozen take lmao. Its all about money
Not opinion, it's fact
it's not your opinion, it's a scientific FACT
I would rank them
Zhou
Latifi
Mazepin
Latifi was in F2 for 3 years, but also gp2 for 3 years. so 6 years total in the runnner up series to f1
It is true, if Latifi does beat Albon next year, Canadian F1 fans are going to be pretty insufferable (as Mexican football fans are finding out today). Not as insufferable as British F1 fans on an average day, but still pretty bad.
We are pretty insufferable tbf
@@TommoMcCluskey Which is why we love you all and always will :D
Latifi had 3 p11 in his rookie season and was pretty decent compared to mazepin (both in their rookie year in the worst car)
Lmao don't quit your day job Tommo. Lovely prediction on Zhou there
Not sure if ppl don't know or they intentionally leave out this fact: Piastri is a LOCKED driver for Alpine after Alonso retires. So why would Alfa Romeo, in the process of building a new racing team, sign a fantastic rookie, prepare him for all the basics in F1, then just hand him over to Alpine and rebuild the team again? Unless of course, Alfa Romeo changed their profession from racing to charity. Piastri definitely will have a seat, just Alfa Romeo would never consider him. And any sensible Piastri fan would want him to go to Alpine rather than Alfa Romeo, even just for that Ferrari engine... Should ppl annoyed about Zhou as a pay driver, they should at least be comparing with Gio, who is a senior figure with more experience and sadly insufficient funding and inadequate performance.
I think hes got more than just a pay driver, the fact hes the first chinese to be in f1 will bring a lot of money in from the chinese fan base and by no means is he a bad driver but ya thats just my idea of whats happening
I don’t agree with Zhou’s talent being overlooked by his sponcers putting down 30 million for him to be in that seat but you don’t reach f1 without talent no matter who you are or how much money you got and he isn’t doing bad in the f2 standings, he was leading the championship for a while and he still has a shot at the title this season
Exactly, all these guys can still drive at the highest level
BRUH! all these people who think that Latifi or Stroll deserve it in F1, well, think about those guys who beat them in junior categories by a LARGE margin. A LARGE LARGE MARGIN FOR MULTIPLE YEARS TO COME. didnt they deserve that better than them?
In my eye Latifi improved a lot this season and i can't wait to see him next season with a hopefully more competitive car. I'm really curious to see what he can do. I will wait with forming opinions on Mazepin and Mick until next season, i think it kinda useless comparing them to anyone even to eachother while they are driving the glorified gokart of a car. My only problem whit alfa signing Zhou is that I'm worried what will happen with Piastri if he wins f2. I hope he doesn't suffer the same fate as De Vries. I think both deserves a chance in f1.
Good Video exapt one point. Quatar! This will be the first time ever, that i will not watch anything F1 related on purpose. All of the arabic states pretty grey in human rights, but Quatar and the reports about their olympic-construction "deathrate" nope... It also shows how empty the "we race as one" really is. If you race as one and think all people are equal, you dont go to such a country.... but like all sports, whats most important? $$$$$$$$$$$$$
Hot take: I kinda think pay drivers are a good thing. Sure it sucks that the likes of piastri And de vries don’t get a call up but on the other hand, anyone finishing top 5 in F2 is an excellent driver (even Mazepin), and these pay drivers allow teams to sit closer to the budget cap leading to inevitably more competitive racing in the rear end of the pack long term which is honestly one of the most entertaining parts of F1.
I agree partly with this. My hope with the cost cap is that soon these teams won't need pay drivers anymore, but for now they are necessary to balance the financial disadvantages
@@Fractured_Unity this is true. I do hope for the future of f1 money becomes less necessary
Josh Revell did a video on this (on how "easy" it is to be an F1 driver) and the one of the conclusions I took from it was that every single driver on F1, F2 or even F3 is in some form a pay driver.
After 1.5 years F1 for Zhou I would say, he surprised me positively. He is almost on Bottas level and doesn´t have crashes or other significant mistakes. I think he is ok for F1, but I would rate him in the lowest 1/3 of the F1 drivers. I think he will stay in F1 for at least a few more years as he drives ok, is Chinese and brings money with him.
As an aussie with a chinese background, I hope Zhou does a Stroll and proves the haters wrong. Although I don't have my hopes super high coz there are just much better drivers for the seat. Would have loved to see Piastri as the second aussie on the grid. Nonetheless very proud that China has a driver on the grid full time finally.
I'm an Aussie with a Chinese background too but I have no idea how Zhou in any shape or form would ever "represent" me on the grid. I'm Aussie first and foremost, Piastri and Ricciardo represent me. Why would I feel a connection to a driver who comes from a country that I've hardly ever stepped foot in and has a cultural background where I have zero connection to, other than it being the place where my distant ancestors came from? That's like asking a typical Anglo Aussie if they have a connection to England, and if they feel represented by British drivers like Lewis, George and Lando instead of Daniel instead. Just my 2 cents
@@c.d.c9425 it's hard to explain that but people would have that feeling. So do I. BUT, the truth is that people from the same country or same city or even same family as you achieving something ( in this case, being in F1) has nothing to do with you... Zhou is just a rich kid in China who loves racing and accomplished his dream.
@@marshallzhao3843 A rich kid who payed his way into F1. Piastri has won three consecutive titles and he gets rewarded with nothing. Zhou puts on a mediocre performance (he still hasn't won f2 even in his third year) and he gets a seat. Honestly, Zhou deserves all the current and future hate