When team Ferrari grabbed their first Grand Prix win since 2019 with a one-two finish at the season opener Bahrain GP, Chinese racer Zhou Guanyu also made history at his F1 debut.

The Alfa Romeo rookie finished 10th and gained one point as the first Chinese driver to compete in F1's grand prix. 

The 22-year-old racer lined up 15th in the qualifying session and finished 11th, 15th, and 9th in three practices, respectively.

The race No. 24 chosen by Zhou was a tribute to the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant. After 57 laps of the race, Zhou was thrilled and hugged staff members to acknowledge the team efforts.

"I am so happy, I am speechless. There are so many emotions tonight but my first thought is for the team, seeing how everyone worked so hard to go from where we were at the end of last year to where we are today is so incredible," formula1.com quoted Zhou as saying after the race.

"My biggest dream was to race in F1, then to score points and tonight we did both: being on the grid before the race, with the other 19 drivers, was crazy enough, but the race itself was so intense. It wasn't so physically, but rather mentally: I had an issue at the start, the car went into anti-stall at turn one and then I knew I would have to do something special to recover to the top 10," he continued.

"I pushed a lot, caught up with Valtteri and then lost track position again when the Safety Car came out, before climbing back to P10 – such a rollercoaster. I tried to give everything I had tonight as this meant so much to me and all those who supported me. The cool-down lap was quite emotional. I am so proud of my team and of my teammate, for all the work we did together to bring home this reward. It is a day I will never forget and I will enjoy the moment for a while, but then it's all attention to Jeddah. There is a lot more we want to achieve," he said.

Zhou's teammate Valtteri Bottas, former Mercedes racer, finished 6th, behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, and Keven Magnussen of Hass.

"I am very happy about tonight's result – for me, but most importantly for the team, with two cars in the points, and for Zhou who got points in his first race," Bottas said. "Everyone did a good job and we are going in the right direction."

Team Principal Frederic Vasseur of Alpha Romeo noted, "Coming home with two cars in the points in the first race is the perfect way to start the season. The team has demonstrated skill but also resilience as we came back from a poor start, but stuck to our plan and made a lot of progress through the field. In a sense, this is an even more promising sign as we were able to mount a comeback, which means our car is genuinely competitive."