Fourteen years ago, Zhou Guanyu was one of the 100,000 fans sitting under the night lights, cheering as the first Formula One Singapore Grand Prix roared to life at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Then only nine, the young karter harboured dreams of making it to the pinnacle of motor sports.
This weekend, Zhou returns to the Lion City in the driving seat of an Alfa Romeo and the 23-year-old - the sport's first Chinese racer - is ready to take to the city streets.
Speaking at an event at the Puma flagship store on Wednesday, the Alfa Romeo rookie said: "It's very exciting to be here. The last time I was here, it was 2008...
"I was here as a fan watching in the grand stand, so I feel very lucky to be back after 14 years as a Formula One driver.
"I'm looking forward to racing here because I love night races and to be racing in the streets here, it's very intense but also cool." The Shanghai native began karting when he was eight and moved to Sheffield, England in 2012 to pursue his racing dream.
This story is from the September 29, 2022 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the September 29, 2022 edition of The Straits Times.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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