"Actually, I was not that familiar with the circuits of the first three rounds, such as the Monaco street circuit. And I still ended up winning, which boosted my confidence a lot. This season's drivers are all very competitive, so I cannot make any mistakes and need to have consistency to deliver more podium finishes."

Zhou has been on the fast-track to success since his rookie F2 season in 2019, when he produced an encouraging seventh-place finish.

His reputation continued to grow in 2020 with six podium finishes and a breakthrough pole-to-flag sprint race victory in Russia, en route to a sixth-place finish in the overall standings.

Right now, Zhou is more confident than ever in achieving his dream of a full-time F1 drive.

"To have the chance of participating in an F1 grand prix is just a start for me. My dream is not just to run the practice session, I want to become an official F1 driver," he said.

"To achieve this dream, I need to have great results in this F2 season, and I don't want to have any regrets. Then, let's just see if there are good opportunities. There are only limited spots in F1, but I'm confident in myself."