Youth Daily · Youth Shanghai Reporter Yang Lijia
Tomorrow, Huang Zihao, a fifth-year student at Tongji University’s School of Automotive Studies, will embark on his second F1 Chinese Grand Prix journey. Five years ago, this scholarly young man from Wenzhou, wearing black-framed glasses, came to Shanghai to chase his dreams. From a driver for DIAN Racing to an F1 scrutineer, he has been living life in the fast lane.
From “Rookie” to “Veteran Driver”, Unleashing the Passion of Youth
Huang Zihao originally majored in intelligent manufacturing, but due to his unshakable love for cars, he decided to transfer to the School of Automotive Studies and join DIAN Racing in his sophomore year. Founded in 2013 and mainly composed of undergraduate students, DIAN Racing designs and builds a new electric formula-style race car each year, named DRe followed by the year. “The team has achieved many firsts — the first dual-motor team in China, the first four-motor team, the first team to build its own battery box and battery management system, the first all-wheel-drive team with a complete dynamic control algorithm, the first team to make its own vehicle control unit, and more,” Huang introduced proudly.
“The first time I sat in the cockpit, gripping the carbon-fibre steering wheel I had laid up myself, leaning against the carbon seat shaped from a 3D scan, the extremely low seating position was a brand-new and unforgettable experience…” Huang still feels a surge of emotion recalling it. “Our electric formula car outperforms almost all commercially available vehicles and is even stronger than two-stroke karts.” From that moment on, he set his sights on the next goal: becoming a race driver and clocking “Jiading” speed at national and international Formula Student competitions.
As is well known, formula cars have no power assistance, and endurance races in particular test a driver’s focus and physical fitness. To meet the extreme demands on neck, arm, and leg strength, Huang, as the driver group leader, regularly led the drivers in aerobic and anaerobic training. “Since the formula car weighs only 200 kg, and reducing the weight of the car itself requires significant design and manufacturing costs, drivers are often asked to lose weight for a better power-to-weight ratio,” Huang added. “One team member once joked that I should get down to 70 kg before the race, or else they’d shave my hair to save weight.”
On weekends, Huang spent almost all his time in the team’s container-turned-workshop, training hard on the simulator. Although sometimes he would be drenched in sweat, even near exhaustion, the satisfaction of setting a faster lap time was, in his eyes, irreplaceable.
Despite DIAN Racing’s string of impressive results, setbacks are the norm during the car-building process. Alongside technical innovation come countless design revisions, sometimes even starting over from scratch. To meet deadlines and compete, the team’s schedule is packed, and members rarely go home even during winter and summer breaks — design begins in winter, and summer is for testing. Huang “complained” that he has lost count of the times he eagerly put on his driver’s suit, ready to get in the car, only to be halted by various unexpected issues — or even by a failed motor test that prevented him from driving. Yet it is precisely this uncertainty that cultivated his and his teammates’ problem-solving mindset and ability, pushing them to run forward with greater determination. At last October’s Formula Student Electric China, DIAN Racing took third place in the Design Event, and Huang personally received the “Veteran Driver Award”, setting the fastest endurance lap with a time of 68.707 seconds.
From Race Driver to Scrutineer, Forging a New Path
To this day, Huang vividly remembers the first time he set foot in the Shanghai International Circuit: “There’s a bit of a dramatic story — I was dragged by a classmate to take part in a New Year’s run held there. As a racing fan, I wasn’t feeling the track with tyres but measuring the paddock with my own two feet. It was a bit of a mixed feeling. Right then, I told myself I would one day return here as a true motorsport person.”
Half a year later, the fourth round of the 2023 CTCC China Touring Car Championship Super Cup – TCR China Series was held at the Shanghai International Circuit. Drawing on the knowledge gained from the team, Huang landed a valuable opportunity to serve as a scrutineer, finally entering the paddock he had longed for and opening up a new path — moving from the driver circle into the officiating circle.
“After that, I took part in other races held at the Shanghai International Circuit as a scrutineer, further building my experience. I would rush between school and the circuit in my spare time. I truly cherish these opportunities — as a student in Jiading, I’m just so lucky,” Huang recalled. Opportunity favours the prepared mind, and soon a recruitment notice he had been eagerly waiting for appeared in the officiating community — scrutineers wanted for the 2024 F1 Chinese Grand Prix!
“Faced with such an incredible opportunity, many seasoned veterans in the circle signed up. Could a green rookie like me even make it? During the three-month wait for the results, I was on tenterhooks. When I was told to attend the training, the ecstasy was no less than when I received my university admission letter!” After the excitement came intense training and serious preparation. Huang admitted that although he had accumulated quite a bit of experience, F1’s technical standards were completely different, as if opening a door to a new world — during Parc Fermé, the operations teams are permitted to perform on the cars, including adjustments to the cooling system, hydraulic system, and bodywork aero kit… knowledge that is hard to glean from simply watching F1. And with continuous advances in car technology and updates to competition regulations, scrutineers must keep pace with these changes to make accurate judgments on the field. From new car performance parameters to regulation adjustments, from optimised track layouts to upgraded safety measures, every detail can influence the course of a race. As a newcomer, Huang had to invest extra time and effort to prepare for better fulfilling his duties on the ground.
To ensure smooth operations, Huang and the other volunteers would get up at 5 a.m. every day, arrive at the circuit by 6 a.m., and take their posts in an orderly fashion. After a series of tasks — collecting equipment, communication tests, and the race director’s track inspection — they officially entered the race officiating phase. After the day’s events ended and they withdrew from their posts, they would conduct a daily debrief to ensure everything ran smoothly. “It’s a unique state — though my body was tired, my mind was extraordinarily excited. I think that’s the power of passion!”
From Race Cars to Driverless, Overtaking in a New Lane
This experience also gave Huang a new understanding of racing: drivers are often the focus of a race, but out of sight of the TV cameras, countless staff members are working silently in the background. In the end, racing is truly a testament to the power of a team.
He shared a detail with the reporter: “After the car was pushed back to the team’s garage, besides the mechanics checking the vehicle, I also saw the team manager kneeling on one knee, picking up a rag nearby to wipe the car, pressing down the tape that had lifted at the gaps in the carbon panels. I think that for them, it is no longer just a job but the purest passion for racing. That moment left a deep impression on me, and I will continue to burn with this passion.”
In the paddock, Huang absorbed every bit of F1-related information like a sponge. After returning from his first F1 trip, he hardly took any rest before sharing the cutting-edge technologies worth learning with his teammates. Over the past two years, the team had been working hard on optimising aerodynamic packages, and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas car he scrutineered excelled in that area. “Some of the insights we gathered have been incorporated into the DRe25 we are now building. Let’s look forward to a more stable and swifter performance at this year’s Formula Student Electric China!”
Huang noted that this year, far fewer scrutineers were recruited for the F1 race than last year, so he feels deeply honoured to be selected again. He is now shoring up some weak points from last year’s work. “I have already stepped down as the driver group leader of DIAN Racing, but at the same time, I am now busy forming a driverless formula student team. My graduate research direction will be autonomous driving and vehicle control. Strictly speaking, the two are not the same field, but I still want to continue chasing the electric light in the racing paddock, and achieve a lane-change overtake!”
Youth Daily · Youth Shanghai Reporter Yang Lijia
Editor: Zhang Hongye
Source: Youth Shanghai News — 24-Hour Youth Daily