F1 driver Zhou Guanyu spotted playing CS2 alongside pro players in yet another gaming crossover

An Instagram post has revealed that Chinese Formula One driver Zhou Guanyu is a huge fan of Counter-Strike, with the Alfa Romeo driver supposedly celebrating the launch of CS2 this week by playing with Heroic captain Casper “cadiaN” Møller.

The Sept. 29 Instagram album has since been deleted, but a keen-eyed CS community member caught a glimpse and posted a screenshot of the album to Counter-Strike’s main subreddit. The Instagram post was also caught by the F1 community, with a similar post made on the F1 meme subreddit r/formuladank.

In the post, Zhou said, “Hello CS2,” while also tagging the Danish captain seemingly during a session of ranked or Premier. Between partying up with the Heroic stalwart, getting amongst the action on CS2 launch week, and his sick skin collection on display, it’s clear Zhou loves a little Counter-Strike on the side after a hard day’s drive.

Zhou is 30 races and nearly two years into his Formula One career, first signing with Alfa Romeo in 2022 after three seasons in F2. The Chinese driver finished the ’22 season with six championship points and a career-best eighth finish at the Canadian Grand Prix.

He has remained in the midfield for the 2023 season but has scored points on two occasions in Australia and Spain and only trails veteran teammate Valtteri Bottas by two points with six races to go this year.

Zhou joins a long list of F1 drivers in gaming in some capacity. British star Lando Norris founded his own gaming and esports organization, Quadrant, in late 2020, with forays into competitive Halo, Call of Duty, and Rocket League. He, alongside Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Williams’ Alex Albon, and Mercedes’ George Russell, has often spent the offseason gaming and streaming.

Alpha Tauri driver Yuki Tsunoda is on the record stating he plays 10-hour long sessions of Apex Legends in an interview with Channel 4, while eight-time world champion Lewis Hamilton loves his games too—although he tends to stick to the classics.

Who knows? The next time you queue up for a game of CS2, you might be taking on a literal Formula One driver on the other team—just watch out for his quick rotates because he’s fast.