Young Chinese speedster thrilled after earning practice drive for this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix

Zhou Guanyu will take another major step toward becoming China's first-ever Formula 1 driver when he makes his F1 practice-session debut at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.

The Alpine team announced on Monday that its highly touted academy star and test driver will take the wheel of Fernando Alonso's A521 car for Friday's one-hour free practice, the prelude to qualifying and Sunday's race at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.

"I'm very excited to finally have a chance to show my skills at an F1 grand prix. It's a very hard-earned opportunity," Zhou told China Daily in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

"A major reason of course is the three-year cooperation with Alpine. They have witnessed my growth and improvement, so they are confident in me and have given me the chance. Another reason is that I'm leading the F2 championship so far this season."

Zhou began his third F2 campaign by winning the feature race at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir in March. Two months later, the UNI-Virtuosi driver won the first round of the sprint race at the iconic Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo before finishing fifth in the feature race in May. He now sits proudly atop the F2 driver standings on 78 points.

Zhou is well aware of the huge significance of Friday's drive, and is determined to grab the chance with both hands.

"Driving an F1 car is very different from sitting behind the wheel in F2.The downforce of F1 is much stronger, so it's a lot faster around the corners. Also, F1 has power-assisted steering, which is very different for F2 drivers to control," Zhou explained.

"I need time to adjust, but I have prepared very comprehensively. Apart from studying related data and running the simulator, I've also had quality physical training. But I have to admit, I'm not very familiar with this year's Alpine car－after all, this will be my first experience.