'Alfa Romeo looking at other talents after Zhou's contract demands too high'
Guanyu Zhou may have smashed his own windows at Alfa Romeo. The Chinese driver seemed to be the top candidate for the last seat at Alfa Romeo, but high contract demands would ensure that Frederic Vasseur would also talk to Oscar Piastri.
Zhou's demands too high
Almost all seats have been filled for the 2022 Formula One season, except for the second seat at Alfa Romeo. Valtteri Bottas will be the experienced leader there to replace Kimi Raikkonen and it looks like Antonio Giovinazzi will lose his spot. Zhou looked like the favourite, but according to Blick.ch his own windows.
The Chinese driver, who is supposed to be interesting because of his huge amount of money, demands a three-year contract. Vasseur would not accept this. The second seat in 2022 is a bridging year to give Sauber talent, Theo Pourchaire, a year to gain experience in F2 before he switches to Alfa Romeo.
Vasseur would therefore exclude the home-grown talent if he were to enter into a long deal with Zhou, as Bottas also has a long-term contract. Vasseur would therefore look at other talents and thus increase the pressure on Zhou. This would now Piastri in the picture.
Still a place for the F2 champion?
The young Australian seemed to miss the boat for 2022, while he has the best performances to show for it. In 2020 he won the Formula 3 title as a rookie and with two race weekends to go he also leads the F2 championship in his first season. Like Zhou, he is part of the Alpine academy, but Alpine themselves have no place for their talents.
It could be that Alfa Romeo is trying to put pressure on Zhou in the contract negotiations, but Vasseur's ties would also still be good with the old Renault. Therefore, talks with Piastri would also be possible, who would otherwise have to make do with a role as reserve driver.
Of course, Pouchaire in 2023 is merely a possibility rather than given. Team Hinwill has never really promoted any academy driver, so not a must either.
Still, understandable why Vasseur would be unwilling towards longer than a single-year deal, just to keep the Pouchaire option open.
This applies to whoever ultimately becomes Bottas' teammate, though, not only Zhou. Nevertheless, Zhou should accept a one-year deal as otherwise, he'd risk not becoming an F1 driver at all.
His situation for 2023 would be worse if he isn't racing in F1 next season than if he does.
Every driver on the grid that competed in GP2/F2 finished in the top 3. Except Mazepin.
Mazepin… definitely not… Latifi… have you not looked at his record… he was battling till the end for F2 championship and finished runner up… not every driver on the grid accomplished even that…
Alfa's problem isn't Antionio, it's Alfa. They need to sort their car out.
It sounds like Zhuo has an attitude problem and things may work out for Piastri after all. With his proven ability and his Aussie "Ricciardo" attitude he would be a good fit for the Sauber guys. I am sure Oscar would jump at the chance to do a year beside a proven race winner, and would learn a lot for Bottas. He will have that one year of being in F1 to show Alpine that he is worthy of being an Alonso replacement.
Definitely, I mean what sort of a rookie asks for a 3-year-deal like, the $30 mill you’re bringing along isn’t gonna keep you glued to that Alfa seat for 3 years if you perform like shit in your first
For a driver who has spent 7 years racing in 10 different categories of races and have spend 2 years in F3, (coming in 8th in both years), and 3 years in F2 and has never ever won any meaningful championship in that time (only win is in the F3 Asian Championship against boys 3 years or more younger than him) .... why should he be even be considered for a place in F1 ....oh, perhaps for the $30 Million in money which comes with him (Thats over 190 Billion Yuan Renmenbi)
Oscar Piastri who wins his F3 & F2 championships as a rookie should be the No 1 consideration for any seat in F1, as he has the same credentials as Charles and George and those two are definitely potential future WDC, if their teams can give them a half decent car!
Popular on GPBlog
Marko draws painful conclusion for Verstappen and Red Bull Racing after Friday in Bahrain
F1 Full results for FP2 in Bahrain: Piastri destroys Verstappen's and Russell's hopes
F1 LIVE | Follow FP1 for the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix
