General
Alfa Romeo's dilemma: should Guanyu Zhou be retained?
- Niels Lagemaat
Alfa Romeo (next year Sauber) is in a dilemma for its 2024 drivers. Guanyu Zhou does not yet have a new contract with his current employer for next year and a number of new talents are also arriving, for example, Sauber junior Theo Pourchaire and Aston Martin reserve driver Felipe Drugovich. Zhou still has no clarity and so will increasingly start looking at other options himself.
Zhou hooks up with Bottas
In 2022, Zhou had a tough time at the Swiss racetrack. The Chinese scored just six points all season, while teammate Bottas scored as many as 49. It has to be said that Zhou was often plagued by mechanical problems with his Alfa Romeo car. However, with that in mind, the difference is still very large.
This season, things are going better for Zhou at Alfa Romeo. The Alfa Romeo driver is much closer to teammate Bottas in both qualifying and racing. In the qualifying duel, it is 7-5 (Canada is not included due to technical problems for Zhou) in the Finn's favour and on average Bottas is only 0.045 seconds faster. In the race, Botttas' advantage is greater at 8-4, but the number of points scored is very close with five for Bottas and four for Zhou.
F1 future Zhou unclear
Zhou's future in Formula 1 is still unclear. The driver debuted in F1 in 2022 as the first Chinese ever, partly due to a lot of financial support from sponsors. In 2022, his contract was extended for another year, but whether the same will happen in 2024 is a big question mark. According to rumours, financial support is dwindling, making it less and less attractive for Alfa Romeo to retain Zhou.
In the summer break, the Alfa Romeo driver indicated he wanted clarity before the end of the summer, but Zhou still has not received this, according to Motorsport.com. Due to the lack of clarity from his current employer, Zhou will therefore start looking at options other than the Swiss racing stable in Formula 1.
Who are Zhou's competitors?
The most obvious replacements for Zhou at Alfa Romeo are currently F2 driver Theo Pourchaire and reserve driver Drugovich, says Motorsport.com. The former is linked to Alfa Romeo through the junior programme and is currently leading the Formula 2 championship. That is something Alfa Romeo obviously cannot ignore and Pourchaire previously indicated in an exclusive interview with GPblog that he is (of course) aiming for the premier class. Should the 20-year-old Frenchman take the F2 title, he will not be allowed to drive another year in the step-up class because of the regulations. GPblog previously listed the other options for Pourchaire.
Felipe Drugovich is Guanyy Zhou's other rival. The Brazilian became champion in Formula 2 last year and was thus also banned from driving in the junior class due to regulations. In 2023, the Brazilian will therefore be Aston Martin's reserve driver, but Drugovich will have no appetite for another year on the sidelines.
Where can Zhou go?
Formula 1 has few free seats left for 2024. Both AlphaTauri seats are still vacant, but it seems unlikely that Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo will not get a new contract. Should that not happen for some reason anyway, Liam Lawson seems more suited to the free seat at Red Bull Racing's 'junior team.'
Because both Haas drivers were provided with another year with the US team before the weekend at Zandvoort, another option falls off for Zhou. As a result, the only other option seems to be the Williams seat next to Alexander Albon. Indeed, Logan Sargeant is still without a contract for 2024 and is not yet performing great, although the American is bringing in money. Only time will tell what Zhou's F1 future will look like.