It looks very likely that Valtteri Bottas will have a rookie as his teammate at Alfa Romeo in 2022. According to the latest reports, Guanyu Zhou just needs to score enough points to get his super license. If successful, he will be appointed as second driver.
Zhou has already signed with Alfa Romeo
According to the Italian branch of Motorsport.com Zhou has already signed the deal with Alfa Romeo. The only thing the Chinese driver lacks is enough points to apply for a super license. The lack of super license of the 22-year-old driver would also be the only reason that he has not yet been presented as a driver for next season.
Zhou is currently on a points total of 29 after finishing seventh and sixth in previous F2 seasons. He also scored another ten points by winning the Asian Formula 3 Championship. Currently, the UNI-Virtuosi Racing driver is on the second place which will give him enough points, but mathematically Zhou can still fall far back in the championship so he won't score enough points.
In addition, there is still a way out if Zhou does not reach the 40 points. Because of a new rule introduced because of the coronavirus a driver with 30 points can still apply to the FIA for a super license. The FIA will then examine whether there have been any impediments due to force majeure, which includes the coronavirus.
De Vries must postpone F1 dream
For Nyck de Vries , this would mean that he will not be driving Formula 1 in 2022. Alfa Romeo are still interested in the Dutchman, but Zhou brings a lot of money next to his talent. Something that is missing for De Vries. Furthermore, there are no more options to join another team in 2022.
Zhou already has enough super license points as he surpassed 40 by winning the Asian F3 early this year based on the previous info I have on his situation, so why did people suddenly start claiming contradictory things? Furthermore, the 30 point rule only applied to drivers who got massively impacted by corona, & no F2 driver falls into this category.
Zhou is a great marketing for F1. Besides bringing some cash at Alfa he can bring many viewers and a future chinese GP. I definetly see Liberty Media looking at Zhou like a gold mine.
This one feels like money won. Zhou is not a bad driver but I rate many youngsters higher than him. de Vries for example is clearly better than Zhou. But you can't fight against Chinese money. In F1 money wins 80% o time. Even Perez bringing money to RedBull. That says it all.
AR choosing Zhou over de Vries is definitely for the $$ because de Vries has a better championship track record of the two.
As for RB choosing Perez, they have chosen not for the $$ but RB hasn’t got any better option.
They can’t risk having Gasly back. Can you imagine the backlash and repercussions if a driver can be doing so well in another team, then becomes totally shit again if he goes back? How will RB ever explain that?
So, apart from Checo, which better driver choice have they got?
Gasly would be more ready than when the 2019 season began, though, so less risky.
Zhou is a great driver, has had some stunning results in F2. Also brings a lot of financial backing. Glad we have another rookie in F1.
