Alfa Romeo Racing has announced the signing of Guanyu Zhou, for the 2022 Formula 1 season. Zhou will be the first-ever Chinese national to make an appearance on the F1 grid and will line up alongside Valtteri Bottas, who is to move to Alfa Romeo from Mercedes next season.
The announcement of Zhou completes the F1 grid for 2022, with the Alfa Romeo seat being the last hot property that was still up for grabs. The youngster will be replacing Italian Antonio Giovinazzi, who has been left without a drive for next season. Giovinazzi has been a member of the team since his debut in 2019.
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Rumors of Zhou’s move to F1 have been in the air since the middle of the current season, with the well-backed driver reported to be bringing $25 million to the team. Speculation then picked up steam last week when a Shanghai-based Alfa Romeo dealer showed an advertisement congratulating Zhou on securing a seat.
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However, the deal was far from confirmed, with a potential takeover of Sauber – the Swiss team who operates the Alfa Romeo F1 entry — by Andretti on the cards. If the deal had gone ahead, it’s understood that the American team would have pushed for Indycar driver Colton Herta. However, with “control issues” not being worked out, the deal fell through.
Zhou’s signing leaves Antonio Giovinazzi without a drive for 2022
Commenting on the signing, Frédéric Vasseur, team principal of Alfa Romeo Racing said: “It is a pleasure to welcome Guanyu Zhou to Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen. He is a very talented driver, as his results in F2 have shown, and we are looking forward to helping his talent flourish even more in Formula One. We are proud of our line-up for 2022 and we are confident Zhou will form a very successful partnership with Valtteri.”
Zhou, who is a multiple race winner in F2 and currently holds second place in the 2021 F2 Championship standings, said the announcement was a dream come true: “Now the dream is reality. I feel well prepared for the immense challenge of Formula 1, the pinnacle of my sport, alongside a proven, world-class talent in Valtteri Bottas.”
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