Guanyu Zhou To Alfa Romeo

It was announced this morning that F2 driver Guanyu Zhou will fill the final space on the 2022 grid. Taking Antonio Giovinazzi's spot at Alfa Romeo, he becomes the first ever Chinese F1 driver. His graduation to F1 also makes Zhou is the only rookie on the 2022 season.

The 22-year-old became the front runner for the seat after it was revealed that his sponsors offered the team $30 million for him to drive for the team. Other contenders included reserve driver Callum Ilot who announces his IndyCar drive in September and Oscar Piastri, who was revealed as Alpine's test and reserve driver earlier this morning.

The driver is currently in an intense battle with Oscar Piastri for the 2021 F2 title, driving for UNI-Virtuosi Racing in the series since 2019. He started out in single seaters back in 2015, competing for Prema Racing in the Italian F4 Championship and ADAC F4. He then moved up to European F3 with Motopark, before swapping to Prema for the 2017 & 2018 season. Currently serving as the test driver for Alpine as part of their academy, Zhou was initially part of the Ferrari Driver academy between 2014 & 2018. He also served as the development driver for Formula E's DS Techeetah in 2018.

Partnering with Valtteri Bottas, the young driver said:

“I dreamt from a young age of climbing as high as I can in a sport that I am passionate about and now the dream has come true. It is a privilege for me to start my Formula 1 racing career with an iconic team, a team that has introduced so much young talent into Formula 1 in the past. 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. I wish to thank the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team for this opportunity. Next year the target will be to learn as much as possible and as quickly as possible. To be the first ever Chinese driver in Formula 1 is a breakthrough for Chinese motorsport history. I know a lot of hopes will be resting on me and, as ever, I will take this as motivation to become better and achieve more.”

Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur commented:

“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. We are also looking forward to welcoming all the new Chinese fans who will join the team: Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN is a historical brand and one that embodies the spirit of Formula One and we will do our utmost to make the experience of our sport a great one in China.”

Zhou joining mean that Antonio Giovinazzi will lose his seat. The Italian has been driving for the team since 2018, however he has landed on his feet for next season. It was announce a few hours after Zhou that he will be joining Dragon Team Penske Formula E team. It will be a shame to see the Giovinazzi go at the end of the season but we wish him all the luck for his Formula E career.