It was always on the cards but Alpine junior Guanyu Zhou has now jumped ship to Alfa Romeo and in 2022 will become the first Chinese driver in F1. While this happened, Alpine announced Oscar Piastri, the F2 world champion as their reserve driver for 2022. Zhou will join Valtteri Bottas who joins Alfa Romeo after a 5-year stint at Mercedes. This means Ferrari-backed Antonio Giovinazzi now is left without a drive for the 2022 season.
"It is a pleasure to welcome Guanyu Zhou to Alfa Romeo Racing. 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 1," said Fred Vasseur, the Alfa Romeo Sauber team boss, and CEO.
"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 is a historical brand and one that embodies the spirit of Formula 1 and we will do our utmost to make the experience of our sport a great one in China," he added.
The Alpine backed driver will be joining the Alfa Romeo team
"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 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," said Guanyu Zhou.
"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," he added.
This is a pretty big deal for F1 which counts China as a major market. F1 recently just renewed the deal for the Chinese GP which unfortunately hasn't happened since 2019 due to the pandemic.
"The news Guanyu Zhou will be in F1 next season is fantastic for the sport and the millions of passionate Chinese fans that now have a home hero to cheer all year long. The pyramid in F2 is working and promoting talent to the topflight of motorsport. Zhou is an incredible talent, who will be a fantastic addition to the amazing grid we have, and he will entertain and keep all our Chinese fans excited in 2022," said F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
Zhou also comes with a lot of Chinese backing which will be critical for Alfa Romeo as it strives to move up ahead on the grid in the new era of budget caps. It now has seasoned multiple race winner in Bottas who has been part of one of the greatest F1 teams of all time and a talented rookie who comes with hefty financial backing.
