Rumor: Alfa Romeo F1 set to keep Zhou in 2023

(GMM) Alfa Romeo looks set to keep Formula 1’s first Chinese driver on board for another season.

Earlier, it appeared likely that the Swiss-based team’s favorite junior, 18-year-old Theo Pourchaire, would become Valtteri Bottas’ next teammate.

But according to both Auto Motor und Sport (Germany) and the Swiss newspaper Blick, Guanyu Zhou looks to have done enough to convince team boss Frederic Vasseur that he deserves a contract extension.

#24 ZHOU Guanyu (chi), Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN C42, action during the Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2022, 2nd round of the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship, on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, from March 25 to 27, 2022 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Photo Joao Filipe / DPPI

“Normally with rookies, you always have to reckon with one or two crashes,” Sauber team manager Beat Zehnder said at Silverstone.

“But Zhou makes practically no mistakes. Experience tells us that there has to be a crash at some point, but that’s also part of the learning process.”

Zehnder indicated that Alfa Romeo will not be expelling Zhou after a single season in F1.

“He’s definitely one of the best rookies we’ve ever had in our team,” he said.