Alfa Romeo’s [autotag]Guanyu Zhou[/autotag] is looking to lock up his future in Formula 1, and he wants to do it soon.
Zhou spoke with Motorsport.com on Tuesday, and he said that he’s looking to re-sign with Alfa Romeo — soon to become Sauber once again next year — after getting comfortable with the team during his first two years in the seat. Zhou has scored 10 points so far during his campaign with the Swiss team.
Here is what he had to say about his desire to stay with his current team:
“I want to have a clear picture before the summer ends, that’s for sure, and we have to see what to do to make everything happen on paper. My manager is discussing with the team, so we have to see. This time last year I was more worried than right now because I feel like the team is quite happy with the job we were able to do. I’m just continuing to work as I did. I think things will come but it takes a bit of time to figure out. I feel reasonably happy with the scenario and also with the people I’ve been working for, so obviously very happy to continue for the future. My priority is trying to stay here. After two years I really feel I’m settled well within the team.”
Zhou was initially signed to Alpine’s driver academy, but he left to pursue a full-time seat in F1 with Alfa Romeo in 2022. He performed admirably as a rookie, and he’s so far had some shining moments in 2023 with a car that is definitively one of the worst on the grid — his qualifying session for the Hungarian Grand Prix was particularly notable, as he finished the session in fifth.
As it stands, Zhou is currently 16th in the World Driver’s Championship. He’s one spot above AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda and one below his teammate Valtteri Bottas, who came to the team from Mercedes in 2022.
Alfa Romeo’s team managing director, Alessandro Alunni Bravi, told Motorsport.com that he hopes to keep both Zhou and Bottas for 2024 — but that things need to happen the right way for that to become reality.
“Our target is to keep both drivers in our team next year,” Bravi told the publication. “But, of course, there must be all the elements in place to have a win-win situation.”
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