Alfa Romeo has announced that Guanyu Zhou will replace Antonio Giovinazzi as the second driver for the 2022 F1 season. The 22-year-old, who will become China’s first full-time driver in F1 history, is currently a test driver at Renault’s own Alpine.
“From a young age I dreamed of climbing as high as possible in a sport that I am passionate about, and now that dream has come true,” Zhou said in a team statement. “To be the first Chinese driver in Formula 1 is a breakthrough in Chinese motorsport history,” he added.
Zhou has experience in three open wheel racing categories: Formula 4, Formula 3 Europe and Formula 2. He won the F3 Asian Championship in 2021 with Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema. In 15 races, the Chinese clinched four wins, five pole positions and five fastest laps and missed the podium in just four races of the season.
Zhou is currently participating in F2. The UNI Virtuosi driver is in a championship fight with Oscar Piastri. He is 36 points behind the Australian in two races remaining.
The arrival of the Chinese at Alfa Romeo completes the grid for next year. Zhou will compete alongside the current Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas in the 2022 F1 season.
Guanyu Zhou has to win the F2 race in Saudi Arabia
After a brilliant start to the season, Zhou experienced a decline in form and was unable to win any of the five races on the last two race weekends. Zhou’s last win was the main race at Silverstone.
Meanwhile, his title rival Piastri won the last two main races. The Australian picked up checkered flags one after the other in Monza and Sochi.
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Zhou has to win the full 25 points in the main race in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Anything else could bring Piastri the F2 drivers’ championship.
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