Formula 2 championship leader Piastri had been linked with a possible move to Alfa Romeo for next season but missed Zhou’s driver, who was announced last week as Valtteri Bottas’ teammate for 2022.
Zhou is known to provide financial support to Alfa Romeo, with outgoing driver Antonio Giovinazzi saying on social media that Formula 1 could be “ruthless” when “money rules”.
Asked by Autosport during a select media session in Qatar for his thoughts on Zhou’s move, Piastri defended the Chinese driver from the criticism he had received.
“Obviously he’s been swallowing some negativity on social media and stuff, and I think most of it is pretty unfair to be honest,” said Piastri.
“Okay, we all know he’s had some financial support, but he’s not doing badly.
“He’s second in the championship, he has the same number of wins as me, he led the championship in the first half of the year. He’s certainly not coming without results.
“I think it will be tough for him against Valtteri. I think Valtteri will be a very strong team-mate.
“But I’m excited to see how he turns out and I think he’ll do a pretty good job.”
Oscar Piastri, reserve driver Alpine F1
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Piastri is currently 36 points ahead of Zhou in the F2 standings with two laps remaining in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
Piastri and Zhou are both members of the Alpine Academy. Piastri will be Alpine F1 reserve driver next year and is slated to spend a year without a race to focus on the role.
Zhou is not expected to maintain ties with Alpine when he joins Alfa Romeo next year, clearing the way for Piastri as the team’s leading young driver.
“I think that’s definitely a different point of view,” admitted Piastri.
“I think in a big team like Alpine, which is of course also a manufacturer, I would like to hope that the financial side wasn’t such a big factor.
“So I don’t know what role that would have played in the future.
“But I think it’s nice, in a way, to take Zhou out of the picture a bit.”
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