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Money enables Zhou to advance to F1 at the expense of better drivers


Money enables Zhou to advance to F1 at the expense of better drivers

With a spate of driver transfers in recent weeks (from Russell’s expected promotion to Mercedes to Albon’s chance of redemption at Williams), only one place in the 2022 starting field remains vacant. Alfa Romeo has confirmed Valterri Bottas for 2022, with the Finn leaving Mercedes after five years at Lewis Hamilton’s side. However, Kimi Raikkonen’s resignation means the second Alfa Romeo seat is still up for grabs, and there is a shortlist of drivers to be considered.

The most obvious contender for Alfa Romeo’s second seat is Antonio Giovinazzi. The Italian is in his third season in Formula 1 and is the current owner of this coveted seat. Most experts would agree that he was one of the more anonymous drivers on the grid, disappeared under the radar, and did not do much. However, the pressure on his seat for 2022 has certainly motivated the Italian. With outstanding qualifications in Monaco, Zandvoort and Monza (tenth, seventh and eighth), the 27-year-old seems to be in the best shape of his life.

This recent increase in performance is reflected in the data showing how Giovinazzi has improved his qualifying performances compared to teammate Kimi Raikkonen. In 2019 Giovinazzi was outqualified by his Finnish teammate with 11-8, almost 0.002% slower than the Finn. In 2020, head-to-head qualifying was 9-8 in favor of Giovinazzi, who was 0.068% faster on average than his teammate.

The Italian’s biggest improvements come from this season, in which he convincingly beat his seasoned teammates 9-2 in the first eleven races of the season, an astonishing 0.518% faster than the former world champion. For reference, that’s roughly three times the gap between Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz (which is around 0.174% in favor of the Monegasque driver).

The race pace is more difficult to estimate due to different variables such as strategy and traffic. In this respect, too, Giovinazzi has grown by leaps and bounds; he went from 0.268% slower race pace per lap in 2019 to just 0.004% slower race pace per lap of his teammate in 2020.

Where Giovinazzi is missing compared to his teammate is Racecraft and Konstanz. The Finnish driver seems to be more adept at picking up a spot or two when disaster strikes the front runners, a fact that is confirmed by the drivers’ standings. Giovinazzi, on the other hand, is more prone to falls – just think of his fall on the last lap at the Belgian Grand Prix 2019 while he was scoring points, his qualifying crash at this year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix that cost him every chance of Q3, or his uncertain re-entry and the subsequent involvement with Carlos Sainz at the recent Italian Grand Prix.

The most interesting piece of the puzzle is his position as a Ferrari Junior Driver. The Maranello outfit is an engine supplier for Alfa Romeo. Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto told F1.com that he was in favor of keeping Giovinazzi, although he admitted, “I think this is really a team decision. The team is really independent of the driver’s choice, which is also important for us. . . we cannot influence the team decision ”.

Giovinazzi may be a member of their driver academy, but the chances are slim that he will be driving for Ferrari anytime soon. Carlos Sainz has acclimatized better this year than most expected, as he is only 6.5 points behind his teammate Charles Leclerc in the drivers’ standings. Ferrari has arguably the best driver line-up this year and has no reason to change it in line with the new regulations. With talents like Mick Schumacher at Haas and Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman waiting to be promoted to Formula 1, Giovinazzi’s recent appearances may not come too late.

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Guanyu Zhou

By most reports, Guanyu Zhou is the front runner for the remaining Alfa Romeo seat. The Italian subsidiary of Motorsport.com reports that Zhou has already signed the contract with Alfa Romeo. However, such a deal would be contingent on Zhou securing his super license.

Zhou currently has 29 points out of 40 required to obtain the super license. The Chinese is currently in second place in the F2 driver standings, which would currently bring in enough super license points. However, this year’s F2 championship is highly competitive; If Zhou slips to sixth or below in the overall standings, he won’t have enough points for the super license.

Zhou’s résumé isn’t as stellar as younger talents like George Russell and Charles Leclerc, both of whom dominated the junior series en route to Formula One. The 22-year-old finished eighth in his two seasons in the F3 championship. behind teammates Callum Ilott and Mick Schumacher. In 2019 he finished his rookie F2 season in seventh place (four places behind team-mate Luca Ghiotto), which he only exceeded by one position the following year (again beaten by team-mate Callum Ilott). The Chinese driver won the Asian F3 championship earlier this year, albeit against a far less competitive field.

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Money enables Zhou to advance to F1 at the expense of better drivers

F1 dream over for De Vries? “Zhou has a deal with Alfa Romeo”


Money enables Zhou to advance to F1 at the expense of better drivers

“De Vries” competitor for Alfa Romeo seats offers 30 million euros “

What Zhou brings is money – a lot. The Spaniard Marca reports that Zhou would bring in up to 30 million euros in sponsorship money for Alfa Romeo. It’s not hard to see why – China is a major growth market for Formula 1 and a Chinese driver (the first in history) would only add to the popularity of the sport there. This € 30 million could be decisive for Alfa Romeo, a team that is currently in ninth place in the constructors’ championship.

Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur confirmed his candidacy earlier this month, telling Reuters: “Zhou is doing a good job in F2; he’s definitely on the list. It’s not just because he’s Chinese, he’s a front runner in Formula 2. He has won a few races and I think every single team in F1 looks at him. “

It is worth noting that Zhou is an Alpine Academy rider. Hence, if he signs with Alfa Romeo, he would likely have to disconnect from the French team, even though that is the price he has to pay for an F1 seat.

Théo Pourchaire

Pourchaire is currently fifth in the F2 classification in his rookie season. The 18-year-old Frenchman is one of the most promising talents alongside Oscar Piastri. In 2020, in just his first year at the age of 17, he finished second in the F3 season, followed with a dominant win in the main race).

His position as a member of the Sauber Junior Team only strengthens his bid for the second Alfa Romeo seat. However, Pourchaire would benefit from another year in Formula 2 to refine his craft. Despite his talent, he still lacks the necessary experience to assert himself in top motorsport. We have seen cases in the past where promising drivers were promoted too quickly.

The ideal solution for Alfa Romeo would be to take over Zhou (and his sponsorship money) for 2022, rebuild the team infrastructure, and then take over Pourchaire for 2023 and establish it as a long-term project (similar to McLaren with Lando Norris). .

The other contenders

Oscar Piastri is currently only leading the Formula 2 classification in his first season, ahead of main competitor Guanyu Zhou. The Australian already has an excellent junior résumé and won F3 last year against players like Pourchaire, Logan Sargeant, Frederik Vesti and Dennis Hauger. However, he doesn’t bring in as much sponsorship money as his Chinese counterpart, and the connection to the Alpine Academy only makes things more difficult. If he wins the Formula 2 championship this year, he will have to switch to another racing series, be it Indycar or DTM.

Piastri admitted he was aiming for a ride in 2023 when he admitted to Nine’s Wide World of Sports: “I’m not really in line with Alfa Romeo, to be honest. I don’t think it will be me. I don’t really know much about it, which is a good sign that I’m not really in the race. “

With the exception of Giovinazzi, none of the young Ferrari drivers are seriously in competition. Robert Shwartzman did not live up to the pre-season expectations as he is currently third in the F2 standings, 36 points behind Piastri. Marcus Armstrong also needs more time to develop his craft, as he is currently 14th in the F2 classification. Callum Ilott appears to be on Indycar, and Mick Schumacher will be confirmed for Haas next year.

It is understood that Nyck de Vries is also being considered, although his ties to Mercedes could hamper a potential deal with the Ferrari-supplied team. Alfa Romeo reserve driver Robert Kubica is also not optimistic about his chances, understandably as he was far from the pace on his return to F1 2019. The Pole told Motorsport.com: “Realistically, I think there are some other drivers who are.” probably further up the list. “

One disaster aside, Bottas-Zhou appears to be the most likely Alfa Romeo lineup for 2022. Money and commercial interests have always been a part of Formula One, and Zhou’s case is no different. Unfortunately, these interests sometimes come at the expense of better qualified drivers. Still, it will be fascinating to see how the second Alfa Romeo seat flips alongside the newly revived Valterri Bottas.

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Money enables Zhou to advance to F1 at the expense of better drivers

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The post Money enables Zhou to advance to F1 at the expense of better drivers first appeared on monter-une-startup.