Alfa Romeo has jettisoned Antonio Giovinazzi and signed Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou for the 2022 Formula One season – making Zhou Formula 1’s first-ever Chinese driver.
Zhou, 22, will replace Giovinazzi and with the former F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen retiring, will be the second driver behind current Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, who is moving to Alfa Romeo in 2022.
Zhou has never raced in F1 and is currently second in the F2 championship with three wins this season but what he is really bringing to Alfa Romeo is a boatload of money.
Zhou is expected to be bringing to Alfa Romeo a financial package said to be worth many millions of dollars, which team principal Frederic Vasseur admitted they need since it will allow Alfa Romeo to operate at F1’s cost cap next season – which is $145 million this year.
Zhou, however, will likely not affect Alfa Romeo’s standing – they are currently are ninth out of 10 teams, only in front of lowly Haas – in the constructors’ championship with three races to go, as that will primarily be Bottas’ job.