China’s first and only Formula 1 driver Guanyu Zhou will stay with Alfa Romeo next season after the Switzerland-based team announced a contract extension on Tuesday (September 27).
Zhou, 23, made his F1 debut this year and has picked up six points in 16 races compared to 46 for his Finnish team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
The announcement was expected and gave Chinese fans a further boost a week after Formula 1 released a record-breaking 24-race calendar for 2023. The Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai is set to return for the first time since 2019.
“From day one with the team, at last year’s Abu Dhabi test, he impressed me with the way he works and that’s always a very positive attribute,” team principal Frederic Vasseur said in a statement.
“We knew he was fast but the way he has adapted to Formula 1 in such a short time has been one of the best surprises of our season. He’s a very nice guy, everyone on the team likes both his personality and his attitude.
“He had the humility to ask questions and learn from the engineers and Valtteri, and the intelligence to apply whatever information he got to improve race after race.”
Zhou’s confirmation leaves fewer than a handful of spots left on the 2023 grid, including Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who is still finalizing his split with McLaren.
Fourth-placed Alpine, who has to replace two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, has a vacancy, while Williams is looking for a teammate of Thai racer Alex Albon and Haas is yet to decide Mick Schumacher’s fate.
Zhou, who scored points on his Bahrain debut in March and suffered a violent crash at Silverstone in July, said reaching Formula 1 was a dream come true and he is looking forward to the next chapter and the fight for more points.
“The hard work we’ve put in since the beginning of the year is just the first step towards where we want to be next season,” he said.