Yahoo Autos Zhou Guanyu Belongs Here, But Can He Do More?
Zhou Guanyu was not the best prospect in the 2021 Formula 2 field. As a third-year driver who finished a career-best third in the championship, he is exactly the sort of driver that teams tend to overlook for better prospects. But Alfa Romeo spent much of the end of the 2021 season negotiating a potential sale to the consortium now known as Andretti Global that would have filled the seat, so they had little time left to hire a replacement when team ownership decided to reject the deal. That led to the hire of Zhou, who seemed at the time to be a particularly middling prospect.
This is the seventh installment of our driver-by-driver preview of the 2023 Formula 1 season. This weekend, we will be covering Sauber's Alfa Romeo-branded program. You can find the rest of our previews here.
Zhou's rookie year was not the sort of electric revelation that would immediately put him on a superstar track, but it was a notably competitive stretch against a strong teammate that has vaulted him from an afterthought to someone whose Formula 1 potential is worth watching. As a second-year F1 driver, that is all he needs. With a contract extension in hand, Zhou has a shot to continue improving and fight to eventually succeed Valtteri Bottas as the team's lead driver.
HOW HE GOT HERE
Zhou's junior formula record is certainly not spectacular. He did not win a Formula 3 (now Formula Regional as part of a confusing re-brand that made the former GP3 series the modern Formula 3) race until his third season, racking up just two wins in 90 attempts before moving to Formula 2.
His F2 career was unimpressive, but not weak. A finish of seventh as a rookie is in line with expectations, and while a finish of sixth in his second year may not have been enough to attract F1 interest, it got him a third shot at a title. He finally won his first two feature races in 2021, eventually finishing third behind Oscar Piastri and Robert Shwartzman. It was enough for a super license, and enough to join Alfa Romeo Formula 1 at 22.
HOW 2022 WENT
Given his fairly weak resume for an F1 prospect, Zhou's rookie year was a pleasant surprise. He scored points in his first race, then scored twice more over the course of the season to secure a championship finish ahead of both Williams drivers. It was substantially less than his teammate Valtteri Bottas had accomplished on track, but he impressed against Bottas a few times in qualifying. He beat out his race-winning teammate seven times, adding two Q3 appearances to that total.
Bottas was still the clear lead driver, but Zhou had flashes of brilliance against one of the most proven driver's in Formula 1's entire mid-pack. That is the promise to focus on, the chance to grow into a driver who can compete with Bottas more consistently and, hopefully, eventually reach his caliber of talent.
GOALS FOR 2023
The 2022 numbers are impressive for a rookie with low expectations, but Zhou will now be expected to take a step up. Head-to-head comparisons with Bottas will only become more fair from here, so beating his teammate more often and scoring points more regularly will be the keys to success.
Ideally, that also means more Q3 appearances for an Alfa Romeo team that suddenly looked much stronger than its competition from Williams, Aston Martin, and Haas at the back of the grid by the end of the season. If the car is that capable next year, weekly fights for points will be in the cards.
A SUCCESSFUL SEASON LOOKS LIKE...
If Zhou's 2023 season is successful, he will be in a Formula 1 car again in 2024. That is no guarantee, just ask Mick Schumacher how much patience teams have for developing young drivers if they do not produce enough next to a veteran teammate. If Zhou keeps qualifying well and scoring points, his outlook will be much more bright.
That means succeeding on the weeks when Alfa Romeo is best-equipped to fight for a good result. It also means ensuring he is not caught up in the chaos of those high-attrition races that open up the door for an Alfa Romeo to finish as high as fifth, like Bottas did at Imola this season. These opportunities may become fewer and further between now that Frédéric Vasseur has moved on from the team to lead Ferrari, but that would only make capitalizing on those chances even more important.
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