Alfa Romeo have confirmed that Zhou Guanyu will be remaining with the team next season.
The Chinese rookie finished third in the Formula 2 Championship last year, and he flew the Alpine nest to join Alfa Romeo.
The 23-year-old signed alongside Valtteri Bottas, who had spent the previous five years racing with Mercedes, winning five Constructors’ Championships in the process.
The experience of the Finn was something that made him amenable to playing a mentorship role for Zhou in 2022, and he has taken the young racer under his wing.
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The pair have formed a strong relationship since the beginning of the 2022 season, and both have been performing well.
Bottas and Zhou scored points in Bahrain as the Shanghai-born driver finished inside the top 10 on his debut, and he ended up in the points again eight rounds later in Canada.
Another point arrived in the last round in Monza as he finished 10th, while Bottas has been in the top 10 seven times in 2022.
The 33-year-old leads the qualifying battle 10-6 so, overall, this has been a very strong opening season in Formula 1 for Zhou.
The Swiss side are, as a result, sixth in the Constructors’ Standings, and are set for their best finish since 2012, when they still ran under the Sauber name.
The latest news in the driver market now means that both Zhou and Bottas are signed on at Alfa Romeo until the end of next season, at which point the Italian car manufacturer will end its relationship with the Sauber Group.
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It also means that there is one less seat available, with Williams, Haas and Alpine now the only teams yet to finalise their plans for next year.
Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg, Antonio Giovinazzi and Nyck de Vries are all said to be interested in racing in the pinnacle of motorsport next year, but none of them have secured a drive.
Williams will announce their plans in the coming months after their decision to part ways with Nicholas Latifi at the end of 2022.