First Ever Chinese Driver Guanyu Zhou Announced in Alfa Romeo 2022 Driver Line Up Alongside Valtteri Bottas

As the 2021 Formula 1 season comes to an end, almost all driver line ups have been confirmed already for the 2022 seasons. Some major changes are set to be made to the teams, especially as Valtteri Bottas is set to leave Mercedes after a 5 year stint. He will be replacing Kimi Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo, who will be retiring after a long and successful career.

While George Russell is all set to be Lewis Hamilton‘s teammate next year, the last remaining seat was that of the Alfa Romeo team. Antonio Giovinazzi’s seat was at risk as the season comes to an end, and there were rumours about Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou completing the line up for the 2022 season.

On Tuesday, the rumours were finally brought into light, as Alfa Romeo announced the retirement of Giovinazzi at the end of the season.

Guanyu Zhou Announced as Alfa Romeo Driver; Becomes the First Chinese Driver on F1 Grid

Minutes later, Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou was officially announced as the new driver for the 2022 line up. He will be racing alongside Valtteri Bottas. Zhou will be the first ever Chinese driver on the grid in Formula 1, and he said that this was a great achievement for him “To be the first ever Chinese driver in Formula 1 is a breakthrough for Chinese motorsport history. I know a lot of hopes will be resting on me and, as ever, I will take this as motivation to become better and achieve more.”

The 22 year old finished second in F4 in 2014, after which he racked up several wins in F3 as well as F2. This year particularly has been quite successful for Zhou, as he currently stands second behind Oscar Piastri in the 2021 Formula 2 season.

According to Formula1.com, Zhou said his dreams have finally come true. “It is a privilege for me to start my Formula 1 career with an iconic team, a team that has introduced so much young talent into Formula 1 in the past. Now the dream is reality.” With this, the 2022 Formula 1 driver line up is complete and the world is looking forward to next year.

Also read: Formula 1: Uncertainty Regarding Daniel Ricciardo’s Retirement at Interlagos