Who should Alfa Romeo sign for 2022's F1 season?

Although Formula 1’s driver transfer market has colloquially become known as silly season, most of the moves in preparation for 2022 were condensed into the first half of last week. That said, given the brevity of summer in the UK, perhaps it counts as a season after all.

In review, Alfa Romeo first cemented the signing of Valtteri Bottas after Kimi Raikkonen formally announced his arguably overdue retirement from F1. That preceded George Russell’s long-awaited move to Mercedes, which then opened the door for Williams to sign Alex Albon. Apart from the Aston Martin seats, which are due to remain occupied by Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll unless the unexpected happens, there is only one seat left unclaimed – an Alfa throne without a steward.

Alfa Romeo has a number of prospective suitors to drive alongside Bottas next season. A capable team well-equipped to deal with the cut-and-thrust of the midfield, Alfa has put all its eggs into the 2022 basket in a bid to steal a march with the new regulations. Bottas, a proven driver at the top end of F1, will be on hand to lead the team’s charge and would serve as an excellent yardstick for a rookie driver to measure themselves against.

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Alternatively, it could also serve as a nice landing pad for an experienced driver to re-ignite their F1 aspirations and try to stake their claim for a drive further up the field. That’s perhaps the more unlikely of the two options, but it’s worth considering.

There is one caveat to the Alfa Romeo drive, however: it’s likely to be a one-year deal. Team principal Fred Vasseur is incredibly keen to hand the Sauber-run squad’s protégé Theo Pourchaire a drive in F1 for 2023, should the French driver continue his impressive trajectory.

Pourchaire tested a 2019 Alfa Romeo at the Hungaroring in August

Photo by: Alfa Romeo

Pourchaire is still an outside bet for the F2 title, albeit 55 points down on Oscar Piastri, but Vasseur is wary of elevating the 18-year-old into an F1 seat so early into his career – especially as Yuki Tsunoda’s similar trajectory through the ranks has yielded a difficult maiden season in the top-flight thus far. Regardless, Pourchaire has been impressive in his rise, and followed up his 2019 ADAC Formula 4 title with second overall in Formula 3 last year – finishing just three points behind Piastri.

But could Alfa benefit from putting Pourchaire into the car a season earlier than planned? Internally, the team can take the pressure off by giving him the benefit of a learning year, although the external scrutiny of the media cannot be trusted to give Pourchaire the time he needs to develop in the public eye. His F2 season has been impressive, and he staked his claim as a future F1 talent with his vastly impressive victory on his first trip to Monaco.

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He has since managed to shake off a fractured arm sustained in a crash with Dan Ticktum and Marcus Armstrong at Baku, escaping the ignominy of missing a round thanks to the gaping chasms between F2 rounds, following up with a sprint victory at last weekend’s Monza round.

F2’s rules mandate that the champion cannot return for another season, so there’s no opportunity to match MotoGP rider Johann Zarco’s back-to-back intermediate-class title wins on four wheels

It feels a little too early to throw Pourchaire into F1’s piranha pit, and Alfa’s exploration of other options suggests that the teenager will potentially hang around in the second tier for another season.

His former and current title rival Piastri, however, may not be granted that chance. F2’s rules mandate that the champion cannot return for another season, so there’s no opportunity to match MotoGP rider Johann Zarco’s back-to-back intermediate-class title wins on four wheels. The Australian has been a real sleeper hit, bursting out of Formula Renault Eurocup to win F3 first time out. Given his form, he looks on course to replicate George Russell’s achievement of following that up by winning F2 on the first go.

Where Russell had Mercedes backing to get him into a Williams F1 drive, Piastri’s Alpine status does not present the same opportunities; the Renault Group only supplies its own outfit with powertrains, and thus does not have links to other teams that it can leverage.

Although Alpine could theoretically countenance a year in an Alfa Romeo for Piastri, it would be difficult to lobby another team to take on its driver without some degree of cash settlement – even if they’re as impressive as the Victorian youngster.

Piastri leads the F2 standings in his rookie year, but Alpine links could make a move to Alfa tricky

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Helpfully, it seems as though Alpine has big plans for Piastri, and it may be that he is granted a reserve role for 2022 in a bid to help him integrate within the team. The risk there is that his racing edge is dulled slightly by a year off, but Alpine has no shortage of extra-curricular activities it could throw him at – maybe even a Le Mans outing could beckon.

However, Alpine’s other F2 title-contending junior may loom larger in the frame for 2022. Guanyu Zhou has been sounded out in recent weeks as a potential Alfa Romeo driver next year, and the Chinese 22-year-old has shown good progression through his three years with the UNI-Virtuosi squad to bring him into an F2 title fight.

There are numerous reasons why Zhou is an attractive proposition for any F1 team off-track, but it's important to first address his increasing strength on the road. Zhou spent his first two years in F2 building up for a title challenge, after making the leap from the now-defunct European F3 championship, and now has all the weapons in his arsenal to take the fight to Piastri. Where he has perhaps lacked this season in comparison to his counterpart is in terms of consistency, but Zhou has chalked up three wins to Piastri’s two across the year.

Zhou has also taken the reins of Alpine’s F1 car for an FP1 run at the Austrian Grand Prix. There, he finished the session 0.4s behind regular driver Ocon, a handy performance for his first time in a current car. Even two-time Fernando Alonso, whom Zhou replaced for the session, was impressed by the junior driver’s performance.

But one of Zhou’s biggest draws is the potential commercial power he can command. China has long been waiting for its first F1 driver, and one with the world’s second-largest economy at their fingertips would have significant clout in the driver market. For Alfa Romeo the team, Zhou would come with a significant pay packet that could help the team operate at the maximum cost-cap limit. For Alfa Romeo the manufacturer, having a Chinese driver would be a marketing dream to drive its sales in Asia as it seeks to diversify its income from different regions.

For Zhou, it would be a low-risk opportunity to build up a portfolio of results so that if Alfa does decide to go with Pourchaire for 2023, he can prove his worth both off- and on-track. Crucially, the Shanghai-born driver appears to have shuffled above Nyck de Vries in the pecking order, after the Dutchman appeared to have the pick of seats just over a week ago.

Zhou impressed Alpine during an FP1 outing in Austria earlier this year

Photo by: Alessio Morgese

It seemed set that, with the Williams and Alfa Romeo seats open, de Vries would get whichever seat Albon didn’t take. The new Formula E champion had Mercedes’ lobbying behind him, but Williams felt that Albon was the better long-term option, and it now seems that de Vries will be out of luck once again.

After winning the 2019 F2 championship, de Vries had nowhere in F1 to ply his trade, and so took up Mercedes’ offer for a drive with its FE outfit. While it has yielded success in the manufacturer’s second season, de Vries’ continuing lack of opportunities in F1 suggests that he will return to defend his title. Although Mercedes could continue to back him in a bid to get him into the car alongside soon-to-be-former driver Bottas, it has made no secret that it would also like to keep him in the all-electric single-seater championship.

One of the reasons why the Alfa Romeo seat is so coveted is that the team is no longer obliged to take on a Ferrari junior. This was the caveat that took current incumbent Antonio Giovinazzi into a drive with the team and, although the Italian driver has shown up well against team-mate Raikkonen at times, he has seldom been able to build on his performances across the past three years.

Reserve driver Robert Kubica has done a solid job as a stand-in for the COVID-19 affected Raikkonen, but the Polish veteran accepts that the team has many more options ahead of him

In Giovinazzi's favour, his recent run of form in qualifying has been strong. He has started from seventh in the previous pair of races, but poor first laps at both Zandvoort and Monza contrived to peel him out of contention for points. That Alfa is willing to cast its eye elsewhere suggests that his three years with the team have been largely unconvincing, especially thanks to his inability to consistently beat an ageing Raikkonen.

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Reserve driver Robert Kubica has done a solid job as a stand-in for the COVID-19 affected Raikkonen, but the Polish veteran accepts that the team has many more options ahead of him.

Kubica’s fortune was very much the misfortune of the team’s other reserve Callum Ilott. The British driver made his IndyCar debut with the reformed Juncos Hollinger Racing squad last weekend, acquitting himself well despite getting caught up in the first-corner melee at Portland, and will remain behind the wheel for Laguna Seca and the Long Beach finale.

On any other weekend, Raikkonen being sidelined would have surely resulted in a chance for Ilott to stake his claim for the second Alfa seat, but it appears that the ship has sailed for other shores.

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Giovinazzi has shone recently in qualifying, but too often failed to comprehensively outshine a past-his-prime Raikkonen

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Ferrari’s lack of power over the second seat seems set to rule out the likes of Robert Shwartzman too; the Russian was touted as a future Alfa Romeo driver a few months ago but has perhaps flattered to deceive in his second F2 season, as rookie Prema team-mate Piastri scoops up the lion’s share of attention. It also seems certain that Mick Schumacher will remain at Haas for another year, given Ferrari’s greater influence over the American squad owing to its technical tie-up.

Alfa Romeo has decisions to make over its short and long-term future in the coming weeks. Vasseur wants to keep his options open and has suggested that he is keeping his eyes fixed on F2 to identify his next driver.

Bringing in Zhou for a year and then taking on Pourchaire for 2023 seems like the best fit for the team; the Sauber junior programme does not carry quite the same weight as the manufacturer-backed academies attempting to funnel drivers into F1. Thus, it would be a huge win for Vasseur to feel empowered enough to hand Pourchaire a drive while the other driver academies face a logjam in available seats.

With 2022’s regulations expected to create a range of cars with very different characteristics compared to those produced under the current formula, it’s a good time to bring a rookie into a more level playing field. Piastri might be the most talented driver available on the market, but Alpine might be reluctant to loan its academy jewel out if it feels keeping him in the team would be the best way to prepare him for a potential 2023 seat.

As anyone who has followed F1 for a long time will know, talent is not the only driving force in the market – and Alfa Romeo has its own vested long-term interests to follow.

Now, watch as Giovinazzi gets signed for another year...

All eyes are set to remain on Alfa for weeks to come as Vasseur waits to see how F2 unfolds

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images