“We can’t predict today who will be champion” – Alfa Romeo willing to pay the waiting game to decide the 2022 F1 seat between F2 title contenders Oscar Piastri and Guanyu Zhou
“We can’t predict today who will be champion” – Alfa Romeo will wait for the F1 and F2 seasons to finish before confirming either Oscar Piastri or Guanyu Zhou as Antonio Giovinazzi’s replacement next season.
With Valtteri Bottas confirmed for a seat at Alfa Romeo, the focus now is on who will occupy the other seat. Currently, Antonio Giovinazzi occupies it, and he is doing a decent job on it.
But he will be replaced by either of the F2 season’s title protagonists Guanyu Zhou or Oscar Piastri. Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur hinted at this and is ready to wait to see who wins it, ultimately.
“The next two races won’t take place until December. We can’t predict today who will be champion.”
🚨 | Guanyu Zhou reportedly wants a 3-year contract with Alfa Romeo, but Vasseur is unprepared to sign a long-term deal.
Piastri remains a viable option, though Alfa could be using the Piastri threat as a negotiation tool.
— formularacers (@formularacers_) October 6, 2021
Heart says Alfa Romeo; mind says Alpine
Oscar Piastri is in the form of his life. He won the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2019 and then the Formula 3 title the following season. Currently, he finds himself leading the F2 championship, racing for Prema Racing, and managed by Mark Webber.
If he wins F2, he will be ineligible to race in it again, hence Webber is pushing for the Alfa Romeo seat. But Piastri is not very optimistic about it and expects to be the Alpine reserve driver instead next season.
“Looking forward, that Alfa seat. I’m not very confident about that.
“Realistically, the most logical pathway is to try and be reserve driver for Alpine next year and put in a lot of hours in the sim and really working with the team to try and get a 2023 seat.
“I’d be okay with spending one year on the sidelines, I think. Obviously, it’s still not ideal, but it’s happened to quite a lot of drivers out there.”
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