Williams Racing team principal James Vowles has an important decision to make on his driver line-up sooner rather than later.
Logan Sargeant hasn’t lived up to expectations since his promotion from Formula 2 at the beginning of the 2023 season.
A report from The Race has outlined some of the drivers that they could approach if they want to make a change for next year – or even sooner.
Alex Albon is one of only two drivers in the bottom half of the grid who are signed up for next season.
He was joined in that club by Nico Hulkenberg last week when Sauber made the long-awaited announcement that the German would be joining them ahead of Audi’s takeover in 2026.
The rest of the grid appears to be quite fluid at this stage with drivers exploring their options and hoping to nail down a seat before the musical chairs begins.
However, Zhou Guanyu is arguably one of the drivers most at risk after the Hulkenberg news was broken.
The £30,000-a-week driver is arguably fighting Valtteri Bottas for the remaining seat within the team, although Audi have their sights set on Carlos Sainz partnering Hulkenberg.
It means Zhou will have to explore other options but Williams don’t seem to be interested in his services.
Given the calibre of drivers still yet to be signed up for 2025, that’s not a huge surprise.
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Williams don’t appear to be interested in Zhou Guanyu
If you had to summarize Zhou Guanyu’s Formula 1 career up to this point it would be safe to say it’s been decent but unspectacular.
He’s one of just a handful of drivers to earn a promotion to F1 after spending three seasons in Formula 2, normally a sign that a driver is quick but not a standout prospect.
Both of the previous two champions at that level – Theo Pourchaire and Felipe Drugovich – did the same thing and failed to secure a seat on the grid.
Zhou scored points on his F1 debut back in 2022 but has since only added 11 more to his career tally.
He drove very well in his home race in Shanghai, finishing an unlucky but nevertheless impressive 9 in the Sprint Race.
However, that’s the closest he’s come to threatening the points this season with Sauber one of three teams yet to get off the mark.
Williams are another manufacturer in the same position and with Sargeant by far the most likely driver to lose his seat on the grid, they’ll be looking at every available option.
For that reason, Williams don’t seem to be interested in Zhou when there are better, more experienced drivers on the market.
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Zhou Guanyu running out of options to stay in Formula 1
The report from The Race suggests that for Zhou to remain on the grid, he has to ‘rely on finding a seat at either Haas or Alpine’.
He was previously part of Alpine’s academy and while their drivers could both move on, they might look to their current junior drivers to fill those seats.
They go on to say that Williams don’t ‘appear to be interested’ in Zhou which cuts off one of the few options for him on the grid.
There are still 19 races to go this season and that provides Zhou plenty of opportunities to show he deserves a seat next year.
Unfortunately, he does look a step behind his teammate currently, and while his commercial ties with China will help sweeten any deal, they’re unlikely to see him leapfrog his current teammate on any team’s shortlist.
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