Alpine appear to be the Formula 1 team the furthest away from knowing what their driver line-up is going to look like in 2025.
Team principal Bruno Famin has already admitted that he’s ready to react should both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon move on at the end of the season.
Journalist Joe Saward was writing on his blog and suggested one driver the French outfit might be considering.
Alpine have only scored one point after the first seven race weekends of the season.
In previous campaigns that would have a team rooted to the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship, but in 2024 that puts them 8 in the pecking order.
Alpine could now consider one of the drivers from the two teams beneath them for 2025 – Zhou Guanyu.
The Chinese driver has just past a half-century of Grand Prix but looks set to be let go by Sauber at the end of the season.
Not only is the 24-year-old quick, but commercially he offers an awful lot to a prospective employer.
READ MORE: Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu’s life outside F1 from height to net worth
Alpine could consider Zhou Guanyu for 2025 F1 seat
The fight for points at the back of the grid has been gruelling this season with reliability at an all-time high and the gulf between the top half teams and those stuck towards the rear of the pack growing.
Five drivers still haven’t scored a point this year, although three of them can count themselves unlucky given they’ve each missed out on breaking their duck by a single position.
Alex Albon recorded two 11-place finishes on the bounce in Saudi Arabia and Australia while Pierre Gasly finished 9 in the Sprint Race in Miami.
Zhou Guanyu was the best of the rest during the opening race in Bahrain and narrowly missed out on a point during the Sprint Race at his home race in China.
Sauber have already signed Nico Hulkenberg for next year and have identified a trio of drivers ahead of Zhou on their shortlist to be the German’s teammate.
It means Zhou is on the lookout for a new seat and Alpine may consider him for next year if either of their drivers moves on.
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Zhou Guanyu aiming to extend Formula 1 career
Writing about the driver situation at the French team, Saward said: “Alpine says that it is happy with its current drivers (which cannot be said vice versa).
“Team boss Bruno Famin says (quite rightly) that the priority is to get the car more competitive and then drivers can be sorted out.
“If the current drivers depart, the team will probably look at Guanyu Zhou (a former Renault Academy driver), who knows the team and is a big bonus in marketing terms being Chinese.
“Mick Schumacher is racing for Alpine in WEC and is also a possibility, as is the team’s reserve Jack Doohan, who was out testing an old Alpine at Zandvoort in the week before Imola.
“If the team wants someone with race-winning experience and a funny hairdo, it might choose Valtteri Bottas.”
How each F1 team feels about signing Zhou Guanyu?
Like every future free agent on the grid, Zhou is being linked with several seats and will have to consider whether joining Alpine is the best next move for him.
Zhou came through the French team’s academy as a youngster and that familiarity may play a part in the thinking of both parties.
He’s reportedly already been told that he has no future at Sauber before they become Audi and the teams in the top half of the Constructors’ Championship are unlikely to be interested in his services.
Williams could be another option for Zhou but he’s not currently on their shortlist as they contemplate re-signing his teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Another potential option for Zhou is a move to Haas and he’s been reported as the favourite to replace Kevin Magnussen.
Zhou’s future is unlikely to be decided imminently but he’ll be glad to know he’s in the conversation for several potential seats.
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