Alpine are on the lookout for a new driver for the 2025 Formula 1 season after confirming that Esteban Ocon wouldn’t be signing a new deal with the French manufacturer.
After five seasons together, Esteban Ocon and Alpine decided they both wanted to head in different directions next year, opening up a space on the grid for another driver.
Journalist Frederic Ferret was speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast about one driver who could be eyeing Ocon’s seat next season.
Other teams on the grid are beginning to confirm their line-ups for 2025, leaving several drivers searching for a way to stay on the grid.
Sauber are set to allow Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu to leave the team with the takeover from Audi on the horizon.
Ferret believes that Zhou could end up replacing Ocon at Alpine in 2025 for several reasons.
Like David Croft has already suggested, the Chinese driver may provide Alpine with a financial incentive to hand him a contract.
READ MORE: Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu’s life outside F1 from height to net worth
Zhou Guanyu could replace Esteban Ocon at Alpine in 2025
Heading into the 2024 campaign, Zhou Guanyu would have been well aware that he needed to have his strongest season to date in Formula 1.
The 24-year-old had only scored 12 points in his F1 career up to that point and unfortunately, Sauber haven’t given him much of a chance to add to that tally this year.
The Swiss manufacturer are the only team who have failed to score a point this season and they’re being left behind at the back of the grid by the likes of Williams and Alpine.
Zhou were miles off the pace in Monaco and his performances in qualifying in general this year haven’t been good enough.
However, he may feel he deserves another chance to prove his Formula 1 credentials and Alpine might hand Zhou that chance in 2025.
Team principal Bruno Famin would like to retain Pierre Gasly and hire Carlos Sainz alongside him.
That doesn’t seem realistic at this stage meaning he’ll be forced to look at other options on the market.
Zhou might have the financial capacity to sweeten the deal and Alpine’s owners Renault could step in and have their say as well.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage
Alpine have plenty of options to replace Esteban Ocon
Talking about the Alpine seat, Ferret said: “What about Zhou [Guanyu] who will be out of a seat?
“And we know that Geely is very close to Renault. Geely is a car manufacturer in China who is very close to the Renault car manufacturer in France.
“They signed a deal one year ago and it would make sense to have a Chinese driver even if it’s a French team who is related to a Chinese manufacturer.
“I think Zhou makes sense alongside Pierre [Gasly].”
Zhou might be a driver on Alpine’s shortlist, but it’s unlikely that he’s the first choice to join Pierre Gasly next year.
Reserve driver Jack Doohan is being handed his first audition in Canada as he’ll take part in Friday’s FP1 session.
Famin has also admitted that it would be a mistake to rule out Mick Schumacher although it seems less likely at this stage that the German will return to F1.
Zhou’s teammate Valtteri Bottas is also likely to be on the move and has put himself in the frame to drive for Alpine among other teams.
The 2025 F1 grid is slowly starting to take shape and Alpine might be one of the final teams to confirm their line-ups with so many options on offer.
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