The Formula 1 driver market is accelerating. Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, there were two key announcements regarding the composition of the 2025 grid.
One of those wasn’t particularly surprising. Lance Stroll is staying at Aston Martin, the team owned by his father Lawrence.
Yuki Tsunoda has discussed the possibility of joining the Silverstone outfit when they link up with Honda in 2026, but few drivers had their sights set on partnering Fernando Alonso before then. While the status quo remains, the seat belongs to Stroll.
More significantly, Pierre Gasly signed a new deal to remain at Alpine. Gasly was out of contract at the end of the season, which meant he was on course to join teammate Esteban Ocon in heading for the exit door.
There’s a still available at Bruno Famin’s squad, but the competition will now be even more intense. For drivers like Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, Gasly’s extension therefore comes as a blow.
Audi, who will take over the Sauber team in 2026, have already signed Nico Hulkenberg. And they’ve reportedly made it clear to both drivers that they’re not part of their plans.
Zhou Guanyu ready to take reserve driver role for next year
Speaking in the drivers’ press conference before the Austrian GP, Zhou discussed his future. He insists he’s not considering any other racing series for 2025.
It emerged that Williams driver Logan Sargeant could switch to IndyCar if he doesn’t receive an offer from elsewhere. But that isn’t a route Zhou wants to go down just yet.
Instead, he could accept a reserve driver role, but only if he’s promised a seat further down the line. This wouldn’t be an unprecedented step.
In recent years, drivers like Ocon, Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen have dropped into support positions before returning to the F1 grid. Zhou brings considerable commercial backing from his native China but it’s unclear how much that will assist him.
“For me no, I’m talking to F1 teams only,” he said. “To be a reserve driver would be interesting if they can promise me a seat available for the coming seasons. I think that is still something I could take.”
Could Zhou land Alpine spot for 2025?
Zhou entered F1 with Sauber at the start of the 2022 season. He’d previously spent three years in the F2 championship, finishing third in 2021 behind Oscar Piastri and Robert Shwartzman.
Across his 54 race starts to date, he’s scored 12 points, with his best result a P8 at the Canadian Grand Prix in his rookie year. Neither he nor Bottas have been able to get on the board this term.
There have been suggestions that he could be a contender for the aforementioned Alpine seat. After all, the team know him well from his stint in their driver academy from 2019 until the end of 2021.
However, the team appear more focused on signing Carlos Sainz at this point, having recently improved their offer for the departing Ferrari star. Still, if he is to carry out a reserve role next year, then this would be a logical destination.
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