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Zhou Guanyu recently signed a contract extension with Alfa Romeo. However, several reports are emerging that Haas team principal Guenther Steiner allegedly became the reason why the Chinese driver is staying with the Sauber team.
Despite Alfa Romeo having one of the slowest cars on the grid, Zhou somehow finished in decent positions in most of the races.
According to a report from Blick, however, before his contract extension, Alfa Romeo was allegedly planning to remove him and bring in a more experienced driver from the current grid. Rumor has it that their intention was to reportedly bring in Nico Hulkenberg from the Haas F1 team.
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Hulkenberg recently returned to F1 with the American team and has been performing quite well. Furthermore, he has much more experience compared to Zhou Guanyu.
However, Blick further reported that this move proposal was turned down by Haas team principal Guenther Steiner. Of course, he was quite satisfied with Nico Hulkenberg and did not want to lose a perfectly decent driver. As Hulkenberg fell out of reach, Alfa Romeo extended Zhou Guanyu's contract for another year.
Of course, this could simply be speculation and not reality, as most of these contract negotiations and discussions are done behind closed doors and are only announced when everything is official.
Zhou Guanyu delighted to extend his contract with Alfa Romeo
After extending his contract with Alfa Romeo for another year, Zhou Guanyu came out and expressed his delight in continuing in F1 with Sauber. As per F1.com, the Chinese driver stated:
“Signing again with the team is always a great feeling, especially when we know how things are shaping up. I am proud to be part of Alfa Romeo and grateful for their trust. I have been working extremely hard since day one and there is an incredible level of motivation to keep doing so every day forward.”
Zhou is currently 16th in the drivers' championship table with only four points. Meanwhile, his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, is 15th with six points.
