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“Bull***t” – Alfa Romeo F1 Boss Slams Zhou’s $30 Million Sponsorship Rumours

Published 09/22/2021, 4:36 AM EDT

After several recent driver announcements, there’s only one seat left to be filled for next season. The second seat at Alfa Romeo next to Valtteri Bottas of Antonio Giovinazzi is the only one still in doubt.

Many drivers like Oscar Piastri and Robert Schwartzman are tipped to replace Giovinazzi next season. However, according to the driver’s market, Alpine’s academy graduate Guanyu Zhou is the front runner to teaming up with Bottas at Alfa Romeo.

In addition, the sponsors of Guanyu Zhou are willing to give up to $30million to put the Chinese driver in a seat at Alfa Romeo next season.

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Meanwhile, the Alfa Romeo team principal, Frederic Vasseur, revealed the rumored $30million backing for Guanyu Zhou as “pure speculation” and “bull**t”.

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What did Frederic Vasseur say?

As quoted by GPFans, when asked if Guanyu Zhou is in pole position for the second seat Alfa, after his sponsors will pay $30 million to make him the first Chinese driver, Fredric Vasseur said: “The numbers you give, it is pure speculation and bull***t.”

“At the other end, I was asked about some names and they are guys at the top in F2. Piastri is doing a fantastic job, Zhou was second, a frontrunner in the championship, and we have to consider F2.”

“If you have a look over the last few seasons, all the young kids coming from F2 have done a great job. For me, it means it is an option, but it is not the only one,” concluded Vasseur.

Alfa Romeo rates talent ahead of sponsorship money: Vasseur

Formula 1 is a very expensive sport and small teams like Alfa Romeo, Williams, and Haas need drivers who can bring sponsorship money for their survival and extra competitiveness on the grid. Despite that, Frederic Vasseur claims talent will always be the dominant factor in his decision-making.

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“The most important thing for me is the performance of the team. My job is to be focused on this,” said Frederic Vasseur.

“For sure, at one stage you need to consider the budget and it is true for every single team, it is true for everybody on the grid that it is complete b******t if you said you won’t consider this aspect or the nationality or some other aspect,” added Vasseur.

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Alfa Romeo F1 Boss Believes Bottas Is Emulating Hamilton’s 2013 McLaren Exit

Should Alfa Romeo retain Antonio Giovinazzi for next season? What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Pingaksh Sharma is an F1 author at EssentiallySports. He has been following this sport since India hosted the Grand Prix in 2012 and has been an ardent supporter of the eventual race winner, Sebastian Vettel. He is also a fan of Max Verstappen and Red Bull and hopes the former breaks the Lewis Hamilton dominance.

“Bull***t” – Alfa Romeo F1 Boss Slams Zhou’s $30 Million Sponsorship Rumours

What did Frederic Vasseur say?

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Alfa Romeo rates talent ahead of sponsorship money: Vasseur