Antonio Giovinazzi in the dark on Alfa Romeo future amid $30m Guanyu Zhou rumours

Giovinazzi at Monza — Photo: © LAT Images

Italian Grand Prix

Giovinazzi in the dark on Alfa Romeo future amid $30m Zhou rumours

Bottas was confirmed as Kimi Raikkonen's Alfa Romeo replacement this week

Ian Parkes & Sam Hall

Friday 10 September 2021 11:40

Antonio Giovinazzi has revealed he remains in the dark over his F1 future as rumours grow that $30million-backed Guanyu Zhou could be in line to take his seat for 2022.

Alfa Romeo recently announced Valtteri Bottas will join the team next year as the replacement for the retiring Kimi Raikkonen but the second drive, currently held by Giovinazzi, has become the hottest property on the grid.

As well as the Italian, Mick Schumacher and Nyck de Vries have been linked to the team but F2 driver Zhou, with his $30m of sponsorship from his Chinese backers, now appears to be leading the way.

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Asked what he knew of his future ahead of this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, Giovinazzi said: "Nothing yet. So I have no news yet, I just know that Valtteri will be in Alfa next year but from my side no news yet.”

Conceding there is no deadline for a decision to be taken, he added: "Of course, I want to know as soon as possible but it is not my decision.

“I know there are a lot of rumours and everything but it is not my decision so my focus is more on my performance, to get my best results in the races, qualifying and everything and then see what will happen.”

After making his F1 debut standing in for Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber in 2017, Giovinazzi has raced exclusively for the Swiss-based team, signing his first full-time deal ahead of the 2019 season.

As to what he can do to ensure he retains his seat, he said: "Of course, we all want the same, just to bring the best result for the team, for qualifying to be at the front and in the race to get points.

“So it is clear from my side and from [team principal] Fred’s [Vasseur] side what we want.

“We had a great weekend in Zandvoort. Unfortunately, we didn’t score points but we will try to do it here.”