Alfa Romeo has praised the evolution of Zhou Guanyu since he joined the team as a rookie in the 2022 season. Zhou became the first full-time Chinese Formula 1 driver in 2022, after finishing as the runner-up in feeder series Formula 2. At the time he was tied to the Alpine Driver Academy with Oscar Piastri, who missed out on the seat at Alfa Romeo due to the financial backing Zhou could bring which attracted some criticism. He's since proved critics wrong by scoring points on his debut at Bahrain, while also bringing in points finishes at the Canadian and Italian Grands Prix. He finished the season 18th in the Drivers' Championship and is currently sitting in 16th this year, after a couple points finishes including the Spanish GP where he battled for position with Yuki Tsunoda. Head of Trackside Engineering Xevi Pujolar has been impressed with his progress when discussing with media, including RacingNews365 : "He's working hard and it's good because Valtteri is helping him a lot. "I think it's good for us that both drivers are working very close together and we've got Valtteri with a great level of experience. "He’s fast and then Zhou can extract all that. Also in the races they work very well both together."
Team spirit helping Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo is targeting seventh in the Constructors' Championship, with Pujolar expecting Zhou to play a key role in that in the second half of the season. "When we need to fight for the points and fight against our competitors, we have got a good team spirit just to make sure that we get at least one car in the points and that's helping us a lot," he added. "Zhou, the two of them, they're working very well on that."
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