Formula 1 | Vasseur: ‘There are five or six names on the list’ of Alfa Romeo

Frédéric Vasseur, director of Alfa Romeo, confirms that his team could wait until October to know and reveal the identity of the future teammate of Valtteri Bottas. This will be the case if he decides to look at candidates from Formula 2, such as Guanyu Zhou and Théo Pourchaire.

The latter, whose young age Vasseur often recalls, seems less of a priority than Zhou or Nyck de Vries, whose name comes up regularly. Nevertheless, the Frenchman also seems mixed about the Formula E world champion.

« We have always said that we want to take a look at the promotion formulas as well » Vasseur said. « They’re doing two races in a row with Monza and Sochi, and probably by the end of September with my shareholders, we’ll discuss that. »

« Zhou is doing a good job in F2, he’s definitely on the list. It’s not just because he’s Chinese. He’s a leader in F2, he won a few races and I think every F1 team is watching it. « 

« For Nyck de Vries this is for sure not the most comfortable situation. I think Nyck did a good job in promotion formulas. He won in F2 with ART, he won in Formula E this season and did a good job when he hopped into an F1 in Abu Dhabi. « 

And if Vasseur is skeptical about him, it’s because the links with Mercedes seem difficult for de Vries to undo: « I know him very well because he drove for ART for a few years in the past, but I think the situation with Mercedes is not easy » he continues, before concluding that there is « five or six names on the list. »

As for Thep Pourchaire, who is part of the Sauber junior team and recently tested with Alfa Romeo, driving the C38 at the Hungaroring last month, Vasseur reiterates that there is a danger of promoting him too early in F1.

« Theo is doing a good job, he had two huge performances. Monaco was good but also Silverstone. Then we have to give Theo time to improve. He is only 18 years old. »

“F1 is very complicated, we have a very limited number of test days, next year we will have a new car, all the teams could have reliability issues. That means we could get to Bahrain with a very low mileage. We also have to consider that. For the rider it’s never easy, it’s a challenge, but you have to give them time, that’s for sure. «