Some weeks ago it became known that Alpine and Williams would agree that Williams would become a customer team and junior team of the French racing team. Alpine denies everything and states that there is no deal, but it seems certain that serious talks have been held about a partnership.
So writes the Italian branch of Motorsport.com. Alpine is currently the only team running with Renault engines, as McLaren has switched to power sources from Mercedes from 2021.
Nowadays, it is very important to have a partner team in Formula 1. You can place drivers from your junior program there, technical know-how can be shared and also politically it is very beneficial when certain rule changes have to be voted on.
Penalty is lurking
So for Alpine it is important to start working together, but with whom? Williams is the only option. The British team has a deal with Mercedes about the supply of power units until 2023. Williams can't just walk away from this deal and will have to pay a big fine to dissolve the contract.
Williams will not pay that amount of money so Alpine would have to pay the fine and it seems that this solution is on the table.
"Behind the operation would be Chinese capital, linked to the driver Guanyu Zhou, who has been part of Renault's junior program for years and is close to obtaining the Formula 1 super license," it reads. Zhou is currently racing in Formula 2 and is doing quite well there.
Zhou to Williams?
Why would an undisclosed sponsor of Zhou come to Williams with a million dollars? That is easy to guess. The moment that Williams is a customer team of Alpine they can claim a seat at Williams. That seat will logically go to Zhou, who is not yet eligible to drive for the main force of Alpine.