A dramatic season, but even these drivers have a future in F1

Formula 1 can often be a conservative world. Instead of giving fresh talent a chance, F1 teams still sometimes want to fall back on the old guard; people who may be over their prime years, but who generally don't do crazy things. Valtteri Bottas can be labelled such a person. His best days are far behind him, but neither does the Finn put his car into the wall every race. Bottas is a decent driver; nothing more and nothing less.

Bottas seemed to be on his way to Williams

Despite a difficult season - admittedly, there is little credit to be had with his Sauber car - Bottas still seems to be wanted as a future free agent. Since last weekend in Imola, it has been common knowledge that the former Mercedes driver is a candidate to succeed Logan Sargeant at Williams. That would mean a return to the team for which the Finn drove for four seasons in F1 in the past. Haas F1 is also keeping a close eye on Bottas' situation. Just like a week earlier, Bottas was asked questions about his future in Monaco. And just likke in Imola, he managed to dodge them nicely. However, the Finn did admit: "I have my clear priority for the future which I am not going to tell you. But, yes, I have one," Bottas said.

Would Zhou stay in F1?

In short, it seems Bottas has the option of postponing his F1 retirement. The same could just as easily apply to his current teammate Zhou, who is in his third season in the class. The Chinese has never managed to make an indelible impression. This season, for instance, he has been defeated comfortably almost every race by his teammate Bottas. But Zhou has something other than his qualities as a driver as an asset for F1 teams: his nationality.

With the contracts of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon expiring after this season, Zhou has been linked with one of the seats at the French team. For Alpine, Zhou could prove especially valuable off the track; as a marketing tool in the important and huge Chinese market. An additional advantage is that Zhou knows Alpine well, as he once belonged to the Renault Academy.

"I'm still very calm on the situation," Zhou told GPblog and other media outlets in Monaco. "I don't feel like I'm pretty much under pressure. I don't feel like this will be my last year. It's clear that I'm still trying to perform on track. It's been a bit frustrating, especially in terms of qualifying throughout this season. I want to clean that up a little bit, then the rest. I have to see what's available really, because I don't feel I'm in a position that there's only one team available. I think there's a few places, people. So it's about how we make things work. These things it's not going to be decided in a short time. There has to be a bit more time than just right now."

Escape route in Formula E

Alpine could just be Zhou's only chance for an extended stay in Formula 1. Should a deal not materialise after all, the obvious option would be for him to switch to Formula E. China is the biggest market for electric cars and any FE team would love to sign him, as this would surely open the necessary doors for lucrative sponsors.