They said on tv today that Theo is only 20 and in his 3rd year of F2. Had no idea he'd been around so long.
I have a feeling Zhou is gunning for Ferrari and Ferrari would like that very much
but you have Carlos as the pin in all this
he is going to have to be the Seb of the contract season. The man is pretty much set for Audi, but is going to have a gap year on his hands if he cant get the extension... but Ferrari dont want a 1 year extension
Carlos doesn't need an extension for next year. He's already contracted with Ferrari to the end of 2024 and they have no reason whatsoever to end that early. If he is leaving and going to Sauber/Audi at the start of 2025 then he will just go there, no "gap year" necessary, but at the moment he is reportedly looking for a multi-year Ferrari extension from 2025 onwards whereas Ferrari reportedly only want to offer him one year extension for 2025 (likely to keep options open for Oliver Bearman should he be ready to join the team in 2026)
I like Zhou but would be very very very surprised if he was in any way part of Ferrari's thought process now or in the future. He has no junior links to them and he's not shown enough in his time in F1 to warrant being looked at by a top team for a potential seat. Carlos is out of contract at the end of 2024 and if they don't re-sign him, then Albon, Piastri and Ocon will all be out of contract at the same time and would be of far more interest to the Scuderia. Not to mention they will likely be looking to find Bearman, their current academy prodigy, a seat on the grid with a midfield team for 2025 after he does one more year in F2, with the hope of bringing him through to the main team in 2026/27 if he turns out to be as good as his potential.
If Zhou is let go by Alfa Romeo this year, his only real hopes would be Williams letting Sargeant go or AT deciding to take a punt on someone else outside their own juniors (and honestly I don't see what Zhou would have done to warrant a chance over Liam Lawson if they have an open seat). Nobody else is going to be looking to put Zhou in their car.