The latest technical updates from Sauber have finally led to an improvement in performance, allowing Zhou Guanyu to secure the first points of the season for the Hinwil team, ending a drought that had lasted for 27 races.
Zhou scored points on his F1 debut with a 10th-place finish in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in 2022, but since then, Sauber’s performance has consistently lagged behind other mid-field teams. After a season in which Zhou and teammate Valtteri Bottas struggled to make it out of Q1, the eighth-place finish in a hard-fought Qatar GP marked significant progress.
Among other things, the Chinese driver was also voted “Driver of the Day.”
“I had a chaotic first lap,” said Zhou. “I lost the gear lever before the start, I was in the last two positions on the straight, and then Stroll hit me again. So I told the team, ‘I will make up for it.’ And I did.”
“It was an intense race, with some very important moments to overtake some cars, and then at the end, the last restart with the Safety Car. It wasn’t easy with Kevin (Magnussen) behind, Alex (Albon) on the softs, but the pace was good. It was a relief. We knew we had our best opportunity this weekend for the entire season, and we took it.”
Sauber’s new floor, fitted to the car in Las Vegas, allowed a lap time improvement of three-tenths: not enough to turn the car into a winning one, but at least enough to bring it closer to the midfield battle. However, this step forward came too late for Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas, who will be replaced by Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto next year.
“Maybe I would have had a better chance of staying on the grid next year if this had happened earlier, but I don’t take it as a disappointment,” said Zhou. “In another sense, it was a relief, because the season has been mentally exhausting.”
“For me, it’s a good way to take a year off, waiting for an opportunity, hopefully next year, but if not, the year after I will try to get a seat. So I’m waiting, and I think the most important thing is to exit Formula 1 in the best possible way in the last races, which I believe I’ve managed to demonstrate, and I’m grateful for that.”
“It’s a statement that has been made, and now I’m waiting for an opportunity. One last race for this team, and then on to the next chapter.”
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