By placing eighth at the Qatar Grand Prix, Guanyu Zhou obtained the best result of the season for the Sauber team and thus offers 4 welcome points to his team before bowing out.
Without this unexpected performance, the Swiss team would have finished the championship with a somewhat glorious zero points before accelerating its transition to the Audi flag for the 2026 season.
We know that both drivers were let go, Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou handing over their seats to Nico Hülkenberg and debutant Gabriel Bortoleto.
They are both on foot for 2025 but have offered their services as reserve drivers, respectively at Mercedes and Ferrari.
Finish in style
“We were hoping to score points much earlier and we have come so far this season, entrusted an overjoyed Zhou upon arrival in Losail. To turn the situation around, it took the new package and personally I wanted to leave Formula 1 in the best way by showing the teams in the paddock what I can do.”
“Last year we weren't racing, it was survival, he recalls. Here in Qatar, on the last stint, we had hard tires and those around us had fresh soft tires. We had to work on warming up the tires and trying not to lose position, it was intense. I wanted to be in the zone, I pushed the car to the limit and everything went well.”
Bottas frustrated
Less happy, Valtteri Bottas clashed with Liam Lawson and his Grand Prix turned into a long ordeal with a frustrating eleventh place at the checkered flag.
“My race was very bad, regretted the Finn. The turning point was the clash with Liam. I lost places and was on the opposite strategy. Everything went wrong, the timing, the blue flags, the safety car, it was a disaster. Finishing eleventh with a bad race is disappointing because we should have scored points. But it's good for Zhou, he had a good race. I hope it goes to Abu Dhabi where we were competitive last year: we'll see if we have another opportunity.”
