Finally ! It was not until the 23rd and penultimate Grand Prix of the season, in Qatar, that Sauber scored its first points in the championship! The Swiss team won four points in one go, thanks to Guanyu Zhou's unexpected 8th place at Losail. An exceptional performance from the Hinvil team, regularly relegated to the back of the pack in qualifying and racing, which seemed doomed to finish Fanny this 2024 campaign.
Zhou happy to fight “wheel to wheel”
However, on the smooth and fast track of Losail, the Sauber C44 revealed itself: after a double passage in Q2, the Swiss team managed the race events well to place itself in the points zone. By extending his first stint, Guanyu Zhou took advantage of the second Safety Car – caused by the mirror lost by Alexander Albon and destroyed by… Valtteri Bottas – to enter the Top 10 and secure an incredible 8th place thanks to an excellent second relay on hard tires.
“Mentally, the season was very trying for me, for Valtteri (Bottas) and for the whole team,” the Chinese driver told Sky Sports. It's a relief, you know. I think the word “happy” is not appropriate, but rather “relieved”. It's been a long season – where we came from at the start of the year, and throughout the season we didn't expect to have a car to fight for points. »
“Since Las Vegas and with this new package, I am much more comfortable,” he said. The whole team has always been there, or almost, and we were here today. The race was very intense, (…) very clean and well executed. There's a lot of work done that people don't see behind the scenes to continue to be there every weekend, just hoping that we'll see a return. And today is the good day. (…) I had been missing this feeling of racing, wheel to wheel, for a while. I'm just excited to be able to do what I do best, which is racing wheel to wheel, and to be out there fighting for the top 10.”
A future that can still be written in F1?
Points that come at the right time for Guanyu Zhou. The Chinese was not renewed by Sauber for the 2025 season, the Swiss team preferring Gabriel Bortoleto. However, in recent days, a rumor has sent the Shanghai native to the Red Bull family, which is looking for a driver who can bring with him several sponsors, and therefore several million euros. With this arrival in the points, Guanyu Zhou is doing some great self-promotion.
“No one remembers your first race, but everyone remembers your last race, so I wanted to make the most of the remaining races for the team, and put myself in the best possible condition before leaving the grid on next year and waiting for a returnunderlined the Chinese pilot. I will take every opportunity to come back for a seat. I am sure that when the opportunity presents itself, I will do a much better job. Let's see what the future holds, but let's try to enjoy the moment and show the paddock what I'm capable of. »
READ ALSO > Zhou surprises, not Pérez… the notes from the weekend in Qatar
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