Zhou in the points in Qatar: a “relief” that comes at the right time

Finally! It took until the 23rd and penultimate Grand Prix of the season, in Qatar, for Sauber to score its first points in the championship! The Swiss team won four points in one go, thanks to the unexpected 8th place of Guanyu-Zhou in Losail. An exceptional performance from the Hinvil team, regularly relegated to the back of the pack in qualifying and in the race, which seemed doomed to finish Fanny this 2024 campaign.

Zhou happy to fight "wheel to wheel"

However, on the smooth and fast Losail track, the Sauber C44 revealed itself: after a double passage in Q2, the Swiss team managed the events of the race 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 wing 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 stint on hard tires.

“Mentally it’s been a very tough season 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 ‘relieved’. It’s been a long season – where we came from at the beginning 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 feel a lot more comfortable,” he said. “The whole team has always been there, or almost, and we were there today. The race was very intense, (…) very clean and well executed. There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t see to continue to be there every weekend, just hoping that we’ll see a return. And today is the day. (…) I’ve been missing that feeling of racing, wheel to wheel, for a while. I’m just excited to be able to do what I do best, which is to battle 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 just the right time for Guanyu Zhou. The Chinese driver was not renewed by Sauber for the 2025 season, the Swiss team preferring Gabriel Bortoleto. However, for a few days now, a rumor has been sending the Shanghai native to the family Red Bull, who would be looking for a driver who could bring with him several sponsors, and therefore several million euros. With this arrival in the points, Guanyu Zhou is making a nice self-promotion.

“Nobody remembers your first race, but everybody 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 position before I leave the grid next year and await a return, the Chinese pilot stressed. 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 brings, but let's try to enjoy the moment and show the paddock what I am capable of."

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