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Zhou Guanyu is unlikely to secure one of the remaining Formula 1 race seats for 2025 but he’s counting on a season-saving turnaround.
One of the outsiders in the swirling driver market, Zhou weighs up his deficit to team-mate Valtteri Bottas, the public’s perception of F1’s only Chinese driver compared to a highly-rated Ferrari junior - and the chances of another Chinese driver joining the grid in the next decade, in an exclusive interview with The Race.
Recently he’s been handed what he sees as a significant boost, perhaps even a lifeline, with Sauber having announced that former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto will head the team.
“For the future or for next year, it's definitely better. I’ve known him for quite a while now, being involved with Ferrari’s academy for several years.” Zhou tells The Race.
“I want to stay in this championship. That's what I want to do. But in terms of what I do, if I become a third driver, I haven't thought about it. My mindset is on getting a seat because there’s still, I would say, a chance of 50 percent or more that I get a seat.”
‘This year I’ve been suffering a lot’
Zhou has bounced back from tricky seasons before, particularly in the second half of his rookie season in 2022, but this season it’s plain to see that he isn’t faring as well as team-mate Bottas.
Bottas has outraced Zhou 9-5 in grands prix (although Zhou has outraced Bottas 2-1 in sprints) and the qualifying gulf is far more stark: Bottas has outqualified Zhou 13-1 so far.
“I would say in racecraft we’re similar. On a lot of occasions I’ve actually been a little bit quicker than him [Bottas],” says Zhou in Belgium.
“Also, in the last few weekends, I was compromised because I started behind [Bottas]. That is a weakness: it’s probably one lap pace with this year’s configuration of car.”
“It's tricky for me because it [the car] doesn't suit my driving style over one lap and it requires a very high level of smoothness on input,” explains Zhou.
“My driving style is a little bit more aggressive, which has worked well in the last few years with the car, especially last year - I was able to always get it together. This year I've been suffering a lot, but all I can say is I'm working to adjust that."
Sauber has attempted to rectify its pace deficit to the other teams by bringing swathes of upgrades to Hungary and Belgium and applying them to Bottas’s car. Zhou will receive the upgrades when the field reconvenes at Zandvoort.
“I do think things will come around quickly in the second half of the season when I have the same car," Zhou said.
“Still, even with Valtteri’s driving style, the car is not fast enough. Unfortunately, that's the reality. It puts things into a lot more narrow [of] a window, which has a double effect on my struggles."
Close scrutiny
The active driver market might be putting more pressure on Zhou, but he has always considered his own performances to be scrutinised more harshly than others’.
He compares his treatment - when it was announced that he would make his F1 debut with Alfa Romeo in 2022 - to the reception that Oliver Bearman received after it was announced the Briton would be called up to Haas in 2025.
“It’s quite clear, in 2021 when I signed a contract with Alfa Romeo there was a lot of racist abuse people were giving [me] because they didn’t follow my career.
“You come around with third place in F2, winning four races that year - and [now] you see a driver outside the top 10 [in F2] at the moment is getting a seat, and there’s a lot of support for him.”
Bearman is currently struggling with Prema in F2 - partly due to the difficulties the team is having in getting to grips with the new F2 car.
The 18-year-old driver did however rise through the ranks with stellar karting results before winning the Italian F4 championship, finishing third in his debut F3 season - and most importantly impressing in his grand prix debut this year.
Zhou maintains: “It shows [prejudice around] nationality is a reality. That’s difficult to change when you’re Asian, coming from different countries in Asia, but I’m not worried about that.”
A home debut and China’s F1 prospects
Whether or not he ends up with a seat for 2025, this season will always be a special one for Zhou - China’s first F1 driver since Ma Qinghua tested for Caterham in 2013.
The grand prix in Shanghai was suspended from 2020-2023 due to the global coronavirus pandemic but this year, Zhou finally got to race in front of his home fans - a dream finally realised.
“I’d say the atmosphere is even better than Silverstone," says Zhou.
"It's incredible, and they're all there for one person. I'm just grateful to be the guy, and also I just hope that the interest in motor sports back home continues to grow."
He does however concede that it’s unlikely there will be another Chinese driver on the grid in the near future - or even the next decade.
“I don’t think anyone expected a Chinese driver to be in F1 and I don’t think there will be one in the next five, 10 years,” he says.
He’s not one of the heavyweight hitters in the melee for the final few F1 seats but Zhou has managed to notch up 12 points and 60 grands prix appearances so far - including one at Shanghai - against an established team-mate in Bottas.
Much like his Sauber team, he faces the difficult task of rebounding in the second half of this season.
With Binotto at the helm and the same spec car as his team-mate, perhaps that task will become marginally easier.
