Formula One: Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu in race against time to secure seat for 2025
- Chinese driver has 10 chances, starting with this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, to earn a fourth year at the top of motorsport
Formula One returns after its summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend, and the start of 10 races Zhou Guanyu has left to convince teams he deserves to stay in the sport.
The Chinese driver is still without a seat for next season, and his options now appear limited to remaining with Sauber for another year, or joining Alpine, where he was previously part of the junior programme.
But Zhou and teammate Valtteri Bottas failed to score a single point in the first half of the year, leaving Kick Sauber rooted to the bottom of the constructors’ championship and with a car that has struggled for pace seem unlikely to change that.
That has left Zhou, in his third season with Sauber, hoping the team looks beyond his performance on the track when it comes to deciding whether to offer him a spot ahead of the likes of Bottas, who is also without a seat in 2025, Liam Lawson and F2 driver Gabriel Bortoleto.
All are fighting to partner Nico Haulkenberg, who will drive for Sauber next year. Alpine, meanwhile, are expected to turn to reserve driver Jack Doohan to be alongside Pierre Gasly.
“I think if you are a team or a person who’s working in the paddock, you’re not just watching the table,” he told RacingNews365.
