Sauber’s rocky 2024 season continued at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and showed little sign of improvement. Their ongoing technical stagnation and lack of upgrades left drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu battling in the lower midfield. The team, which has been dealing with internal changes and an upcoming Audi takeover, remains the only one yet to score points this season.
The Azerbaijan weekend was a tough grind for both drivers. Zhou’s extra power unit components sent him to the back of the grid, but penalties for Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton moved him up to 18th, just behind his teammate. The team had hoped to execute a tow strategy in qualifying but failed to give the Finn enough pacd and both were knocked out in Q1.
As the chequered flag fell, Bottas finished 16th, while Zhou managed 14th, still far from the points they desperately needed.
The 10-time Grand Prix winner did the medium-hard strategy, with the Chinese driver going on the alternate one of hard-medium.
Post-race, Bottas reflected on his day, explaining he had to push the tyres so hard to try and stay with the cars in front, “[I was] trying to keep up with the pack in the beginning, [but] the tyres couldn’t take it, so we actually stopped earlier than planned.”
He was later caught behind a late-race incident between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz. The Finn labelled it as “the only action I had” and “a good viewing spot”.
When asked about any positives from the weekend and whether the last two races showed even a slight improvement, Bottas reflected on the team’s progress—or lack thereof—following yet another tough outing. Acknowledging the persistent struggles, he remarked, “I can’t say that we made a step. At least we didn’t go backwards here.”
Zhou echoed the team’s struggles but found some small victories, stating, “We were able to obviously get a clean race, at least after a while. But good to say we were able just to fight together with one of the Alpines at least, and also with Ricciardo.”
However, he acknowledged the gap to the top 10 is still significant, with the Chinese driver feeling they’re “far off” the midfield pack.
Zhou expressed optimism noting improved high-fuel performance compared to previous events.
“I would say we are there about fighting for 14th, 15th and today was a good way just because I’m not so much alone together with my teammate you know, I can have a little bit of fighting going on, which is always nice. And it shows a good direction forward. But there’s a lot of work to do to be able to create some points at the moment.”
Looking ahead, Bottas remained cautious about the future. “We are relying on the new parts,” he noted, hinting that the upgrades are not expected until after the Singapore GP.
Zhou was similarly hopeful but realistic, admitting, “We were missing, I think against the top 10 guys, about 4-tenths, 5-tenths in the race. So consistently and it’s the reality, it’s a tough one to accept. But hopefully, that’s while we get the next upgrade in the next few races, then we can have a better direction than it is now.”
Sauber’s season remains a battle for survival. The Hinwil-based team urgently needs performance upgrades to break free from their slump and secure their first points of the season. The team did shine in Baku by delivering the race’s fastest pit stop, a stark contrast to their previous struggles in the early part of 2024.
