Zhou Guanyu’s three-year stint at Sauber ends not with a bang, as he would have hoped, but with a whimper, as reflected in our F1 Driver Rankings.
Despite a promising P11 finish during the 2024 Bahrain GP, the Chinese driver struggled throughout the season, failing to score points in all but one race. With just four points from the season’s twenty-four race weekends, Zhou finished 20th in the 2024 F1 Drivers’ Championship Standings.
It is, however, unfair to judge Zhou solely on his abilities behind the wheel this season. First, there were Sauber’s infamously slow pit stops. While these were eventually resolved, the C44 remained uncompetitive. With the Hinwil-based team struggling to introduce upgrades in a timely manner, they quickly found themselves trailing behind the pack in terms of their competitiveness.
Unfortunately, Sauber’s woes ultimately denied Zhou, and his teammate Valtteri Bottas, a proper chance to show their skills during the 2024 season. Ultimately, he finishes 18th in Pit Debrief’s F1 2024 driver rankings.
A promising start to 2024
Zhou’s third season in F1 got off to a promising start at the 2024 Bahrain GP. Despite failing to get out of Q1 during qualifying, and ultimately starting the race from P17, he finished P11, ahead of veteran teammate Bottas who finished P19. Despite narrowly missing out on points, the Sauber driver put in a respectable performance, keeping consistent pace and avoiding mistakes.
Disappointment in Saudi Arabia a sign of things to come
The Chinese driver’s strong performance in the Bahrain race suggested a promising start to his 2024 season. However, both he and his team saw their hopes quickly dashed by a disappointing result in Saudi Arabia.
During the final practice session ahead of the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP, the 25-year-old suffered a heavy crash after losing control of his car at Turn 7. Zhou was unharmed. His C44, on the other hand, sustained significant damage.
Fortunately, Sauber managed to repair Zhou’s car on time for the qualifying session. However, the Chinese driver could not set a time and required the steward’s permission to participate in Sunday’s race. Zhou ultimately finished P18, at the back of the grid, after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly retired early in the race.
The 2024 Australian GP proved similarly disappointing for Zhou who had to start the race from the pitlane after damaging his front wing during qualifying. This, unfortunately, was no significant penalty for Zhou, who would have started the race at the back of the grid anyway after qualifying P19. He ultimately finished P15, ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Mercedes’ George Russell who failed to complete the race after an accident in Lap 56. Russell’s teammate, Lewis Hamilton, and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen also failed to complete the race after retirements in Lap 15 and Lap 3 respectively.
A few weeks later, in Japan, Zhou suffered his first retirement of the season due to a gearbox problem. He had started the race from P20.
Zhou’s strong efforts at home during the 2024 Chinese GP
Despite the string of disappointments leading up to the 2024 Chinese GP, Zhou aimed to maximise his performance in front of his home crowd. He appeared to be on his way to achieving this objective after qualifying P10 during the sprint qualifying session. However, despite a strong effort during the sprint race, he was unable to score points. He finished P9, just over six seconds behind Russell in P8.
Zhou experienced further disappointment during the race qualifying session, where he failed to make it out of Q1. He started the race P16 and ultimately finished P14 after a particularly slow second pit stop under safety car conditions. Despite his disappointment, however, this was one of Zhou’s best performances of the season.
Signs of a resurgence
As the season continued, it appeared that Zhou struggled significantly in qualifying. This placed him at a considerable disadvantage as earning points in races required him to make up many positions, frequently against opponents in faster cars and whose teams were better at managing their pitstops.
A frustrating end to the first half of the season
Zhou’s frustration continued in Miami, where he finished P11 in the sprint after starting P17 and P14 in the race after starting P20. He then finished the Emilia Romagna GP in P15, the Monaco GP in P16, and the Canadian GP in P15. Of course, Zhou’s decline in performance could hardly be blamed solely on the driver himself. After the Emilia Romagna GP, he returned to an early 2024 chassis. This left him on the back foot in terms of upgrades and hindered his performance as the season progressed.
By the time the 2024 Spanish GP arrived, Zhou seemed to be fighting to stay out of the bottom five rather than competing for points. Despite this, he performed excellently in Spain. He finished the race in P13, ahead of seven other drivers, including his teammate, and despite a P15 start.
Unfortunately, any hopes that Zhou’s performance in Spain signalled a turn-around for Sauber quickly faded. During the Austrian GP, he finished P20 in the sprint and P17 in the race. Zhou then finished P18 in the British GP, P19 in the Hungarian GP, and retired early in the Belgian GP due to a hydraulics failure on Lap 5.
A disappointing return from summer break
The Chinese driver’s disappointment continued after his return from the summer break. He finished P20 in the Dutch GP, and P18 in the Italian GP. However, the tides appeared to be turning in Azerbaijan, when Zhou finished P14 after a P17 start. He subsequently finished the Singapore GP in P15 despite a P20 start. While Zhou suffered further disappointment during the 2024 US GP, finishing P19 in both the sprint and race, this appeared to be a blip rather than a return to poor form. He finished both the Mexico City GP and the São Paulo GP races P15. Zhou also finished P17 in the São Paulo GP sprint.
A strong end to the 2024 season for Zhou
Going into the final triple-header of the season, Zhou learned that he would be out of an F1 seat for the 2025 season after Sauber announced that they had signed Gabriel Bortoleto to partner with Nico Hülkenberg for 2025 onward. Despite this news, and despite having not yet scored a single point, Zhou remained optimistic. He claimed that Sauber had finally introduced upgrades that had improved the competitiveness of the C44. To Zhou, who had been running older specifications for the majority of the season, these new upgrades would soon prove to be a boon.
He showed this improved competitiveness during the 2024 Las Vegas GP. Zhou enjoyed an unexpectedly strong performance during the late-night qualifying session. He qualified P13, earning his highest start in a feature race for the 2024 season. Unfortunately, he could not improve his position and finished the race P13.
Despite the promise shown in Las Vegas, Zhou’s Qatar GP weekend got off to a bad start when he finished the sprint race P19 after a P18 start. Zhou, however, enjoyed better fortune in the race itself. After a P12 start, he finished P8, earning his and Sauber’s first, and ultimately only, points of the season. Zhou’s P8 finish in Qatar was one of the best finishes of his career, equalling his P8 finish in the 2022 Canadian GP. As Zhou only managed a P13 finish in Abu Dhabi, the Qatar GP race was his best performance of the season, allowing him to end his three-year stint with the team on somewhat of a high note.
What lies ahead for Zhou after unimpressive 2024 season?
While it is unfair to blame Zhou’s lack of performance, and certainly his lack of points, solely on the driver, it is not unreasonable to describe Zhou’s performance, despite his best efforts as unimpressive. That he finished P20 in a 24-driver championship speaks for itself.
Unfortunately, Zhou will not have the chance to prove his worth as an F1 driver in 2025. With all but one seat filled for the 2025 season, Zhou appears destined to spend at least a season on the sidelines. However, the Chinese driver has expressed a desire to remain in the paddock in a third driver role. He has since been linked to several teams, including Scuderia Ferrari. Despite these links, Zhou has yet to announce his plans for 2025, though he hopes to return to the grid in the near future.
