Zhou Guanyu believes Sauber’s 2024 Formula 1 car has “a lot of potential” after both drivers progressed into the top 10 in Sprint Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Zhou entered the session having endured seven consecutive Q1 exits but advanced into the final stage run in drier conditions using the mandatory Medium compound.
However, the intervention of rain didn’t allow Sauber to capitalise further, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou bringing up the tail end of the order in a challenging SQ3 session.
The Chinese driver, who will line-up 10th for tomorrow’s Sprint, suspects that the Hinwil-based squad would have fared better had the conditions not turned for the worse.
“Yeah, obviously it feels great,” Zhou said. “In a way I think if it would have been dry we probably had a bit more chance.
“The lap was coming together from SQ1, SQ2 [we progressed] with one lap, so there’s a lot of potential.
“In the rain, first lap I went straight on and I had only one lap so I was just trying to get a lap on boar and then unfortunately I couldn’t really fight much, I was struggling quite a bit with overall grip.
“But [I’m] happy with the day, [the] fans have been sensational, it’s been amazing, day one, back home.”
Sauber has been unable to land points in the opening four races but will commence the shortened race with both its cars right on the fringes of the points positions.
However, Zhou has stopped short in predicting that he or Bottas can crack the top eight, citing that Sauber’s direct rivals ahead possess a much stronger race pace.
“It’s a Sprint race, you know, lights out to finish,” he acknowledged. “So we’re going to give everything.
“I know the guys we’re racing probably have a bit more potential in the long pace than us but everything can still happen so yeah, just eyes forward for tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, Bottas, who will start from ninth, has been denied successive points finish in Australia and Japan due to Sauber’s continued pit-stop struggles in 2024.
But having been defiant that Sauber’s competitiveness has been stronger than the current standings suggest, the Finn was enthused with the Swiss outfit’s showing.
“I’m happy for the whole team,” Bottas added. “It’s good to see both cars in top-10 in mixed conditions, which wasn’t easy for sure.
“I’m really happy that [Zhou] could make it to the top 10. It’s awesome for him and all the Chinese fans.”
Heading into Saturday’s Sprint, Bottas admitted that he has “no idea” where Sauber’s race pace lies after just a solitary practice session prior to Sprint qualifying.
“It’s hard to read, but at least in a single lap we seem not too bad,” Bottas addressed.
“And in any conditions we were there or thereabouts, so that’s promising for the rest of the weekend.”
