Zhou Guanyu believes that the Sauber Formula 1 team can recapture the competitiveness it displayed during the early stages of his maiden campaign in 2022.
After perennially underachieving for several seasons, the team, which previously ran under the Alfa Romeo guise, capitalised on F1’s huge regulation overhaul two years ago.
The Swiss outfit took advantage of operating at the 798kg minimum weight limit from the outset to steal a march on its rivals and accrue 51 points inside the first nine rounds.
However, as its competitors reduced the excess bulk of their overweight machines, Alfa Romeo slipped through the pecking order and only added a further four points.
That regression continued into the past campaign, with Zhou and team-mate Valtteri Bottas limited to a combined total of 12 points as the Hinwil-based squad dropped three places to ninth in the championship.
But with Sauber investing in a revised car concept led by ex-McLaren Technical Director James Key, Zhou, who equalled his six-point haul from his debut season in 2023, is optimistic that it will return to a more competitive performance level this year.
“The trends in the development so far are still in line with what we have been expecting,” Zhou told Autosport. “Hopefully the pre-season preparation, including the three days of testing, will allow us to set a better direction for the whole season.
“As the personnel at the team’s headquarters, especially in the technical department, are constantly being added and adjusted, we hope to create a better and more complete team.
“I have my trust in the team and feel that this year we can get back to the performance level we had in my first season.”
When asked to decipher the reasons for Sauber’s plight last season and the moment it pinpointed the changes needed for 2024, Zhou answered: “Actually, around the summer break of the 2023 season, our direction [of the development] was already clear – where does the car lack in grip.
“First of all in low temperatures or when the track had less grip, we often had less margin to improve in terms of tyre temperatures than other teams, so we couldn’t deliver the performance in the first and second sector.
“Secondly, there were some uncertainties with the car, such as correcting in the corners more frequently than in the 2022 season, with some unexpected oversteer or understeer.
“These are things that we have been given feedback to James [Key].”
Zhou, who secured a one-year extension, will get the opportunity to race on home soil as the Chinese Grand Prix makes a return to the F1 calendar for the first time since 2019.
“I’m definitely happy to have my home race in Shanghai. I haven’t raced or tested there, but to be able to do it at home makes me look forward to it,” the Chinese driver added.
“It was a little shame that I’ve been racing in F1 for the past two years [without the Chinese GP], but finally I can fulfil this little wish in 2024 to race in my hometown.”
Sauber, which will run as Stake F1 Team for the next two seasons prior ahead of its transition into Audi, will launch its 2024 challenger, the C44, on 5 February in London.
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