Sauber’s Zhou Guanue has revealed his camp is in discussions with various teams concerning a Formula 1 drive in 2025 as he strives to extend his spell in the series.
Zhou and team-mate Valtteri Bottas retain deals that come to an end this term and at least one will leave as Sauber has announced Nico Hulkenberg has been signed.
The Hinwil-based squad has stated that Carlos Sainz is the team’s leading target to partner with the German as it prepares to morph into a works Audi entrant in 2026.
Bottas is known to be courting a potential return to Williams, but Zhou has stated that he also holding talks with several sides that have vacancies available next term.
Zhou’s lucrative backing could make him a viable candidate to take Hulkenberg’s seat at Haas, while he could also be on Alpine or Williams’ radar as a potential option.
“We’re monitoring all these different options,” Zhou said in Monaco. “Of course here remains still one of the options, but also I’m looking at what’s the best for my future.
“It’s very important already to start quite early, just because of the driver market as well. I’ll leave this to Graeme [Lowdon] obviously.
“But I’m doing my job here, but it is clear that we’re already starting talking to several different teams to understand who has the best interests and who has the future or the things that I wanted to have for the next few years. Things are not decided right now, but we’re just waiting to see what is the best on paper.”
Zhou explained that his desire to get things moving on his future has derived from wanting to avoid hedging his bets on a single team as he has done in past seasons.
“This year it’s clear I don’t want to be the guy who’s waiting for the final confirmation on the seat, because the last few years is a different situation,” Zhou commented.
“This year, I want to be the guy who tries to make this decision, tries to make things done quicker than the others.
“Obviously looking at how this year is, everyone is different options, but I’m still just monitoring to see what is the best. If you wait too long, it will be too late, that is for sure.”
Zhou has also not ruled out that he could end up earning an extension with Sauber/Audi amid the news that Sainz is conversing with Williams over a possible switch.
“Yeah we are having conversations with Andreas [Seidl, Sauber CEO] and people around the team, also people around the Audi people.
“The main factor is that I think they still won’t be deciding in the short-term, because I think they have some options they are looking for.
“And of course myself, my team-mate, remain two of the options there. Things are not going to be moving so quickly in the next few weeks, I would say that’s for sure.
“But I think we’re talking about it, and they have still some interest. So never say never, let’s see.”
The Chinese driver has endured a challenging beginning to 2024, with eight successive Q1 eliminations hindering his chances to end Sauber’s current points drought.
However, Zhou has denied that his struggles on track can be attributed to the pressure emanating from his unresolved future but has conceded that he must improve.
“I think I would say I’m still very, very calm on the situation,” he addressed. “I don’t feel like I’m pretty much under pressure, or I don’t feel like this will be my last year.
“For me, it’s clear that I’m still trying to perform on track. It’s been a bit frustrating, particularly through qualifying this season, so I want to clean that up a little bit.
“The rest, I have to options to see what’s available really. Because I don’t feel I’m in a position where only one team is available.
“There’s a few cases where people have some interest. So it’s about making things work.
“These things, it’s not going to be decided in the short-term, it has to be a bit more time than just right now.”
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