As F1’s hectic silly season is nearing its conclusion before the summer break, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Sauber’s Zhou appear to be the two most likely victims to miss out on a seat when the music stops.
Like Sauber team-mate Valtteri Bottas, Zhou is waiting for Carlos Sainz to announce his next move, but he can’t turn to the kind of race-winning pedigree and experience that could land his veteran team-mate a seat at Williams or an extended stay at Sauber, which becomes Audi in 2026.
It is not impossible Zhou could somehow stay at Sauber too, and he’s also an outside contender at Alpine, but he’s below Sainz on the shortlist at both squads.
The opening at Haas appears to have closed, with Alpine exile Esteban Ocon widely expected to become Oliver Bearman’s team-mate in 2025.
In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com/Autosport, Zhou remains upbeat about his options, even if having his future effectively decided by Sainz is an uncomfortable place to be.
“I wouldn’t say 100%, but I’d say there’s a chance for me,” Zhou told Autosport/Motorsport.com. “I just don’t know exactly where because it depends where Carlos ends up.”
Zhou Guanyu, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Zhou’s case isn’t helped by Sauber’s enduring struggles that have left it as the sole team without points at the halfway point of the season.
The Swiss-based outfit had chances to score in the opening leg of the season, but issues with its pitstops and other reliability gremlins meant it didn’t capitalise on those. And once Sauber got its problems under control, it had already started lagging behind in the development race.
It had the slowest car of the field from Miami to Canada, and has only recently been able to mix it up again with the rest of the midfielders, missing out on the necessary qualifying pace to start races on the front foot.
Amid those performance woes Zhou too struggled with Sauber’s new Imola chassis, but reverting to the original chassis has taken away some of the extreme sensitivity over bumpy circuits which affected the Chinese’s driving style in particular.
Sauber’s performance slump couldn’t have come at a worse time as the 25-year-old fights for his F1 future, but he hopes teams have seen enough of him to give him another shot.
“On paper it’s difficult to see because it’s been a tricky season, but in terms of driving, how I prepare myself, how I communicate with the team, I…
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