Zhou Guanyu gave a somewhat better account of himself in his second season in Formula 1 alongside Valtteri Bottas last year. However that modest progress has not continued this year and, at a team which will replace at least one of its drivers next year, it’s hard to make a case for them to continue with Zhou.
Bottas’ one-lap pace has been consistently better than his team mate’s. Although the gap narrowed slightly last year Zhou has usually ended up behind this year.
Zhou’s race performances were markedly stronger last year, and in this respect he is continuing to perform fairly well against his more experienced team mate. However both drivers face the same problem that the Sauber has seldom if ever been a points contender.
The team is working hard to fix this and over the previous two races Bottas has had the benefit of the latest components. Once the pair converge on specifications we may finally see the two vivid green cars in the hunt for points.
Whether Zhou can make the step from there to deliver the kind of results he needs remains to be seen. But on the strength of his performances so far this year he appears to have plateaued slightly below the level a team would want.
That’s a troubling situation for him, as Sauber has already inked a deal with Nico Hulkenberg for next year. That means its current drivers are vying for the single remaining seat, and so far Zhou looks like the one most likely to miss out.
Bottas vs Zhou: Season summary
Bottas vs Zhou: Race-by-race
Unrepresentative comparisons omitted. Negative value: Bottas was faster; Positive value: Guanyu was faster
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Formula 1
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