F1 | Zhou: “Sauber will be more competitive, development is progressing well”

In his second season in Formula 1, Zhou scored just six points, although this still allowed him to equal his debut year total. Yet, the sensations between the two years are completely different.

If in 2022 Zhou still had a good margin for growth and had missed opportunities in the first part of the season due to incorrect strategies and numerous reliability problems, which had led him to withdraw on several occasions, in 2023 the story was very different . Last season's single-seater did not resolve the weaknesses of the old C42 and slipped towards the less noble areas of the ranking, suffering above all its performance in the fast corners.

The Hinwil team thus finished in ninth place, down from sixth place in 2022, when Zhou's teammate Valtteri Bottas was able to score a total of 49 points, collected mainly in the first part of the championship when the single-seater could count on a weight advantage over the other cars.

In view of Audi's renewal, Sauber has already seen several changes in its technical department, especially with the arrival of James Key as technical director in September, which was then also added to the appointment of Andreas Seidl as CEO of the company at the beginning of last year.

Speaking with the Chinese edition of Motorsport.com on the occasion of the presentation of the Chinese Grand Prix, which should return to the calendar after several years of absence, Zhou explained that he is confident that the team can return to the performance levels of 2022, especially because behind the scenes the team has decided to make a change of concept that could give new life to the hopes of the Swiss team.

“The development so far is in line with our expectations. We hope that the pre-season preparation, including the three days of testing, will allow us to set a better direction for the entire season,” explained Zhou.

“The team personnel, especially those in the technical department, are constantly being integrated and adapted, and we hope to create a better and more complete team. I have confidence in the team and feel that this year we can return to the level of performance we had in my first season”.

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo F1 Team

Another of the problems was that of the production of the parts, which in 2022, also due to budget limitations, had often forced the team to bring new updates late. In 2023, we also worked hard from this point of view, investing in the creation of new structures and the purchase of new machinery which should reduce times. At the same time, Sauber is making investments not only in terms of structures, but also on that of the staff, so much so that behind the scenes the hiring phase is underway from other teams, including those from a top team. Now the number of people in the factory has risen to over 500, approximately double compared to 2017, when Frederic Vasseur joined the Hinwil team as Team Principal.

All these elements also contributed to understanding what went wrong in 2023, which denoted a lack of downforce and, in general, grip. “Actually, around the summer break of the 2023 season, our (development) direction was already clear: where the car lacks grip,” Zhou explained.

Going back over the course of the season, the C43 struggled above all in certain situations, i.e. on tracks with poor grip, those with many fast corners or those with very low temperatures, because the car struggled to put the tire temperature in the right window. In other events, such as Hungary, full of medium-slow corners and with higher temperatures, Sauber had completed its best qualifying of the season, collecting a double top ten also ahead of Charles Leclerc's Ferrari. However, in the race everything disintegrated in the space of a few meters, leaving the team empty-handed.

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Sparks by Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo C43

“First of all, at low temperatures or when the track had less grip, we often had less room for improvement in terms of tire temperatures than other teams, so we weren't able to have good performances in the first and second sectors [delle varie piste]. Secondly, there were some uncertainties with the car, such as having to make more cornering corrections more frequently than in the 2022 season, with some unexpected oversteer or understeer. These are aspects we gave feedback to James about [Key]”, added Zhou. These unexpected behaviors derive in part both from the lack of grip, but also from an aerodynamic imbalance which on several occasions has penalized the riders.

However, during the championship some uncertainties in terms of simulation data also weighed heavily. In fact, both at Monza and at Marina Bay, Sauber showed up on the track with a set-up developed on the simulator which was not later confirmed as effective on the track, putting them in a critical situation.

More than in Italy, where the engineers still managed to find a solution during construction, this aspect had an especially heavy impact in Singapore, because after a good Friday, the technicians realized that they would not be able to complete the race given the excessive wear of the skate. For this reason the team was then forced to raise the car, thus losing aerodynamic load. A situation that will undoubtedly have to be resolved in the winter, so as to arrive well prepared at the start of each weekend in 2024.