Guanyu Zhou scored Sauber’s first points of the season

Sauber had its best race of the season in Qatar, led by Guanyu Zhou, who finished eighth and finally gave the team its first points of 2024. Moreover, based on the voting results, it was he who was voted “Racer of the Day” by the fans.

Guanyu Zhou (8th): “What a race it was! I am incredibly happy for the whole team. Today it was extremely important to show a good result, and we succeeded. We had great pace, we were able to avoid problems, we executed our chosen tactics perfectly and overtook exactly when we needed to.

The result will give new strength to the entire team. We finally got the points and it was a very valuable reward for the hard work and resilience everyone has shown all season.

If we remember where we started and what difficulties we had to overcome, it will become clear how important this achievement is. Thanks to the team for a great race!”

Valtteri Bottas (11th): “The day brought nothing but frustration, it seems that after a good start everything else was working against me. The incident with Lawson caused me to lose my position and damage the underside of the car. After that I was at a disadvantage.

Zhou rode in front of me, so he had priority in solving tactical problems by the team. I was called to the pits early to use my example to understand how effectively hard tires work. Moreover, the safety car entered the track at the most inopportune moment.

In the end I finished 11th, and since the top ten was very close, this only adds to the disappointment. In any case, I’m happy for Zhou and the whole team. It was a tough year and 8th place was a well-deserved result for everyone who worked so hard all season.

We now go to Abu Dhabi, where I hope to end the championship on a good note. The team has proven that we can be competitive, so we will see what we can achieve in the last race.”