Zhou Needs To Improve To Keep His F1 Seat: 'There Is No Room For Any Small Drop Or Mistake'

Tuesday, 05 December 2023 at 19:00

Sauber engineer Xexi Pujolar urged improvement in the performance of Formula One driver Zhou Guanyu after the 2023 season.

Zhou Guyanyu is the first and, so far, the only driver to ever compete in Formula One. The 24-year-old just finished his second season in Formula One, driving for Alfa Romeo alongside Valtteri Bottas.

Despite Alfa Romeo's struggles with performance throughout the season, Bottas managed to finish P15 in the Drivers' Championship, while Zhou achieved only P18.

On one hand, the Chinese driver is being compared to a 10-time Grand Prix winner. On the other hand, he was outperformed by his teammate the second year in a row and needs to show better performance to keep his seat in F1.

Read also

2022 Vs 2023: Which Teams Improved And Which Teams Got Worse

Alfa Romeo Sauber engineer Xexi Pujolar recently commented on the performances of the 24-year-old. As reported by PlanetF1, he said:

"In some conditions, it’s been a struggle a bit more, and we’re trying to understand what we can give him with the car and how we can work with the tyres, just to make sure he’s more consistent."

Williams driver Logan Sargeant recently compared F1 to other rookie series, saying drivers in F2, for example, can get away with bad days, but in F1, everybody has to be at the top of their game to score.

Zhou outperformed his teammate on some occasions, but Pujolar says the Chinese driver needs to improve on consistency as there is no room for mistakes in F1.

"In some conditions, he is a bit more sensitive to what he is feeling. The differences are not big but in terms of positions they are big, so we need to work on that for next year. There is no room for any small drop or mistake."

Zhou's contract with Alfa Romeo expires at the end of the 2024 season and the team has a Formula 2 World Champion Theo Pourchaire lined up to take the seat in the team whenever he gets the chance.

A challenging 2024 season awaits the Chinese driver, and he will need to improve a few aspects to prove to Alfa Romeo and other teams he is worthy of a seat in Formula One. Do you think Zhou deserves the seat in F1?