Guanyu Zhou in 2023. Credits: Reddit.

After a difficult 2023 season, Guanyu Zhou believes that Sauber will be able to jump back and be more competitive in 2024.

Alfa Romeo Racing, now rebranded Stake F1 Team, only finished 9th in last year’s constructors’ championship, scoring just 16 points. The car was never competitive, especially in the race, and that did not allow Zhou and Valtteri Bottas to fight for points consistently.

Ahead of the 2024 campaign, Zhou admitted that he feels more confident thanks to his experience in the sport, and he believes the team can perform better than last year.

“I have my trust in the team and feel that this year we can get back to the performance level we had in my first season.

“The trends in the development so far are still in line with what we have been expecting. Hopefully, the pre-season preparation, including the three days of testing, will allow us to set a better direction for the whole season.”

Ultimately, Zhou also spoke about where the team can improve the car to find the lack of performance that hindered their 2023 season.

“Around the summer break of the 2023 season, our direction [of the development] was already clear on where the car lacked in grip.

“First of all in low temperatures or when the track had less grip, we often had less margin to improve in terms of tire temperatures than other teams.

“Secondly, there were some uncertainties with the car, such as correcting in the corners more frequently than in the 2022 season, with some unexpected oversteer or understeer.”