Zhou opens up on ‘relief’ of scoring Kick Sauber’s first points of 2024 in Qatar after 'draining season'

After enduring a drought of 22 races without a single point in 2024, Kick Sauber finally posted a score thanks to Zhou Guanyu at the Qatar Grand Prix as he crossed the line in eighth place to earn four points.

The 25-year-old racer pulled off some mighty overtakes and defended his position perfectly amid one of the most eventful races of the season, while his experienced team mate Valtteri Bottas finished just outside the points in P11.

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive the action from a thrilling Qatar Grand Prix as Verstappen wins ahead of Leclerc and Piastri

After introducing an upgrade package in Las Vegas, Sauber appeared to have ironed out some of the issues that had plagued them across the year and worked on taking a step forward with their race pace.

The team’s continuous work to catch up to their rivals finally payed off at the Lusail International Circuit – Zhou and Bottas both made it into Q2 for the first time this season, giving them the best chance to score points.

“It’s a relief, you know,” Zhou told Sky Sports F1. “I think happy is probably not the word, relief is the word. It’s been a long season – where we’ve come from at the beginning of the year, throughout the season, we never expected to have a car to fight for points.

“Since Vegas and this new package, I’ve just been a lot more comfortable. The whole team has just been there or thereabouts, and we were there today. It was a very intense race.

READ MORE: Verstappen delighted with Qatar GP victory as he praises team after rollercoaster weekend

“It’s been a draining season for us, for me and Valtteri and the whole team. We knew coming into the weekend this was our best opportunity after our amazing Saturday performance.

“We wanted to show what we can do and today’s race, I think, was very clean and executed well. For everyone, there’s a lot of work that people don’t see behind the scenes – just continue to be there every weekend hoping something will be returned, and today’s the day.”

Sauber have been undergoing a raft of changes both internally and externally ahead of the full Audi takeover in 2026 – among others, former Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto joined the team.

With the primary focus on the new regulations under Audi, they have struggled to bring effective development this season, which Zhou said has led to him “missing this proper racing, wheel-to-wheel feeling for a while.”

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Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg and Formula 2’s Gabriel Bortoleto will replace Zhou and Bottas for 2025, meaning that the current Sauber pair currently will not be on the grid next season.

The Chinese racer addressed his potential career moves, explaining: “Nobody remembers your first race. Everybody remembers your last race so I wanted to enjoy as much as I could the remaining races for the team, and put myself in the best way possible leaving the grid for next year and waiting for a comeback.

“I will take every opportunity to come back for a seat. I’m sure when the chance is here I will do a much better job. Let’s see what the future brings, but try to enjoy the moment and show the paddock what I can do.”