F1 EXPLAINS: Bottas and Zhou on being team mates – and why that relationship is crucial to success in Formula 1

In Formula 1, a driver’s team mate is their biggest rival. Each wants to beat the other, but they also need to score maximum points for their team.

When team mates work together, big rewards can follow. But, when they clash, it can get messy. On this episode of F1 Explains Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu join the podcast to discuss how that dynamic works, and the pair give us an insight into their own relationship at the team.

BEYOND THE GRID: Ayao Komatsu on his journey from Tokyo to Haas Team Principal

The duo have been team mates since 2022 and they tell hosts Christian Hewgill and Katie Osborne about the secrets of their relationship, how they help each other, how they race each other on track, how they balance teamwork and rivalry as well as how they decide who gets which side of the garage.

“I think we make a good team,” says Bottas. “I feel like we have good respect. We can really work together in terms of the set-up.

“We always want to race, also against each other. But at the same time, we always know the priority is to work together for the team and get those points.”

Zhou adds: “You're always looking at each other. The main thing is with the telemetry, with the data. There's always things you can learn from your team mate because no driver is the same. Everybody has their strengths, their weaknesses.

“There is always going to be a certain corner or area of the track that one of the drivers is faster. And then, of course, you try and pick up those things and learn and that way you can both improve.”

F1 NATION: Ferrari in the fight, McLaren in the mix and Ricciardo's struggles – it's our Japanese GP preview

To listen to the full episode, hit go on the audio player above – or click here to listen on your preferred podcasting platform.

And to get your questions answered, you can send a query about any F1 topic you fancy to F1Explains@F1.com. Our intrepid podcast team will then hunt down the best person in the paddock to give you the answer.

All episodes of F1 Explains are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all other major podcast apps. New episodes are released every Friday.