BEIJING, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Sauber F1 Team Representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi has illustrated the targets that his team had for driver Zhou Guanyu to hit this year.
The first ever Chinese driver to race in Formula 1, Zhou is in his third season with the Swiss-based outfit, having debuted in F1 with the team in 2022, and Alunni Bravi said the Shanghai native had impressed him with his progress and his mental approach.
"We have seen an evolution with Zhou, because each year, he has developed as a driver," Alunni Bravi told selected media, including Xinhua, on the morning of the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix.
"This year, the target for us was to have him more aggressive, especially from the beginning of the week, because you need to be on the limit immediately.
"If you lose one- or two-tenths in the first part of the weekend, then you keep this delta throughout the sessions and the race, so we asked him to be immediately aggressive, to have more confidence, and he has done this step."
"Zhou is always better in the race than in qualifying. In race pace, he's always very strong.
"He's aggressive, he's able to overtake, but the ability to cope with the pressure, to remain calm and focused, for me, has been impressive."
Sauber are currently in a transitional period, as the team is set to transform into the Audi works team from 2026 onwards, and the Four Rings are seemingly already having an influence on matters.
It was announced earlier this month that current Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg would join the team from 2025 onwards on a multi-year deal, meaning at least one of Zhou and teammate Valtteri Bottas will be leaving the team at the end of this year.
As the only German currently on the F1 grid, Hulkenberg's arrival prompted some to suggest that Audi had insisted on a German driver.
However, speaking before Hulkenberg's signing had been announced, Alunni Bravi had intimated that this was not the case.
"Nationality is not important. Performance is the key," the Italian had said when asked directly by Xinhua if Audi were insisting on hiring a German driver.
"We have no rush to make a choice [on the team's future driver line-up]. We want to analyse everything, but of course our decision will be based on multiple factors.
"[Audi F1 CEO] Andreas Seidl was clear that the drivers that will be part of our project for next year will also be with the team in 2026, when we will become the Audi works team, so we are thinking which could be the best driver line-up." ■
