Zhou actively evaluating ‘different options’ for 2025

Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu says his management team and himself are monitoring “different options” for 2025 to see which opportunity presents the best fit for his long-term goals in Formula 1.

Both Zhou and Sauber teammate Valtteri Bottas will see their contracts with the Swiss outfit expire at the end of the season.

The team’s recent announcement of Nico Hulkenberg’s arrival at Hinwil next season leaves a one-seat vacancy for 2025, but it’s far from guaranteed that either Zhou or Bottas will be retained.

Further complicating matters is Sauber's transformation into a works Audi team in 2026, with Carlos Sainz reportedly being their top target to partner with Hulkenberg.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding his future, Zhou and manager Graeme Lowdon have taken a proactive approach to securing the former’s future in F1, with several options with various teams which have potential vacancies for 2025 currently being explored.

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“We’re monitoring all these different options,” commented Zhou last weekend in Monaco, quoted by Motorsport Week.

“Of course, here [at Sauber] remains still one of the options, but also, I’m looking at what’s the best for my future.

“It’s very important already to start quite early, just because of the driver market as well. I’ll leave this to Graeme obviously, but I’m doing my job here.

“But it is clear that we’re already started talking to several different teams to understand who has the best interests and who has the future or the things that I wanted to have for the next few years.

“Things are not decided right now, but we’re just waiting to see what is the best on paper.”

Zhou justified his eagerness to advance discussions about his future by avoiding having all his eggs in one basket only to be left as the odd man out at the end of the day.

“This year it’s clear I don’t want to be the guy who’s waiting for the final confirmation on the seat, because the last few years is a different situation,” he said.

“This year, I want to be the guy who tries to make this decision, tries to make things done quicker than the others.

“Obviously looking at how this year is, everyone has different options, but I’m still just monitoring to see what is the best. If you wait too long, it will be too late, that is for sure.”

Sauber signing up Zhou for a fourth season seems like a remote possibility, even despite the Chinese driver’s lavish financial support package. Yet the 25-year-old insists he’s still talking to Sauber boss Andreas Seidl about remaining at Hinwil.

“Yeah, we are having conversations with Andreas and people around the team, also people around the Audi people,” he said.

“The main factor is that I think they still won’t be deciding in the short-term, because I think they have some options they are looking for.

“And of course myself, my team-mate, remain two of the options there. Things are not going to be moving so quickly in the next few weeks, I would say that’s for sure.

“But I think we’re talking about it, and they have still some interest. So never say never, let’s see.”

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