由 admin Earlier, the Kick Sauber F1 team announced that Schwartzman would represent the team in the first practice session at the Dutch F1 Grand Prix. It’s worth noting that he will be driving the car that belongs to Bottas, which may indicate the team’s attitude towards the future F1 driver lineup. So, what’s going on here? What details should we pay attention to? Don’t worry, let me explain it to you slowly.
I, the Kick Sauber F1 team’s decision to replace Bottas with Schwartzman may be aimed at keeping Zhou Guanyu on the team.
Firstly, the Kick Sauber F1 team’s decision to use Schwartzman for the first practice session of the Dutch F1 Grand Prix was somewhat unexpected, as they had a more suitable driver option in-house, the highly-regarded F2 driver, Mazepin, who is currently near the top of the F2 points table. Furthermore, even if they opted for a rookie driver, many people’s initial reaction would have been to replace Zhou Guanyu in the practice session.
Because given the unpredictable nature of the Kick Sauber F1 team’s car this season, it is not certain that an entirely new upgrade to Zhou Guanyu’s car will not cause any issues. If such a situation arises, they can address it during the first practice session, at least ensuring that they have a qualified F1 driver who can collect comprehensive and perfect data.
In this case, they still chose to replace Bottas with Schwartzman, which may to some extent represent the team’s preference for future driver choices.
II, Audi has decided to acquire Kick Sauber F1 team 100% in advance, and the first choice for the German team is likely to be Zhou Guanyu.
There have been Italian media reports that Audi Group is eager to complete its acquisition of Kick Sauber F1 team ahead of schedule, i.e. acquiring 100% of the team on January 1, 2025. If this were to happen, Kick Sauber F1 team would soon become a pure German F1 team, with a purer bloodline than Mercedes-Benz. This also aligns with the prediction of a domestic media person.
And if the Kick Sauber F1 team truly becomes a German team, given the scarcity of driver options in the current market, Zhou Guanyu, who is backed by the huge Chinese market, is likely to be their top choice. Moreover, signing Zhou would undoubtedly have a positive impact on the stability of the team’s personnel in the current dire situation. Therefore, the probability of Zhou staying on the team would also increase significantly.
III. The current rumors surrounding the paddock are very unfavorable for Bottas’ contract renewal.
Meanwhile, the biggest rival of Zhou Guanyu’s contract renewal with Kick Sauber F1 team, his current teammate Valtteri Bottas, has been quite passive in recent rumors. On one hand, according to rumors, the mysterious driver who tested the WRC car in the paddock recently is likely to be Bottas. On the other hand, Bottas has been accused by some drivers of not living up to people’s expectations, while Zhou Guanyu has recently received support from a number of drivers, including Damon Hill, on social media.
In this context, perhaps Zhou Guanyu’s seat is not as bleak as people worry, and he is likely to stay in the Kick Sauber F1 team in the future to continue his F1 journey.
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