Official: Zhou and Bottas confirmed for 2024 at Alfa Romeo Sauber, Pourchaire also stays
The rumors were intensifying about the extension of Chinese driver Zhou within the Sauber Alfa Romeo team. It is now official. He will continue to partner with Bottas as a regular driver in 2024. Théo Pourchaire, currently leading in F2, will remain within the Sauber team as a reserve driver.
This is the second year that Valtteri and Bottas and Guanyu Zhou have been teammates at Alfa Romeo Sauber. The Chinese driver, who had not yet signed a contract for next season, has just extended for one year, until the end of 2024.
Arriving at Alfa Romeo in 2022, he notably enabled the Italian brand to be promoted in China, where this partnership had a lot of impact. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas already had a contract with the team until 2024.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, director of the team based in Hinwil, Switzerland, explains that this decision: « reflects the investment we have made in our project. Nothing in Formula 1 changes overnight, and we made the conscious decision to focus on stability and continue building our team together as we enter a significant transitional period. »
Audi has indeed signed a technical partnership with Sauber, and the Swiss team will become Audi’s factory team in 2026, with the introduction of the new technical regulations. With Alfa Romeo’s departure in late 2023, Sauber will indeed find itself in a complete transition in 2024 and 2025.
« Valtteri and Zhou are drivers with known talents and skills, and they work very well together: they are a good match and can motivate each other. Valtteri has taken on a true leadership role within the team, pushing all of us to give our best; Zhou has made impressive progress in the last two years and we hope he will continue on this trajectory in 2024. Now, the baton is passed back to us: we must give both drivers a good car and put them in the best conditions to perform. »
Théo Pourchaire, who is currently leading the Formula 2 World Championship, had every chance of being promoted next year as a full-time F1 driver alongside Bottas, but the Frenchman will remain a reserve driver for now.
« I am happy that Théo is staying with the team for 2024 as one of our reserve drivers: he has done an incredible job this year, not only in F2, where we will all support him in his fight for the championship in Abu Dhabi, but also behind the scenes, working closely with the Hinwil team. »
Zhou Guanyu is satisfied with signing for 2024 with the same team and is already preparing to race for the first time in front of his home crowd next season: « Signing again with the team is always a great feeling, especially when you see how things are evolving. […] I am also very excited to finally be able to race with my team in China, in front of my home crowd. It will be a great moment and I am proud to be able to share it with all those who have supported me. »
