Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu has slammed “stupid rumours” about his F1 future, claiming reports about the amount of sponsorship money he brings to the team are “a bit disrespectful”.
Previously, Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, claimed that Zhou “does not deserve a place in F1” despite having “a lot of cash” to convince potential suitors.
Zhou Guanyu angry about “disrespectful” F1 rumors
Zhou, who became Formula 1’s first full-time Chinese driver in 2022, still does not have a seat for the 2025 Formula 1 season. The 25-year-old is unlikely to stay with Audi. Audi will take over the existing Sauber team in time for the major rule changes in 2026.
Zhou’s only other hope of staying at the start lies with Alpine, where he was already a test driver in 2021.
Reports from Germany in June said that Zhou and his sponsors had failed with an ambitious offer of 30 to 35 million euros to Haas. The company then decided to sign its preferred driver line-up of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon for the 2025 Formula 1 season.
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Ocon had previously been linked with a move to Audi, but Audi missed out on top target Carlos Sainz last month as the outgoing Ferrari driver agreed to move to Williams.
Zhou has said he is working with his manager Graeme Lowdon, the former Formula 1 boss of Virgin/Marussia, “on the few options that are still available” and sharply criticized the media coverage of his financing.
He told RN365: There are a lot of stupid rumors in the media. I have heard some rumors in the past and I want to clarify that.
“People say things like: ‘I don’t know how much money I’m bringing’, ‘(I’m) talking to one of the teams’ – not here (at Sauber). I won’t say which team, but they just announced the departure of a driver.
“I have hardly spoken to them during this time, but (rumours say) it is all about the amount of sponsorship money I could bring in – I wish I had that much money, maybe I could invest in Sauber and benefit from it.
“There are just a lot of rumors on this site, which is pretty funny to see, but on the other hand, it’s a bit disrespectful to say something like that.”
Villeneuve had claimed that it would be a “great result” for the team financially to retain Zhou as a reserve driver for the 2025 Formula 1 season after he has struggled to achieve good results since his start.
Zhou has scored just 12 points in total since his debut in early 2022 and has never finished better than eighth, with his last top-10 finish coming at the Qatar Grand Prix last year.
Villeneuve said: “Guanyu Zhou has a lot of cash from his sponsors that he needs to put somewhere, whether as an F1 driver or as a reserve driver.
“Based on the results, Zhou does not deserve a place in F1.
“If a team can get all the sponsorship money that Zhou brings, even as a reserve driver, then that’s a great result for them.”
Audi have been linked with a number of drivers for F1 2025 after failing to sign Sainz and Ocon, with Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo recently mentioned as possible targets, depending on the driver situation at Red Bull.
However, Zhou’s teammate Valtteri Bottas recently hinted that he will stay with the team for F1 2025 by posting a picture of his F1 racing number 77 emblazoned on an Audi road car on social media.
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