Zhou Guanyu 'frustrated' by Carlos Sainz with F1 future call 'not a hard decision'
Exclusive: Zhou Guanyu is fighting to remain in F1, but like many, his future is being affected by the indecision of Carlos Sainz.
Zhou Guanyu and other drivers are ‘frustrated’ by Carlos Sainz’s indecision. The Stake F1 Team racer is in the final year of his contract and negotiating to stay on the grid in 2025, but no seats in the midfield will be decided until his Spanish counterpart puts pen to paper.
Sainz has been the cork in the bottle for the driver market in 2024. The three-time Grand Prix winner was unceremoniously dumped by Ferrari at the start of the year to make room for Lewis Hamilton, but his performances since then have attracted interest up and down the paddock.
Williams and Sauber (currently branded Stake, but set to become Audi’s factory team in 2026) are both vying for the 29-year-old’s signature, but Alpine are also keen on bringing Sainz back to Enstone with Flavio Briatore publicly courting the Spaniard ahead of the British Grand Prix.
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One driver heavily affected is Zhou, who is pushing to secure a fourth season with the Hinwil-based outfit. The Chinese driver’s future was complicated by the early announcement of Nico Hulkenberg’s capture, and his struggles in 2024 so far have further complicated matters as he continues negotiations.
Discussing the driver market with Express Sport, Zhou said: “I think this year has actually more opportunities open, but what’s real is of course Carlos is still floating off where he wants to and that’s a little bit of frustration side for us and [other] people because we’re all waiting for him.
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“Otherwise, I think things can be more quicker and [more] easily done like we’re expecting of the season. But of course, it’s a dramatic season… Carlos doesn’t have a seat. We were expecting him to make a decision already by now but he’s still waiting for… I don’t know… for me it’s not a hard decision when you choose the team.
“Because you’re not choosing a team fighting for world championships… you are choosing a team that is fighting for points. So I don’t know why it takes so long but I guess he has his rights so we’re waiting for him.”
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Despite the complications produced by Sainz’s extended deliberation, negotiations continue for Zhou’s entourage. “We are talking to… like here to remain of course,” he continued. “And of course, we have other options that we’re speaking to because you want to make sure you have as much options as available. So there is options.”
