Sauber hope to see a more consistent Zhou Guanyu in 2024

Operating under the Alfa Romeo banner over the past six years, the Swiss team suffered a decline in 2023, managing to earn only 16 points to finish ninth.

Zhou collected six points for the team this past season, with three top-ten finishes.

"In some conditions, it's been a struggle a bit more and we're trying to understand what we can give him with the car and how we can work with the tyres, just to make sure he's more consistent," commented Sauber head of trackside engineering Xevi Pujolar.

"In some conditions, he is a bit more sensitive to what he is feeling. The differences are not big but in terms of positions they are big, so we need to work on that for next year.

"There is no room for any small drop or mistake."

Zhou also admitted that it's been incredibly challenging to keep up with the other F1 teams, especially with limited upgrades.

"A lot of our main rivals from the beginning of the season, they were able to just change massively, probably introduce a new car or B car over the season and made a very good step forward," said Zhou.

"Obviously, we knew we were going to get that plan for next season. So this year was more about suffering the last few races.

"And then of course, you know, it's been a little bit inconsistent, unpredictable in terms of performance track by track, but we definitely in general don't really have the pace, especially over the race distance.

"You know, it just seems to be difficult to keep up with the top 10, even the top, like, let's say 13 guys."

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