Difficulties continued in 2020, with a pandemic-ridden season disrupting Zhou’s upward trajectory. Despite capturing pole position for the first race of the season in Bahrain, a technical issue during a mandatory pitstop prevented him from taking his first win. Instead, Zhou had to wait until Sochi to greet the chequered flag in first place, eventually ending the season sixth in the drivers’ standings.
Fortunately a strong campaign in 2021 helped him toward a full-time seat in F1, winning the first feature race of the season in Bahrain followed by a sprint race win at Monza. Despite his best efforts, Zhou was unable to close the gap to eventual champion Oscar Piastri but was nevertheless offered a seat next to Valtteri Bottas at Alfa Romeo for the 2023 F1 season.
F1 rookie season
In a rookie season filled with highs and lows, Zhou remained calm and confident throughout, with standout performances in Bahrain and Canada. Restricted by reliability issues, he eventually fell to 18th in the drivers’ standing with his most infamous moment taking place at the British Grand Prix – colliding with George Russell, tumbling down the Hamilton straight, and becoming wedged between a tyre wall and a wire fence.
In 2023, Zhou’s struggles continued as Alfa Romeo again produced an inconsistent and slow package. There were rare highlights, as he secured ninth-place finishes in Australia, Spain and Qatar, but he was largely outperformed by experienced team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Nevertheless, Zhou’s commendable efforts were rewarded with a one-year contract extension for 2024 — giving the Chinaman one final chance to convince the grid that he was worthy investment. Unfortunately for Zhou, his efforts were once again masked by the underperformance of Sauber, which spent the vast majority of the season as the slowest car on the grid.
But at the penultimate round of the season in Qatar, a late upgrade package suddenly saw Zhou able to compete for points-paying places. He duly qualified 12th and finished a brilliant eighth — ahead of Bottas on both accounts.
Zhou’s contract with Sauber was not renewed for 2025, as the team elected for an all-new driver line-up ahead of its Audi’s transition in 2026. However, at just 25 years old, Zhou’s F1 career could still be far from over, with Ferrari reportedly interested in signing him as a reserve driver.
