Alessandro Alunni Bravi has hinted that both Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu are the preferred choice to remain as drivers for what will become the Sauber F1 Team next year.
Bottas and Zhou are currently racing for Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 2023, but with Alfa Romeo withdrawing from their partnership with Sauber, they will return to their original team name from next season.
The team have not had the strongest of seasons so far and currently sit ninth in the Constructors’ Championship with only nine points to their name, with their last top ten finish coming in the Canadian Grand Prix back in June. Bottas scored the teams’ best result of the year in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix when he took eighth place, while Zhou has a pair of ninth place finishes as his best finish of the year in Australia and Spain.
Alunni Bravi, the Team Representative at Alfa Romeo, says the team would prefer to have continuality in its driver line-up next year, although where that leaves current FIA Formula 2 championship leader and long time Sauber Junior driver Théo Pourchaire is unclear.
“Of course, we always said that stability for us is important,” Alunni Bravi is quoted as saying by Motorsportweek.com about its planned driver choices for 2024. “We are a team that is in a transformation process, and we try to be as much stable as possible in all areas.
“Of course, we are looking for improvement and opportunities. There will be time after the summer shutdown to sit down with Zhou and look at what will be the best solution for both of us.
“Our target is to keep both drivers in our team next year but, of course, there must be all the elements in place to have a win-win situation.”
