The spotlight is naturally more on some drivers than others in Formula 1 despite there only being 20 cars on the grid.
Even though he doesn’t get much air time during races, it’s hard to ignore just how amazing Max Verstappen has been over the past few seasons for example.
Speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast, legendary driver Damon Hill wanted to shine a spotlight on a driver who has spent the majority of his career further down the pecking order.
The biggest challenge for any driver is to beat their teammate, as they’re the only other person on the grid in the same machinery.
That’s especially important when you’re not necessarily challenging for points every week as it means your position in the driver’s standing isn’t always an accurate representation of how fast you are.
Damon Hill has admitted that he’s been impressed with Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu during his first two full seasons in the sport.
After 48 Grand Prix, the 24-year-old is finally getting the opportunity to drive at his home race in Shanghai this weekend.
It would be a huge achievement for Zhou to add to his 12 career points in either the Sprint Race or the main Grand Prix.
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Damon Hill admits he’s been impressed with Zhou Guanyu
Zhou was handed his chance in Formula 1 after grafting in F2 for three full seasons, racing against the likes of Oscar Piastri at that level.
While he didn’t win the championship like the Australian, he did enough to convince the Swiss outfit that he was the right teammate for Valtteri Bottas.
Plenty of teams prefer to pair a rookie with a more experienced driver and Bottas has a reputation for being someone who can provide the highest level of feedback to his engineers.
That has given Zhou a brilliant role model to learn from and Hill admitting he’s impressed with the 24-year-old is a sign that he’s heading in the right direction.
Unfortunately, issues in the pit lane in 2024 have hampered Sauber’s chance of scoring points.
Nevertheless, Zhou may have to up his game even more if he wants to remain on the grid in 2025 and beyond…
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Zhou Guanyu fighting for his place in Formula 1
Talking about this weekend’s home town hero, Hill said: “Zhou [Guanyu] is obviously the guy who [is racing in] his home race.
“How do we assess his performance in F1, I think he’s been pretty impressive and pretty solid!
“I don’t think he’s perhaps set the world on fire but I mean he’s definitely been better than I expected him to be.”
Zhou has admitted before that he never expected to reach Formula 1 when he was racing in the junior series.
However, he’ll be coming to the end of his third season in 2024 and appears to be in danger of losing his seat.
Sauber will become Audi in 2026 but already the German manufacturer have taken full control and want to make their own decisions.
With so much jeopardy in the driver’s market this year, Audi sense several opportunities to improve their line-up.
Carlos Sainz is their top target, while Haas star Nico Hulkenberg is also firmly on their radar.
That could spell bad news for Zhou but he’s impressed Hill and if another team principal is in a similar boat then he might just find a seat for 2025.
The post ‘Better than I expected’: Damon Hill says ‘impressive’ 48-race driver has exceeded all of his expectations appeared first on F1 Oversteer.