Axed F1 star confident of RETURN as key date named

valtteri bottas, zhou guanyu, daniel ricciardo, yuki tsunoda, sauber, rb, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Driver Transfers

Axed star confident of F1 RETURN as key date named

The 2025 Formula 1 season will be missing some famous faces on the grid

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 14 December 2024 14:49

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An axed Formula 1 star has delivered a defiant response following what could be his final race in the pinnacle of motorsport.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marked the final round of the longest season in the history of F1, and for many drivers, it was also their final race for the foreseeable future, having not signed a contract for 2025.

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F1 provided many surprises over driver lineups before the season had even begun, with Lewis Hamilton's monumental announcement that he would move to Ferrari for 2025 kicking many teams across the grid into gear over signing new faces for next year.

With silly season beginning much earlier as a result of the seven-time champion's switch, many familiar faces across the grid have been left without a seat for next season and beyond.

As the season progressed, some teams even shook up their lineup early, with Williams dropping Logan Sargeant in favour of young star Franco Colapinto and RB ditching fan-favourite Daniel Ricciardo to bring back Kiwi racer Liam Lawson.

Both Logan Sargeant and Daniel Ricciardo were handed early F1 exits in 2024

Sauber have opted for a brand new 2025 driver duo, dropping Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas

Zhou Guanyu declares unfinished business with F1

One team who will be given a complete makeover starting next season are Sauber, who have chosen to sign a completely new driver pairing in Nico Hulkenberg and F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto.

The team often referred to as Stake F1 in 2024 will be looking to set things in motion for their upcoming rebrand as the outfit becomes Audi from 2026.

Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas have driven for the constructors together since 2022 when the team raced under the Alfa Romeo name.

With just two races to go until the season finale, Sauber still hadn't managed to put any points on the board until a stunning drive from Zhou secured four points, a definite season highlight for the 25-year-old.

Having been dropped by Sauber and as things stand, not having a seat in F1 for 2025 however, the Chinese racer has declared he is not done with the sport.

In a video posted on the official F1 account on social media platform 'X', Zhou stated: "My emotion is a bit different like some of the others probably because I still feel like with where I am now and what I was able to show or have the car to do, so I still have a chance, possibility of coming back, if not next year, but 2026,"

"Things are very independent, things are waiting, I'm waiting for the moment and I don't think it's finished business yet in Formula 1 so let's see and yeah, get myself fully prepared for a comeback."

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas