Ted Kravitz names the driver whose F1 career is ‘ending’ following the 2024 season

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The Italian Grand Prix brings the European leg of the 2024 F1 season to an end with the final third of the campaign taking place across three separate continents.

Typically at this stage of the season, the driver’s market is kicking into gear but Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari accelerated all of those plans.

Now, only two seats remain on the grid at RB and Sauber although drivers aren’t rushing to sign for the Swiss team.

Speaking on Ted’s Notebook, pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz shared that the fate of one driver without a contract has already been sealed.

Logan Sargeant lost his seat after the Dutch Grand Prix but there’s arguably one person still on the grid in even worse form.

Zhou Guanyu once again qualified last for the Italian Grand Prix and it was only a poor strategy gamble from Aston Martin and Yuki Tsunoda’s retirement that stopped him from crossing the line in last place once again.

READ MORE: Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu’s life outside F1 from height to net worth

The Chinese driver was well off the pace of his teammate in qualifying and the race and Kravitz believes his F1 career is coming to an end once the current campaign is completed.

Audi will be very concerned with where Sauber are right now considering they still haven’t scored a point this season and a top-ten finish doesn’t look like it is on the cards any time soon.

They’ll be happy that they’ve already signed up Nico Hulkenberg for 2025 and beyond given his impressive form for Haas this year.

However, it looks almost certain that Zhou won’t be his teammate in Sauber’s final year on the grid in their current guise.

Ted Kravitz believes Zhou Guanyu’s Formula 1 career is ending

Talking about the Sauber team after qualifying, Kravitz said: “Valtteri Bottas 19^th, annoyed that he didn’t manage to improve on his last lap because he thought he could have got a bit more time out of it.

“Zhou Guanyu 20^th, another difficult day. Valtteri [was] only two-tenths off getting out of Q1 which he thought he could have done, but still, P19, Zhou compromised by the Magnussen slow and the yellow flag.

“’Lots of cars going off in front of me’, said Zhou, three-tenths behind but that’s very difficult.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber from team principal to Audi future

“So Zhou Guanyu going through a very difficult period in his Formula 1 career as he looks to be ending it with no drive in F1 for him in sight for next year.

“Hopefully he can get something as a result towards the end of the season.”

Who could partner Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber in 2025?

If Zhou isn’t going to retain his seat for a fourth straight season, then there are only a few potential candidates who could join Hulkenberg next year.

The most obvious choice is Valtteri Bottas who does appear to be in pole position to be retained for another season.

However, Bottas and Sauber don’t agree on the terms of his next contract which could up the space to an outsider.

Gabriel Bortoleto has recently held meetings with Sauber and did himself no harm with his performance in Formula 2 at Monza.

Bortoleto went from last to first – albeit with the aid of a safety car – to win Sunday’s Feature Race and close the gap to Isack Hadjar in the Drivers’ Championship.

After winning Formula 3 in his rookie year in 2023, he’s aiming to achieve back-to-back titles in a similar vein to McLaren star Oscar Piastri.