Tim Coronel tells 58-race driver that they should have ‘absolutely nothing’ to do with Formula 1

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With Formula 1 unwilling to add any further teams to the grid any time soon, there are dozens of drivers in and out of the paddock fighting for 20 seats each season.

That puts immense pressure on those drivers who have failed to quickly live up to expectations.

The contrasting fortunes of rookies Oscar Piastri at McLaren and Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri last year highlight how important it is to hit the ground running.

Sauber are a team that have failed to show any meaningful progress throughout the 2024 season aside from fixing their race-ruining pit stop problems.

The Swiss outfit should be one of the most exciting prospects on the grid with a takeover from Audi on the horizon.

However, they’ve yet to score a point and writing in his column for Formule1.nl, former driver and pundit Tim Coronel has given his opinion on both of their drivers.

Coronel has suggested that Valtteri Bottas should just quit F1 given his struggles this season.

Bottas is in pole position to retain his Sauber seat which spells bad news for his teammate Zhou Guanyu.

Zhou’s in his third season of Formula 1 but after 58 Grand Prix races, he’s failed to set the sport alight.

However, Coronel believes the Chinese driver should no longer be on the grid and won’t be a memorable figure in F1 in the future.

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

Tim Coronel thinks Zhou Guanyu should have ‘absolutely nothing’ to do with Formula 1

Reviewing Zhou’s first half of the 2024 season, Coronel said: “On the basis of quality, he should have absolutely nothing to do in Formula 1. I think he has proved that enough by now.

“From me, he gets a 3.5/10. Indeed, lower than Bottas, because with his track record, you can’t say he’s a pannenkoek [a Dutch pancake].

“With Zhou, I just don’t see the potential either.

“Believe me, in five years we will all have forgotten him, he leaves nothing behind. No bold overtaking, nothing!”

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

Jolyon Palmer didn’t enjoy one key Zhou Guanyu moment this season

It’s not been an easy season for Zhou who produced his best performance of the year at the opening race in Bahrain, narrowly missing out on scoring what would have been a valuable point.

Since then, it’s been a case of poor qualifying performances followed up by running at the back of races alongside Logan Sargeant.

Zhou also came very close to scoring a point during the Sprint Race at his home Grand Prix in Shanghai.

However, Jolyon Palmer wasn’t a fan of Zhou’s celebration on the grid after finishing 14^th in Sunday’s race.

Zhou is holding talks with rival teams to try and stay on the grid beyond this year.

Unfortunately, if he’s not an option for current team Sauber, his only option is a return to Alpine and it’s hard to make a strong case for going with Zhou over giving rookie Jack Doohan this chance.

A serious upturn in form is needed for both Zhou and Sauber after the summer break to try and remain competitive with the rest of the field.