Sideline Story

Does Zhou Guanyu deserve more chances in Formula One?

Chinese Formula One driver Zhou Guanyu’s seat at Sauber is uncertain for 2025 as he is yet to extend his contract with the team. Will he remain an F1 driver next year? Also in this episode, we look at the fierce battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris over the driver's championship near the end of the season, and examine the reasons behind Red Bull's decline midway through the season.

Duration:: 25m
Broadcast on:: 18 Oct 2024
Audio Format:: other

(upbeat music) Hello and welcome to the sidelines. Sorry, your destination for sports news, analysis and discussions in background. For this episode, we are going to touch on the Formula One World Championship. We're gonna talk about the Chinese driver, Joe Puanyu's future in the sport and also make our predictions on the driver's championship as we approach the end of the season. As usual, I'm joined here with my co-hosts, can you and Brendan Gates via video? All right, Formula One returns to action this weekend in Austin, the United States, after a month break. Well, many put their focus on the circuits and there has been actually so much going on off the track. Many drivers were securing their seats for the 2025 season. Among them, Chinese driver Joe Puanyu hasn't confirmed yet if he would earn another contract with the Salberg as his current contract expires at the end of the season. According to a news report by RacingNews365.com, Joe Puanyu is highly likely to lose his F1 seat next year and Salberg has signed Nikko Hauckenberg for three years, starting from 2025 and he's looking for a second driver and the speculation is that Joe Puanyu's not their first choice. So Tianyu, it's not a final decision yet but things are looking quite tricky for Joe Puanyu U.S. The other team is almost the full in their seats. So from your perspective, do you think Joe Puanyu will return to Formula One, to the paddock, sometime in the future, if not next year? And what do you make of Joe's three years to enter the Salberg? Well, I think Joe Puanyu has been really struggling with the season or you could say that his past three years with Salberg has been a really a nightmare for him or not easy, at least not easy for him. It is a car that is not performing very much and has not yet scored a single point this season. Yeah, let's just say there are so much we can argue from our side, but he cannot complain a word from his side. Yeah, and also the pit stops, I would say. Data shows that they have spent over 270% more time in the pits this year. Than Red Bull. I just saw a funny comment from a Formula One fan who says that we don't need a stopwatch to measure Salberg pit stops. And instead, using a sound dial or a calendar will be very fairly enough. So, but jokes aside, I think the poor performance of the Salberg team and their cars have both, have left both Joe Puanyu and Vittari Botas as well, struggling to prove that they deserve a seat on the F1 grid for 2025. And so I think it's a little unfair for Joe as he didn't even get a fair chance to prove his ability. Salberg has announced that they would have Nicole Hockenberg for next year, but the second seat seemed to be out of the hand of Joe. And it seems like the prospect of him staying in F1 are looking pretty grim right now. But I think Joe still stands a chance in staying in the grid. 'Cause first of all, I don't think the other contenders for the remaining seat in Salberg, such as the likes of Botas or Make Shamaher are a lot better than Joe. 'Cause actually the best performance of Salberg this season actually came from Joe in Bahrain, where he finished 11th place. So I think we should not question his ability and potential. And another benefit of retaining Joe is the effect he has on the Chinese fans. 'Cause he can definitely bring more ticket sales and sold out grandstands for the team where he's staying. So there will be definitely a lot of commercial values from Joe Ganyu's presence in F1. And also Joe himself has showed his determination in staying in F1. And actually there are a lot of options that are open to him right now in other championships. For example, there are news about how a Formula E team wants Joe in the electric series. But Joe knows what he wants. He rejected all the offers and he was still fighting for the chance for the Salberg seat as his priority. So I think chances are that he can stay in Salberg next year or he could end up finishing another team in a 20-26 season. I think it's all 50-50 right now. - Yeah, I think Mick Schumacher joined a tournament, a championship by FIA after he left Formula One. So I think there are so many options on the table for Joe if there's no seat available for him. Brandon, what do you think? Can we expect Joe Ganyu's return to the paddock at some point in the future? - Yeah, look guys, I think it's tricky. I mean, what you said about his team is pretty dead on. He does seem to be in a pretty tricky predicament that I think any F1 driver would struggle with. And you think of the brief time that he's had in Formula One so far, the amount trials and tribulations that he's had to deal with both mentally and in terms of dealing with the car itself. I think that he's performed relatively well and has definitely shown some improvement, mental strength, et cetera, et cetera. And I think he's dealt with the pressure quite well of being obviously China's first Formula One driver, which in itself, I think is a remarkable achievement. But looking away from the emotional side of things, I think Joe Ganyu's had a decent, although not spectacular three-year stint in Formula One. His performances have been steady, but I don't think they've been good enough to firmly establish him as a top contender in the championship. And I guess with the changes that his team are making right now, that's the level that they want to get to. And for one reason or another, maybe they think that there are other drivers that could potentially do a better job, although I think that they could be missing out on some incredible potential from Joe Ganyu. If he does lose his seat for 2025, I think his chances of returning depend on several factors. Of course, we mentioned he's China's first Formula One driver, which gives him incredibly unique marketability, especially with F1's growing presence in Asia. His return to the panel could be possible as a reserve driver, maybe, or if the team values his experience and sponsors your potential. However, there's so many rising young talents in the sport, and there's a couple of experienced drivers as well that are also looking for a seat like Yang Quang mentioned. So his path back may be challenging. And I think that he's definitely going to need someone that's significantly back some, or he's going to have to really dramatically, dramatically improve his own performances, which also heavily relies on the performances of his own team. But that being said, if this is the last time that we see Joe Ganyu in Formula One for quite some time, I think he can definitely hold his head up high, and he delivered us as Chinese sports enthusiasts some pretty fantastic moments. - Yeah, it seems like there are too many drivers, but only 10 teams these drivers can join. So the best Joe Ganyu could do was ending up with Selbert, but I think the pity is we haven't seen the best of Joe Ganyu yet, but it seems like the competition is getting fierce. I think even if Joe Ganyu stayed with Selbert, we would not see dramatic improvement from his performers. I think it would be rather another year of mediocrisy from Joe Ganyu. Look, Selbert would tend to Audi in 2026 after a requirement, which means they wouldn't spend much on their 2025 car. Their biggest target must be introducing the most competitive car they could produce for the 2026 season on, so it wouldn't be much of a difference for Joe Ganyu, if he stayed. Joe Ganyu himself recently said, "If there's no seat available for him next year, "he could wait for one more year for future chances, "but he might quit the game entirely "if the pending time goes up to over two years." I personally think Joe Ganyu should grab every opportunity in the rest of the season to show his full capabilities, even though he's not in the best car, to the audience and to other teams. Only convincing performances can leave good impressions on other team principles and get his door knocked. But talking about the rest of the season, we are approaching the final six races on the Formula 1, 2024 calendar, and the dynamics of the competition of the driver's standings has changed so much. Because at the start of the season, there seemed no competitors matching Max Verstarpon's pace on the track, but now his once solid lead has been shrunk little by little by Lando Norris. I think it's a very tricky year for Max Verstarpon, considering that this change midway through the season, but still he's leading 52 points over Lando Norris, his nearest rival. The title race is getting more and more fierce. Brandon, from your side of things, who do you think have better chances of winning in the end? I think there's a couple of options. I mean, look, obviously, Max Verstarpon's going to be the Arsenal favourite, but I think the best part of this for me is that I don't really care, because I don't support any drivers or teams in particular, but I also know that Formula 1 fans are, you know, as obsessed and as dedicated as football fans to certain drivers and certain teams. So I know that it's a little bit difficult for Red Bull and Max Verstarpon fans right now, because they're just so used to dominance, but just for a general Formula 1 fan, like me, I think this makes this season incredibly exciting, because I think there really is some competitiveness right now, which is really great to see. And I guess we haven't really seen it since those epic battles between Verstappon and Lewis Hamilton, which we haven't really had quite some time. And I wouldn't say that the battle between Verstappon and Norris right now is anywhere near the level that we saw between Hamilton and Verstappon in the past, but at least it is some excitement and a bit of a challenge to the dominance that we've seen from Max Verstappon and Red Bull. So, yeah, it's definitely a battle between Norris and Verstappon. I would say, I mean, Verstappon's definitely the clear favourite, given his dominance with Red Bull in the past season, like I said. But, you know, Norris and McLaren have made substantial gains. I think McLaren's mid-season surge shows that they can challenge Red Bull, especially at tracks where aero efficiency matters. And I think that's been a big thing for the team going into the season. I think that's where they may have had the upper hand here and there. But I still think Verstappon is the out and out favourite to go on and claim yet another driver's championship, just with his experience, his cool head, which is being challenged this season. We've seen one or two flashbacks to the younger Verstappon that used to be so volatile, that used to be really, really excited to watch. And I think Norris every now and again also brings a little bit of edge to his, you know, driving. He's quite a calm, cool and collected guy. But when he gets challenged or when he disagrees with something, he does seem to be quite temperamental. So it's been interesting to see the personalities of Verstappon and Norris go head to head, particularly with some of the press conferences that I've seen and just the individual interviews. But that being said, I think with the end of the season around the corner, Verstappon's still the out and out favourite. But honestly, anything can happen. And I think that Morris and Leclerc are still in a relatively good place. And in terms of potentially challenging Verstappon as we get to the very, very near end of what has been a relatively exciting season compared to the past. Yeah. The title could be decided in the final lap of the final race this season again. But I think 52 points is not a fragile lead. I still think if Max Verstappon can, you know, guaranteed no mistakes in the following six races, he might be able to hold up his position in the end. But the problem is that he seems like Red Bull is lacking some pace against McLaren now. So the threshold of making no mistakes well, keeping up with Norris on the track has turned higher than before. It's no longer a game where Max Verstappon can go up alone. When am I? Yeah, in front. So it's kind of getting more challenging and more demanding for Verstappon. I mean, he must concentrate on every second in every lap in every race. Because if he lets Norris notice any fear or any sign of losing control from his side, Norris wouldn't hesitate a second to leap throughout him, not only on the track, but also on the driver's standings. But I think Max Verstappon has seen so much. And gained so much over the past two years, especially from that dual against Louis Hamilton a couple of years back. So I still have confidence in him. I believe he can sustain this challenge from Norris and top standings again. Can you, who has your votes here? Well, yeah, I think it's pretty exciting to see that the days are finally gone when we don't have to check the results of F1. That to know that the Red Bull and Max Verstappon are winning them all. Yeah. Yeah, and so far this year McLaren has claimed five victories. While Ferrari and Mercedes have scored three each. And compared to this time last year, Red Bull had won every single race, but only won. What was his season in Singapore? That's crazy, right? When you look at that progression, I mean, I knew that McLaren had chipped in with one or two, but I didn't realize, I mean, look, I watch Formula One now and again, I'm not the biggest fan, but it definitely has been a lot more, not competitive, but like, you know, I'm surprising. I guess because like you said, last season, I mean, the dominance of Red Bull was completely unmatched. And then this season, you've had four or four drivers from three or four different teams, you know, not just getting onto the podium, but actually winning races. So the contrast from last season to this season, when you look at it like that, it's being massive. Yeah, it's suddenly like the emperor is becoming suddenly becoming shaky. Yeah, things can change so fast. Yeah, but even though McLaren is currently leading, the constructor's consummialship and the Land of Loris, like you said, is catching up really quickly in the driver's standing. I think, yeah, I agree with you. Max Verstappen is still one of the awesome favorites. He hasn't had a victory sing, sing, sing in June, and he has averaged fourth place since then. But the 52 points lead is still quite decent, I would say. And statistics show that he needs to score no more than only eight points fewer than Norris each weekend so that he can win his fourth world championship, which I think is not very demanding considering his past glories. And even though their team is currently bumping into some trouble right now, still it's the Red Bull, which has been really dominant in the sport for several seasons. No one really should underestimate their technical team and their adaptation ability. But Land of Loris, he has really come a long way since the previous seasons. He has claimed three victories this season and second in the standing. I think he's currently the biggest arrival for Verstappen, but winning his maiden title will require him to maintain a high level with no mistakes in every single remaining race, which is pretty hard. But I don't think it's impossible, so it would be thrilling to see a new champion emerging from Formula One, aside from Max Verstappen. You see, this is the thing I talked about with Joe Guan Yu. Land of Loris has been so quiet in the past few seasons. But he's actually a very talented driver. One, he's given a qualified car. He can stand up against Verstappen in one of the biggest racing stages. I just can't imagine if Joe Guan Yu is given such an opportunity, what could he do in the end? Give him a car that I just didn't imagine. Yeah, given a car noris driver. No, it would be really cool. You know, it would be really cool. Instead of like pretty seasoned testing where drivers, you know, link up with their perspective teams and get into the car and kind of do what they can with what they're given, can you imagine if every driver had the chance to, like let's say they tested the cars first and found out which car was the fastest and then put all of the drivers in that fastest car to then see who's the best driver and then teams can make it based on those results. That would be really interesting. That's the way it's the distinguishing there. That would be awesome. Talent, yeah. Because then all of the debates would be open. All of the drivers can say, "Look, now we know who's the best." I'm sure there would still be some excuses like, "Oh, there was less wind when I drove." Or, "It was a little bit hotter when you drove." But still, I think it would be a lot more accurate in terms of determining who the best drivers are. Yeah, that's a very good solution to figure out who is the best driver. But I mentioned Red Bull's lack of pace as one of the main factors behind max of a stop in slump recently. At the Italian Grand Prix last month, Red Bull was only the fourth fastest car on the track behind McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes. Brandon, what do you think led to Red Bull's decline midway through the season? Look, I think there's a couple of factors. I think, you know, obviously there has been a very clear decline. But that being said, I also think McLaren and Ferrari have just gotten so much better. And maybe Red Bull were just not expecting such a quick challenge to their dominance, because I think the change, like we've already mentioned from last season to this season, has been very, very dramatic. I think we were expecting to see a significant amount of improvement, particularly from Ferrari. I think McLaren kind of came out of nowhere, although we've always kind of known that they've been in the picture. But I don't think anybody anticipated the jump from Ferrari and McLaren in particular. And I think that that has really affected Red Bull massively. Look, I think there's also been some FIA technical regulations, particularly concerning the rear wing and suspension setups. And I think that may have affected Red Bull's advantage that we may have seen from previous seasons, especially in cornering. And cornering, as we know, has a massive impact on overall results and the speeds that the drivers are able to achieve. And maybe that's an area where potentially Ferrari and McLaren have closed the gap. But I also think we've just seen, in particular from Lando Norris, this increase in confidence, he seems to be more outspoken, more aggressive, and just driving at a higher level than we saw from last season. And I think that that has also kind of shaken things up, particularly for Max Verstappen, who, as we know, for the last few seasons, has just enjoyed basically seeing his competitors in his rear view mirror without posing much of a challenge. So I think that's been something tricky for Red Bull and Max Verstappen to deal with. I also think Red Bull had been focusing a lot on their 2025 car, which has slowed upgrades to their current package, because maybe they were also expecting to just, you know, dominate this season without too much challenge. And potentially some of the, you know, boffins at McLaren and Ferrari sniffed an opportunity. And as we've seen, they've really taken it this season. And we've also seen some things happening behind the scenes. I also know that there's been some high profile exits from Red Bull. You know, we haven't really mentioned Adrian Newey, who's been massive for Red Bull over the last couple of seasons. And I think that some of the, even the indecision with Max Verstappen, I know Max Verstappen's father's been talking about potential talks with the Mercedes and, you know, potentially seeking an exit from Red Bull. And I also know that Christian Horner, the Red Bull technical directors also been involved some off the grid controversy. So there's been a lot of unexpected challenges at Red Bull this season. And I think some of those combined with the very quick and aggressive growth from McLaren and Ferrari and their drivers has potentially contributed to this, let's call it a mid-season slump for Red Bull. Yeah, there are so many factors behind Red Bull's struggle recently. But among all the challenges, I haven't expected McLaren to stand up. Yeah, I thought it would be Ferrari or Mercedes, but McLaren really came from nowhere. Can you any thoughts behind Red Bull's decline recently? Well, first of all, I don't think Red Bull's decline has come overnight. Actually, just as their CEO Christian Horner said, they have actually traced their development history back. And in turn out that the first mistake that Red Bull has made was with an underbody upgrade in 2023 in Barcelona. At that time, nobody really took it seriously just because Max Verstappen just kept winning. Yeah, and also another factor that we need to consider is the, yeah, like you said, is the progress made by other teams. McLaren and Ferrari and Mercedes, they have all posted faster times this season, while Red Bull has only made marginal gains on their cars. If we compare the pole time of Max Verstappen in the Australian races in 2023 and 2024, you would see he only improved by less than one second. If Verstappen only matched his 2023 pole time in 2024, he would have qualified the eighth place. So, yeah, I think it's a clear sign of how much other teams have improved their cars, while Red Bull is clearly reaching their limits of development. Yeah, but Red Bull is still one of the biggest constructors on the circuit right now. And the upcoming US Grand Prix, they are absolutely the favorites because Max Verstappen is the three-time defending champion there in Austin. So Brandon, what do you expect from the upcoming race in the United States? Before I get into that race, I think that just looking at this season and Red Bull's dominance and Max Verstappen's dominance that we've seen in previous seasons, if they are able to still win the drivers and constructors championship this season, I think this mid-season slump is actually going to be a huge bonus for Red Bull going into future seasons, because when you catch a wake-up call and still win, that's the best thing that can possibly happen to you, because then you can work on what your weaknesses are, and you also get a bit of a shock that your competitors are getting stronger. So, I think this is going to be very interesting to see how Red Bull and Max Verstappen deal with this challenge. But I think this particular race is going to be pivotal. I think McLaren and Norris are looking very strong, but I still think Verstappen is the favourite, but McLaren's recent era upgrades could challenge them in sectors where downforce is critical. Ferrari could also be in the mix that they'll need to avoid some strategic mistakes that they've made in the past, but Red Bull's strength on power tracks could give Verstappen an edge, and as you've mentioned, Yang Guang, Verstappen has been very dominance on this American track. Right, let's see if Max Verstappen and Red Bull can produce another success in Nastin, and if Joe Guangyu can earn his first point of the season. But with that, we end this episode of Sideline Story. Thank you so much for joining us. Subscribe to Sideline Story wherever you listen to podcasts. For more information, you can also check out our website, radio.cgtn.com. See you next week!