Jacques Villeneuve claims F1 struggler with ‘big luggage of cash’ does not ‘deserve’ 2025 seat

Jacques Villeneuve believes Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu “doesn’t deserve a seat in F1”, based on the results he has provided in the sport.

While the 1997 World Champion added Zhou brings a “big luggage of cash” through his sponsors, which is an added bonus for any team, the Canadian does not believe his results merit a place on the grid next year.

Jacques Villeneuve: Zhou Guanyu ‘doesn’t deserve a seat in F1’

Zhou is in his third season with Sauber and, while neither he nor Valtteri Bottas have scored a point this season in a car which has proven to be uncompetitive, the Chinese driver trails his experienced team-mate 13-1 in qualifying head-to-head performances this season, and is 9-5 behind in terms of race results compared to Bottas.

Zhou is out of contract at the end of the season and is looking to negotiate his way onto the grid once again in 2025, but the former Williams and BAR driver Villeneuve believes Zhou’s results do not merit a seat.

“Guanyu Zhou has a big luggage of cash in his sponsors that he needs to put somewhere, whether that’s as an F1 driver or a reserve driver,” Villeneuve told Instant Casino .

“Based on the results, Zhou doesn’t deserve a seat in F1. If a team can get all that sponsorship money that Zhou brings with him, even as a reserve drive, then it’s a great result for them.”

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For Zhou himself, he is looking at his options to stay in Formula 1, with Sauber among them as they get prepared to switch over to Audi.

He also has previous links to Alpine, having been a junior driver there prior to his arrival on the grid.

But speaking before Carlos Sainz confirmed his switch to Williams, he was hoping that the Spaniard’s move would open up the rest of the market once his signature was taken off the table – and Zhou made it known where his priorities lie.

“I want to stay here, that’s very clear,” Zhou told the media including PlanetF1.com before the summer break. “But of course we’re talking to different options, as well as with Sauber. Nothing’s been decided.

“It’s very easy to say we are all waiting for Carlos to decide at the end of the day, but hopefully he can make his decision sooner and then I think that will turn around a lot the driver market.

“But before that, I think the guys who still haven’t signed [can’t] really give any clear answer. We’re talking and there’s options, but we need to wait and see.”

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