Zhou Guanyu is one of the standout riders from Bahrain, which will be crucial to replicate that model ahead of this year's contract negotiations.
Perhaps it is too early to discuss Zhou's contract at this stage in 2024. After all, there are still 23 rounds to complete in the F1 season. Still, in a field so competitive, every performance counts.
Both Sauber riders are nearing the expiration of their contracts, which adds to the importance of their efforts in the coming months.
Last year, the Swiss team built a rather tedious machine that gave Zhou Guanyu and Bottas very limited chances to score.
This then affected their chances of achieving significant results.
Although, in theory, this doesn't affect the team's perception of the driver – a faster car is always beneficial.
That's why Zhou made waves at this year's Bahrain Grand Prix with a P11 finish and deserves huge praise.
The 24-year-old started from 17th on Saturday, just 0. behind his teammate001 points.
However, the Chinese driver quickly put himself in a battle for points.
After a strong start and a few very competitive laps on hard tyres, Zhou competed with Aston Martin's Stuart for P10.
For most of the past F1 seasons, the frontrunner's DNF has pushed the week to the points.
Unfortunately for this year's midfield combination, the reliability of the whole paddock is very strong.
This means that (assuming the top 5 teams have a clean race) the top 10 will be difficult to get into.
Still, Zhou's performance in Bahrain is not insignificant.
With Sauber linked with the likes of Sainz and Hulkenberg, there is no shortage of pressure on Stake F1 Team's driver line-up.
The early speed shown by junior driver Zan Maloney in F2 is another factor to consider.
In such fierce competition, the team's existing duo had to raise the bar.
While a larger sample size is necessary, Zhou seems to have responded to the competitive F1 market in the best possible way.
Team representative Arleni Bravi was full of praise for his "great power" at Sakhir.
This will serve as a good basis for future rounds of negotiations.