Stake F1 Impresses: Zhou and Bottas Shine in Qatar Qualifying

Stake F1 celebrates its best qualifying performance this season, with Zhou and Bottas delivering competitive results ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.

The Stake F1 team enjoyed a strong day under the Doha lights, with Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas delivering solid performances in the Sprint race and Qatar Grand Prix qualifying sessions.

The team’s qualifying efforts marked their best of the season: both cars made it past Q1 and remained competitive in Q2, with Zhou finishing 12th and Bottas 13th, less than a tenth away from a Q3 spot.

These starting positions put the pair in contention for a top-10 finish in tomorrow’s race.

“I’m quite satisfied with the team’s performance today, both in the Sprint and in qualifying,” said Valtteri Bottas.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been in such a favorable position, so that’s definitely a positive, and I hope we can turn this into a good result. The Sprint itself wasn’t particularly eventful earlier today—I gained a position at the start, but things settled quickly after that. At the very least, it shows we can stay close to the cars ahead in the race.”

“I approached qualifying with some confidence, hoping to fight for a spot in the top 10, but I felt less comfortable with the car’s balance compared to yesterday, which impacted my consistency throughout the session. Still, we’re in a strong position as a team to fight for points tomorrow, and that’s the most important thing.”

“Today was a very good day,” said Guanyu Zhou.

“In fact, I think it was my best qualifying session of the year, and I’m happy to see once again that this new floor is heading in the right direction.”

“Earlier in the day, we started the Sprint on softs to give us more options for tire strategy in tomorrow’s race. It was clear the softs wouldn’t last, but we still managed to gather valuable data and insights.”

“In qualifying, the team did a great job providing me with a well-balanced car, which allowed me to put in a strong lap. We still have work ahead of us—let’s focus on tomorrow, give it everything we have, and do all we can to achieve a good result.”