Minichamps 1:43 Kick Sauber C44 – Zhou Guanyu, Bahrain GP 2024 Art. 417240124

A 1:43 model of the Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber C44 as raced by Zhou Guanyu at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, carrying car number 24. Resin, in a protective display case.

The first Chinese driver in Formula One

Zhou Guanyu made his debut in 2022, and until then no driver from China had started a Grand Prix in the championship's seventy-two-year history.

That is a striking absence for the largest car market on earth. The reason is that motorsport arrived late: China had effectively no circuit racing until the 1990s, no karting infrastructure to speak of, and the Shanghai Grand Prix only began in 2004. A driver needs to start karting at six or seven to reach Formula One, and for Zhou's generation that meant leaving.

He moved to England at twelve, alone, to race karts. He went through the British and European junior series and reached Formula 2, finishing third in 2021.

In 2024 he had a home Grand Prix for the first time — Shanghai returned to the calendar in April after a five-year absence, and the reception he received was the sort usually reserved for a championship leader.

The team's transitional year

2024 was the first season under the Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber name, after six years as Alfa Romeo and before the switch to Audi in 2026. The C44 scored four points all year.

That makes this car a marker of a specific, short-lived arrangement — the name existed for two seasons and will not return.

In the range

Set 417240177 is his team-mate Valtteri Bottas's car, and 417230177 is the previous year's Alfa Romeo C43.

Specifications

Scale: 1:43 · Resin · Protective display case · Limited edition · Age: 14+