Photo courtesy of Ferrari
Zhou returns to Ferrari in reserve role
Zhou Guanyu has rejoined Ferrari as one of its reserve drivers, following his departure from Sauber at the end of the 2024 season.
The Chinese driver was originally part of the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2015-18, before moving to Renault’s setup and eventually getting his chance to race in Formula 1 with Sauber under the Alfa Romeo brand in 2022. After three years with the team, Zhou and teammate Valtteri Bottas were replaced at the end of last season, and both have now landed prominent reserve roles.
With Bottas heading back to Mercedes as a reserve driver this year, Zhou takes up a similar position at Ferrari. Zhou will carry out duties alongside existing reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi (pictured at right, above, with Zhou), as the Italian also continues to race in the World Endurance Championship in the Ferrari 499P.
Zhou rejoins Ferrari with a record of 16 points to his name from 68 grand prix starts, with his final top-10 result coming in last year’s Qatar Grand Prix as he scored Stake’s only points of the season with an eighth-place finish.
Of the five drivers to lose their race seats at the end of 2024 -- Zhou, Bottas, Franco Colapinto, Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez -- three now have confirmed reserve roles as Colapinto has joined Alpine as a reserve.
Magnussen is expected to fulfill a similar position at Haas but has yet to finalize the exact terms of his agreement as he will also compete in both IMSA and WEC for BMW this season, while Perez says he will take some time out before announcing any future plans.
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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