Ferrari F1 has confirmed that Zhou Guanyu and Antonio Giovinazzi will share reserve driver duties once the season commences at Albert Park in Melbourne next month. He admitted towards the end of last season that a Ferrari reserve role was a possibility as Sauber completely changed their line-up.
The history for Zhou Guanyu at Ferrari and in F1
It’s a return to the Scuderia for the 25-year-old Chinese driver. He was previously part of the FDA before departing it in 2018. Zhou went on to join the Alpine Academy, and he left that at the end of 2021 as Alfa Romeo/Sauber signed him for the 2022 F1 campaign.
During his three seasons at the Swiss-based team, Zhou Guanyu scored 16 points. It included Sauber’s only points in 2024 — a P8 at the F1 Qatar GP. Overall, however, he was hammered by Valtteri Bottas in qualifying across the course of last year. Alongside that P8 last year, he finished in the same spot in Montreal in 2022.
He is a 5-time race winner in F2, with a best finish of 3rd in the championship in the category below Formula One.
Antonio Giovinazzi stays on
For Antonio Giovinazzi, he continues on in sharing the reserve position. Oliver Bearman replaced an unwell Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last year, driving a magnificent race to finish P7.
After his own three-year spell in F1 with Alfa Romeo/Sauber, Giovinazzi moved over to the WEC following a single season in Formula E. The Italian driver won the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours alongside teammates James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi.
Zhou Guanyu is likely to be the Ferrari F1 reserve at the vast majority of races. Antonio Giovinazzi has commitments in the World Endurance Championship. Former Ferrari reserve Oliver Bearman has signed for Haas.
Zhou’s manager Graeme Lowdon is now team principal at Cadillac. They enter F1 next year. It remains to be seen if this will be a one-off season as a reserve.
