Chinese driver, Zhou Guanyu, leaves Ferrari on the second day of 2026 after Reserve Driver stint during the 2025 F1 season. Before serving as Reserve Driver for the Scuderia, Zhou Guanyu raced full-time in F1 with Sauber from 2022 to 2024 and was in the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2014 to 2018.
In a social media post, Ferrari thanked the Chinese driver, stating,“Grateful for Zhou Guanyu’s commitment and contribution as Ferrari Reserve Driver this season! Wishing him all the best ahead.” The former driver commented on the post, “Grazie! All the best guys, see you around!”
Holding onto F1
He felt his time with F1 was not done after his time with Sauber in 2024. With futures always uncertain in F1, Zhou Guanyu hoped for a chance to reenter the full-time F1 driver market.
Zhou Guanyu shared before the 2024 Las Vegas GP, “Obviously I feel like I’m quite young in the sport, having a good experience. Having a lot of rookie drivers coming to Formula 1 next year, you never know. Seats can easily go right or wrong for people so it definitely opens a little bit of market to continue to stay here [in Formula 1], waiting for another chance and another shot.
“I do feel after a very frustrating season, it’s the right time to take one year away to come together in the next journey, next chapter. For me, obviously I’m looking for that option, looking for where I’m going and nothing’s been decided fully yet.”
Racing outside F1
After his time at Sauber, Zhou Guanyu expressed staying in F1 before entering another racing series after sticking with F1 for the short term. When asked about venturing out to other series during the 2024 Las Vegas weekend, he answered, “At the moment, no.”
He continued, “Because I had offers, like I said, into some other series, but at the moment I still want to be staying here because I do feel next year with a lot of rookies joining the team, there’s a lot of opportunities that could happen for 2026 onwards.
“So for me, I still want to stay here. It won’t be a long period. I try to stay on reserve role before I enter another series, but I do still try to do as much as I possibly could and hopefully waiting for a good opportunity to come back. If not, then I’m thinking of other things. Some series attract me, but I just feel at this period of my racing career, I still want to give it a shot more in this paddock.“
Zhou Guanyu has not announced his next move after departing Ferrari F1 ahead of the 2026 season.
