Zhou's Future: Reserve Driver Ready for 'Any Opportunity' in 2025
Feb.7 - Guanyu Zhou admits he "lost hope" for his future in Formula 1 with the Audi-owned Sauber team last year.
The sport's first-ever Chinese race driver was with the Hinwil based outfit for the full three years since his 2022 debut. Like Valtteri Bottas, he lost the seat at the end of last season.
For 2025, he is returning to Ferrari, where he was a junior driver prior to his F1 race career, and will serve as joint reserve with Antonio Giovinazzi this year.
The 25-year-old says racing in Shanghai was the highlight of his entire life last year in the wake of the covid era.
"Last year I finally had the chance to race at home," he told Chinese media this week, "but unfortunately we had the slowest car from the start of the season and couldn't even fight in the midfield."
Overall, therefore, 2024 is a "season I'd like to forget".
"At the beginning things seemed ok, but after our pitstop issues were resolved I found myself in the slowest car on the grid. Then, after a long period of time, I lost hope for the future."
However, Zhou insists he has not lost hope for his next goal - "returning to Formula 1".
"I have not yet reached my full potential," he insists.
"So I'm still working towards the future now and there are a lot of rookies on the grid this year so anything can happen. I'm always available and ready to take any opportunity."
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Whether he gets another full-time chance is a different matter, especially with Cadillac being his only viable option for 2026, & he neither has previous success nor vast experience in F1 racing.
Therefore, I struggle to see him having a chance over Bottas or Perez, who have both of these aspects.
A vastly experienced F1 racer alongside an American rookie such as Jak Crawford (a viable option to fit the bill) would be more ideal than one with only three seasons of racing in F1.
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