The background
Last Wednesday, Ferrari officially announced Zhou Guanyu as a reserve driver for 2025. The former Sauber driver will share the role with Antonio Giovinazzi, who will be unavailable for some weekends due to his commitments in the WEC with Ferrari 499 #51, alongside teammates Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado.
In the latest issue of Autosprint, interesting behind-the-scenes details emerge about the negotiations that brought Zhou Guanyu back to Maranello after he grew up within the Ferrari Academy. According to the Italian weekly, Ferrari’s Team Principal Frederic Vasseur wanted Zhou to race as a full-time driver in the 2025 WEC season, driving one of the two 499P cars fielded by Ferrari. However, talks between Fred Vasseur and Antonello Coletta (the “Fred Vasseur” of the WEC) failed to reach an agreement due to financial issues.
Zhou Guanyu had made it clear that he wouldn’t seek a seat in other championships to wait for another opportunity in F1, and the Ferrari reserve driver role could be a perfect “bridge” (or springboard) toward 2026, when Cadillac is expected to enter the grid and race for at least two years with the Ferrari power unit—a motor Zhou knows very well, having always raced with this engine. Cadillac has entrusted the F1 team to former Manor’s Graeme Lowdon, who is also Zhou’s manager. In short, all the clues point to Zhou being one of the two full-time drivers for Cadillac in 2026.
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