The only Chinese driver in the field, Guanyu Zhou will lose his drive at Sauber and will not start in F1 next year, but he could remain in the paddock as a reserve for Scuderia Ferrari.
Guanyu Zhou – or Zhou Guanyu as they say there – will compete in the last three Grands Prix of his career at the end of the 2024 season.
At 25 years old, with 65 starts under his belt, he owes most of his little notoriety to the terrifying crash he suffered at the start at Silverstone in 2022, even if he is an authentic star in his country.
In three seasons of F1, he has scored 12 points in the world championship with a final eighteenth place for best result in 2023 with 6 points, but the disastrous current campaign has not allowed him to improve his total.
Conversion to endurance?
With this modest track record, it is difficult to see him regaining a starting place in the future, but the immense Chinese market attracts manufacturers and sponsors with a Grand Prix which attracts the large crowd in Shanghai, which should be enough to play the extensions.
Certainly, Zhou and his manager Graeme Lowdon (ex-manor F1 main team and currently consultant at Andretti) are on the lookout for an opening in endurance, particularly at Ferrari where his compatriot Yfei Ye, former French champion in F4, but nothing has come to fruition yet.
The Ferrari connection
Although he entered Formula 1 as a test driver for Renault as a member of the Renault Sport Academy, Zhou began his career in Europe with the Ferrari Driver Academy (photo above), notably in F3 Euroseries in the Prema team.
He could return to Maranello in 2025 as a reserve for Scuderia Ferrari in F1, a strategic position which allowed Oliver Bearman to take his first steps in Grand Prix this year in Jeddah. The Chinese market is obviously considerable for the Prancing Horse brand and Zhou would make an excellent ambassador for Ferrari in his country.
