Zhou delivers heartfelt message to Ferrari after being handed F1 lifeline

Zhou Guanyu has shared his feelings after securing an F1 reserve role with Ferrari alongside Antonio Giovinazzi for the 2025 season.

The Chinese driver lost his Stake seat at the end of last year to Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, leaving him searching for third driver opportunities elsewhere in the F1 paddock.

Like former team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who has returned to Mercedes, the 25-year-old has moved up the grid to play a supporting role for a leading team.

It is not the first time Zhou has worked with Ferrari, having been a member of its driver academy from 2015 to 2018. In that time, he moved from karting through F4 and into FIA F3.

"Back to where it all started, thanks Ferrari for believing in me & can’t wait to start this new chapter together!" Zhou wrote on social media.

He and the Scuderia parted ways before he embarked on his debut F2 campaign in 2019, by which point he had joined the Renault Sport junior programme (now Alpine).

Zhou achieved moderate success over his three years racing in F1 for Alfa Romeo-Sauber/Stake. Despite scoring the team's only points last term, he struggled to match Bottas and never looked likely to secure a race seat on merit for 2025.

Nonetheless, he expressed his desire towards the end of last season to remain in the F1 paddock as he works in the background to find an opening on the grid in the future.

In a later post shared by Ferrari, Zhou reflected on the "great honour" it is to be one of the Maranello squad's reserve drivers.

Check out that message in full below.