Zhou expected to be handed F1 career lifeline

Zhou Guanyu looks set to be handed an F1 career reprieve, with several teams showing concrete interest in his services.

The Chinese driver, who made his debut in 2022, will not be racing in F1 next season, with Stake opting for an all-new driver line-up of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto a year out from its transition into the works Audi team.

However, the 24-year-old is attracting significant interest up and down the paddock as a potential reserve driver.

RacingNews365 understands Ferrari is one of the options open to Zhou. Although, nothing has yet been decided or signed.

He was a member of the Italian team's driver academy between 2014 and 2018, prior to joining Renault's junior programme the following year.

Over his three seasons alongside Valtteri Bottas at the Sauber entry, Zhou has generally fared well against his experienced team-mate, putting in solid performances, the basis of the interest now being shown in him.

On the other hand, with Stake producing comfortably the least competitive car on the F1 grid this term, it has been more difficult to appraise his form, but the Chinese driver has nevertheless found himself comprehensively out-classed and over-matched against Bottas, who has also lost his seat, across the current campaign.

The 24-year-old brings considerable financial backing, part of what makes him an attractive proposition as a third driver, in addition to the three years of full-time F1 racing his CV now boasts.