The first Chinese driver in Formula 1 is heading back to Ferrari as one of its reserve drivers for the 2025 season.

Ferrari has history of looking to recent F1 drivers to support its race team line-up, having worked with Giovinazzi — the driver Zhou replaced at Sauber in 2022 — in recent years. The team announced last year that one of its reserves, Robert Shwartzman, would not be returning in 2025 after his move into IndyCar.

Ferrari appointed Zhou Guanyu as a Formula One reserve driver on Wednesday after the Chinese lost his race seat with Swiss-based Sauber.

Ferrari announced their reserve drivers for the upcoming season on Wednesday, pairing current reserve Antonio Giovinazzi with Zhou. This is a homecoming for Zhou, who was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2015 to 2018 while competing in the F4 and F3 ranks.

Here’s a wild headline we published today : F1 teenager Kimi Antonelli just got his driver’s license — right on time to replace Lewis Hamilton. You read that right. Antonelli didn’t even have a road license when he was picked as the successor to one of F1’s greatest drivers last fall. Have I ever mentioned that this is a silly sport?

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will have two reserve drivers backing them up at Ferrari this season, with a former Scuderia racer returning to the fold for 2025

Zhou lost his drive at Sauber as the Swiss-based operation signed Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto. The pair are on multi-year deals and will be the Audi’s foundation drivers when it formally joins the F1 grid next season.

The Chinese Formula 1 driver has now announced that he will return to Scuderia Ferrari for the 2025 season as a reserve driver.

Zhou Guanyu confirmed as Ferrari driver for 2025 F1 season - Ferrari have added to their ranks ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s debut in scarlet red in Australia next month

China's first F1 driver raced for 3 seasons with Sauber, starting 68 races and scoring 16 points with 2 fastest laps. Read more at straitstimes.com.