A new Ferrari driver signing is emerging as a leading contender to join the new Cadillac F1 team for the F1 2026 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.

Zhou Guanyu lost his seat at Sauber following the 2024 Formula 1 season, as the team added Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto as their drivers for the 2025 season and beyond. But the Chinese driver will still be in the paddock this upcoming season.

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

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

Zhou, who previously raced as part of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy from 2015 until 2018, found himself out of a full-time race seat at the end of the 2024 season after Sauber opted to drop both him and Valtteri Bottas in favour of a brand new lineup.

Zhou Guanyu has been confirmed as Ferraris reserve driver for the 2025 Formula One season, partnering with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Guanyu will share his reserve driver duties with Antonio Giovinazzi at Ferrari, who are looking to build on their second-place finish in the constructors' championship last year

China's Zhou Guanyu is to be one of two Ferrari reserve drivers in 2025. The 25-year-old, who was dropped by Sauber at the end of last season after three years with the Swiss team, joins Italian Antonio Giovinazzi.