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 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.

The first Chinese driver in Formula 1, Zhou Guanyu, is heading back to Ferrari as one of its reserve drivers for the 2025 season. Zhou doesn't have a race seat for 2025 after leaving Sauber at the end of last year but could step in if Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton can't race.

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.