Moments that made us laugh and cry in 2025 Zhou Guanyu tells F1.com about his excitement at becoming a reserve driver for the new Cadillac F1 team, how he feels he benefitted from his time at Ferrari and his hopes for the future. Zhou Guanyu is the latest familiar name to join the Cadillac Formula 1 team, with the Chinese racer having been announced as the squad's reserve driver for 2026, forming part of a wider line-up that features Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez on the race team and former IndyCar racer Colton Herta as a test driver. While Zhou is no stranger to the reserve role – having acted in this position for Ferrari in 2025 – the year ahead will provide a wholly new challenge for the 26-year-old as he prepares to provide crucial support work to a brand-new team, in a season that will also feature new technical regulations. ‘New' might be a term that cropped up a lot there, but the project is one that also brings with it a lot of familiarity for Zhou, a factor that he admits was part of the appeal as he discusses his Cadillac move with F1.com. “The main thing is that with this new team, I know for example Graeme [Lowdon], Valtteri and also a lot of engineers that work in the team and, over the course of this year, I've seen how the team was setting up and I really felt the future is bright. “They're not setting up a team just to be on the grid – they're setting up a team trying to compete. “On the other side, I think the team [saw] what I was able to do over the course of last year and what my role was, and I think it can really benefit both sides. "So to be the team's only reserve driver, I feel like this is the best opportunity for me in order to be back behind the wheel, and at the same time I think what I am capable of bringing [in terms of] information and, together with two very experienced drivers, it just brings the team forward. “This year is a massive rule change, so all this knowledge, experience we've had over the years, this can be a help if you're comparing to a less experienced driver.” “We spoke a lot,” Zhou says of his relationship with Bottas. “We spent a lot of time [together], even when we were in different teams over the course of last year, so the three years I spent [in F1 were] really together with Valtteri. “But at the same time I always worked together with Graeme, and that's really what brings me the high trust over this project. “But the three of us were always very honest people, and also we're very transparent with what's going on behind the scenes. “You need a team that can drive forward all together, rather than just focusing on an individual side of the garage for the, let's say, single benefits and results. For me, it's also a brand-new experience I've never been [in] before. I'm excited for what's coming ahead, and looking forward to going back in the Charlotte factory, spend some simulator time, and also at Silverstone with all the engineers.” After losing his spot on the grid with Kick Sauber at the end of 2024, Zhou returned to Ferrari – where he had previously been a member of the Driver Academy – in the role of reserve driver, working alongside race drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. “Since this new era of Formula 1 introduced in 2022, I was only driving with Ferrari engines, which I got really used to, and also while I was testing development for Ferrari last season, I was also trying their 2026 engines, so all these things come into play together,” he explains. “I have a very precise idea and a feeling with feedback on how the engine, power unit, gearbox, everything works, and also the hydraulic system. When you change from engine to engine, that's also one of the biggest things you need to adapt as a driver, because the way you downshift, the way you drive, the driving style, it's going to be changing. I'm looking forward to seeing what is the biggest difference this year, because it's going to be a big change. Even though we are a Ferrari power unit, I think every single manufacturer is going to develop over the years, so that's going to be very important. Everything just feels already like I'm familiar with everyone.” Zhou also believes that joining Ferrari from Kick Sauber helped him to “learn a lot” and develop as a driver, explaining: “The decision made last year [to join Ferrari] was because I can learn so much from them. “For me, in 2024 I was fighting at the bottom of the field, and then when you're arriving into a top field team, you can see what they're doing as a team differently compared to what has been in the past. Now I'm understanding what it takes to be getting a team up to speed of fighting at the top, for winning victories or [becoming a] top midfield team. “That's very important, useful information, and I really enjoyed my time in 2025, that's for sure, because this is a year I learned so much from the team side, but also from the driver's side.” “It's challenging in terms of the mental side, just because you're watching all the people that are racing, and some of them you have battled with or you've beaten them throughout the years,” he concedes. That goal of a comeback evidently remains on Zhou's mind, but he admits that this is not a target that he is rushing ahead with as he focuses on his current journey with Cadillac. That's where you have to start talking about the future, so right now I'm just trying to take my [focus] into the team and then try to build on that.” Lowdon has reiterated that Cadillac's target entering into their maiden campaign is to “execute as well as we possibly can and gain respect from the other competitors”, and Zhou echoes these sentiments amid a season that poses unknowns over the pecking order. Many midfield teams started from scratch and they had to build on it, and it's all about getting the right people and putting the team in the right place, not rushing everything. I think on that side Graeme is doing a fantastic job. “Who knows [what will happen] – it's a question mark at the end of the day, because everything is so different with the regulations for this season, so you have no expectation for any teams. There is little time to spare before some of those questions perhaps start to be answered, with three pre-season tests soon to take place before the campaign kicks off with the Australian Grand Prix on March 6-8. The work begins now, then, for Zhou, as he gives an insight into what his first few weeks with the team will look like. “There will be simulator [work] going on,” he smiles. I've been waiting for this for a long time now – I'm, let's say, released in terms of I can just go there, start putting the hard work in, starting all the season from now. I'm looking forward to trying that and to meeting some new faces, some familiar faces, so everything will start very soon.”