Zhou Guanyu (Chinese:周冠宇;pinyin:Zhōu Guànyǔ,pronounced[ʈʂóʊ kwân.ỳ]; born 30 May 1999) is a Chineseracing driver, who serves as a reserve driver inFormula One forFerrari. Zhou competed in Formula One from2022 to2024, and remains the only Chinese driver to compete in Formula One.
A member of theFerrari Driver Academy from 2014 to 2018, and theAlpine Academy—formerly theRenault Sport Academy—from 2019 to 2021, he served as a test driver forRenault andAlpine in2020 and2021, respectively. Zhou signed forAlfa Romeo in2022 to partnerValtteri Bottas, scoring his first career point on debut at theBahrain Grand Prix. Retaining his seat for his2023 campaign, he scored further points finishes inAustralia,Spain andQatar. He remained at the re-brandedSauber in2024, where he scored the team's only points finish with theC44—at theQatar Grand Prix—before leaving at the end of the season, having achieved two fastest laps and 16 championship points in Formula One.
Zhou Guanyu was born on 30 May 1999 inShanghai, China. Having started karting when he was eight years old in China, Zhou moved toSheffield in 2012 for a more competitive racing environment,[1] where he attendedWestbourne School.[2]
In 2013, racing with the Sheffield-based Strawberry Racing team, he won both the Super 1 National Rotax Max Junior Championship and Rotax Max Euro Challenge.[3][4] For his final year of karting, Zhou finished 2nd in the Rotax Max Senior Euro Challenge and participated in selected rounds of WSK Champions Cup and the KF2 European Championship. He also made his first and only appearance in theKarting World Championship, driving for Ricky Flynn Motorsport alongsideLando Norris andJehan Daruvala.[5]
Zhou joined Prema Powerteam for the2015 Italian F4 Championship. After winning all three races in Round 2 at Monza and consistently finishing on the podium, Zhou ended the season as vice-champion and best rookie. He also competed in selected rounds of the German ADAC F4 Championship, achieving two podium finishes in Spielberg and Spa.
Zhou joinedteam Motopark for the 2016 FIA European F3 Championship.[6] After a successful season opener rounds in Paul Ricard and Hungaroring by finishing in 2 podium positions, Zhou struggled to find pace during the 2nd half of the season, finishing in 13th for his maiden season.
Zhou stayed for asecond F3 season by rejoining Prema and improved to 8th in standings with 5 podium finishes.[7] Season highlights included leading race 3 in Spa and holding backLando Norris in the penultimate round.
After speculation of a possible move to F2, Zhou remained with Prema for athird F3 season. After a maiden career win in Pau, a podium in Hungaroring, and three consecutive podium finishes in Zandvoort, Zhou found him standing in 2nd, just a point behind teammate Marcus Armstrong. Despite a strong qualifying pace in Spa and Silverstone, Zhou suffered 4 consecutive retirements with a series of teammate collisions and tyre punctures. Zhou won his second F3 race in Hockenheim, finishing the season 8th in the standings, with 3 poles, and 2 wins.
In December 2018, Zhou joinedUNI-Virtuosi Racing along withLuca Ghiotto for the2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship.[8] Zhou achieved a maiden feature race podium in Barcelona after a strong qualifying and leading most of the race before dropping to third due to tyre degradation. He subsequently achieved another 3rd in the Monaco sprint race by overtakingArtem Markelov at the start. At Silverstone, Zhou scored his first Formula 2pole position, becoming the first Chinese driver to do so. Later, Zhou also scored third place in the sprint race atPaul Ricard. In the feature race at Silverstone, he lost positions to his teammate and race winnerLuca Ghiotto and the second-place driverNicholas Latifi. In Abu Dhabi, he also finished third with the fastest lap in Race 1. He finished seventh in the championship and was subsequently awarded theAnthoine Hubert Award for being the highest-finishing rookie.
Zhou remained at UNI-Virtuosi for the2020 season, partneringFerrari Driver Academy memberCallum Ilott. Zhou took his second Formula 2 pole position at the opening race at theRed Bull Ring.[9] However, his car suffered electronic problems whilst leading the feature race, causing him to drop to 17th.[10] Later in the year, Zhou won his first Formula 2 race in Sochi, after Aitken and Ghiotto crashed at lap 5 of the sprint race, causing a premature end of the race.[11] Over the season, Zhou achieved 6 podiums and finished sixth in the championship.
Zhou entered histhird F2 season staying with UNI-Virtuosi and partneringFelipe Drugovich. He took pole position in theopening round at Bahrain and converted the pole to his first feature race win in F2.[12] The Chinese driver took another victory in the first sprint race inMonaco ahead of his team-mate Drugovich. However, after another podium inBaku, Zhou went four races without scoring points, with a brake failure and a resulting collision withDan Ticktum in the first lap of the second race inAzerbaijan and a spin in the first sprint race atSilverstone allowing fellow academy memberOscar Piastri to take the lead in the standings. Zhou broke his duck by taking his third victory of the season in the feature race in Britain, beating out Ticktum for the victory. At the following round inMonza Zhou was able to end up on the podium twice, losing out toThéo Pourchaire and Piastri in races one and three respectively. Unfortunately for the Chinese driver, he stalled his car following a spin before the first race inSochi and only managed to finish the feature race in sixth place, thus losing more ground to leader Piastri, who went into the penultimate round with a 36-point advantage. In Round 7 at Jeddah, he dropped to third in the standings after a spin caused by colliding withChristian Lundgaard in the first sprint race. He bounced back in the final round at Abu Dhabi, signing off his F2 career by winning the second sprint race and finishing second in the feature race. He finished the season third in the championship, having achieved 4 wins, 1 pole and 9 podiums.
During the winter break before the start of the 2021 Formula 2 season, Zhou participated in the2021 F3 Asian Championship driving forAbu Dhabi Racing by Prema. He won the championship after achieving 4 wins, 5 poles and 11 podiums in the season.[13]
Zhou signed withAlfa Romeo for the2022 Formula One season, partneringValtteri Bottas and becoming China's first Formula One race driver.[27][28][29] In a press release following the announcement, Zhou stated that he was "well prepared for the immense challenge of Formula 1" and that his entry into the series would be "a breakthrough for Chinese motorsport history".[30] He chose 24 as his permanent racing number to honour his sporting heroKobe Bryant, who wore the number during hisbasketball career with theLos Angeles Lakers.[31] He qualified fifteenth on his debut at theBahrain Grand Prix,[32] but recovered from a poor start in the race to finish tenth, scoring a point.[33]
Seven races without points followed. A collision withPierre Gasly eliminated him from theEmilia Romagna Grand Prix sprint, which was followed by mechanical retirements at theMiami andSpanish Grands Prix. A hydraulics issue at theAzerbaijan Grand Prix caused his third retirement in four races. At theCanadian Grand Prix, Zhou reached the third qualifying session (Q3) for the first time and finished the race eighth, scoring points for the second time.[34] At the next race, theBritish Grand Prix, he was involved in a high-speed collision withGeorge Russell on the opening lap that caused Zhou's car to flip upside-down, skid across the track and gravel and bounce over the barriers into thecatch fence.[35] He was extracted and taken to the medical centre, and then declared fit after being observed.[36] Zhou later commented that thehalo saved his life during the crash.[37]
More mechanical problems followed; he was required to start theAustrian Grand Prix sprint from the pit lane after an engine issue on the formation lap, and another power unit issue caused his retirement from theFrench Grand Prix. He scored another point by finishing tenth at theItalian Grand Prix, which ended behind thesafety car.[38] A collision withNicholas Latifi ended his race at theSingapore Grand Prix. He finished sixteenth at the rain-shortenedJapanese Grand Prix, but a late pit stop for new tyres allowed him to claim thefastest lap for the first time in his career. Zhou ended the season eighteenth in the World Drivers' Championship with six points to teammate Bottas's 49.
Zhou remained with Alfa Romeo for2023 alongside Bottas.[39][40] During the second day of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, he set the fastest lap time of 1:31.610.[41] He qualified thirteenth at the season-openingBahrain Grand Prix and finished sixteenth, having made a pit stop for soft tyres on the penultimate lap to claim the fastest lap of the race. Alfa Romeo later explained that this was done to deny rivals Alpine and ninth-placed Pierre Gasly the bonus point.[42] Zhou claimed his first points-scoring finish of the season at theAustralian Grand Prix with ninth place, having started seventeenth. This was followed by a mechanical retirement at theAzerbaijan Grand Prix. He scored points again at theSpanish Grand Prix, starting thirteenth and finishing ninth. He achieved his best Formula One qualifying performance at theHungarian Grand Prix, setting the fastest Q1 time and then qualifying fifth. He was slow off the start line and was then involved in a first-corner collision for which he received a time penalty; he went on to finish the race sixteenth.
Zhou started fifteenth on the grid at theDutch Grand Prix but a call to change to intermediate tyres after lap one promoted him as high as second place. He eventually dropped outside the top ten and later crashed out of the race when the rain returned.[43] Zhou qualified nineteenth at theSingapore Grand Prix and was required to start from the pit lane as his car was modified inparc fermé. Despite "unfortunate" safety car timing, he recovered to twelfth after "an epic stint on the medium tyres".[44] Zhou qualified last on the grid at theQatar Grand Prix, but benefitted fromCarlos Sainz Jr.'s failure to start, a collision betweenLewis Hamilton and George Russell and other drivers' struggles with the extreme heat to take ninth place in the main race, his third points finish of the season.[45] He reached Q3 in qualifying at theMexico City Grand Prix, but was unable to hold off the cars behind and was classified fourteenth at the finish.[46] He qualified in last place at theSão Paulo Grand Prix and retired from the race with engine issues.[47]
Zhou finished eighteenth in the World Drivers' Championship with six points, an identical result to 2022. Teammate Bottas scored ten points and qualified ahead of Zhou at fifteen of the twenty-two races.Autosport praised Zhou for "holding his own" against Bottas but identified qualifying as an area for improvement,[48] andRaceFans described his performance in 2023 as "professional if unspectacular".[49]
Zhou and Bottas were retained at the team for the2024 season.[50][51] Following the end ofSauber's partnership withAlfa Romeo, the team rebranded to Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber to accommodate the sponsorship ofStake.com andKick.[52]Zhou completed the race in his home city ofShanghai for the first time in April as theChinese Grand Prix returned to the calendar for the 2024 season.[53]
Zhou improved from seventeenth on the grid to eleventh at the finish at the opening race, theBahrain Grand Prix. He crashed in the final practice session at theSaudi Arabian Grand Prix and the team were unable to repair his car in time to set a qualifying lap; he finished the race last of the running drivers in eighteenth place.[54] He damaged his front wing in qualifying at theAustralian Grand Prix and was forced to start the race from the pit lane due to a different specification replacement part being fitted; the team had not brought spares of the current design to Australia.[55] He finished the race fifteenth. This was followed by a gearbox-related retirement at theJapanese Grand Prix after qualifying in last place.[56]
At the2024 Chinese Grand Prix, he finished his first home race in 14th place. After the race, he was given a special parking spot on the grid to celebrate the completion of his first ever home race in front of the Chinese crowd.[57] Zhou finished 16th in the2024 Monaco Grand Prix after a three-car collision betweenNico Hülkenberg,Sergio Pérez andKevin Magnussen. Zhou avoided the accident but managed to continue. Zhou out-qualifiedValtteri Bottas for theBritish Grand Prix. He was last of the finishers after home heroGeorge Russell andAlpine'sPierre Gasly retired. Zhou finished ahead of Bottas in theAzerbaijan Grand Prix while Bottas finished 16th after the race was neutralised on lap 50 which occurred a high-speed collision betweenCarlos Sainz Jr. andSergio Pérez. He scored Sauber's only points of the 2024 season at theQatar Grand Prix, qualifying twelfth and finishing eighth after twosafety cars, and was voted Driver of the Day.[58]