Zhou and the lessons on the Ferrari ‘bench’: “Now I understand what it takes to fight at the top”

Zhou Guanyu takes up the Cadillac challenge. He said goodbye to Ferrari with the clear aim of returning to racing in Formula 1 as a starter. To do so, Zhou Guanyu chooses a step… to the side, confirming himself in the role of reserve driver but taking up the challenge of the debuting Cadillac, where he will find his historic manager Graeme Lowdon as team principal, but also his former teammate Valtteri Bottas. A familiar and highly experienced environment, to bring the automotive giant General Motors into the middle of the pack in F1. Not without added value, because the 26-year-old Chinese who already raced in F1 between 2022 and 2024, passing through the rebranding of Sauber from Alfa Romeo to Stake-Kick, in a very long interview granted to the category’s official website, claims to have learned quite a bit in his 2025 stint on the bench spent observing the work of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton: “In 2024 I found myself fighting at the back, but when you become part of a top team, you realize how different their way of working is compared to the past”. The lesson in the Ferrari garage “It’s not just about how the drivers react during the weekend – adds Zhou Guanyu – but also about the way the team is organised, the way the team works in the factory and all the little details that really matter. This is what I learned and from the first day in Maranello I saw a huge difference compared to the teams I had worked with in the past. Now I understand what it takes to bring a team to the level needed to fight at the top. It’s very important and useful information, and I really enjoyed it in 2025 because it was a year in which I learned a lot.” However, there were also negative aspects: “Of course it was challenging from a mental point of view, precisely because you look at those who are racing and you know that you have faced and beaten someone in the past. You would like to be there and you feel like you deserve the chance to fight together with them. On the other hand, I don’t think it’s such a negative position, because only in this way could I understand in which aspects I wasn’t at the highest level and what I should have done differently if I were back on the track. When you’re out, you can see more clearly how you should improve, because you learn from both sides of the box. Especially in the last year, I have been able to stay close to two of the best drivers on the grid and see what they do when they are in difficulty or what they do well, how they adapt and how they react.” “Taking all these things into consideration I already feel like I’m a better driver,” concludes Zhou Guanyu.