Zhou Guanyu reveals mental toll of F1 reserve driver role as he eyes full-time return

Zhou Guanyu has opened up about the mental challenges of stepping into a reserve driver role after racing in Formula 1. 

The Chinese driver has signed with Cadillac for the 2026 season as a reserve driver after a stint in the same role with Ferrari in 2025. Zhou made his F1 debut in 2022 with Alfa Romeo/Sauber alongside Valtteri Bottas, who is set to drive for Cadillac in 2026. But after his three-year contract with the Swiss-based team came to an end, Zhou found himself left without a seat for 2025, leading him to take a reserve driver role with Ferrari.

"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," Zhou told F1.com after the announcement of his signing with Cadillac.

"You want to be there, and you feel like you deserve to be on the grid fighting with them together. So that's probably the hard side, on the mental side, and when you’re just watching the race."

Zhou was able to find the positives of the reserve driver role, as it showed him a "clearer picture of how you should develop".

"Then on the other side, I don't feel it's such a bad position, because while I was able to take a step down from a race seat over the 2025 season, I really felt the stuff I wasn't on the top performance level of, the stuff I would do differently if I go back on the grid again in the future," he added.

"When you're outside, you can just see a clearer picture of how you should develop, because you learn from both sides of the garage. Especially over the last year, I was able to be around two of the top drivers on the grid, to see what they're doing, and when they struggle or what they do well, what they've done differently, how they adapt, react.

Zhou Guanyu, Ferrari

Photo by: Erik Junius

"All these things I'm taking into consideration, and I feel like it made me a better driver already. I'm just looking forward for the season coming together, but then also hopefully my ultimate goal is to be back on the grid, back behind the wheel, racing full-time."

While he is focusing on the upcoming months with his new team, Zhou admitted that his ultimate goal is to return to a full-time racing seat in the championship.

"I think generally it's not something I will think about every single week or monthly. While you are at the beginning of the season, you are just focused on the commitment you have, and my current commitment is with the completely new journey with the Cadillac F1 team.

"For me, I think the ultimate goal is to be back on the grid, and that's the target. But in terms to achieve the target, sometimes you need a bit of a waiting game. You need to show the team what you can do over the course of the weeks, months, putting the effort in, and sometimes the opportunity appears, so I'm not fully rushing on that.

"Right now, I'm actually looking forward to the next few weeks, few months, before the season.

"Normally the period [for thinking about the future] is a couple of weeks before the summer shutdown. 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."