Cadillac has introduced that Zhou Guanyu has joined the workforce as reserve driver for its debut season.
Zhou joins Valtteri Bottas – whom he partnered all through his stints at Alfa Romeo and Kick Sauber – and Sergio Perez, not forgetting take a look at driver Colton Herta, who will compete in Method 2 with Hitech this 12 months.
Shanghai-born Zhou, who’s China’s first and solely F1 driver, started his 68-race F1 profession in 2022 with Alfa Romeo, for whom he scored factors thrice, together with on his debut within the Bahrain Grand Prix. Having developed a repute as a quick and hard-working workforce participant, he continued with the outfit in 2023 when he additionally scored factors on three events. He remained with the workforce when it turned Kick Sauber in 2024, and claimed its solely factors end of the 12 months within the Qatar Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old additionally brings beneficial expertise from his time with Ferrari, which can provide Cadillac with its energy unit and gearbox in 2026. Zhou accomplished numerous trackside, simulator, and Testing of Earlier Vehicles (TPC) applications for the Italian outfit in 2025 as reserve driver, buying related and up to date expertise forward of his new position with Cadillac.
As a junior driver, Zhou was acknowledged as a standout expertise. He collected 20 podium finishes, together with 5 victories, throughout a three-year stint in Method 2, which culminated in third place within the standings in 2021, when he additionally received the F3 Asian Championship by claiming 4 victories and 5 pole positions. He boasts wins within the extremely regarded Method 3 European Championship and Italian Method 4 Championship, ending second within the latter in 2015.
„I’m delighted to hitch Cadillac forward of its Method 1 debut,“ stated Zhou. „This is among the largest and most fun new initiatives that the game has ever seen.
„I’ve labored with each Graeme (Lowdon) and Valtteri for a few years in numerous capacities, so becoming a member of the workforce appears like rejoining household. Having had latest expertise on monitor and in creating the automobiles off monitor, I do know I can add large worth to the workforce, and I’m trying ahead to supporting them the easiest way that I can.“
„Our course of for choosing a Reserve Driver has been as thorough because the seek for our Race Drivers,“ stated Graeme Lowdon. „We wished a candidate who had latest F1 driving expertise, is ready to work exhausting as a part of a workforce and understands the challenges of creating a automobile all through the season. Zhou matches the invoice completely. He will probably be an important asset to us as we go racing in 2026 and we stay up for him being an integral a part of our workforce.“
„I am excited to welcome Zhou to the workforce,“ added Dan Towriss, CEO of Cadillac Method 1 Crew Holdings. „He will probably be a superb addition to enrich Valtteri and Checo; proficient, personable and respectful of the exhausting work and dedication it would take for us to attain our ambitions.
„I am excited by our full driver line-up – alongside Colton, we’ve a hungry, quick and collaborative group to make our 2026 debut.“
