Zhou Guanyu says Ferrari are “really interested” in signing him up as a reserve driver for the 2025 season.
Ferrari have already confirmed their driver line-up for next year, with Lewis Hamilton replacing Carlos Sainz as Charles Leclerc’s teammate.
Chinese driver Zhou has been dropped by Sauber for 2025 after three years with the team. Both Zhou and Bottas are departing, with Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto replacing them.
With no other free seats available on the grid, Zhou is eyeing a reserve role to stay immersed within the F1 paddock.
“We’re talking to several teams and, of course, Ferrari remains one of the teams really interested in me,” Zhou said in Las Vegas.
“We need to see, obviously there’s a lot of things coming up with the next few weekends for us to make a decision, but it’s clear we are going through all the options we have and seeing where we are.
“From my side, I don’t want to commit to the future just yet because I want to make sure everything is set down and is clear, and have a massive commitment to the next project.
“Hopefully something will be happening and decided soon. I think somewhere around the next few weeks I will have a clear idea.”
Zhou Guanyu could be a reserve driver for Ferrari in 2025 (Getty Images)
The 25-year-old, who is yet to score a point this season, was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2014-2018 before moving to Alpine’s junior programme and the Scuderia are one of the interested parties for Zhou’s services next year.
Ferrari are losing their main reserve driver next year with British teenager Ollie Bearman – who deputised for Sainz in Saudi Arabia in March – moving to a full-time seat at Haas next year.
Zhou has endured his worst F1 season to date, with Sauber still rooted to the bottom of the table without a point to their name.
His final two races in F1, at least in his current stint, will be in Qatar and Abu Dhabi over the next 10 days.
