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Actor

1999-05-30 · Shanghai, China · Male

6 series in the catalog

Zhou Guanyu (Chinese: 周冠宇; pinyin: Zhōu Guànyǔ, pronounced [ʈʂóʊ kwân.ỳ]; born 30 May 1999) is a Chinese racing driver who serves as a reserve driver in Formula One for Cadillac. Zhou competed in Formula One from 2022 to 2024, and remains the only Chinese driver to compete in Formula One.

Born in Shanghai, Zhou began karting aged eight before moving to Sheffield in 2012 to compete internationally. Graduating to junior formulae in 2014, Zhou finished runner-up in the 2015 Italian F4 Championship. After three seasons in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, as well as a development driver role in Formula E for Techeetah in 2017–18, Zhou competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship from 2019 to 2021 for Virtuosi, finishing third in his final season.

A member of the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2014 to 2018, and the Alpine Academy from 2019 to 2021, Zhou served as a test driver for Renault and Alpine in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Zhou signed for Alfa Romeo in 2022 to partner Valtteri Bottas, scoring his first career point on debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Retaining his seat for his 2023 campaign, he scored further points finishes in Australia, Spain and Qatar. He remained at the re-branded Sauber in 2024, where he scored the team's only points finish with the C44—at the Qatar Grand Prix—before leaving at the end of the season, having achieved two fastest laps and sixteen championship points in Formula One.

Early and personal life

Zhou Guanyu was born on 30 May 1999 in Shanghai, China. Having started karting when he was eight years old in China, Zhou moved to Sheffield in 2012 for a more competitive racing environment, where he attended Westbourne School.

Karting

In 2013, racing with the Sheffield-based Strawberry Racing team, Zhou won both the Super 1 National Rotax Max Junior Championship and Rotax Max Euro Challenge. For his final year of karting, Zhou finished second 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 the Karting World Championship, driving for Ricky Flynn Motorsport alongside Lando Norris and Jehan Daruvala.

Formula 4

Zhou joined Prema Powerteam for the 2015 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.

FIA Formula 3 European Championship

2016

Zhou joined team Motopark for the 2016 FIA European F3 Championship. After a successful season opener rounds in Paul Ricard and Hungaroring by finishing in two podium positions, Zhou struggled to find pace during the second half of the season, finishing in 13th for his maiden season.

2017

Zhou stayed for a second F3 season by rejoining Prema and improved to eighth in standings with five podium finishes. Season highlights included leading race 3 in Spa and holding back Lando Norris in the penultimate round.

2018

After speculation of a possible move to F2, Zhou remained with Prema for a third 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 second, just a point behind teammate Marcus Armstrong. Despite a strong qualifying pace in Spa and Silverstone, Zhou suffered four consecutive retirements with a series of teammate collisions and tyre punctures. Zhou won his second F3 race in Hockenheim, finishing the season eighth in the standings, with three poles, and two wins.

FIA Formula 2

2019

In December 2018, Zhou joined UNI-Virtuosi Racing along with Luca Ghiotto for the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship. 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 overtaking Artem Markelov at the start. At Silverstone, Zhou scored his first Formula 2 pole position, becoming the first Chinese driver to do so. Later, Zhou also scored third place in the sprint race at Paul Ricard. In the feature race at Silverstone, he lost positions to his teammate and race winner Luca Ghiotto and the second-place driver Nicholas 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 the Anthoine Hubert Award for being the highest-finishing rookie.

2020

Zhou remained at UNI-Virtuosi for the 2020 season, partnering Ferrari Driver Academy member Callum Ilott. Zhou took his second Formula 2 pole position at the opening race at the Red Bull Ring. However, his car suffered electronic problems whilst leading the feature race, causing him to drop to 17th. 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. Over the season, Zhou achieved 6 podiums and finished sixth in the championship.

2021

Zhou entered his third F2 season staying with UNI-Virtuosi and partnering Felipe Drugovich. He took pole position in the opening round at Bahrain and converted the pole to his first feature race win in F2. Zhou took another victory in the first sprint race in Monaco ahead of his team-mate Drugovich. However, after another podium in Baku, Zhou went four races without scoring points, with a brake failure and a resulting collision with Dan Ticktum in the first lap of the second race in Azerbaijan and a spin in the first sprint race at Silverstone, allowing fellow academy member Oscar 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 in Monza, Zhou was able to end up on the podium twice, losing out to Théo Pourchaire and Piastri in races one and three respectively. Unfortunately for Zhou, he stalled his car following a spin before the first race in Sochi 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 with Christian 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 four wins, one pole and nine podiums.

F3 Asian Championship

During the winter break before the start of the 2021 Formula 2 season, Zhou participated in the 2021 F3 Asian Championship driving for Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema. He won the championship after achieving four wins, five poles and 11 podiums in the season.

Formula One career

In 2014, Zhou joined the Ferrari Driver Academy while competing in karting. He left the academy at the end of 2018 and joined the Renault Sport Academy the following year ahead of his move into Formula 2. He served as a development driver for the Renault F1 Team in 2019 and took part in an R.S.17 testing programme, driving at five different circuits during the year. He was promoted to the role of Test Driver in 2020. He participated in the Virtual Grand Prix Series—an esports competition organised by Formula One in place of races postponed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic—and won the first race held at the Bahrain International Circuit. Once the 2020 season resumed, Zhou took part in three test sessions driving the Renault R.S.18, including the post-season test at Yas Marina Circuit alongside Fernando Alonso. Zhou remained part of the rebranded Alpine Academy for 2021 and made his Formula One race weekend debut for Alpine F1 Team, driving…