MARANELLO, Italy (AP) — The first Chinese driver in Formula 1, Zhou Guanyu, is heading back to Ferrari as one of its reserve drivers for the 2025 season.
Zhou doesn't have a race seat for 2025 after leaving Sauber at the end of last year but could step in if Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton can't race.
The 25-year-old Zhou first raced in F1 in 2022 for what was then the Alfa Romeo team, before it reverted back to the Sauber name. He has a best finish of eighth and has strong commercial and sponsorship backing in China. He was a Ferrari academy driver earlier in his career.
“It's a great honor to be one of the reserve drivers that can help really develop the team,” Zhou said. “It's amazing to be coming back home to where it all started.”
Zhou is one of two reserves for Ferrari alongside another ex-Sauber driver, Antonio Giovinazzi, who last raced in F1 in 2021 and is a long-time reserve who has yet to drive for the team.
When Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. was unable to race because of appendicitis at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last year, the team opted instead to promote then-Formula 2 driver Oliver Bearman.
A strong seventh-place finish at an unfamiliar circuit helped Bearman build momentum and secure a full-time F1 drive for 2025 with Haas.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
FILE - Kick Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu of China walks through paddock ahead of the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)
CHERNIHIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s historic Chernihiv biathlon and cross-country training center, which produced the country’s first Olympic medalist, remains in ruins after Russia’s 2022 invasion. Despite bombed-out buildings and constant air-raid threats, children and Olympic hopefuls continue to train on its damaged ski tracks.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
A cross memorialises Ukrainian defenders outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathletes Yekateryna Mashtalier, 18, Mykola Dorofeiev, 16, Maksym Kravchenko, 17, and Nazar Kravchenko, 12, run during a training session at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathlon coach Mykola Vorchak, 60, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in the Chernihiv, Ukraine ski base, which was destroyed following Russian attacks in 2022, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathletes Yekateryna Mashtalier, 18, Mykola Dorofeiev, 16, Maksym Kravchenko, 17, and Nazar Kravchenko, 12, walk through a dark hallway during a blackout at their mobile gym outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A biathlete trains at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathlete Nazar Kravchenko, 12, trains at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathlete Yekateryna Mashtalier, 18, runs during a training session at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A young biathlete trains outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A 2001 Biathlon World Championships brochure lays in the rubble of the Chernihiv, Ukraine ski base, which was destroyed following Russian attacks in 2022, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A steel shooting target is peppered with gunshot holes at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Retired biathlete and deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Nina Lemesh poses for photos outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A young biathlete trains outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathletes Yekateryna Mashtalier, 18, Mykola Dorofeiev, 16, Maksym Kravchenko, 17, and Nazar Kravchenko, 12, warm up before a training session at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathlete Khrystyna Dmytrenko poses for photos inside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
