Ferrari confirmed the Chinese driver\u2019s departure<\/a> from their reserve role for the upcoming season.<\/p>\nThe rumor gained traction today when Cadillac posted a cryptic teaser on social media: a close-up image of a cat\u2019s eye with the caption \u201cReflections of the future.\u201d Embedded in the reflection is the number 24 \u2013 Zhou\u2019s long-standing F1 race number \u2013 alongside the Cadillac logo and the date January 5, hinting at an imminent reveal.<\/p>\n
Fans quickly connected the dots, especially given Zhou\u2019s well-known love for cats (his beloved pet is named Sweetcorn) and the timing of his Ferrari exit. Comments flooded in speculating \u201cZhou as third driver?\u201d and references to \u201cSweetcorn\u2019s eyes,\u201d fueling the fire.<\/p>\n
Zhou, 26, spent 2025 as Ferrari\u2019s reserve alongside Antonio Giovinazzi after losing his full-time seat at Sauber (now Audi) at the end of 2024. Ferrari issued a gracious farewell today: \u201cGrateful for Zhou Guanyu\u2019s commitment and contribution as Ferrari Reserve Driver this season! Wishing him all the best ahead.\u201d Zhou had hoped the role would position him for a 2026 race return, with Cadillac often mentioned due to team principal Graeme Lowdon\u2019s past management ties to the driver and the team\u2019s Ferrari customer engine deal.<\/p>\n
Cadillac\u2019s confirmed 2026 race lineup is the experienced duo of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, with IndyCar star Colton Herta already named as a test\/reserve driver who will also contest Formula 2. Adding Zhou would bolster the team\u2019s depth, bringing valuable Ferrari power unit knowledge, five years of F1 experience, and significant commercial appeal in the massive Chinese market.<\/p>\n
The January 5 announcement comes ahead of Cadillac\u2019s full livery reveal, planned for a high-profile Super Bowl TV advert on February 8. If the rumors hold, Zhou\u2019s addition would be a smart, low-risk move for the newcomers \u2013 keeping him in the paddock while providing stability behind their veteran race drivers.<\/p>\n
As always in F1, nothing is official until it\u2019s announced\u2026 but all signs point to the cat being out of the bag soon. Stay tuned for January 5!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"January 2, 2026 \u2013 The Formula 1 silly season isn\u2019t over yet, and the paddock is buzzing with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-384796","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}