F1 Today: Ferrari parts ways with driver, as Alonso tests Newey car

The Scuderia Ferrari outfit has announced their split with Zhou Guanyu, who served as the team’s reserve driver throughout the 2025 season.

The Chinese driver, who concluded his stint with Stake F1 Kick Sauber at the end of the 2024 season, was signed by the Maranello-based team to work alongside Antonio Giovinazzi, with the Italian continuing his parallel programme in the World Endurance Championship (WEC).

For Zhou, it was effectively a homecoming, having previously spent four years with the Ferrari Driver Academy between 2015 and 2018. He then climbed the junior ladder before making his Formula 1 debut with Alfa Romeo in 2022.

Zhou spent three seasons alongside Valtteri Bottas but managed to score just 16 points in total, finishing third from last twice before ending the 2024 season at the bottom of the standings.

Fernando Alonso took the Aston Martin Valkyrie out for a shakedown run on track as the 2026 season approaches.

The two-time world champion was spotted in a series of images shared by Aston Martin at the MotorLand Aragon circuit, featuring one of the two road-legal hypercars designed by Adrian Newey.

Newey teamed up with Alonso at the Aston Martin outfit during the 2025 season. The 67-year-old F1 designer also recently took the reins as team principal at the Silverstone-based outfit for 2026.

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