Reserve driver still eyes full-time F1 comeback: 'The ultimate goal'

Zhou's final season as a full-time F1 driver was in 2024 with Sauber. For the following campaign, the team—soon to become Audi—changed its line-up, moving forward with Nico Hulkenberg and Brazilian talent Gabriel Bortoleto.

Zhou spent 2025 with Ferrari as the reserve driver of the Scuderia. That collaboration recently came to an end, as the Chinese driver will become Cadillac's reserve driver for 2026.

The driver still has the goal of returning to a regular seat in the competition. Talking to F1.com, he explained his switch to becoming a reserve "It's challenging in terms of the mental side, just because you're watching all the people that are racing, and some of them you have battled with or you've beaten them throughout the years.

He added: "I don't feel it's such a bad position, because while I was able to take a step down from a race seat over the 2025 season, I really felt the stuff I wasn't on the top performance level of, the stuff I would do differently if I go back on the grid again in the future."

Zhou believes this experience could improve him considerably. "I feel like it made me a better driver already. I'm just looking forward for the season coming together, but then also hopefully my ultimate goal is to be back on the grid, back behind the wheel, racing full-time."

He explained that it's not something regularly on his mind, but it is his main target.

At Cadillac, the two current drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, both skipped a season before returning for 2026.

Zhou concluded: "For me, I think the ultimate goal is to be back on the grid, and that's the target. But in terms to achieve the target, sometimes you need a bit of a waiting game.

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