Axed F1 star spotted behind wheel of Ferrari in private test

An axed F1 star has been spotted conducting a private test with Ferrari, as the team try to get to the bottom of their performance issues.

Ferrari are sat in second in the constructors' championship, but are a mammoth 238 points behind leaders McLaren, having finished just 14 points behind the Woking outfit last year.

They have been using their testing of previous cars (TPC) programme during this mini break in the F1 calendar to try and gather some crucial data ahead of the second half of the season, and ahead of new regulations in 2026.

Now, Zhou Guanyu has been spotted racing around Mugello in their SF-23 car from 2023, as the Chinese racer looks to get some laps in ahead of a potential return to the sport.

Guanyu was dismissed by Sauber at the end of the 2024 season, and has since taken up duties as Ferrari's test and reserve driver, but with two new seats opening up on the grid in 2026 due to Cadillac entering the sport, he may well still harbour ambitions of a return to full-time racing in the series.

What is a TPC programme?

TPC programmes are good opportunities for teams to gain data that may help them in the development of their current car, but it can also be used to get drivers back into an F1 car if they have been on the sidelines for some time.

Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas, for example, has recently been completing laps in his team's 2023 car as rumours about an Alpine and Cadillac battle to sign him as a full-time racer continue to swirl.

Teams are allowed up to 20 days of TPC running throughout the year, but only 1000km of this running is allowed to be completed by drivers already competing in the championship.

Guanyu and Bottas were actually team-mates last season, and the 26-year-old Chinese racer beat his vastly more experienced team-mate, scoring all four of Sauber's points in a dismal year for the Hinwil outfit.

Zhou was previously a member of Ferrari's young driver academy, and now he is back in the fold at the Maranello team he has revealed that he is enjoying learning from supreme talents Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

.@ZhouGuanyu24 back behind the wheel of the SF-23 🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/O59bsVq4Li

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 16, 2025

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