Zhou hopes to get back into F1 race seat with Cadillac in 2026
SHANGHAI, March 20 (Reuters) - China's first and only Formula One driver Zhou Guanyu said ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix on Thursday that he hoped to get back into a race seat with Cadillac when it joins the grid in 2026, adding that churn in the driver market made F1 a "brutal sport."
A General Motors-backed Cadillac entry will become the championship's 11th team next year after securing formal approval from the sport's commercial rights holders and governing FIA earlier this month.
Ferrari's reserve driver told reporters ahead of his home race: "I'm first of all very happy that a new team is joining F1... as it's a pity there's no seat available to me... the addition of a new team means there will be two new seats to compete for.
"I will definitely wait for any opportunities," the former Sauber driver told reporters in his native Mandarin Chinese.
"There are many new players, and F1 is a very brutal sport. If you don't show your skills and mental toughness within a short period of time, it's easy to be eliminated," the Shanghai-born driver added.
Having a Chinese driver back on the grid would be a boon for F1 and its owner Liberty Media, who see the world's second-largest country as a key market. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has said in the past that China could ultimately host two races.
Cadillac have appointed Briton Graeme Lowdown to lead the team but the Chinese driver said the fact a member of his management team was taking the reins of the new outfit did not mean he was guaranteed a drive.
"I'm really happy, of course, that Graeme is the principal of Cadillac, but that doesn't mean I'm definitely linked with the team because, at the end of the day, the overall decision is taken by different people," Zhou later told reporters in English.
"I'm just doing my thing with Ferrari and trying to focus on the job here and when there's a chance I'm always going to be fully committed to it," he added.
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