BEIJING - Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu will compete in this year's Formula 3 Asian Championship, set to begin in Abu Dhabi later this month.

The Shanghai native will drive for Abu Dhabi Racing by PREMA, with whom Zhou previously raced in the Italian Formula 4 and European Formula 3 championships.

Zhou has spent the last two years competing in the Formula 2 championship, finishing sixth in the 2020 standings with one win, and is likely to return to that series later in 2021.

Unlike many other international racing championships, Asian F3 runs over the European winter, allowing drivers to compete in two series in one calendar year. This allows them to accrue extra FIA Super License points, a prerequisite for those wishing to compete in Formula 1.

While no Chinese driver has ever started a Formula 1 Grand Prix, Zhou is widely considered the country's best hope, and was appointed test driver for the Renault F1 team at the start of 2020.

In seeking to compete in Asian F3 and Formula 2 in the same year, Zhou follows in the footsteps of Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, who took part in both series last year and is set to graduate to F1 with Haas in 2021.?