Audi chief Mattia Binotto REVEALS preferred choice for 2025 lineup

BP and Castrol partner with Audi — Photo: © IMAGO

Audi F1

Audi chief REVEALS preferred choice for 2025 lineup

Audi are yet to decide on their 2025 driver lineup

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 12 October 2024 19:57

Audi chief Mattia Binotto has revealed the team’s preferred ‘choice’ for their 2025 lineup.

The German manufacturer will enter the sport in 2026, when they will take over Sauber, who remain the only team on the F1 grid yet to decide on their lineup for next year.

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Audi have achieved two major leadership coups this season, with Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley announced as their team principal for 2025.

Former Ferrari boss Binotto, has also joined Audi as their chief operating officer and chief technical officer, facing the monumental task of boosting the team towards the front of the grid.

Jonathan Wheatley will become Audi team principal in 2025

Who will drive for Audi F1 in 2025?

Sauber currently languish at the bottom of the constructors’ standings, and are yet to score a single point thus far in a woeful 2024 season.

Whilst the team have signed Nico Hulkenberg for next year, their final seat remains unoccupied as they search for the perfect driver to spearhead their future championship campaign.

Current Williams star Franco Colapinto, who will be forced to vacate his seat for Carlos Sainz in 2025, has been tipped to join Audi after impressing on his debut in F1.

In a recent interview with Corriere della Sera Binotto revealed that the team would be prioritising youth for the final 2025 seat, in a major blow to current drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.

"We need to work on the company itself, on its size, on its culture," Binotto said regarding Audi's future.

"If we compare ourselves with our competitors, we have about 400 fewer people, we need to add them to be able to compete at the same level: they can't be found in two days, and not necessarily in F1. Our choice is to invest in young people."

“We can afford the luxury of not rushing, since all the other teams have decided their lineup. Two essential aspects: on the one hand, experience to set the growth path. On the other, a young, talented driver who can accompany us on the path to the top.”

Red Bull Ferrari FIA Audi Sauber Jonathan Wheatley