F1 2025 grid takes fresh TWIST as Audi 'decide' on lineup

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F1 Driver Transfers

F1 2025 grid takes fresh TWIST as Audi 'decide' on lineup

Mick Schumacher will not drive for Audi in 2025

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 29 September 2024 17:00

Audi's Formula 1 project has decided on who they want to drive alongside Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber next season, reports suggest.

Audi are set to enter the sport in 2026, but are already very much making the decisions behind the scenes of the team they are set to take over.

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Nico Hulkenberg has already been signed to the project for next season ahead of Audi's transition, for example, with the German driver making the move from Haas at the end of 2024.

Plenty of other names have been touted to sit alongside Hulkenberg, including Mick Schumacher, Franco Colapinto, and Gabriel Bortoleto. However, it now appears that the team could settle on another option.

Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas have struggled in 2024

Nico Hulkenberg will join Sauber for 2025

Sauber make 2025 driver lineup decision

According to German publication Bild, the Hinwil-based outfit have made their decision on who will partner Hulkenberg, at least for 2025.

Alongside outgoing Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, they hope to bring the team into contention for podium finishes in the future, becoming a bigger threat in the F1 world under the German manufacturer's name.

At least in 2025, Sauber reportedly see the driver to do that best as Bottas, whose current deal is expiring at the end of 2024, but who they have 'decided' will be in the car next season.

Bottas will reportedly be offered a maximum two-year deal, with the opportunity to axe him after one year if his performances do not pick up from their current level.

It means that Schumacher, son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, is set to spend another year away from the F1 grid following his departure from Haas in 2022.

Haas Nico Hulkenberg Audi Sauber Valtteri Bottas Franco Colapinto