Tag: FomulaOne

It was a year to forget for Sauber not only did they have issues on the track, but behind the scenes not everything appears rosy.

After Audi bought what was then the Alpha Romeo Sauber team, they installed Andreas Seidl to be the head of the project. At the time I thought it was a strange move because Seidls time as McLaren Team Principle was very inconsistent. Yes, he took the team from the back of the grid up to 3rd in the Constructors standings, but the following season they started to fall back again into the mid pack. Fast forward a couple of years and now he has been replaced by Mattia Binotto, formerly a Ferrari Team Principal. Binotto has since revealed that when he joined Sauber the team seemed to be stagnant with no direction.

Due to the issues in the background, there were very little in season updates to the car and as a result they finished the season with 4 points, all scored by Zhou. A season to forget for Bottas, a poor car combined with some terrible luck, he ended the season with no points and no place on the grid for 2025.

Looking ahead for 2025, you can’t see them faring much better to be honest, they will be in full preparation mode to become the Audi team in 2026, and one would assume prepping for the rule changes that come in 2026 also. They do however have 2 new drivers in the shape of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto. A good move in my opinion on Hulkenberg, one of the more experienced drivers on the grid, he will help them develop the car during the season and help them going into 2026 also. Bortoleto will be in his rookie year having impressed as a McLaren junior in F2, he will also no doubt learn a lot from Hulkenberg. However, can’t see the team improving much.

2024 Rating 1/10