Audi urged to snub ‘unmotivated’ Valtteri Bottas and give 12-point F1 driver 2025 Sauber seat

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Audi has now been told to snub giving Valtteri Bottas or Zhou Guanyu a new contract and put a ‘young’ and ‘hungry’ driver in a Sauber seat for the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Next year will mark the last season that the Sauber name graces F1’s leaderboards ahead of Audi taking over the team from 2026. The German automotive giant increased its ownership stake in the Hinwil, Switzerland outfit to 100% this March to join Formula 1 as a works entry.

Yet, while it might still be Sauber on paper, Audi is already showing its control with a host of changes. Nico Hulkenberg signed a multi-year contract to be a works Audi driver from 2025 in April. It means at least one of Bottas or Zhou will vacate their drive at Sauber next season.

Audi urged to axe Valtteri Bottas and sign Mick Schumacher for Sauber

Zhou and Bottas are both out of contract at Sauber beyond the 2024 Formula 1 season and Audi is currently weighing up if either is worth retaining. But Marc Surer believes the driver who should share the Sauber garage with Hulkenberg next year is not currently at the team.

Instead, the former Brabham F1 driver feels Audi’s best option for next year is to axe Bottas and bring Mick Schumacher back to the grid. The 25-year-old spent two seasons at Haas in 2021 and 2022, before Hulkenberg replaced the German, during which he scored 12 points.

READ MORE: Who is F1 reserve and Alpine WEC star Mick Schumacher? Everything to know

Schumacher is the ideal candidate for Audi in Surer’s eyes as he can grow with the German brand as it finally debuts in Formula 1. Bottas, on the other hand, has not left Surer with an overwhelmingly positive impression as the driver currently last in this year’s championship.

Surer has told F1-Insider: “Audi should choose Mick. Before they extend the contract with Bottas, who already seems unmotivated this year, they should give a young, hungry driver like Schumacher the chance to grow together with the team and develop step-by-step.”

Despite Surer’s view, Audi is not inclined to sign Schumacher for the remaining Sauber seat. His options to return to F1 next season have also dwindled massively after Alpine surprised Schumacher by signing Jack Doohan, but the German has confirmed he is talking to teams.

Mick Schumacher only scored points in two of his 44 Grand Prix for Haas

Sauber are the only team still to score a point in 2024 with Zhou and Bottas’ best results so far this year being 11th and 13th respectively. Zhou took his best result in the first round of 2024 at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Bottas had his best results this year in Monaco and Canada.

Only Logan Sargeant has also failed to score any point this season with the Williams driver’s top result 11th place in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. It is far from the campaign Audi wanted for Sauber, for whom Bottas scored 49 points in 2022 and 10 in 2023 as Alfa Romeo.

Zhou scored six points in 2022 and again in 2023 over his first two seasons on the Formula 1 grid. Schumacher failed to score any points in his rookie campaign for Haas in 2021 but took 12 in 2022 with a P8 finish in the British GP and P6 in the Austrian GP in back-to-back races.

Yet Haas dropped Schumacher in favour of bringing Hulkenberg back to F1 after three years without a full-time seat as Kevin Magnussen scored 25 points in 2022. The Dane also scored points in six of the 22 Grand Prix, along with in three Sprints, after a late return to the team.